1) “SNL 50,” 8-11 p.m. ET Sunday, NBC. “Saturday Night Live” arrived on Oct. 11, 1975, promptly changing TV. Now comes the 50th-season reunion. It includes past hosts and music guests — Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson (shown here), Quinta Brunson, Kim Kardashian, Dave Chappelle, Paul Simon, Paul McCartney, John Mulaney, Robert De Niro and more. Read more…
1) Super Bowl, 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday, Fox. Nine times, a team has won back-to-back Super Bowls. Until now, none has reached the game the next year. Now the Chiefs (shown here), 17-2, have a shot at the first three-peat. Their previous two Super wins – and this year’s previous game – were by only three points each. They face the Eagles, 17-3, who are fresh from a 55-23 win. Read more…
1) Grammys, 8 p.m. ET, CBS (5 p.m. PT, rerunning at 8:30). Trevor Noah hosts for the fifth straight year and Beyonce leads with 11 nominations. Her “Cowboy Carter” (shown here is up for best album, along with albums by Charli xcs (7 nominations), Billie Eilish (7), Taylor Swift (6), Sabrina Carpenter (6), Chappell Roan (6), Jacob Collier (3) and Andre 3000 (3). Read more…
1) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET today, ESPN and ESPN2. Two traditional champs, Notre Dame (shown here) and Ohio State, collide for the national title. Since 1929, they’ve won 11 and 8 national championships respectively; only Alabama (14) and Southern Cal (9) compare. As the playoffs started, they were ranked No. 8 and 7. Each then had three wins, two of them upsets, leading here. Read more…
1) “St. Denis Medical,” 8 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. After a three-week break, this reminds us that it’s one of the season’s best new shows. Two prisoners (shown here) arrive, after stabbing each other; now nurses tell the cynical Dr. Ron they can soothe them. Two other stories are fairly good; the prisoner one is hilarious. And in the final minute, all the stories combine for a comedy peak Read more…
1) “Doc” debut, 9 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. Surviving a car crash, a doctor (Molly Parker, shown here) has lost eight years of memory. Now she’ll re-learn modern medicine – and adjust to the tragedies and mistakes in her personal life. This sounds like a soap opera, but it’s one of the year’s best new broadcast-network shows, written smartly and acted with subtle perfection. Read more…
1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” Tuesday, 8-10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m., ABC. At Times Square, Carrie Underwood does the last songs of 2024 and the Jonas Brothers do the first of 2025. Ryan Seacrest (shown here) also has live music from Megan Moroney and Sophie Ellis-Bextor and a pre-taped concert with Lenny Kravitz, Teddy Swims, Renee Rapp. T-Pain, Hardy, more. Read more…
1) Grammy trilogy, CBS. Three new specials – all from the Grammy people – offer music greats At 8 p.m. Tuesday, an Andrea Bocelli Christmas special has Jennifer Hudson (shown here with Bocelli), Dua Lipa, Josh Groban and Sofia Carson. From 9-11 p.m. Friday, we meet songwriters – Alicia Keys, Sting, Billie Eilish, etc. Then Grammy’s “Most Memorable Moments” is 9-11 p.m. Sunday. Read more…
1) “Kennedy Center Honors,” 8:30-11 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Each year, this has elegant and eloquent tributes to the arts greats. This time, it honors Bonnie Raitt, Arturo Sandoval, Francis Coppola, the Grateful Dead and (in a first) the Apollo Theater. Queen Latifah (shown here) hosts; performers include Emmylou Harris, Sheryl Crow, Savion Glover, Dave Matthews and an all-star jazz band. Read more…
1) “Blue Bloods” series-finale, 10 p.m. Friday, CBS. The14-year run of Police Commissioner Frank Reagan (Tom Selleck, shown here) ends with one more crisis: New York’s gangs combine to demand the release of prisoners and amnesty for those on trial. Things turn deadly, involving Frank’s sons, grandson and daughter-in-law (all cops) and daughter (a prosecutor). Read more…
