To help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the long-running British fantasy “Doctor Who” (Disney+, streaming) brings back the 10th actor to step into the role, David Tennant, who starred in the role from 2005 to 2010, for three specials. Rejoining him in three new episodes as companion Donna Temple-Noble is British comic Catherine Tate.
In the first of three specials they’ll share, “The Star Beast,” they’ll face the villain The Toymaker, played by Neil Patrick Harris in his series debut (After the three new specials, the new Doctor will be Ncuti Gatwa in new episodes airing next year).
Austin City Limits presents The 22nd Annual Americana Honors (PBS, 11 p.m., check local listings) originates from the Roman Auditorium in Nashville, with performances from The Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile, Brandy Clark, S.G. Goodman, Margo Price, Nickel Creek, Bonnie Raitt, William Prince, Allison Russel, the War and Treaty, among others. Buddy Miller leads the house band in the event, taped in September.
“Byron Allen Presents TheGrio Awards” (CBS, 8 p.m.) honors Mariah Carey, Don Cheadle, Misty Copeland, Tamron Hall, Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Eddie Murphy, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Denzel Washington, among others, in a Beverly Hills event.
There’s a couple of football games tonight on primetimeTV with Georgia at Georgia Tech (ABC, 7:30 p.m.) and Iowa State at Kansas State (Fox, 8 p.m.). But the biggest game today comes early this afternoon with Ohio State at Michigan (Fox, noon). Other games are listed below.
Today’s avalanche of new Christmas movies include “Christmas in Notting Hill” (Hallmark, 6 p.m.) with William Moseley and Sarah Ramos, about an actor and someone who has never heard of him; “A Royal Date for Christmas” (Great American Family, 8 p.m.), with Damon Runyon and Danica McKellar about a European duke and a boutique owner; “Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up” (Hallmark, 8 p.m.) with Lacey Chabert and Wes Brown, about a homeowner association enforcing decoration rules; and “Christmas at the Chalet” (Lifetime, 8 p.m.) with Teri Hatcher, about an ex-TV host who starts working at a chalet.
Thursday’s National Dog Show (NBC, 8 p.m.) gets a replay, as does the 2022 film “A Waltons Thanksgiving” (CW, 8 p.m.).
“Legends of the Fork” (A&E, 9 p.m.) goes to Los Angeles.
Country singer Walker Hayes gets a cake on “Buddy Valastro’s Cake Dynasty” (A&E, 10 p.m.).
“Pets & Pickers” (Animal Planet, 9 p.m.) has a difficult neutering.
Freshwater happenings are the focus on “Planet Earth III” (BBC America, 8 p.m.)
“Mickey Saves Christmas” (Disney, 8 p.m.) is a new holiday special from the 100-year-old mouse.
KeKe and Tiffany clear the air on “Love & Marriage: Huntsville” (OWN, 8 p.m.).
“Air Disasters” (Smithsonian, 10 p..m.) looks into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Turner Classic movies’ month-long Saturday night spotlight on Bruce Lee concludes with the biopic “Dragon, the Bruce Lee Story” (8 p.m.) and “Bruce Lee: A Dragon Story” (10:15 p.m.). The 12 o’clock noir is “Storm Fear” (midnight), followed by “A Fish Called Wanda” (1:45 a.m.) and “The Biggest Bundle of Them All” (4 a.m.).
Basketball includes Dallas at Clippers (NBA, 10:30 p.m.).
Hockey has Boston at Rangers (NHL, 1 p.m.) and Toronto at Pittsburgh (NHL, 7 p.m.).
College football starts at noon with games that include Kentucky at Louisville (ABC), Texas A&M at LSU (ESPN), Navy at SMU (ESPN2), Houston at Central Florida (Fox Sports 1), Troy at Southern Mississippi (ESPNU) and Miami Ohio at Ball State (CBS Sports).
Games at 2 p.m. are Wake Forest at Syracuse (CW) and Southern at Grambling (NBC).
Games at 3:30 include BYU at Oklahoma State (ABC), Alabama at Auburn (CBS), Arizona at Arizona State (ESPNU) and Liberty at Texas El Paso (CBS Sports).
Then comes Washington State at Washington (4 p.m.), Florida State at Florida (ESPN, 7 p.m.), West Virginia Baylor (Fox Sports 1, 7 p.m.), South Alabama at Texas State (NFL, 7 p.m.), Kansas at Cincinnati (ESPN2, 7:30 p.m.), Charlotte at South Florida (ESPNU, 7:30 p.m.), Wyoming at Nevada (CBS Sports, 9 p.m.), California at UCLA (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.) and Fresno State at San Diego State (Fox Sports 1, 10:30 p.m.).
Men’s college basketball has Jackson State at Georgetown (Fox Sports 2, noon), Holy Cross at St. John’s (Fox Sports 2, 7 p.m.) and Northern Illinois at DePaul (Fox Sports 2, 9 p.m.).
Last month’s Bad Bunny-hosted episode of “Saturday Night Live” (NBC, 11:30 p.m.) is rerun.