Weekly Previews

Week’s top-10 for Dec. 2: Christmas, country, college football

1) “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” 8-10 p.m. Wednesday (Dec. 4), NBC. Here’s a familiar Christmas combination — spectacle (including the Rockettes and the lighting of a mega-tree) plus music. That includes Kelly Clarkson (shown here at last year’s show), the host, plus Jennifer Hudson, Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Raye, Coco Jones, Thalia, The Backstreet Boys, and Little Big Town. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 25: Santa parades into our TVs

1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here in a previous year), 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, NBC and Peacock. The holiday season begins. There are 22 floats, 11 bands,17 balloons and 10 performance groups. 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…

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 18: from Da Vinci to Lisa Simpson

1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson (shown here) host and sing;, Peyton Manning merely hosts. Also, George Strait gets a lifetime award. Post Malone links with Chris Stapleton for “California Sober,” Thomas Rhett with Teddy Swims for a mash-up. Others are Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBride, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church,, Brooks & Dunn and more Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 11: doctors, soldiers and the Grinch

1) “St. Denis Medical” debut, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The “Superstore” people have another quick, slick workplace comedy. Allison Tolman (shown here), from the “Fargo” mini-series, plays an overstressed chief nurse, with Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Goldbergs”) as an underskilled administrator. David Alan Grier (shown here), 68, offers the droll counterpoint of an older doctor. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Nov. 4: election … and alternatives

1) Election, Tuesday. It’s finally time to end the voting and start counting. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on PBS; 7 on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox; and 8 on CW, plus earlier on news channels. This takes patience; last time, it wasn’t final until Saturday. But at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart (shown here) has a live hour: “Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About it Now.” Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Oct. 14: CBS loads up with debuts and more

1) “NCIS: Origins” debut, 9-11 p.m. today, CBS. In 1991, Leroy Gibbs starts work at what will become NCIS. He’s a stoic guy whose wife and daughter were killed, but his boss Mike Franks (shown here) sees potential. The first case – a good one — is dark and intense; so is Gibbs (Austin Stowell), but he’s surrounded by high-energy colleagues. Mark Harmon narrates as older Gibbs. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Oct. 7: “Tracker” leads a spurt of openers

1) “Tracker” season-opener, 8 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Three weeks later than usual, CBS launches its fall season. It starts with a ratings-leader, a solid show with Colter (Justin Hartley) tracking people. This opener spends a lot of time setting up an ongoing story and a re-mix of the office team (shown here, with Velma and Reena); then it solves its case-of-the-week quickly. It’s a fairly good start to what could be a terrific season. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 30: music, murders and veeps

1) “American Music Awards 50th Anniversary,” 8-10 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. Once a ratings powerhouse, this has stumbled, with no shows since 2022. Now it moves to CBS for a revival: New awards will be in May; first, this special has interviews, old clips and new performances from Mariah Carey (shown here in a previous performance), Kane Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Green Day, Brad Paisley and more. Read more…

Week’s top-10 for Sept. 23: Debuts, country and a vital “Choice”

1) “The Choice,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. Each presidential year, the “Frontline” people create a profile of the candidates. The result – in the PBS tradition – tends to be deep, detailed and even-handed. Now comes the third “Choice” portrait of Donald Trump and the first of Kamala Harris. Even in a week stuffed with debuts (including “Murder in a Small Town,” shown here), this is the most important telecast. Read more…