Month: December 2022

1) “Saturday Night Live,” 11:29 p.m., NBC. Steve Martin and Martin Short (or Steve Martin Short for, well, short) combine to host., with Brandi Carlile as music guest. Martin has hosted “SNL” 14 times – going back 46 years — but hasn’t done it in the past dozen years. He also co-hosted once (with Short and others), co-hosted the Oscars (with Alec Baldwin) and stars with Short and Selena Gomez in the dandy “Only Murders in the Building” (shown here). Read more…

1) Christmas classics, 8-10 p.m. Here are three of the best holiday films — each made for theaters, not TV. “A Christmas Story” (1983), on TNT, alternates between nostalgia and cynicism, as a boy (Peter Billingsly, shown here) struggles with a 1940s holiday. “Scrooged” (1988), on the Paramount Network, is a satire, with Bill Murray as a cold-hearted TV executive. “Elf” (2003), at 8 and 10 on AMC, has a guy (the 6-foot-3 Will Ferrell) realizing he’s not really an elf. Read more…

1) “CMA Country Christmas,” 9 p.m., ABC. Some great back-up musicians make all the difference here. A house band, with a rousing horn section, backs many of the vocals; also, Molly Tuttle brings her gifted bluegrass group. And yes, the singers are quite good. There’s Carly Pearce (shown here), who hosts, plus Scotty McCreery, Maren Morris, Dan + Shay and more. At times, the music is too relentlessly peppy, but then the War and Treaty duo blasts a powerful “O Holy Night.” Read more…

1) “The Amazing Race” finale, 9 p.m., CBS. History says the first “Bachelorette” was a former Miami dancer who choose a firefighter; they’re still married. Now we see a similar duo – a Miami dancer (Michelle Burgess) and her husband, a firefighter (Luis Colon). They face a couple that met on “Big Brother” and twins (shown here), adopted from Korea, who accidentally discovered each other via DNA tests; they met in person this year, on their 36th birthday. Read more…

2) “People’s Choice Awards,” 9-11 p.m., NBC and E. For three years, this was confined to cable, where it belongs. Last year, it added NBC, with Kenan Thompson hosting; now it does that again. Categories range from silly (“favorite bromance”) to solid (movie of the year). There are special awards for Ryan Reynolds, Shania Twain and Lizzo – who also has nominations for her reality show and her “About” Damn Time” song. Read more…