Daily Best Bets

1) “Casablanca” (1942, shown here), 8 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. Beautifully crafted, this is No. 3 on the American Film Institute’s all-time list, trailing only “Citizen Kane” and “Godfather.” It arrives on a great movie night – “1917” (2019) at 8 p.m. on Showtime, “The Fugitive” (1993) at 9 p.m. and midnight on Sundance and, especially, “Inside Out” (2015) at 8 p.m. on Freeform. That last one, an animated gem, is from Pete Docter, whose “Soul” debuted Friday on Disney+. Read more…

1) “Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebreation,” 10 a.m. to noon, ABC (but 9-11 a.m. PT). Christmas Day will wrap up (8 p.m., NBC) with one more chance to see the great Grinch cartoon (shown here). It starts, however, with cheery young faces singing perky songs. Performers include hosts Julianne Hough and Tituss Burgess, plus more. There’s Tori Kelly, Becky G, Jon Batiste, Trevor Jackson, Keedron Bryant, Maddie & Tae and even a gospel choir. Read more…

1) “A Christmas Story” (1983) marathon, 8 p,m. (TBS) and 9 p.m. (TNT). Each year, we get a 24-hour marathon of this odd gem, viewing a 1940s holiday through the eyes of Ralphie (shown here), who simply wants a BB gun. Cleverly written by Jean Shepherd and others, this somehow manages both warmth and dark humor. With two networks, you can start it at the top of any hour. Read more…

1) “Garth& Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event,” 9 p.m., CBS. This is no longer “Live!”; it’s a rerun of Sunday’s special, with Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood (shown here, pre-pandemic) in their home studio. But it’s part of a fun night, following an 8 p.m. rerun of Dolly Parton’s “A Holly Dolly Christmas.” Togther, these people have had about 50 singles reach No, 1 on the Billboard country chart. Brooks sometimes surpasses Elvis Presley as the top-selling solo act in recording history; at 58, he’s still building his total. Read more…

1) “Next” finale, 8 and 9 p.m., Fox. Monday’s episode ended with LeBlanc stealing a computer virus from his old office … with swarms of cops failing to rush outside and find him. There are many such moments tonight that jettison credibility. (On the first night of a black-out, people are already starving, with violent mobs roaming the street?) If you can overlook these, you’ll enjoy a tense story, as LeBlanc and Shea (shown here) try to contrive a bomb  and destroy a computer program that’s keen on world domination Read more…

1) “The Bachelorette,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. It’s been a strange season: First, the show was delayed because of COVID, which limited its locations. Then the original “bachelorette” decided way too soon, exiting with the guy she chose. Now her replacement (Tayshia Adams, 30, shown here) makes her choice. Last week, she ousted Ben Smith. That leaves three guys: Ivan Hall, 28, an aeronautical engineer; Brendan Morris, 30, who does commercial roofing; and Zac Clark, an addiction specialist. On Tuesday, we’ll see her decision. Read more…

1) “The Sound of Music” (shown here, 1965), 7-11 p.m., ABC. Here’s a holiday tradition for ABC. It doesn’t have Christmas scenes, but offers joy, warmth and great music. Loosely based on the true story of a teacher who formed a family singing group, it has Rodgers-and-Hammerstein music at its best, both whimsical (“Do-Re-Mi,” “Maria,” “Favorite Things”) and potent (“Sound of Music,” “Climb Every Mountain”). It won five Oscars, including best picture, and Julie Andrews won a Golden Globe for best actress. Read more…

1) Football conference finals. It’s conference-championship time, with bowl berths at stake. ABC has three games – the Big 12 (Oklahoma, ranked No. 10, and Iowa State, No. 6) at noon ET, the ACC (Notre Dame and Clemson, No. 2 and 3, shown here in a previous game) at 4 p.m. and the American Athletic Conference (Tulsa, No. 23, and Cincinnati, No. 9) at 8. There are more, including the Big Ten at noon ET n Fox (Ohio State, No. 4, and Northwestern, No. 14) and the SEC at 8 p.m. on CBS (Alabama, No. 1, and Florida, No. 7). Read more…

1) Animation, everywhere. The night starts with the very best: The brilliant “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is 7 p.m. on TNT, rerunning at 7:30 p.m. Then you could switch to ABC, for “Olaf’s Frozen Adventure” (shown here) at 8 and “Shrek the Halls” at 8:30; both have so-so stories, but lush, movie-style animation. Then it’s over to Freeform for the “Grinch” cartoon movie (2018) at 9 p,m., “The Star” (2017) at 11 p.m. and “Simpsons” Christmas reruns at 1 and 1:30 a.m. Read more…

1) “A Christmas Carol” (1999), 8 and 10 p.m., TNT. It’s a three-Carol day, which some people might figure is two – or even three – too many. Freeform has the Jim Carrey version (2009) at 3:45 p.m.; FX has the Guy Pearce one (dark, dreary and way too long) at 8 and 11:30. But give this one a try; it’s sharply filmed and Patrick Stewart (shown here) is the consummate Scrooge. Read more…