Daily Best Bets

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…

1) “The Masked Singer” finale, 8-10 p.m., Fox. Only three singers remain, neatly hidden under the masks of Sun, Mushroom (shown here) and Crocodile. They’ve already outlasted some talented pros – old (Paul Anka), young (Tori Kelly, Taylor Dane), in-between (Clint Black) and multi-faceted (Dr. Elvis Francois, the Mayo Clinic’s “singing surgeon”). Then again, snowboarder Chloe Kim and basketball’s Lonzo Ball also came close. Tonight, they’ll be unmasked and the judges will choose the champion. Read more…

1) “Big Sky” mid-season finale, 10 p.m., ABC. This has been a mixed blessing so far. Yes, it has great dialog and skilled actors; we expect that from David E. Kelley shows, from “L.A. Law” to “Big Little Lies.” But the story has an overload of truly wretched people, including (shown here) a cop and a trucker who have abducted two teen sisters and a trans prostitute .Kelley has promised that a part of the story will conclude this week; when the show returns Jan. 26, it will have at least 11 more episodes. Read more…

1) “The Voice” finale, 8-10 p.m. NBC. This is a big music night, with performers — see below — including Billie Eilish (shown here), Kelli O’Hara … and the final five for “Voice.” Blake Shelton has two singers – Jim Ranger and Ian Flanigan – in the running, with one apiece for Gwen Stefani (Carter Rubin), John Legend (John Holiday) amd Kelly Clarkson (DeSz). Tonight’s performances rerun at 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the two-hour finale at 9. Read more…

1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” 7:30 p.m., PBS (check local listings) and PBS Kids; “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 8 p.m., TBS. By coincidence, two of TV’s all-time greatest half-hours run back-to-back. The Charlie Brown cartoons had gone to Apple TV+, causing fears that a classic (shown here) would be out-of-reach for many people. Then came a compromise: Non-subscribers can find it this weekemd (through tonight) on Apple online; it’s at 7:30 p.m. nationally on PBS Kids and most PBS stations. Read more…

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Here’s a top music guest – Bruce Springsteen (shown here), in his fourth time on the show. The host is Timothee Cyears after Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”halamet, who was Oscar-nominated for “Call Me By Your Name,” co-starred in “Little Women” … and was born 20 years after “Born to Run.” Read more…

1) “The Prom” (shown here), any time, Netflix. This reached Broadway two years ago, drawing seven Tony nominations, including best musical. It tells of a bunch of stars who head to a small town to create a party for a teen who wasn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. Now Ryan Murphy (“Glee”) has turned it into a movie with, appropriately, a bunch of stars – Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Tracey Ullman, Kerry Washington and Andrew Rannells. Read more…