Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Thursday, December 15. All times are Eastern.
Top picks
iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2016 (The CW, 8 p.m.): Never let it be said that The CW doesn’t know its audience. The network showcases the hottest young teen idols in this hour-and-a-half-long concert filmed at Madison Square Garden. That includes the likes of Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Diplo, The Chainsmokers, Fifth Harmony, Charlie Puth, Lukas Graham, DNCE, and a One Direction-less Niall Horan. And hosting this celebration of millennial music? Why, 52-year-old radio personality Elvis Duran, of course!
Mom (CBS, 9 p.m.): CBS packs up for the holidays with winter finales for all of its Thursday night shows. That includes the winter finale of Mom, in which Christy and Bonnie return to “illegal activities” in order to get ahead during the holiday shopping season. That leads William Fichtner’s Adam to question their morality. Thankfully, no one questions morality like William Fichtner.
Nashville (CMT, 9 p.m.): Nashville’s fifth season officially returns on January 5, but to celebrate its move to CMT, the channel is debuting an early “preview” of the first half of the two-hour premiere. This’ll be the first chance to see how the former ABC show looks and feels on its new CMT home. And while the premiere will presumably push forward with new storylines for most of the characters, we’re pretty sure they’re going to keep the “was Juliette Barnes killed in a plane crash?” mystery going for as long as possible. Because while Hayden Panettiere may have been virtually indestructible on Heroes, Juliette Barnes is a mere country music superstar/Oscar-nominated mortal.
Premieres and finales
Uncle Grandpa (Cartoon Network, 4 p.m.): Admittedly, the fact that these two episodes of Uncle Grandpa round off the end of season four is made slightly less exciting by the fact that season five premieres tomorrow. Nevertheless, celebrate the end of Uncle Grandpa’s fourth season with a vaccine in “Doctor Visit” and some birthday cake in “The Cake Mistake.”
The Big Bang Theory (CBS, 8 p.m.): The Big Bang Theory winter finale relies on that classic sitcom staple: the wacky birth episode. Bernadette goes into labor, which interrupts Amy and Sheldon’s annual sex night. And in case you read that wrong, it says annual sex night, not, well, you know.
The Great Indoors (CBS, 8:30 p.m.): The Great Indoors winter finale centers on an “Office Romance.” When HR lifts a rule about interoffice dating, Joel McHale’s Jack decides to go out with a co-worker. Assuming Jack makes a romantic connection with one of his millennial colleagues, we’ll finally get a TV show that depicts a romance between an older man and a younger woman!
What Would You Do: Holiday Edition (ABC, 10 p.m.): John Quiñones gives his hidden camera/social experiment TV show a holiday makeover. We’re not quite sure what that entails, but maybe he’ll put mistletoe in a public place and just see what happens.
Pure Genius (CBS, 10 p.m.): And finally, CBS rounds off its night of winter finales with this Dermot Mulroney medical drama. The Bunker Hill surgeons try to make medical history with the largest chain of internationally paired kidney donations. Which would be more impressive if Grey’s Anatomy hadn’t done pretty much the exact same thing (albeit domestically) back in season five.
Regular Coverage
Top Chef (Bravo, 10 p.m.)
Streaming pick
Friday Night Lights, “I Think We Should Have Sex” (Netflix): As it always does, Nashville’s return has us thinking about Friday Night Lights, and specifically about the utter perfection that is Connie Britton in Friday Night Lights. This first season episode lets Britton do what Britton does best: Act the hell out of every bit of material she’s given. And in this particular case that means figuring out how to react when she learns that her 15-year-old daughter is planning to have sex for the first time.