1) Country Music Association awards, 8-11 p.m. Wednesday, ABC. Luke Bryan and Lainey Wilson (shown here) host and sing;, Peyton Manning merely hosts. Also, George Strait gets a lifetime award. Post Malone links with Chris Stapleton for “California Sober,” Thomas Rhett with Teddy Swims for a mash-up. Others are Dierks Bentley, Ashley McBride, Luke Combs, Kelsea Ballerini, Eric Church,, Brooks & Dunn and more
2) “The Simpsons,” 8 p.m. Sunday, Fox .In the style of Ray Bradbury’s “Illustrated Man,” Lisa meets a guy whose tattoos engulf her in separate stories. The first two are pretty good; the third is truly remarkable: It satirizes a world where people feel compelled to watch “quality TV,” with dark pictures, darker themes and tangled, too-long stories.
3) “Leonardo da Vinci,” 8-10 p.m. today and Tuesday, PBS. A painter, sculptor, inventor and scientist, da Vinci leaped between projects … often abandoning them. But the ones he finished – from Mona Lisa to The Last Supper – are revered. Like previous Ken Burns films, this is beautifully researched and filmed; unlike them, it’s fairly impersonal.
4) “Night Court” season-opener, 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. This gets silly, but in a good way, The first scene is a delight – when was the last time you saw anyone smash Faberge eggs? — and the guy-in-a-trash-can scene is fun. For Dan (John Larroquette), there are big questions: Why is his nemesis (Wendie Malick) here? And could he be the father of Abby’s boyfriend ?
5) “Nature: Attenborough’s Life Journey,” 8 p.m. Wednesday, PBS. For PBS, it’s a week of superstars – da Vinci, Cline and David Attenborough. In 1954, he virtually invented nature telecasts; 70 years later, he’s still doing them at 98. This film suffers from saccharine narration, but has great footage – from the past and present – and a splendid story to tell.
6) “Nugget is Dead? A Christmas Story,” 8-10 p.m. Thursday, CBS. Steph (Vic Zerbst, who co-wrote this) expects an elegant Christmas with her boyfriend’s family. Then she hears her family’s dog is sick. She retreats to her home town on the Australian coast. Her way-less-elegant kinfolk cope with the mortality of the one being that holds them all together.
7) “Great Performances,” 9-10:30 p.m. Friday, PBS. Here’s a burst of pure, passionate music, plus a few old clips. Backed by great Nashville musicians, 18 women and two groups perform the songs of Patsy Cline. Most are very good and a some are spectacular – especially Wynonna, capturing the emotional power of “Sweet Dreams” and “Crazy.”
8) Football, 6:30 p.m. ET Saturday, CW. This is the PAC-12 Conference championship game (sort of). The catch: These teams (Washington State and Oregon State) are the only ones left. Others left the conference, leaving a sort of PAC-2. Six teams will join in 2026, but for now, the two play nearby schools. Also Saturday: Army-Notre Dame at 7 p.m. on NBC.
9) “Three Wiser Men and a Baby,” 8-10 p.m. Saturday, Hallmark. At times, Hallmark’s formula seemed unbudging. Comedy was scarce; guys were just in support. Then “Three Wise Men and a Baby” – comic and guy-centered — was the most-seen cable movie of 2022. Ever since, the network has had more laughs and more guys … and now it has this sequel.
10) “Tsunami: Race Against Time,” 9 and 10 p.m. Sunday, National Geographic, concluding the next day. On the day after Christmas in 2004, a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia sent 100-foot waves. The largest tsunami disaster in history, it killed an estimated 228,000 people in 14 countries. This documentary offers news footage and memories.