Following the final showdown (of 2015, anyway) between Empire Records and Lyon Dynasty, Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard will be roasting chestnuts for Fox to keep their Empire timeslot warm. Variety reports that Henson and Howard will host White Hot Holidays, a holiday-music variety special that will air during Empire’s regular time on December 9. White Hot Holidays will showcase modern renditions of classic holiday tunes; Mary J. Blige, Jamie Foxx, and John Legend are scheduled to appear, along with as-yet-unannounced guests. The hour-long special will also feature a special duet by Henson and Howard, and given their previous onscreen collaborations, it could be something like “Baby, It’s Cold Out Here For A Pimp” or “Let’s Get A Room (But Not At This Inn, Because It’s Full).”
Fox isn’t the only outlet trying to offer something other than old favorites like A Christmas Story and the only tangentially-related Harry Potter movies (looking at you, ABC Family—that is, until you become Freeform) to distract you from the holiday festivities and/or fracas. A Very Murray Christmas premieres December 4 on Netflix, and The Hallmark Channel will make good on its threats—er, promises—of a Mariah Carey holiday movie with A Christmas Melody on December 18. ABC’s put together a Peanuts retrospective with It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown, featuring Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, and Glee’s Matthew Morrison. And Pixar will celebrate Toy Story’s 20th anniversary with an original special on December 10.