1) Football, 3 p.m. ET Fox; 6:30, CBS. It’s the season’s third game between the Eagles (16-3) and Commanders (14-5). They’ve split two; this time, the winner goes to the Super Bowl. At night, the Chiefs (shown here, 16-2) host the Bills, 15-4. The Chiefs have two straight Super Bowl titles; the Bills lost four straight Super games in the early ‘90s and haven’t been back. Read more…
1) “Asia” debut, 8 p.m., BBC America. Here is nature filmmaking at its best. This first hour (of seven) sticks to the water, from awesome manta ray (with 15-foot wingspan) to a two-inch mudskipper (shown here), a fish out of water (literally) that skims the surface. We see aome fish frantically trying to outrun sharks; others join with snakes for a two-tiered hunting party Read more…
1) Figure skating, 8-11 p.m., NBC and Peacock. The U.S. Championships front-load their biggest draw, the women’s finals. (Shown here is a glimpse of last year’s event.) Also, rhythm dance has its finals from 5:12 to 7:30 on Peacock and 6-7:30 on USA. Saturday and Sunday bring the men, pairs and free dance. Read more…
1) “Only Murders in the Building” (shown here), 9-11 p.m., ABC. This wraps a great season that aired on Hulu. A clever finale assembles key suspects, played by Tina Fey (a rival podcaster), Michael Rapaport (Detective Kreps), Cara Delevingne (Alice, Mabel’s friend) and more. Also, Oliver (Martin Short) and Charles (Steve Martin) have emotional family moments. Read more…
1) “Nova,” 9 p.m., PBS. For almost 80 years, people have buzzed about UFO’s in silly movies (shown here) and serious forums. This hour traces that history and offers reasonable explanations for most sightings. But it doesn’t spoil the intrigue. It includes pilots and scientists who point to unexplained cases, insisting they be taken seriously. That starts a strong string of new “Nova” hours. Read more…
1) “Doc,” 9 p.m., Fox. For Amy (Molly Parker, shown here), it’s the first day back at work, after a crash took away eight years of personal and medical memories. Flashbacks show when she was an overbearing medical chief; now she can only watch and suggest. This compelling hour has opposite patients, one in denial, the other deeply loving. We also see Amy’s life, emerging from a fog. Read more…
1) “Miss Scarlett” (shown here), 8 p.m., PBS. Last week, Eliza (a detective) argued with the chief inspector (who dislikes detectives). Still, they solved a case. Now he has a job for her, but not what she expects. In a smartly written hour, she manages to wedge into another case. Read more…
1) Football, 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN and ESPN2. It’s the national championship game, with two frequent champs. In the past 95 years, Notre Dame has won the title 11 times, Ohio State (shown here) 8; only Alabama (14) and Southern Cal (9) compare. Each team had three playoff wins, two of them upsets, to get here. Read more…
1) Football. The two top teams return to action. The Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions, had 15-2 records, giving them byes in the first playoff week and home games now. The Chiefs host the Texans at 4:30 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN; the Lions (shown here) host the Commanders at 8 on Fox. One note: In the college playoffs, all four bye teams promptly lost their next game. Read more…
1) “Outlander” and “The Couple Next Door, 8 and 9:05 p.m., Starz; repeating at 10 and midnight. It’s a double Sam Heughan night. In the “Outlander” season-finale, he’s an 18th-century warrior married (via time-travel) to a modern surgeon. Then a six-part drama (shown here): H’s a cop with an open marriage, complicated when a young couple moves next door. Read more…
