With nary a hint of a promotional push (compared to, say, the campaign for the indecipherable “Luck”),the third season of one of the funniest animated shows on TV, “The Life and Times of Tim” (HBO, 9 p.m.).
The creation of ad man Steve Dildarian, who provides the deadpan voice of the hapless central figure (and designed the crude drawings), “Tim” is another in the series of comedies in which misery befalls the hero on the daily basis.
In season three, he’s still with his long-suffering girlfriend, but he’s also unemployed, having been fired after a disastrous luch with London bosses for Omnicorp that ended season two.
Joblessness opens Tim up to all sorts of new trouble, served up in 15-minute episodes with Hank Williams’ “I”ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” as theme song.
Guest voices this season include Rob Corddry, Jennifer Coolidge, Bob Einstein, Joe Flaherty, Andy Kindler, Penny Marshall, Mary Kay Place, Alfred Molina, Paul Scheer, Fred Willard and Stephen Root, among others.
Justin Bieber, Jennifer Hudson, Cee Lo Green, the Band Perry, Victoria Justice and the Washington Youth Choir join together for this year’s “Christmas in Washington” (TNT, 8 p.m.), recorded last weekend at the National Building Museum in D.C. with President Obama and his family in attendance and joining the entertainers on stage. Conan O’Brien is host of the concert, marking its 30th year, is a benefit for the Children’s National Medical Center.
The San Francisco Ballet performs an adaptation of the Hans Christian Anderson (and not Walt Disney) story of “The Little Mermaid” on “Great Performances” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings). Hamburg ballet Director and chief choreographer John Neumeier provided choreography as well as sets, costumes and lighting for the production.
Another sign of the housing crisis: “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” (ABC, 8 p.m.) is down to its last few episodes. ABC announced Thursday it would play its 200th and final show next month. Now they’ll probably never bring back the original plastic surgery show that gave it its name.
On “20/20” (ABC, 10 p.m.) Diane Sawyer reports on mothers in developing countries. “Dateline” (NBC, 10 p.m.) looks into the case of a Pennsylvania district attorney who went missing shortly after he heard rumors about former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky.
A new special wonders “Do We Need the Moon?” (Science, 9 p.m.). Well, I for one would miss it if it were gone.
The four-hour miniseries of “Stephen King’s ‘Bag of Bones’” (A&E, 8 p.m.) is replayed in one big gulp tonight.
Sunday’s Christmas episode of “The Simpsons” (Fox, 8:30 p.m.) with a flash forward to 2041 and a glimpse at Bart and Lisa’s own families, also gets a replay, alongside another holiday special from earlier this season, “Ice Age: Mammoth Christmas” (Fox, 9 p.m.).
Before them both is a replay of the recently made “Peanuts” special “Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown” (Fox, 8 p.m.).
The only new scripted episodes on broadcast TV tonight are “Grimm”( NBC 9 p.m.) and “Chuck” (NBC, 8 p.m.), which features a guest spot from Rebecca Romijn.
Continuing the trend of reality shows from rural South, here comes “Bama Glama” (Food Network, 8 p.m.), about an event designer in Alabama, Scot Wedgworth.
A slew of romantic Christmas movies on tonight include “The Bishop’s Wife” (TCM, 8 p.m.), “Annie Claus is Coming to Town” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.), “Nothing Like the Holidays” (Lifetime Movie Network, 8 p.m.), “Christmas in Connecticut” (TCM, 10 p.m.), “Under the Mistletoe” (Lifetime Movie Channel, 10 p.m.) and “The Shop Around the Corner” (TCM, midnight).
Another good animation double play: “Beauty and the Beast” (ABC Family, 7 p.m.) and “Up” (ABC Family, 9 p.m.).
Barking up another tree, Lance Reddick stars in an adaptation of the zombie comic book “Steve Niles’ Remains” (Chiller, 10 p.m.), the first original film from the network.
Wondering how the mid-80s dance B-movies “Heavenly Bodies” (TCM, 2 a.m.) and “Fame” (TCM, 3:30 a.m.) are suddenly the stuff of middle of the night Underground cult series on Turner Classic Movies.
It’s Cowboys at Buccaneers (NFL, 8 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly Ripa: Daniel Craig, Michael Buble. The View: Claire Danes, Lisa Lillien. The Talk: Donald Trump, Archie Panjabi, Paul Shaffer. Ellen DeGeneres: Amy Poehler. Wendy Williams: Nadya Suleman.
Late Talk
David Letterman: Jude Law, bob Sarlatte, Gary Clark Jr. Jay Leno: Rep Ron Paul, Chris Cornell. Jimmy Kimmel: Peter Facinelli, Jamie Oliver, Vince Gill (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Maya Rudolph, Damian Lewis, Richard Blais (rerun). Craig Ferguson: Mindy Kaling, Pau Gosol. Tavis Smiley: Roger Corman. Carson Daly: Lupe Fiasco, Atmosphere (rerun). Chelsea Handler: Chloe Moretz, Jo Koy, Louis Virtel, Josh Wolf (rerun).