1) Football conference championships. You can catch two huge ones today, back-to-back. At 4 p.m. ET on ABC, the SEC has Texas (ranked No. 2) and Georgia (No. 5). At 7, CBS has top-ranked Oregon (shown here) and Penn State (No. 3). Read more…
Looking back at the Disney studio where he’d been a star, Kurt Russell had a sharp analysis.
“They used to say, ‘nothing’s changed since Walt died,’” he said. “And I used to say to myself, ‘That’s the problem.’ Because things were constantly changing under Walt Disney. Constantly.”
Disney had some flubs, but he also had innovative triumphs, from “Snow White” and “Fantasia” (shown here) to “Mary Poppins” and the theme parks. Then came …
Well, a new book (Old Mill Press, 2024) by Stephen Anderson is called,“Disney In-Between,” sub-titled “The Lost Years 1966-86.”
That was the stretch between Disney’s death (Dec. 15, 1966, at 65) and the time when Michael Eisner (who took over in ‘84) began to show success with “Roger Rabbit,” “Golden Girls” and “Oliver & Company.” Read more…
1) “Blue Bloods,” 10 p.m,, CBS. We’re a week from the end of a 14-season run. For now, it’s a typically busy hour: Eddie tries to help a guy whose apartment has been taken over; the squatter, alas, is an informant of her husband, Jamie. Also, Jamie’s brother probes a student’s death, their sister tries to find a dating match (shown here) for Anthony and their dad is suspicious of the governor. Read more…
1) “Elsbeth,” 10 p.m., CBS. With her bright colors and unrelenting cheer, Elsbeth Tascioni easily fits into the holidays. But now we meet people who top that: A couple spends all year making cheery videos and pushing Christmas projects. (The wife is played by Vanessa Bayer, shown here.) Yes, a murder will follow; it’s a clever hour in which even Elsbeth feels a tad grumpy. Read more…
1) “Christmas in Rockefeller Center,” 8-10 p.m., NBC. Here’s a Christmas combination — spectacle (the Rockettes and the lighting of a giant tree) plus lots of music. That includes Kelly Clarkson (the host), plus Jennifer Hudson (shown here at a previous event), Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Raye, Coco Jones, Thalia, The Backstreet Boys, and Little Big Town. Read more…
1) “CMA Country Christmas,” 8-9 p.m., ABC. Here’s a seasonal blend. There are contemporary Christian songs from Amy Grant (shown here in a previous performance, CeCe Winans and King + Country. And holiday-pop songs from Trisha Yearwood (who co-hosts with Grant), Cody Johnson, Ashley McBryde, Jon Pardi and Brittney Spencer. Read more…
1) “Brilliant Minds,” 10 p.m., NBC. The subject here is pain – an unbearable excess of it or an unexplained absence of it. There are flaws; a “revelation” from one patient is something the doctors should have known from her medical history. But the story is told with intelligence and emotion, particularly from Zachary Quinto (shown here with Alex MacNicol), as Dr. Wolfe. Add the doctors’ personal dramas and you have a strong hour. Read more…
Maybe you’ve grumbled that there just aren’t enough Christmas movies and specials on TV.
Or maybe not. Still, there’s a new force – the Hallmark+ streamer – to add to the pile. That peaks on the next two Thursday (Dec. 5 and 12), with “Holidazed” (shown here) and more.
Hallmark+ joins a general overload. For the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we counted 45 new holiday films on basic-cable channels – Lifetime, Hallmark, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Great American Family, Oprah Winfrey Network, UPtv and BYUtv.
Into that crowd comes this new streaming service with: Read more…
1) “Holiday Spectacular,” 8-10 p.m., ABC. The next few weeks will have plenty of specials, bubbling with bright colors and Christmas music, That starts from Disneyland and Disney World. Julianne Hough and Alfonso Ribiero host and sing. Other performers: Elton John (shown here with the hosts), Carly Pearce, John Legend, Pentatonix, Leslie Odom Jr. and Ava Max. Read more…
1) “Grinch” and “Reindeer in Here.” We can catch back-to-back animation – old and new, great and fairly good. First is the superb “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” at 7:30 p.m. on Bravo. Then switch to CBS for “Reindeer in Here” (shown here), a good-enough hour from 2022. Moving to a new town, a boy feels lonely … until a confused reindeer needs help saving Christmas. Read more…
