It would seem to be a good night to stage one of those live network musicals that have been popular during holiday times. But no, NBC’s staging of “The Wiz” with Queen Latifah, Mary J. Blige, Common and Ne-Yo won’t happen until Dec. 3. Instead, there is an hour long promotion for it, “The Making of ‘The Wiz Live!’” (NBC, 8 p.m.), that will succeed in sapping the surprise of the costuming and sets, if not the musical numbers.
A new four-episode series “Property Brothers at Home on the Ranch” (HGTV, 9 p.m.) follows renovating twins Drew and Jonathan Scott as they return to fix up a family friend’s home in Alberta near both the Canadian Rockies and the area where they grew up. Also, they’ll get to sing.
Bryan Cranston goes “Inside the Actors Studio” (Bravo, 8 p.m.) to talk about his recent interesting roles in “Trumbo,” as LBJ and before that, as Walter White.
Alicia Keys, Vivica A. Fox and Rosie O’Donnell guest star on “Empire” (Fox, 9 p.m.) as does show creator Lee Daniels, who plays himself.
Paul Simon dresses in a turkey costume and Adele calms the family in the latest two hour compendium of holiday skits “Saturday Night Live: Thanksgiving” (NBC, 9 p.m.).
To underscore the day’s themes of holiday-bound travel, the 1987 comedy “Planes, Trains and Automobiles” (The CW, 8 p.m.) with Steve Martin and John Candy gets a network replay. More John Hughes is on cable with replays of “Sixteen Candles” (VH1, 8 p.m.) and “The Breakfast Club” (Via, 10 p.m.).
“Nova” (PBS, 9 p.m., check local listings) marks the 100th anniversary of Einstein’s theory or relativity. How big of a moment was it? It’s all relative. An older “Nova” about devising his E=mc2 follows at 10 p.m.
“Christmas Through the Decades” (History, 10 p.m.) explores traditions, such as the one where it’s celebrated even before Thanksgiving.
The lead on “The Lion King” comes in with an infection on “Code Black” (CBS, 10 p.m.).
“Survivor” (CBS, 8 p.m.) gets two hours tonight.
This month’s Wednesday night showcase of movies based on the work of Southern Writers on Turner Classic Movies, hosted by John Grisham, concludes with the films based on his own “A Time to Kill” (8 p.m.), Pat Conroy’s “The Prince of Tides” (10:45 p.m.), Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” (1:15 a.m.). A film that was previously on the series is also on elsewhere: “Gone With the Wind” (AMC, 7 p.m.). In fact, it’s on all day, starting at 9 a.m.
Men’s college basketball includes Gonzaga at Washington (ESPN2, noon), Charlotte at Syracuse (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.), St. John’s vs. Chaminade (ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.), Indiana vs. UNLV (ESPN2, 5 p.m.), High Point at Georgia (ESPNU, 5 p.m.), Yale at Duke (ESPNU, 7 p.m.), Wake Forest vs. UCLA (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.), Creighton vs. Massachusetts (ESPN2, 9:30 p.m.), Vanderbilt vs. Kansas (ESPN, 10 p.m.), Toledo vs. San Jose State (CBS Sports, 11:30 p.m.), San Diego vs. Loyola-Chicago (CBS Sports, 2 a.m.).
NBA action includes Memphis at Houston (NBA, 8 p.m.).
Hockey has Philadelphia at Islanders (NBC Sports, 7:30 p.m.) and Chicago at San Jose (NBC Sports, 10 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Mariah Carey, Melissa Benoit, Kyle Busch. The View: Bindi Irwin, Derek Hough, Joanie Demer. The Talk: Maura Tierney, Curtis Stone. Ellen DeGeneres: Jamie Foxx, Michael B. Jordan. Wendy Williams: Shanice Williams, Ne-Yo, David Alan Grier, Elijah Kelley, Carla Hall. The Real: Erykah Badu, Evelyn Braxton. Meredith Vieira: Patricia Arquette, Andrea Bocelli.
Late Talk
Stephen Colbert: Gloria Estefan, Eric Greitens, Jake Wood, Daniel Boulud. Jimmy Kimmel: Melissa McCarthy, One Direction (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Nathan Lane, Steven Yeun, Chris Brown. Seth Meyers: Chrissy Teigen, James Van Der Beek, Jay Duplass, Tove Lo. Carson Daly: Jeremy Irvine, Kiya Dawson, Adrianne Palicki (rerun). Tavis Smiley: Ian McKellen. Trevor Noah: Timbaland (rerun). Conan O’Brien: Bill Hader, Bill Burr, Sam Morril (rerun).