1) “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,” 8-11 p.m. Saturday, then11:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., ABC. Dick Clark’s creation (now hosted by Ryan Seacrest, shown here) stretches to 5-plus hours. Performing live at Times Square are Duran Duran, New Edition, j-hope (from BTS) and TikTok star Jax. Billy Porter performs live in New Orleans; California parties, taped in advance, include Ciara, Shaggy, Ben Platt, Halle Bailey, Wiz Khalifa, Dove Cameron, Finneas, Aly & AJ and more.
2) More Eve, Saturday. Country music will have its moments. Dolly Parton co-hosts with her god-daughter Miley Cyrus on NBC (10:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.), with varied performers including Sia, Latto and Rae Sremmurd. And CBS will be in Nashville, packing 50 songs into four hours (8-10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.). Jimmie Allen and Elle King host, with music by Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Lainey Wiloson, Thomas Rhett, Kelsea Ballerini and more.
3) Bowl games, ESPN. There’s at least one game daily, from 11:30 a.m. PT today to three big ones Saturday: It’s the Sugar Bowl (Alabama and Kansas State) at 9 a.m., the Fiesta Bowl (Michigan and Texas Christian) at 1 and the Peach Bowl (Georgia and Ohio State) at 5. The latter two winners will collide Jan. 9 for the national championship. Other big bowl games (Citrus, Cotton, Rose) will wait until Monday, leaving Sunday to the pros.
4) “Dionne Warwick: Don’t Make Me Over,” 6 and 9 p.m. PT Sunday., CNN. Yes, Warwick has had hits – 56 on Billboard charts, with 100 million records sold. We hear pieces of 40 songs here. But she did much more, this terrific film says. She confronted racists. She sang the anthem of HIV awareness … and nudged Ronald Reagan to finally say “AIDS.” And she told “gangster rappers” to arrive at 7 a.m., for a lecture on misogyny; they were there at 6:52.
5) “The Rookie: Feds,” 9 and 10 p.m. Tuesday, ABC. A week before “Feds” starts the second half of its season, we can catch up via these episodes. First is the series opener: Simone (Niecy Nash), a former school counselor, joins Garza’s FBI unit. He assigns her to do paperwork, which she resists; the results defy credibility, yet are thoroughly entertaining. Then the most recent episode: Garza is accused of being a mole: Simone and others link to clear his name.
6) “So Help Me Todd,” 9 and 10 p.m., Thursday CBS. Here’s another chance to catch up on a good show, a week before new episodes begin. We see the dandy pilot film, followed by the flawed (but fun) second episode. First, a by-the-book lawyer (Marcia Gay Harden) and her ignore-the-book son Todd (Skyler Astin), who lost his detective license, scramble to find her husband. The second hour is a tad silly, as Todd shirks his case to work on hers.
7) “Kennedy Center Honors,” 8-10 p.m. Wednesday, CBS. Show-business icons get tributes, ranging from passionate (Sean Penn on U2) to mocking (Matt Damon on George Clooney). The performances include Eddie Vedder for U2; Dianne Reeves for Clooney; the Highwomen supergroup and gospel greats for Amy Grant; dancers and instrumentalists for composer Tanis Leon; and Garth Brooks, Patti LaBelle, Mickey Guyton and Ariana DeBose for Gladys Knight.
8) “Fleishman is in Trouble” finale, Thursday, Hulu. This brilliantly written mini-series began as the story of Toby Fleishman (Jesse Eisenberg), a good-hearted doctor whose cold-hearted wife vanished, leaving him with kids and questions. We learned that she had a nervous breakdown; now we learn that the story isn’t really about them. It’s about his suburban friend (Lizzy Caplan), who narrates; and about aging and changing and more. It’s odd, yet superbly done.
9) “iHeart Radio Music Festival,” 8-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, CW. In a sort of tune-up for New Year’s Eve, these reruns are stuffed with stars. Here are people from rap (Pitbull), country (Luke Combs, Maren Morris, Morgan Wallen), techno (Diplo) and more – Halsey, Sam Smith, Avril Lavigne, Marcus Mumford, Megan Thee Stallion and Black Eyed Peas. There’s even a retro moment, with Pat Benatar, who had her first hits 42 years ago.
10) “Great Performances,” 8 p.m. Sunday. The Vienna Philharmonic’s annual New Year’s Day concert (focusing on Strauss waltzes) includes two choirs, plus ballet dancers. That wraps an entertaining week for PBS. At 8 p.m. Tuesday, “American Masters: Groucho & Cavett” has too much Cavett and too little Groucho Marx, but is still fun. And Saturday night (technically 12:30 a.m., Sunday), the American Pops Orchestra and singers have a New Year’s Eve show.