1) Thanksgiving Day parade (shown here in a previous year), 8:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, NBC and Peacock. The holiday season begins. There are 22 floats, 11 bands,17 balloons and 10 performance groups. NBC adds Rockettes, more dancers, soloists (Jennifer Hudson, Billy Porter, Kylie Minogue) and the Broadway casts of “Hell’s Kitchen,” “The Outsiders” and “Death Becomes Her.” Read more…
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 Read more…
1) “St. Denis Medical” debut, 8 and 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, NBC. The “Superstore” people have another quick, slick workplace comedy. Allison Tolman (shown here), from the “Fargo” mini-series, plays an overstressed chief nurse, with Wendi McLendon-Covey (“Goldbergs”) as an underskilled administrator. David Alan Grier (shown here), 68, offers the droll counterpoint of an older doctor. Read more…
1) Election, Tuesday. It’s finally time to end the voting and start counting. Coverage begins at 6 p.m. ET on PBS; 7 on ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox; and 8 on CW, plus earlier on news channels. This takes patience; last time, it wasn’t final until Saturday. But at 11 p.m. on Comedy Central, Jon Stewart (shown here) has a live hour: “Indecision 2024: Nothing We Can Do About it Now.” Read more…
1) “NCIS: Origins” debut, 9-11 p.m. today, CBS. In 1991, Leroy Gibbs starts work at what will become NCIS. He’s a stoic guy whose wife and daughter were killed, but his boss Mike Franks (shown here) sees potential. The first case – a good one — is dark and intense; so is Gibbs (Austin Stowell), but he’s surrounded by high-energy colleagues. Mark Harmon narrates as older Gibbs. Read more…
1) “Tracker” season-opener, 8 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Three weeks later than usual, CBS launches its fall season. It starts with a ratings-leader, a solid show with Colter (Justin Hartley) tracking people. This opener spends a lot of time setting up an ongoing story and a re-mix of the office team (shown here, with Velma and Reena); then it solves its case-of-the-week quickly. It’s a fairly good start to what could be a terrific season. Read more…
1) “American Music Awards 50th Anniversary,” 8-10 p.m. ET Sunday, CBS. Once a ratings powerhouse, this has stumbled, with no shows since 2022. Now it moves to CBS for a revival: New awards will be in May; first, this special has interviews, old clips and new performances from Mariah Carey (shown here in a previous performance), Kane Brown, Jennifer Hudson, Green Day, Brad Paisley and more. Read more…
1) “The Choice,” 9-11 p.m. Tuesday, PBS. Each presidential year, the “Frontline” people create a profile of the candidates. The result – in the PBS tradition – tends to be deep, detailed and even-handed. Now comes the third “Choice” portrait of Donald Trump and the first of Kamala Harris. Even in a week stuffed with debuts (including “Murder in a Small Town,” shown here), this is the most important telecast. Read more…
1) “Matlock” debut, 8 p.m. Sunday, CBS. This may be the best new show on any of the broadcast networks. In a tradition that goes from Miss Marple to Elsbeth, it gives us an older woman who’s underestimated until she solves the case. Then, however, it flips that cleverly. Kathy Bates (shown here) is perfect as a lawyer who bears the same surname as an old TV lawyer. Read more…
1) Emmy awards. 8 p.m. ET Sunday, ABC (5 and 8 p.m. on the West Coast.. It’s time to honor the best of a strike-shattered season … then move on to a better one. Eugene and Dan Levy are the father-son hosts. Netflix has 107 nominations, but FX has the top individual shows – “Shogun” (shown here) for drama (25), “The Bear” for comedy (23). Read more…
