Judd Apatow returns to the stand-up stage

Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Tuesday, December 12. All times are Eastern.

Top pick

Judd Apatow: The Return (Netflix): Growing up on Long Island, Judd Apatow washed dishes in a comedy club and interviewed the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Garry Shandling for his high school radio show, all as part of his aspiration to become a stand-up comedian. But he put that dream on hold in his mid-20s, in order to eventually become the critically acclaimed and commercially successful writer-director-producer behind Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Freaks And Geeks. Not a bad trade-off, but while he was working on 2015’s Trainwreck, Apatow was bit once more by the stand-up bug, leading to the taping of his debut comedy special at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal. So lend an up-and-coming talent a hand and give Judd Apatow: The Return a watch—because what else does he have going for him, other than his cameo in The Disaster Artist, his recurring role as the very busy (but very reasonable) voice of reason on Lady Dynamite, the second season of Crashing, the third season of Love, that Shandling documentary, that Juliet, Naked adaptation…

Regular coverage

Runaways (Hulu)
She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix)
The Crown (Netflix)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Fox, 9 p.m.)

Wild card

Greatest Holiday Commercials Countdown 2017 (The CW, 8 p.m.): In the event the Hershey’s Kisses playing “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” isn’t at the top of this completely arbitrary list, The A.V. Club promises to mount a thorough recount at our own expense. And if it still doesn’t come out on top? Well, then Christmas is canceled.