1) “Homeward Bound: A Grammy Tribute to Paul Simon,” 9 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. Simon (shown here) has won the top Grammy (Album of the Year) three times. Now, at 81, he’s among the performers in a night of his music. Here are stars of country (Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Little Big Town), jazz (Irma Thomas, Trombone Shorty), Americana (Rhiannon Giddens) and more including Stevie Wonder, Billy Porter and the Jonas Brothers.
2) “The Letter: A Message to Our Earth,” 8 p.m., PBS. In 2015, Pope Francis wrote an open letter about the climate crisis. This gorgeous film shows him meeting activists – an Amazon tribal chief … a Sengalese man whose land is being washed away … an 11-year-old whose India regtion was battered by storms … a Hawaiian couple tracing the loss of coral reef. “We’re building a tower of human arrogance,” Francis says. “Nature is screaming, ‘Stop. Stop.’”
3) “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. There’s a ragged likability to this special, which debuted Dec. 1. The writing and acting make it feel like a quickly assembled holiday pageant. But it’s also a showcase for Parton’s brilliant songwriting, skillfully performed by Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Willie Nelson, Jimmie Allen, Parton and more.
4) “Lego Masters: Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. The three-night, four-hour competition – sort of a fun trifle – concludes. There are two more challenges to be built by these duos, linking past contestants with Robin Thicke, Cheryl Hines, Finesse Mitchell and the late Leslie Jordan.
5) “Abbott Elementary,” 9 and 9:31 p.m., ABC. This has been a big month for Quinta Brunson, the show’s writer, producer and star. There’s been an American Film Institute award, some Golden Globe nominations and an Oprah interview. In tonight’s first rerun, Janine (Brunson) gets a cooking lesson from Melissa; in the second, she goes to a hookah club. Also in the first, Gregory is startled to find that sending students to the principal’s office is no punishment.