AXS TV, 3:55 p.m. ET
This 2005 documentary by Martin Scorsese is an insightful and inspirational biography, and artistic examination, of the life and work of Bob Dylan, one of the most important musical figures of his, and succeeding, generations. The documentary is a very long one – but today, AXS shows it all at once, at all deliberate speed, like a rolling stone…
Nickelodeon, 7:00 p.m. ET
“Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!” Yes, it’s SpongeBob SquarePants, the animated sponge whose animated series premiered on Nickelodeon 20 years ago, and soon went from the porifera of pop culture (see what I did there?) to the absolute center. (My college students at Rowan University may initially be unfamiliar with some of TV’s older icons, but they all know SpongeBob.) The popularity of the TV show led, in 2017, to a Broadway musical set at Bikini Bottom – and for this new TV special, the original Broadway cast, including Tony nominees Ethan Slater and Gavin Lee, reunites, to capture the music and marine mayhem for posterity. And for tonight’s Nickelodeon viewers. “Are you ready, kids? I said, are you ready?”
TNT, 8:00 p.m. ET
On Christmas Eve, as is now traditional, one of the Turner networks will repeat this 1983 comedy in a marathon 24-hour cycle. But tonight, as a teaser, one of those networks, TNT, presents A Christmas Story as a prime-time double feature. Beware of those B-B guns… and that lamp.
NBC, 11:29 p.m. ET
Tonight’s guest host, making her third such appearance, is Jennifer Lopez. The musical guest – because this time, she’s not doing official double duty – is DaBaby. And dat’s DaScoop.