1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. After a five-week rest, the show begins its Biden era. John Krasinski hosts, Machine Gun Kelly is the music guest and the presidential focus shifts. In the most-recent new episode (Dec. 19), Alex Moffat – who had often played Eric Trump (as he does here, left) – became Joe Biden. Previously, that role went to Jason Sudeikis and then, for six election-time episodes, Jim Carrey. Read more…
1) “Citizen Kane” (1941), 8 p.m., Turner Classic Movies. The American Film Institute’s best-movie list covers a century-plus of masterworks. This is No. 1 – just above “The Godfafher” and “Casablanca.” It’s a prime example of “auteur” filmmaking, molded by one person’s vision. Orson Welles (shown here) conceived, directed and starred in it; he also claimed he’d co-written it. (He only offered a couple ideas to the writer, but co-accepted an Oscar for the script.) The result weaves words and pictures perfectly. Read more…
1) “Grown-ish,” 8 p.m., Freeform. This was originally built around the college life of Zoey (shown here), from “Black-sh”; she still narrates, but tonight’s story ranges afar. Ana reaches a turning point in her romance and Aaron finds his activist spirit revived. This isn’t quite a comedy – there are plenty of them on Thursdays – but it is a crisply filmed half-hour, with likable young people exploring life. Read more…
1) “Resident Alien” debut, 10 p.m., Syfy. Newcomers often have a tough time fitting in. Now imagine you’re a being (shown here) from another planet, pretending to be the guy you killed. It’s easy to look like him physically (what with shapeshifting and such), but how do you learn the attitudes? This is partly a comedy, in the Sheldon/”Big Bang” style of trying to grasp the human condition. But it’s from Steven Spielberg’s company and also offers sleek, science-fiction visuals, with gorgeous Vancouver backdrops. Read more…
1) “Mixed-ish” season-opener, 9:30 p.m., ABC. Back in 1986, Bow says, her family loved “Dukes of Hazzard” – a show about White guys eluding the police in a car with a a Confederate flag. (“1986 was a really long time ago,” she decides.) She and her siblings (shown here in a previous episode), all mixed-race, had spent their early years on a commune, where race was never an issue. Now Bow’s brother is pulling off a racial deception, in an episode that’s fairly funny and sometimes serious. Read more…
1) “Bob (Hearts) Abishola,” 8:30 p.m., CBS. This wraps up a terrific two-parter that sees the romance wobbling. Bob and Abishola are engaged … but she hasn’t shed her marriage in her native Nigeria. Now her husband (shown here, right) is here, insisting they’ll never divorce. Strong wills collide, in a funny episode. Read more…
1) Football, 3 p.m. ET, Fox; 6:40 p.m., CBS. The conference-championship games start with two of the all-time great quarterbacks: Aaron Rodgers (shown here) and the Packers host Tom Brady and the Bucs. Combined, those men are 80 years old and (counting post-season) have passed for 1,128 touchdowns, 333 interceptions and 50,462 yards. One will go to the Super Bowl, facing the winner of the game between the Chiefs (hoping quarterback Patrick Mahomes has recovered) and the Bills. Read more…
1) “A Wild Year on Earth” (shown here), 8 p.m., BBC America. This is what BBC does magnificently – gorgeous wildlife scenes, weaved together with a grand score. The six parts will cover two months at a time. That starts with a few creatures – great horned owls (beautifully filmed) and polar bears — that are comfy in the frozen North. We also learn odd facts: Otters have nature’s thickest hair; manatees, by comparison, need warmth because (despite appearances) they lack blubber. Read more…
1) “The Blacklist,” 8 p.m., NBC. After giving us exactly two episodes, “Blacklist” took a two-month break. At least, those two had some big moments – peaking with Red killing Liz’s mother, before she could reveal Red’s murky secrets to Liz. Now Liz is not happy; the former friendship (shown here in an earlier episode) has shattered. Read more…
1) “Mom,” 9 p.m., CBS. Even after a big loss – the departure of Anna Faris as Christy – this remains one of TV’s best comedies. Tonight, Jill (Jaime Pressly, right) worries that her romance with Andy (Will Sasso, left), the beefy cop, is over; her friends soon join her on a stake-out. That part is fairly good, but the big laughs come from Adam – Bonnie’s husband and Andy’s friend. When it comes to social signals, he’s genuinely clueless. Read more…
