1) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. With her bright colors and unrelenting cheer, Elsbeth Tascioni easily fits into the holidays. But now we meet people who top that: A couple spends all year making cheery videos and pushing Christmas projects. (The wife is played by Vanessa Bayer, shown here.) Yes, a murder will follow; it’s a clever hour in which even Elsbeth feels a tad grumpy. Read more…
1) “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Here’s a Christmas combination — spectacle (the Rockettes and the lighting of a giant tree) plus lots of music. That includes Kelly Clarkson (the host), plus Jennifer Hudson (shown here at a previous event), Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Raye, Coco Jones, Thalia, The Backstreet Boys, and Little Big Town. Read more…
1) “CMA Country Christmas,” 8-9 p.m., ABC. Here’s a seasonal blend. There are contemporary Christian songs from Amy Grant (shown here in a previous performance, CeCe Winans and King + Country. And holiday-pop songs from Trisha Yearwood (who co-hosts with Grant), Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Jon Pardi and Brittney Spencer. Read more…
1) “Brilliant Minds,” 10 p.m., NBC. The subject here is pain – an unbearable excess of it or an unexplained absence of it. There are flaws; a “revelation” from one patient is something the doctors should have known from her medical history. But the story is told with intelligence and emotion, particularly from Zachary Quinto (shown here with Alex MacNicol), as Dr. Wolfe. Add the doctors’ personal dramas and you have a strong hour. Read more…
1) “Holiday Spectacular,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. The next few weeks will have plenty of specials, bubbling with bright colors and Christmas music, That starts from Disneyland and Disney World. Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribiero host and sing. Other performers: Elton John (shown here with the hosts), Carly Pearce, John Legend, Pentatonix, Leslie Odom Jr. and Ava Max. Read more…
1) “Grinch” and “Reindeer in Here.” We can catch back-to-back animation – old and new, great and fairly good. First is the superb “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” at 7:30 p.m. on Bravo. Then switch to CBS for “Reindeer in Here” (shown here), a good-enough hour from 2022. Moving to a new town, a boy feels lonely … until a confused reindeer needs help saving Christmas. Read more…
1) “Henry Mancini: 100,” 9 p.m., PBS. Linking a concert, recording sessions and more, we hear the range of Mancini music, from frisky (“Pink Panther,” “Peter Gunn”) to warm, with “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses” done twice. There’s too much bland talk, alongside great vocals — Michael Buble (shown here), Cynthia Erivo, Monica Mancini — and instrumentals. Read more…
1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here in a previous year), 8:30 a.m. to noon, NBC and Peacock. It will be a mega-parade — 22 floats, 11 bands,17 balloons, 10 performance groups, one Santa. And NBC adds Rockettes, more dancers, soloists (Jennifer Hudson, Billy Porter, Kylie Minogue) and the Broadway casts of “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Outsiders” and “Death Becomes Her.” Read more…
1) “The Untold Story of Mary Poppins,” 9-11 p.m., ABC. The movie and its stars seems eternal. Julie Andrews (shown here), now 89, and Dick Van Dyke, turning 99 on Dec. 13, still perform; co-composer Richard Sherman died in May, at 95. Here’s a view of the film, which ABC airs Thursday. It won five Oscars, including one for Andrews and two for the Sherman brothers. Read more…
1) Dancing With the Stars” finale, 8-10 p.m., ABC. No one was ousted last week, pushing all five “stars” to the finals. Olympians Ilona Maher (rugby) and Stephen Nedoroscik (gymnastics; he’s shown here with Rylee Arnold) face football’s Danny Amendola, actress Chandler Kinney and Joey Graziadei of “The Bachelor.” Last week’s scores carry over, with a new free-style dance to add in. Read more…
