NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
It turns out that Carrie Underwood wasn’t the most dynamic choice to star in this 2013 NBC telecast, which reintroduced the idea of musical theater on live television to a new generation. But the production of The Sound of Music Live! was immensely popular anyway, even with a problem like Maria. Stephen Moyer, co-starring as her male lead, wasn’t effectively dynamic either – but the songs and story worked, and the supporting cast included several who should have been playing lead: Audra McDonald, Laura Benanti, and Christian Borle. So here it is again, repeated over the holidays, just as the 1965 movie traditionally is shown.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
This 1936 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical is presented tonight, by co-hosts Robert Osborne and Sally Field, as one of “The Essentials,” and it certainly is. But so is the movie that follows it, another Astaire-Rogers musical masterpiece made one year earlier: 1935’s Top Hat. So sit back, and enjoy the glamour, the music, and the unbridled talent. First up: Swing Time, in which Astaire plays a dancer who aims to impress his fiancé (Betty Furness), but ends up being much more impressed by his new dancing partner (Rogers).
NFL Network, 8:25 p.m. ET
Yes, Saturday is a weird day for NFL Network to show Thursday Night Football, but that’s the place to watch tonight’s game, in which the 7-7 Washington Redskins hopes to knock the 6-8 Philadelphia Eagles completely out of the playoff picture – and, in so doing, win the NFC East division.
Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET
This is the penultimate episode of the season, and a lot is happening: One of Ash’s traveling companions has been vanquished by the big evil nemesis, which has decided to take shape – and the shape it’s taken is the same as Ash’s.
TCM, 10:00 p.m. ET
Now here is a movie “Essential”: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, dancing and romancing in glorious black-and-white in 1935’s Top Hat. And when he sings “Cheek to Cheek” to her as the two of them whirl around, it’s one of the quintessential movie-musical moments.