Here’s what’s up in the world of TV for Monday, December 10. All times are Eastern.
TOP PICK
Take It All (NBC, 9 p.m.): Every holiday season, NBC puts some show on the air for, like, 500 hours every week, and it’s always a dumb game show, and we never see it again. This year, that show is called Take It All, Howie Mandel is its host, and the network says it’s a game of “gift swapping.” So. Question: Has somebody made a show out of Yankee Swap? Because if that’s the case, we’re all in favor, but they should have gotten Steve Carell to shout, “YANKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SWAP!” at the start of every episode. Anyway. Howie Mandel. Take It All. Some jokes write themselves.
REGULAR COVERAGE
Misfits (Hulu, 5 p.m.): A mysterious new girl named Abbey shows up. Rowan Kaiser remembers the time his heart was briefly stolen by someone named Abbey… a little show called… Downton Abbey. But he kept calling it Downtown Abbey, and, honestly, what’s a downtown abbey? We mean, c’mon, Rowan!
How I Met Your Mother (CBS, 8 p.m.): Where most shows are leaving the air this week, the CBS Monday sitcoms are going to be on again next week, because if there’s one person who doesn’t take the holidays off, it’s Ted Mosby. Donna Bowman really hopes he’ll consider it, though. She’s worried about his heart.
2 Broke Girls (CBS, 9 p.m.): Why, those lovable two broke girls, Max and Caroline, are such hard workers that they’re working overtime tonight, with a full hour of TV time, then airing their Christmas episode next week. Unfortunately, we’re not paying Pilot Viruet overtime, because we’re evil factory owners!
TV CLUB CLASSIC
Batman: The Animated Series (1 p.m.): Nightwing tries to go it on his own without Batman, runs into Catwoman, and gets into a scrape. Oliver Sava thinks that things would run a lot more smoothly in Gotham if Nightwing would just stop getting in the way with his wacky schemes and incompetence.
WHAT ELSE IS ON
American Country Awards (Fox, 8 p.m.): Are they still giving these to Taylor Swift? Because it seems like that ship sailed a long, long time ago. To be fair, we could totally look up who was nominated for these awards, but by now, you know the theme of every What’s On Tonight is this: We’re really, really lazy.
The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills (Bravo, 8 p.m.): Is this the season premiére? We’re not sure, but we just noticed there were two new hours of the thing airing tonight, which seems strange. There’s usually some sort of build-up. Anyway, go argue over Emily Yoshida’s article about last season again.
Mel Brooks Strikes Back (HBO, 9 p.m.): The comedy mastermind sits down for a chat that takes viewers through his substantial list of highlights (and, presumably, lowlights). Phil Dyess-Nugent just hopes that somebody eventually makes a stage musical of Dracula: Dead And Loving It. He’ll be first in line for it.
Killer Kids (Biography, 10 p.m.): The Biography Channel, which sprung up because that one A&E show that no longer airs on that network was so popular, is now turning itself toward such hard-hitting topics as “children who are murderers.” We only pray that Duck Dynasty doesn’t eventually get a network.
Big Top Pee-Wee (IFC, 8 p.m.): This sequel to the always enjoyable Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure got rid of director Tim Burton in favor of some other guy, to substantially diminished returns. Still, if the idea of Pee-Wee Herman being in the circus intrigues you, there are some fun bits amid all the worst stuff.
Grand Hotel (TCM, 8 p.m.): Greta Garbo, among others, stars in this all-star tale of the lives of the guests in a Berlin hotel in the period between the World Wars. The film holds the weird distinction of being the only movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture but no other Oscars to back that win up.
Monday Night Football: Texans at Patriots (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.): The Texans have the best record in the NFL at 11-1, while the Patriots are surging, having won their last six in a row. After a few weeks of vaguely lackluster Monday night match-ups, then, this one looks like it could be a real barnburner.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
The Amazing Race (Sunday): Sure, we stopped covering this show regularly, but we weren’t going to completely ignore the finale, particularly when there was a couple in there described as “life partners/goat farmers.” Scott Von Doviak could never quit a life partner/goat farmer couple!