TV Best Bets

Wednesday, Nov. 30: Syfy’s Incorporated Depicts a Not-So-Bright Future

Incorporated Syfy Ben Mark Holzberg/Syfy

All Times Eastern.

Wednesday, Nov. 30

Incorporated
Syfy & USA Network, 10pm
New Series!
Syfy’s new dystopian drama Incorporated is set in 2074, when a few corporations rule everything, governments rule nothing, climate change is off the charts, and the wealthy elite live in the lavish Green Zones while the masses live in the ruinous Red Zones. The story centers on Ben (Sean Teale), a young man from the Red Zone who’s infiltrated the Green Zone and the executive levels of Spiga Biotechnics in order to locate a woman from his past. The series also stars Julia Ormond and Dennis Haysbert. USA Network simulcasts the premiere episode tonight.

Arrow: “Invasion!”
The CW, 8pm
Crossover Event!
In the series’ 100th episode, Oliver (Stephen Amell) wakes up in an alternate reality, where everything seems perfect, but a closer look reveals questionable imperfections. Meanwhile, Felicity (Emily Bett Rickards) and the recruits take on a new threat with help from the Flash (The Flash’s Grant Gustin) and Supergirl (Supergirl’s Melissa Benoist).

Christmas in Rockefeller Center
NBC, 8pm
The annual special ushers in the holiday season as musical talent accompanies the lighting of the world’s most famous Christmas tree at the famed Rockefeller Center in New York City.

Polar Bear Town: “Rumble on the Tundra”
Smithsonian Channel, 8pm
Polar bear season has reached its peak and polar bear guide Dennis Compayre and a regular client, California photographer Andrew Bazeley, are looking for the perfect shot to complete Bazeley’s book. They encounter a pair of bears that locals call the Scrappy Brothers, because they wrestle each other to hone their skills for mating battles to come. A cub called Curious ventures away from its mother and finds itself on a dangerous collision course with a hungry but elderly male known as St. Pete.

Speechless: “R-A-Y-C RAY-CATION
ABC, 8:30pm
Maya (Minnie Driver) enlists the family to help JJ (Micah Fowler) romance his classmate Claire, but it backfires. Meanwhile, Ray (Cedric Yarbrough) has the perpetually late DiMeo family practice getting to school on time for an upcoming field trip.

Modern Family: “The Alliance”
ABC, 9pm
Hayley’s (Sarah Hyland) plan for a girlie day with new boyfriend Rainer Shine’s (Nathan Fillion) teen daughter goes haywire. Meanwhile, Luke (Nolan Gould) finds himself in a compromising position with a widow at the club (guest star Joely Fisher) and unwittingly helps Jay (Ed O’Neill) with his petition. Meanwhile, Gloria (Sofía Vergara), Phil (Ty Burrell) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) form an alliance to keep their respective goof-ups from their spouses.

Criminal Minds: “Mirror Image”
CBS, 9pm
Series star Joe Mantegna directed the new episode “Mirror Image,” in which the BAU team opens an investigation when a man who fully believes he’s Dr. Tara Lewis’ (Aisha Tyler) brother arrives in town, knowing everything about her and her family, and she is unable to make contact with her real sibling.

Empire: “What We May Be”
FOX, 9pm
Guest Star Alert!
Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) looks to Candace (Vivica A. Fox) for tips on how to plan an elaborate family dinner that will impress Angelo’s (Taye Diggs) mother, Diane (guest star Phylicia Rashad).

Vikings
History, 9pm
Midseason Premiere!
As Part 2 of Season 4 begins, the series moves to a new night and time. You may recall that in the midseason finale, the show took an enormous leap forward and time-jumped into a new era in its characters’ lives, following Ragnar’s (Travis Fimmel) disappearance after being defeated in the Paris battle by his brother Rollo (Clive Standen). Now, in the midseason premiere, Ragnar’s reappearance in Kattegat triggers a chain of events no one — except the Seer (John Kavanagh) — could have ever imagined. He unexpectedly arrives home to see what has become of his sons and to handle unfinished business in Wessex with King Ecbert (Linus Roache). Meanwhile, Lagertha (Katheryn Winnick) plans a power play in Kattegat, and Bjorn (Alexander Ludwig) prepares to fulfill his long-held dream to explore the Mediterranean in a sleek new boat built for him by Floki (Gustaf Skarsgård).

Dolly Parton’s Christmas of Many Colors: Circle of Love
NBC, 9pm
Original Film!
The second film based on the life and works of Dolly Parton finds Dolly’s beloved daddy (Rick Schroder) scheming to surprise Mama (Jennifer Nettles) with a Christmas gift that he could never afford. Young Dolly (Alyvia Alyn Lind) and her siblings excitedly join in the scrimping and saving in a selfless act of love.

black-ish: “Being Bow-racial”
ABC, 9:30pm

Bow (Tracee Ellis-Ross) must address her unresolved feelings about being biracial when Junior (Marcus Scribner) brings home his first girlfriend, who happens to be white. Dre (Anthony Anderson) seeks Charlie’s (Deon Cole) help in relating to his new project’s white, female point person. Zoey (Yara Shahidi) wants to remodel Jack (Miles Brown) and Diane’s (Marsai Martin) room for extra credit in design class.

Designated Survivor: “The Results”
ABC, 10pm
On the eve of the vote for a new House of Representatives, an unexpected development forces Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to consider cancelling the elections. Meanwhile, Kirkman must handle the fallout when news of Majid Nassar’s (Nicholas Massouh) death is leaked.

Code Black: “Sleight of Hand”
CBS, 10pm
Guest Star Alert!
Willis (Rob Lowe), Leanne (Marcia Gay Harden) and Jesse (Luis Guzmán) risk their lives to operate on an officer with an explosive bullet lodged in her leg. Also, Penn Jillette guest-stars as a magician who comes to Angels Memorial with difficulty breathing in the new episode “Sleight of Hand.”

Thursday, Dec. 1

A Charlie Brown Christmas
ABC, 8pm
This, Charlie Brown, is what Christmas TV is all about. Get out your shiny aluminum Christmas tree and practice your pageant dancing, because Charles M. Schulz’s 1965 charmer is back on ABC.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
The CW, 8pm
Crossover Event!
In the finale of the epic 4-night event, the Legends learn the aliens’ plan for the world and must work together with The Flash (The Flash’s Grant Gustin), Supergirl (Supergirl’s Melissa Benoist) and Green Arrow (Arrow’s Stephen Amell) to kill them once and for all.

NBA Basketball
TNT, beginning at 8pm Live
TNT’s Thursday night NBA doubleheader has Chris Paul and the L.A. Clippers visiting LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, followed by James Harden and the Houston Rockets at Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors.

NFL Football: Dallas at Minnesota
NBC & NFL Network, 8:20pm Live
Two teams with NFC playoff hopes are in action on Thursday Night Football as the Minnesota Vikings host the Dallas Cowboys at the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

The Great Indoors: “Going Deep”
CBS, 8:30pm
When Jack (Joel McHale) is clueless about how to help Eddie (Chris Williams) through the pain of his divorce, Brooke (Susannah Fielding) steps up to be Eddie’s interim best friend in the new episode “Going Deep.”

Nightwatch
A&E, 9pm
Season Premiere!
As the third season premieres, the New Orleans EMS is opening a brand-new facility after losing its home base during the devastation of Hurricane Katrina more than a decade prior. As their beloved city sees a crippling spike in heroin overdoses, everyone — from the police to the EMS — is on high alert. And when a fellow police officer is struck down while on duty, the entire Nightwatch family must rally one another and the community for support.

Mom: “Xanax and a Baby Duck”
CBS, 9pm
Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) directed the new episode “Xanax and a Baby Duck,” in which an overprotective Christy (Anna Faris) keeps a constant eye on her 12-year-old son, Roscoe (Blake Garrett Rosenthal), after discovering he has been using drugs and alcohol.

Life in Pieces: “Boxing Opinion Spider Beard”
CBS, 9:30pm
Guest Star Alert!
John’s (James Brolin) plan to encourage Samantha (Holly J. Barrett) to skip her ballet class and take up boxing has unexpected consequences. Professional boxer Victor Ortiz guest-stars as a boxing trainer in the new episode “Boxing Opinion Spider Beard.”

Top Chef
Bravo, 10pm
Season Premiere!
Eight former chef-testants return for redemption as they head to Charleston, S.C., to battle alongside eight Top Chef newbies. Returning favorites include Season 3 finalist and Season 8 all-star Casey Thompson, fan favorite Sheldon Simeon from Seattle’s Season 10, and multicultural culinary standout Katsuji Tanabe from Season 12 in Boston.

Pure Genius: “Bunker Hill, We Have a Problem”
CBS, 10pm
Walter (Dermot Mulroney) and the Bunker Hill surgeons must perfect a revolutionary remote surgery when someone on the International Space Station needs an emergency procedure in the new episode “Bunker Hill, We Have a Problem.”

Falling Water: “Three Half Blind Mice”
USA Network, 10pm
A blackout brings Taka (Will Yun Lee) and Tess (Lizzie Brocheré) together, while Burton (David Ajala) finds evidence that the Woman in Red exists outside his dreams.

Friday, Dec. 2

Pacific Heat
Netflix
New Series!
This animated comedy series follows the exploits of a dynamic unit of undercover police investigators working on the glitzy Gold Coast of Australia. This glamorous, sophisticated and sun-drenched paradise masks a hotbed of criminals — everyone from drug smugglers and biker gangs to eco-terrorists and the person who invented frozen yogurt.

“I Love Lucy” Christmas Special
CBS, 8pm
Two back-to-back classic episodes of the 1950s series I Love Lucy are featured in tonight’s “I Love Lucy” Christmas Special. “The Christmas Episode” (first presented in December 1956), now colorized in its entirety, is paired with the newly colorized “Lucy Gets in Pictures” (first broadcast in February 1955), in which Lucy gets a part as a showgirl in a motion picture musical. The two episodes are seamlessly combined into one set with no interruption between the episodes.

NBA Basketball
ESPN, beginning at 8pm Live
LeBron James leads the reigning NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers into Chicago’s United Center to face Dwyane Wade and the Chicago Bulls, and James Harden’s Houston Rockets head to Denver for a date with the Nuggets, in ESPN’s NBA doubleheader.

College Football: Pac-12 Championship Game
FOX, 9pm Live
The winners of the Pac-12 North and South Divisions play in the Pac-12 Football Championship Game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.

Z Nation: “The Siege of Murphytown”
Syfy, 9pm
Warren (Kellita Smith) leads an attack on Murphytown and finally faces off with Murphy (Keith Allan).

CMT Crossroads
CMT, 10pm
Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Alicia Keys makes her CMT debut when she is paired with newcomer Maren Morris, a Nashville singer/songwriter who has taken the country world by storm.

Van Helsing: “He’s Coming”
Syfy, 10pm
While on the road to a vampire-controlled camp, Vanessa (Kelly Overton) and Mohamad (Trezzo Mahoro) find themselves in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse against Sam (Christopher Heyerdahl). Sheema (Naika Toussaint) discovers a secret that can bring down the ghetto-cell of the Resistance, while Julius (Aleks Paunovic) takes a clandestine meeting with Dmitri (Paul Johansson). Ultimately, Vanessa and Mohamad walk into a trap that places one of them in great peril.

Saturday, Dec. 3

College Basketball: UCLA at Kentucky
CBS, 12:30pm Live
CBS tips off its 2016-17 college basketball schedule with this matchup between two storied programs as the UCLA Bruins visit the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena in Lexington.

College Football: Big Ten Championship Game
FOX, 8pm Live
The winners of the Big Ten’s East and West Divisions meet tonight in the Big Ten Football Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

A Dream of Christmas
Hallmark Channel, 8pm
Original Film!
An ambitious but discontented young married woman (Nikki DeLoach) gets more than she bargained for when she is granted a wish to be single again. She awakens one morning to discover she has the home, car and job of her dreams, but soon realizes she’s missing an important part of her life — her husband (Andrew Walker). Also stars Cindy Williams (Laverne & Shirley).

Homicide for the Holidays
Oxygen, 8pm
New Series!
Deck the halls with true crime cases in the first two hours of a two-part, four hour series that reveals how tumultuous the holiday season can really be. In the first horrifying holiday case, “A Deadly Thanksgiving,” a deranged shooter attacks a family at Thanksgiving dinner, leaving four dead and setting off a massive manhunt to catch the killer. In the second freaky episode, “Christmas Carnage in Carnation,” when six members of the Anderson family are gunned down in their home, detectives work closely with family friends to track down the murderer. Next week, two more true stories will be highlighted.

Pearl Harbor: 75 Years Later
History, 9pm
This two-hour special looks back at Dec. 7, 1941 — the date that has indeed lived in infamy, as President Franklin Roosevelt promised — when imperial Japan attacked the U.S. naval forces in Hawaii, ushering America into World War II.

A Firehouse Christmas
ION, 9pm
Original Film!
Life is good for Tom, an ex-Olympic hockey star, and his firefighter girlfriend, Jenny. But when Tom’s soon-to-be ex-wife, herself a former Olympic figure skater, authors a book of relationship tips, she’s convinced that she’ll sell more books if she and Tom appear to be a happy couple. The ruse puts Tom’s love to the test. Stars Anna Hutchison, Marcus Rosner, Anita Brown and Bruce Dawson.

The Killing Season: “American Nightmare”
A&E, 10pm
Season Finale!
With the help of local advocates and former FBI agents, Rachel and Josh search for eight missing women on Albuquerque’s West Mesa and discover that they may be dealing with something even more sinister than a lone serial killer. In an attempt to uncover clues, the pair score a lead from an admitted serial killer that proves too tempting to ignore and leads them back to Long Island to meet with someone unusual. Meanwhile, a break in the Gilgo case exposes corruption, bringing the team back to the beginning and giving them new hope.

Pete Holmes: Faces and Sounds
HBO, 10pm
The star of HBO’s upcoming comedy series Crashing — for which Holmes collaborates with super-producer Judd Apatow — performs his standup act in this special taped at Chicago’s Vic Theatre in April.