Week’s top-10 for Nov. 27: Grinch and Rudolph lead the way

1) “Rudolph” and “The Grinch,” 8 p.m. today, CBS, and 8 p.m. Thursday, NBC. Two classic cartoons, opposites in style, return. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” debuted in 1964, with stop-motion animation and a casual pace, stretched to an hour; viewers considered it charming. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (shown here) came two years later, with a half-hour of Chuck Jones’ vigorous, movie-style animation. Next month, they’ll be on Freeform and TBS/TNT.

2) More Christmas cartoons. There are plenty, varying in quality. NBC follows the great “Grinch” with “Shrek the Halls,” which has lovely visuals and a lame story. That’s 8:30 p.m. Thursday, the day Netflix adds “The Bad Guys: A Very Bad Holiday.” On Saturday, CBS has the fairly good “Reindeer in Here” at 8 p.m. and the witty “Robbie the Reindeer” tales at 9 and 9:30. On Sunday, Freeform has “Frosty the Snowman” at 8:15 p.m.

3) “The Artful Dodger” opener, Wednesday, Hulu. What happened to the teen pickpocket in “Oliver Twist”? This imagines he escaped from London, was befriended by a captain and became a surgeon in the Navy and in Australia. He’s played by Thomas Brodie-Sangster (the “Love Actually” kid). At first too brash and cruel, the story soars when we meet Fagin (David Thewlis) and an idealistic doctor-hopeful (Maia Mitchell, of “Fosters” and “Good Trouble”).

4) “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., Thursday) and “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m. Friday), CBS. Let’s catch these while we can; CBS recently said the upcoming season (starting Feb. 15-16) will be the last for both. “Sheldon” – from Chuck Lorre, whose “How To Be a Bookie” starts Thursday on Max — ends May 16. “Blue Bloods,” with more episodes, ends next fall. For now, both have reruns: Georgie and Mandy have a spa weekend; Frank finds his grandson.

5) “Kitchen Nightmares,” 8 p.m. today and 9:02 p.m. Tuesday, Fox. It’s a triple Gordon Ramsay week on Fox. New hours are at 8 p.m. today (“Kitchen Nightmares”) and 8 p.m. Thursday (“Hell’s Kitchen,” with some quick lessons in restaurant finances). In between, on Tuesday, is a rerun from last month: When a New Jersey woman retired, her passion project was to start an Italian restaurant with her three sons. Two of them, alas, didn’t take it seriously.

6) “Sullivan’s Crossing,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, CW. After a shaky start, this has become a solid drama. Facing legal fights as a Boston surgeon, Maggie retreated to her dad’s Nova Scotia campground … and found fresh trouble. Her dad slid into despair and alcoholism … her boyfriend broke up with her … she kissed Cal (the lawyer-turned-handyman), but apologized. Now a new crisis, involving the son of a divorcing couple, brings a fresh wave of emotion.

7) “Christmas at Rockefeller Center” and “Christmas at Graceland,” 8 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. Kelly Clarkson hosts the first one; she’ll perform, as will Barry Manilow, Carly Pearce and several duos – Cher and Darlene Love, Adam Blackstone and Keke Palmer, Liz Gillies and Seth MacFarlane, David Foster and Katharine McPhee. At 10, holiday and Elvis songs will be done by Lana Del Rey, Post Malone, Lainey Wilson, John Legendand more.

8) “25 Days of Christmas” start, Friday, Freeform. Back in 1996, it seemed hasty to begin a holiday surge on Dec. 1. Not any more; this year, two channels had new holiday films in October. Still, there are plenty of worthy shows on Freeform — some obscure (catch “Eloise at Christmas” at 11 a.m. Friday) and some not. The first two “Home Alone” films are at 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday, 7 and 9:30 a.m. (yes, a.m.) Saturday and 8:50 and 11:20 p.m. Sunday.

9) College football conference championships. Friday has the football finale of the dissolving Pac-12, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC; it also has Conference USA (New Mexico State-Liberty) at 7 on CBS Sports Network. Then comes the Saturday surge, with Georgia-Alabama (4 p.m. ET on CBS), Florida State-Louisville (8 p.m. on ABC) and seven more – noon ET on ABC and ESPN; 3 p.m. on Fox; 4 p.m. on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2; and 8 p.m. on Fox

10) ALSO: Streaming networks join the Christmas surge, including Eddie Murphy’s “Candy Cane Lane” (Friday, Amazon Prime) and several shows (“The Santa Clauses,” “The Shepherd,” “Mickey’s Christmas Tales”) on Disney+. But there are alternatives – a sharp “Shetland” mystery (Wednesday, Britbox) and “May December” on Netflix, with Julianne Moore as a woman who had an affair with a 7th-grader and later married him.