1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here), 8:30 a.m. Thursday, NBC; 9 a.m., CBS. Both networks show the same 12 marching bands, 26 floats (bearing music by Jon Batiste, Chicago, the Muppets and more) and – just before noon – Santa. The difference is in the early part, with Broadway casts. NBC even starts a half-hour early, to squeeze in five musicals (including “Spamalot” and “Back to the Future”), plus the Rockettes. It has a preview hour at 8 p.m. Wednesday.
2) Post-parade flurry, Thursday. Some people will jump directly to a pro football rriple-header, It’s Packers-Lions at 12:30 p.m. ET on Fox, Commanders-Cowboys at 4:30 p.m. on CBS and 49ers-Seahawk at 8:20 on NBC. (Also, ESPN has a college game, with Mississippi and Mississippi State, 7:30.) Others stick with NBC for the National Dog Show at noon and a parade rerun at 2. And at night, the Christmas movie deluge (see next item) begins.
3) Christmas movies. Over a four-day stretch, 14 films debut. Hallmark has ones at 8 p.m. Thursday and 6 and 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday (the last one being an intriguing time-travel tale). Great American Family is 8 p.m. ET Friday (with Candace Cameron Bure) through Sunday (with her daughter, Natasha Bure). Lifetime is 8 p.m. Saturday (with Teri Hatcher) and Sunday. Others are on Disney+ (Thursday) and UpTV (7 p.m. ET Sunday).
4) More Christmas lite. A “Greatest Home Videos” special has Cedric the Entertainer showing holiday videos. That’s 8 p.m. Friday on CBS and was slated to lead into “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Now “Rudolph” has been moved to Nov. 27, but there are cartoons elsewhere: “The Year Without a Santa Claus” is 4:12 p.m. Thursday on TNT and 4:42 p.m. Friday on TBS. Also, “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” is 8 p.m. Friday on CW.
5) “Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test,” 9 p.m. today, Fox. It’s a strange time for Tom Sandoval, the former reality-show bartender. In “The Masked Singer,” he was ousted instantly; in “Special Forces,” he’s one of six survivors (out of 14), with two episodes left. Two top athletes (Dez Bryant and Robert Horry) dropped out, but two (Bode Miller and Erin Jackson) remain, plus reality folks — Sandoval, Nick Viall, Tyler Cameron and JoJo Siwa.
6) “Kennedy” conclusion, 7-10 p.m. today, History. A three-night, eight-hour documentary wraps up. The first two hours (a rerun at 7 and new one at 8) view John Kennedy’s arrival as the youngest president in U.S. history. He faces the Bay of Pigs disaster and the Cuban missile crisis and begins new approaches to diplomacy with Russia and to civil rights. The last hour views his final half-year and his legacy, two days before the 60th anniversary of his death.
7) “Groundbreakers,” 8-10 p.m Tuesday., PBS. At 7, Billie Jean King told her mother she was going to do something great. At first, she was simply a great tennis player; she won 39 titles in Grand Slam events. Then came her “Battle of the Sexes” win over Bobby Riggs … the year after Title 9 opened the door to gender-equality in sports. This film (on the eve of her 80th birthday) has stars in their 20s talk to King and others about the tough road to equality.
8) “Fargo” season-opener, 10 p.m. Tuesday, FX. Here is classic “Fargo” – sometimes weird and wild, sometimes quiet and droll, always fascinating. A quiet Minnesota mom (Juno Temple) accidentally gets in a fight, sparking a chain of events. There’s death, destruction and her claim that nothing happened. We meet her sweet husband and his disturbing mom. Next week, a villain (Jon Hamm) emerges. The result is beautifully written and, at times, fiercely violent.
9) “Saturday Night Live Thanksgiving” 9-11 p.m. Wednesday,, NBC. Each year, “SNL” assembles some of its Thanksgiving sketches. There are plenty to choose from, including ones with Martin Short (“Ed Grimley’s Thanksgiving”), Rachel Dratch (“Debbie Downer Dinner”) and Adam Sandler (the turkey song). Some possibilities go way back: On Nov. 20, 1976, Paul Simon reluctantly sang “Still Crazy After All These Years” while dressed as a turkey.
10) “Magical Holiday Celebration,” 8-10 p.m. Sunday, ABC. Now ABC leaps into the season. At 7 p.m. is a Christmas edition of “America’s Funniest Home Videos.” At 8 is this special, with pop music performances from Disney World and Aulani Resort in Hawaii. At 10, “The Great Christmas Light Fight” looks at extreme decorations from past years. The show will have new 10 p.m. episodes for two more Sundays, then will be 9-11 p.m. Dec. 12 and 19.