CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
High school must have been awkward and embarrassing for the geeky brainiacs on this show the first time around. But they’re older now, and even wiser – so when they’re invited to speak about science to a high school class of young ladies, things will be completely different, right? If you think that, welcome to your first viewing of The Big Bang Theory.
NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET
The on-the-shelf banishment of this sitcom continues to show, drastically and almost absurdly. Having a Halloween episode in the dead of winter, necessitated by NBC’s decision to bench this series until midseason, was awkward enough. But now, in March, comes a Thanksgiving episode. But timing, in this case, isn’t everything, because it’s still worth watching – because Jeff (Joel McHale) finally comes face to face with his long-estranged dad. And the dad is played by guest star James Brolin.
Fox, 8:00 p.m. ET
After two days of live performances by the 20 singers who have made it thus far in this year’s competition, tonight that numbers will be cut in half, ending up with the year’s Top 10. It’s the viewers, not the judges, who are making the cuts this time, but expect, on this live outing, that the judges still will have plenty to say. Especially Nicki Minaj (pictured), who seems to have no seven-second delay in her own head, and Mariah Carey, who seems to have no sense of time being of any urgency whatsoever.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Tonight’s TCM lineup is a cinematic salute to Paris, with four movies set in Paris presented back to back (to back to back). The evening begins with 1960’s Can-Can, starring Shirley MacLaine as a scandalous dancer in Paris of the 1890s. In addition to the high-kicking exposed legs of the can-can dance itself, MacLaine also performs in an on-stage set piece called the “Garden of Eden ballet” (pictured). When it was shown, prior to the film’s release, during Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev’s visit to Hollywood during his 1959 tour of the U.S., he called that ballet “The most decadent thing I have ever seen.” He didn’t mean it as a positive review – but don’t you want to watch it now?
Fox, 9:30 p.m. ET
Tonight’s new episode of Glee pits the boys against the girls – and one of the acts by the girls treads heavily upon the Marilyn Monroe territory claimed by NBC’s Smash. The young ladies take on Monroe’s famous “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” number – but also update it by mashing it up with Madonna’s “Material Girl.” You go, girls.