Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s new episode sounds like one of those where the show’s music guru, Alf Clausen, can and probably will have an awful lot of fun. It imagines Lisa transplanted to Broadway for a month, and being taken in by the Great White Way. Even the episode’s title, “Lisa with an S,” suggests this particular half-hour of The Simpsons is concocted by playful Broadway enthusiasts: It’s a play on Liza with a Z, the name of an Emmy-winning 1972 Liza Minnelli musical special, directed by Bob Fosse. It’s show time!
National Geographic, 8:00 p.m. ET
MINISERIES PREMIERE: This new National Geographic miniseries is a drama, not a documentary, so proceed accordingly. It’s the story of the Pilgrims’ arrival in the New Land, and, eventually, the first Thanksgiving – but the approach, this time, isn’t all pleasantries and corn on the cob. Pilgrim leader William Bradford is played by Vincent Kartheiser, late of
Mad Men, and other co-stars in this period drama include Ron Livingston, Anna Camp and Natascha McElhone. And if you watch tonight’s installment of this Thanksgiving drama and want seconds, the concluding installment will be served up tomorrow night. For full reviews, see
David Hinckley's All Along the Watchtower and
Ed Bark's Uncle Barky's Bytes.
TBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
I’d prefer that TBS sister station TCM were showing this 1939 family classic instead, because then it would run without commercials. But it isn’t, so if you want to continue the once-beloved tradition of gathering the family over the Thanksgiving holidays to watch Dorothy and Toto and the rest, this may be as close as you get. Unless you have it on DVD. Or can find it on a streaming site…
AMC, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s new episode is called “Heads Up.” And here’s a “Heads Up” heads up: Tonight, finally, we may learn the fate of Glenn, who was last seen with zombies surrounding him and chewing on entrails. But they hay not have been his intestines, so there’s hope for a happy ending. Maybe even a happy theme song: “Happy entrails to you / until we meet again…”
CBS, 9:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s new episode involves a case about abortion, and a case in which Diane (Christine Baranski) finds herself battling both the judge and her own beliefs.
AMC, 10:00 p.m. ET
This second episode is better than last week’s premiere – so if you liked that, you’ll really like this. And if you didn’t like that, tune in one more time to see whether or not Into the Badlands ups its game enough to secure your interest. If it does, it’ll probably be because of Emily Beecham as The Widow, one of the ruthless and martial-arts-loving Barons in this odd mixture of past and future dystopian worlds. She has an entrance, and a fight scene, that won’t soon be forgotten – but only if you’re still intrigued enough to tune in and watch.
Comedy Central, 10:00 p.m. ET
This new stand-up special by Trevor Noah, the successor to Jon Stewart on The Daily Show, may be first time in Comedy Central history where a comedian says “Some things are bigger than others,” and it’s not a sex joke. For the actual context, tune in – but in general, the phrase pops up as Noah recounts phone conversations with his mother and grandmother, informing them that he got the Daily Show hosting job.