Daily Best Bets

1) “A Nashville Christmas Carol,” 8 p.m., Hallmark. TV loves to mix music and romance. Graceland and Dollywood movies have thrived; a new Dolly Parton film (“Christmas On the Square”) arrives Sunday on Netflix. Here’s a movie filled with people who have had No. 1 country hits (Wynonna, Kixx Brooks, Sara Evans) … or might (RaeLyn) … or is married to somone who has them (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). A producer (Jessy Schram, shown here) does a country-music special with her ex-boyfriend, Read more…

1) “Great Performances: Holiday Inn,” 9 p.m. PBS. With a shutdown on Broadway and beyond, we appreciate a vibrant burst of musical memories. This one happens to have a weak story, brightened by some terrific Irving Berlin songs. A 1942 movie told of an inn that’s open only on holidays. Berlin inserted some songs he’d written previously (“White Christmas” and “Easter Parade”) and wrote more. This stage production (shown here) also added his “Blue Skies,” “Cheek to Cheek” and more. Read more…

1) “Supernatural” series finale, 9 p.m., CW, with preview at 8. For 15 seasons, two brothers(played by  Jared Padalecki, shown here, and Jensen Ackles) have battled demons and intermittently saved the world. In the preview, Eric Kripke says he created the show with “the love of urban legends I’ve had my whole life.” Then he added more. The show, Misha Collins (who plays Castiel) says, has “the most epic mythology humanity can contrive.” We see that in the preview, ranging from angels to Lucifer, from a teen musical to a Scooby-Doo cartoon. Read more…

1) “For Life” season-opener, 10 p.m., ABC. Aaron (Nicholas Pinnock) is a jailhouse lawyer – literally. He got a law degree in prison and uses it to help fellow inmates. (Pinnock is shown here with Dorian Missick.) But as the second season begins, there’s a bigger goal: This is based loosely on the true story of Isaac Wright, who won his own freedom and became a defense lawyer in the outside world. Now Aaron has a complex plan to get his conviction overturned. Success would let him try to rebuild his shaky relationship with his wife, his daughter and the world. Read more…

1) “Big Sky” debut, 10 p.m., ABC. David E. Kelley has written the best shows on broadcast (“L.A. Law,” “Boston Public”), cable (“Big Little Lies”) and beyond (“Goliath”). Now he returns to broadcast, adapting a novel. We meet two sisters, on an empty Montana highway … and a lonely trucker who lives with his badgering mother ,,, and a highway patrolman in a wobbly marriage. And Cody (Ryan Phillippe, shown here), surrounded by two women – his detective partner and his ex-wife. Soon, they’ll intersect. Read more…

1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola” season-opener (shown here), 8:30 p.m., CBS. Last season’s best new comedy returns, picking up the pace a bit. Last season, Bob slowly and drolly tried to romance Abishola, the Nigerian native who had nursed him back from a heart attack. Now he wants to move faster, but her world is crowded and complicated; that includes aunt, uncle, son, jobs and (back in Nigeria) traditions and a marriage that was never formally ended. This opener, as usual, is a splendid mix of humor and warmth. Read more…

1) “Fargo,” 10 p.m., FX. This is pure “Fargo” – strange and cryptic, yet brilliantly crafted in its own weird way. At the core is Rabbi Milligan (shown here in a previolus episode), a pawn in the 1950 Kansas City power struggle. As a kid, he was twice traded to opposing families, in a futile attempt to keep peace; then a trade gave him young Satchel.  Now they drive the backroads, eluding danger. A mostly black-and-white episode, with hints of “Wizard of Oz,” it’s the sort of episode in which nothing happens … until everything does. Read more…

1) “NCIS: Los Angeles” and “Bull,” 8 and 9 p.m., CBS. This was supposed to be a big night for CBS – a collision between high-scoring Alabama and Louisiana State football teams. But the game was postponed due to COVID at LSU, leaving the network with reruns of unspecified episodes. “Bull” will have its actual season-opener Monday; before that, “NCIS: LA” (shown here) has its second new episode Sunday. Read more…

1) “The Blacklist” season-opener, 8 p.m., NBC. For seven seasons, Raymond “Red” Reddington (James Spader, shown here in a previous episode) has been pointing Elizabeth Keen (Megan Boone) and the FBI task force toward big-deal villains. Now he has another, named Roanoke, who specializes in extracting people. He also has bigger problems: Keen is finally bonding with Katarina, who is her mother … and a former Soviet spy … and maybe one of the only people who know Red’s true identity. Read more…

1) “Grey’s Anatomy” (ABC) and “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC) season-openers, both 9 p.m. The two longest-running scripted shows current on TV collide; both are changing with the times. For “SVU,” starting its 22nd year – an investigation faces community distrust of police, And for “Grey’s”, starting its 17th season (the original cast is shown here), the COVID crisis grows. Things get worse when teens accidentally set a fire; that story starts on the “Station 19” season-opener at 8, then spreads into the two-hour “Grey’s” opener. Read more…