1) Orange Bowl, 4 p.m. ET , ESPN. The regular season ended with two jolts: Top-ranked Georgia lost and slid to No. 6; Florida State (shown here) was undefeated, but stayed at No. 5. Fans fumed about missing the four-team playoffs. Now their teams collide, seeking some sort of consolation victory. Read more…
1) Rose Parade, 11 a.m. ET today, NBC, ABC and RFD-TV (which repeats it at 1 p.m.). The new year gets off to a bright, brassy start. There’s a music theme and 19 marching bands; the grand marshal is Audra McDonald, a Broadway star with 10 Tony nominations and six wins, half of them in musicals. There are also 18 horse units and about 39 floats. The parade (shown here in a previous year) is a Pasadena event that goes back to 1890; a football game (now the Rose Bowl) was added in 1902. Read more…
1) “Must Love Christmas” (2022), 9-11 p.m., CBS. Last year, CBS debuted three Christmas films – one poor, one so-so and this one, which is actually quite good. It has a likable star (Liza Lapira of “Equalizer,” shown here), lush visuals and a solid gimmick: She’s struggling with her Christmas novel and we glimpse at scenes from it. And unlike most of these, we keep guessing about her romantic future. Read more…
1) “Transplant,” 9 p.m., NBC. After a month-long break, “Transplant” returns with perhaps the best episode since its debut, three years ago. Desperate to become a Canadian citizen, Bash (shown here in a previous episode) has gathered paperwork from his Syrian war years. Now an official is asking about his workday; we jump between that government office and hectic moments in the hospital. “Transplant” skillfully shows life-and-death crises and subtle human moments. Read more…
As his career soared, Burt Reynolds created a new niche.
“He was a hero to the South,” director Adam Rifkin says in “I Am Burt Reynolds,” which airs at 8 p.m. ET Saturday (Dec. 30) on CW, launching a series of biographical movies. He was the perfect “sweaty, stout tough guy.”
It’s a regional-rogue image he molded through three “Smokey and the Bandit” films (shown here) and others, from “Gator” to “The Longest Yard” and “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.” And it persisted despite a quirk: Reynolds was a native Northerner who didn’t move South (to Florida) until he was 10. Read more…
1) “Kennedy Center Honors,” 8-10:30 p.m., CBS. Here’s how to stir a stately Washington, D.C. crowd. This opens with Gloria Estefan’s “Get On Your Feet” and closes with Ariana DeBose singing “Staying Alive.” In between, a Clark Sisters gospel tune has Queen Latifah (shown here in a previous event) leaping to her feet. She’s an honoree, with Dionne Warwick, Billy Crystal, Renee Fleming and Barry Gibb. Even if you tend to skip rap or classical, you’ll like this blend of music and memories.
Read more…
1) “NCIS: Sydney,” 8-11 p.m., CBS. As the strikes took hold, CBS grabbed some shows from other countries. The British “Ghosts” has been so-so, but this Australian series is fairly good; now it’s first three episodes rerun. A nasty case forces Americans and Aussies to work together. Naturally, both units are led by telegenic folks(shown here) who dislike each other … but dislike their bosses even more. The result is predictable, but in a good way. Read more…
1) “Call the Midwife” Christmas special, 8-9:30 p.m., PBS. British shows have a tradition of special episodes that air on Christmas Day. That can be clumsy for some shows, but this one — filled with earnest nuns, midwives and others, including a doctor – fits perfectly. There are life-and-death issues here, especially when a snowstorm hits. But there’s also fun: Trixie’s brother takes over the Christmas pageant and Reggie (shown here in a previous Christmas episode) insists on being an angel.
Read more…
For TV viewers, the long wait is now ending … slowly. Networks are getting their post-strike seasons in place.
NBC is doing it quite quickly — two comedies (“Extended Family” and “Night Court,” shown here) on Dec. 23, the return of “Transplant” on Dec. 28, then an “America’s Got Talent” spin-off and the “Magnum” finale the next week.
CBS is in less of a hurry; it will start almost everything in the week after it airs the Feb. 11 Super Bowl. Others are in between, with arrivals ranging from early January to mid-March.
Here’s an updated, chronological list, followed by an alphabetical one. Read more…
1) Marathons. On Christmas Eve, TV likes to repeat itself. The delightful “A Christmas Story” (1983, shown here) starts at 8 p.m. on TBS and 9 on TNT; it re-starts every two hours, for 24 hours. The clever “Love, Actually” (2003), merely runs twice, at 6 and 9 p.m. on BBC America. “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) runs from 8-11 p.m. on NBC – then all day Monday on E. The oddest one? Great American Family has a yule log, from 5 p.m. ET today to noon Monday. Read more…
Best-bets for Feb. 13: a day for love and skates 
Best-bets for Feb. 12: Olympians and a “6-8 lunch lady” 
Best-bets for Feb. 11: early mammals, evolved skaters 
