The other shoe falls on the two night epic retelling of “The Dust Bowl” (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings), but not before a plague of grasshoppers, a Woody Guthrie song or two, and that exodus to California first captured in “The Grapes of Wrath.” It’s a striking film, but Ken Burns is a little too attached to those mournful renditions of “Hard Times” and “Shennandoah.”
It’s just a coincidence that Henry Wallace, FDR’s secretary of agriculture is mentioned both in Ken Burns documentary as well as “Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States” (Showtime, 8 p.m.), which is kind of an interesting yarn, narrated by the director himself, but relied quite a bit in last week’s first episode on period war films.
Neon Trees perform and Ne-Yo, Nicole Richie, Lucy Hale, Jesse Williams, Heather Morris, Anthony Anderson and Victoria Justice, among others take part in the 2012 TeenNick HALO Awards (Nickelodeon, 8 p.m.) taped Sunday at the Hollywood Palladium, to shine a light on teens who “Help and Lead Others” according to the acronym of the group, begun by host Nick Cannon.
The saga of South Sudanese warlord Joseph Kony is an intersting story, tracked by photographers in this week’s edition of “Witness” (HBO, 9 p.m.).
The Top 10 singers on “The Voice” (NBC, 8 p.m.) sing for their votes. After the ouster of singers from the teams of Christina Aguilera and Blake Shelton, only Cee Lo Green and Adam Levine still have their full complement of three singers each.
Just five dancers are left on “Dancing with the Stars” (ABC, 8 p.m.) – Melissa Rycroft, Shawn Johnson, Kelly Monaco, Apolo Anton Ohno and Emmitt Smith. All but Rycroft won previously in their respective first seasons. It’s anybody’s win, as viewers ousted the star with the highest average judges’ scores, Gilles Marini. This week, they do their dances to Michael Jackson, to help promote ABC’s Thanksgiving documentary on “Bad.” Expect some terrible moonwalks.
See it now while you can “Partners” (CBS, 8:30 p.m.) was canceled last week; it will run out its first 13 episodes and then disappear.
It’s Thanksgiving on “2 Broke Girls” (CBS, 9 p.m.), where two Amish boys come to build a barn, and on “Mike & Molly” (CBS, 9:30 p.m.), where Mike is too ill for Thanksgiving dinner.It’s Christmas, however, on a special “Secret Life of the American Teenager” (ABC Family, 8 p.m.).
Joe Manganiello of “True Blood” gust stars on “How I Met Your Mother” (CBS, 8 p.m.). Christine Lahti and Taryn Manning return to “Hawaii Five-0” (CBS, 10 p.m.). Jillian Michaels pops in on “Kickin’ It” (Disney XD, 8 p.m.).
The impending marriage of the rapper named the Game is the subject of the new series “Marrying the Game” (VH1, 9:30 p.m.).
His last “No Reservations” has run, now it’s time for the final season of “The Layover with Anthony Bourdain” (Travel, 9 p.m.). First stop: Chicago.
In “Top Gear: Apocalypse” (BBC America, 8:30 p.m.), the gear heads get into the doomsday act.
Seemed like a pretty fast season for “RuPaul’s All Stars Drag Race” (Logo, 9 p.m.) which is already throwing its season finale.
Hey, did you read this big thing about “Revolution” (NBC, 10 p.m.) that I wrote last week? Tonight, they use a whole lotta Led Zeppelin music to tell their tale (and promote the new Led Zep concert movie). Next week will be the last new episode until the end of March.
Another night of novel adaptations starts with the epic “Doctor Zhivago” (TCM, 8 p.m.) and continues with “Anna Karenina” (TCM, 11:30 p.m.), “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” (TCM, 1:30 a.m.), “Madame Bovary” (TCM, 3:30 a.m.) and “Gigi” (TCM, 5:30 a.m.).
Another epic is also on tonight: “The Deer Hunter” (Flix, 8 p.m.), which won five Oscars. Also three hours: Spike Lee’s “He Got Game” (BET, 8 p.m.) with Denzel Washington and Ray Allen.
In Monday Night Football, it’s Bears at 49ers (ESPN, 8:30 p.m.).
College basketball games include Butler vs. Marquette (ESPN2, 3:30 p.m.), Indiana vs. Georgia (ESPNU, 6 p.m.) and Mississippi State vs. North Carolina (ESPN2, 6 p.m.), George Mason vs. Quinnipiac (CBS Sports, 7:30 p.m.), Texas A&M vs. Saint Louis (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.), Texas vs. Chaminade (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.), UCLA vs. Georgetown (ESPN2, 8 p.m.), Washington State vs. Kansas (ESPN2, 10 p.m.), New Mexico vs. Connecticut (CBS Sports, 10 p.m.) and USC vs. Illinois (ESPN2, midnight).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Katie Holmes, Dave Salmoni. The View: Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Brandi Glanville, Phillip Phillips. The Talk: Krysten Ritter, Robbie Montgomery. Katie Couric: Sally Field, Tony Bennett. Ellen DeGeneres: Alyson Hannigan.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Jessica Biel, Pete Townshend, Philip Phillips. Jay Leno: Jennifer Lawrence, Phil & Willie Robertson, Andy Grammer. Jimmy Kimmel: Eric Stonestreet, L.A. Reid, Aimee Mann & James Mercer. Jimmy Fallon: Zooey Deschanel, Tony Bennett, Zac Brown Band. Craig Ferguson: Regis Philbin, Katie Aselton. Carson Daly: Eliza Coupe, Shiny ToyGuns (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Maria Bartiromo, Barbara Hershey. Jon Stewart: Mike Huckabee (rerun). Stephen Colbert: Newt Gingrich (rerun). Conan O’Brien: Kate Beckinsale, Doug Fine, Tennis (rerun). Chelsea Handler: Rascal Flatts, Mo Mandel, Natasha Leggero, T.J. Miller.