1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 8-11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. to 2:13 a.m., ABC. The plan has persisted since 1973 – live coverage from New York, plus music taped in advance in California. This year,,the Times Square crowd will be gone, but Ryan Seacrest will be there; so will Lucy Hale and Billy Porter (shown here in “Pose”) – who duets with Cyndi Lauper. Also performing there will be Jennifer Lopez (just before midnight) and Jimmie Allen. Ciara hosts in Califorina, with Miley Cyrus, Nelly, Megan Thee Stallion and more.
2) “United in Song,” 8 and 9:30 p.m., PBS (check local listings). In a stunning stretch, four great singers – Brian Stokes Mitchell, Renee Fleming, Soloman Howard and Audra McDonald – do epic songs. And there’s much more coming, from classical instrumentalists to Josh Groban’s awesome “Impossible Dream.” A recent PBS special (based on an Ella Fitzgerald album) was flat and stagnant. This one – starting and ending with Patti LaBelle – is beautifully filmed at Mount Vernon and beyond.
3) More Eve music. NBC (10-11 p.m., 11:30 to 12:30) has Carson Daly hosting with Amber Ruffin and tWitch; performers include Blake Shelton, Gwen Stefani, Sting, Busta Rhymes, Goo Goo Dolls, Jason DeRulo, Pentatonix, Doja Cat and more. Fox (10-11 p.m., 11:30 to 12:30) has Ken Jeong and Joel McHale introducing “Masked Singer” winner Leann Rimes, Gloria Estefan, “singing surgeon” Dr. Elvis Francois and “iHeartRadio” clips of Green Day, John Legend, Ava Max, and Gabby Barrett.
4) More eve. NBC looks back at a bizrre year via “Countdown to 2021,” from 8-10 p.m. And CNN has Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen in Times Square at 8 p.m., with Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon taking over at 12:30 a.m. Guests include Jon Bon Jovi, Jimmy Buffett, Josh Groban, Aloe Blacc, Kylie Minogue, Goo Goo Dolls and even Carole Baskin of “Tiger King” fame.
5) “Mom,” 9 p.m., CBS. Pausing for a night of reruns, CBS includes one of the best episodes in this show’s seven-plus seasons. Like many of the funniest “Mom” moments, it has the hilarious sparring between Bonnie and her therapist (Rainn Wilson) … now heightened because his life is in shamb