NBC, 9:00 a.m. ET
Hello Kitty! And hello, all you other parade floats in this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – a celebration not only of the holiday, but of New York’s resilience after Superstorm Sandy. A day, indeed, to give thanks, unless you don’t have power to watch it.
Various Networks, 12:30 p.m. ET
Three games are being played today, so no matter when you’re having Thanksgiving dinner, there will be a game to watch before or after. And the three games are played on three different networks, starting at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS, when the 9-1 Houston Texans face the 4-6 Detroit Lions. The second game, at 4 p.m. ET on Fox, is the traditional Thanksgiving Day Dallas Cowboys game, this time with the 5-5 Cowboys going against the 4-6 Washington Redskins, in a quarterback contest pitting Tony Romo against the Redskins’ Robert Griffin III. Then, at 8 p.m. ET on NBC, the 7-3 New England Patriots square off against the 4-6 New York Jets. It’s the perfect trifecta for turkey day football tryptophans.
Encore, 8:00 p.m. ET
Part 4. This is the gripping emotional conclusion of this superb 1989 Western miniseries – and it’s the episode in which Tommy Lee Jones, after bringing taciturn behavior to an entertaining new high, rides reluctantly into the spotlight, if not the sunset.
Science Channel, 8:00 p.m. ET
No, this isn’t a roly-poly baby spinoff of Honey Boo Boo. It’s Science Channel’s annual revelry in which it basically loses its gourd – or, at least, launches it. It’s a celebration of catapults and other scientific apparatus used to launch pumpkins over long distances. And if it sounds like a total waste, note, at least, that a portion of the proceeds to go scholarships and charities.
ABC, 9:30 p.m. ET
Spike Lee directed this 2012 documentary, which marks the silver anniversary of Michael Jackson’s 1987 Bad album. Included in this 90-minute documentary: interviews with producer Quincy Jones and others, and lots of rehearsal footage and video clips.