1) “Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade,” 9 a.m. to noon, NBC, CBS and Peacock. Last year, the parade (shown here in a previous year)was TV-only, confined to a single block. Now it sprawls anew, with 10 bands. 36 inflatables, 800 clowns and 28 floats, many containing singers – Rob Thomas, Mickey Guyton, Jordan Fisher, Jimmie Allen, Nelly, more. Early, NBC adds Carrie Underwood, the Rockettes and the casts of “Annie Live” and Broadway’s “Six,” “Wicked” and “Moulin Rouge”; CBS adds “Chicago” and “Waitress.”
2) Pro football, all day. After the parade, some people will catch a tripleheader. At 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox, the winless Lions host the Bears (3-7). Then the Dallas Cowboys (7-3) host the Raiders (5-5), at 4:30 p.m. ET on CBS. At 8:20 p.m. ET, New Orleans (5-5) hosts Buffalo (6-4) on NBC.
3) Critter time. NBC has its annual post-parade event, with the National Dog Show at noon; a parade rerun follows at 2. And this year, Fox has the “World Pet Games” from 8-10 p.m., with contestants from 20 countries. Yes, dogs will be there – doing a hugh jump and an “extreme catch” – but so will cats, a bearded dragon, a miniature horse and even an armadillo.
4) “The Magic Maker,” 8 p.m., ABC. It’s fun to see a surprise marriage proposal … or a soldier’s surprise homecoming … or a surprise for a firefighter who didn’t get a retirement party, due to COVID. Now imagine you have a real magician working on all those surprises. That’s what Adam Trent does here. His skill is impressive, but this hour has too few tricks and too much talk about emotions. It’s followed by two “America’s Funniest Home Videos” hours, stuffed with Thanksgiving moments.
5) Movies, cable. You can spend the day with great family films. Syfy has the “Back to the Future” films (1985, ‘89 and ‘90) at noon and 2:30 and 5 p.m.; Freeform has “Home Alone” ones (1990 and ‘92) at 6 and 8:30 p.m. And at 7:45 p.m., TBS has the ultimate family film, “The Wizard of Oz” (1939).