Counting down the year from your couch? Here’s your guide to the growing number of televised New Year’s Eve celebrations.
NBC kicks off the night with
A Toast to 2015! (8 p.m.). Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb recount memorable moments of 2015. Then Bravo’s main man hosts
NBC’s New Year’s Eve Game Night with Andy Cohen (10 p.m.) featuring a gaggle of funny celebs. And finally we watch the ball drop.
NBC’s New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly (11:30 p.m.) is live from Times Square with a performance by Gwen Stefani.
ABC offers a mouthful with Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2016 (8-11 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.) This bicoastal bash hosted by Seacrest, Jenny McCarthy and Fergie rings in the New Year in Los Angeles and New York. Carrie Underwood performs.
Pitbull’s New Year’s Revolution (8-10 p.m. and 11 p.m., Fox) is live from Miami, Fla. Pitbull, Terry Crews and Wendy Williams host, with appearances by Jussie Smollett, Shawn Mendes, Austin Mahone, Pia Mia, Prince Royce and R. City. Who are these people?
Or keep it classy and tune into New York Philharmonic New Year’s Eve: La Vie Parisienne (8 p.m., PBS). Up to you!
Recovering from New Year’s shenanigans from your couch? Make yourself a mimosa and tune into Sherlock: The Abominable Bride (9 p.m. Friday, PBS). Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) and Watson (Martin Freeman) are bringing it back to 1895 in this mostly-original story of a vengeful ghoul terrorizing the streets of Victorian London. You don’t have to be a Sherlock fanatic (or “Cumberbitch”) to enjoy this one-off, 90-minute special, but you might get hooked.
WEDNESDAY 30
MythBusters (Midnight, Science Channel) – The holiday mega-marathon — which began Dec. 23 — continues through the early hours of Monday. All nine seasons will air consecutively.
The Twilight Zone (6 p.m., Syfy) – Not to be outdone, this network’s annual marathon of all 156 episodes runs tonight through Sunday.
SUNDAY 03
Cooper Barrett’s Guide to Surviving Life (Series Premiere, 8:30 p.m., Fox) – Cooper (newcomer Jack Cutmore-Scott) navigates post-college life with troublemaking roommates, a love-interest neighbor and a business idea in need of investors.
Downton Abbey (Season Premiere, 9 p.m., PBS) – In the start of this sixth and final season, the future of Downton is jeopardized by downsizing and extortion. Mrs. Hughes asks a touchy question, and Daisy speaks up while Anna and Bates wait it out.
Bordertown (Series Premiere, 9:30 p.m., Fox) – This animated series from the folks behind Family Guy takes place in the fictional state of Mexifornia following two families: the Buckwalds, led by a border patrol agent patriarch, and the Gonzalezes, a family of ambitious immigrants next door.
TUESDAY 05
New Girl (Season Premiere, 8 p.m., Fox) – Jess plans Cece and Schmidt an engagement party, unaware that Cece’s mom (“Big Mama P”) does not know Schmidt even popped the question.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine (9 p.m., Fox) – When Charles’ ex tries to step in on his relationship with Genevieve, Jake intervenes. Elsewhere, Amy asks Terry for a letter of recommendation and Gina helps Holt and Rosa crack a case.
Pitch Slapped (Series Premiere, 10 p.m., Lifetime) – Aren’t a cappella puns so 2015?
The Shannara Chronicles (Series Premiere, 10 p.m., MTV) – Magic and primitive technology collide in this new sci-fi/fantasy series (based on Terry Brooks’ series of novels spanning from 1977 to now) set in the post-apocalyptic landscape of the Four Lands.
CONTACT JAC KERN: jkern@citybeat.com or @jackern
This article appears in Dec 30, 2015 – Jan 5, 2016.