The last Republican Presidential Debate (CNN, 8:45 p.m.) of the calendar year and the first since the recent terror attacks takes place in Las Vegas, with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the center, flanked by Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Carly Fioria, John Katich, Rand Paul and — back from the kids’ table debate — Chris Christie. Wolf Blitzer moderates with Dana Bash and right wing talk show host Hugh Hewitt.
Still stuck in the pre-debate at 6:15 p.m. are Mike Huckabee, Rick Santorum, Lindsey Graham and George Pataki. Still, the four of them get two hours.
Linda Ellerbee, whose offhand style, developed on overnight newscasts on NBC in the mid-80s and shifted to award-winning news programs for children in 1990 gets a career review on the special “Hello, I Must Be Going: 25 Years of Nick News with Linda Ellerbee” (Nickelodeon, 8 p.m.). Ellerbee, 71, announced earlier this month she is retiring.
A winner is named on “The Voice” (NBC, 9 p.m.) from among finalists Barrett Baber, Jeffrey Austin, Emily Ann Roberts and Jordan Smith, following a recap of Monday’s performances at 8 p.m. Of more interest may be guest performances by Coldplay, Missy Elliott, the Weeknd, Justin Bieber and Sam Hunt. They do have two hours to fill.
The 1945 explosion of a plutonium bomb in New Mexico — the Trinity Test — marks the second season finale of “Manhattan” (WGN America, 9 p.m.).
The lesser of the “Peanuts” holiday specials, the 2003 “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown” (ABC, 9 p.m.), is rerun, after a couple of better holiday specials, “Toy Story That Time Forgot” (ABC, 8 p.m.) and “Shrek the Halls” (ABC, 8:30 p.m.).
Abby dates a TV personality so she can write about it in her blog on “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” (Bravo, 10 p.m.).
Also ending its second season: “Finding Carter” (MTV, 10 p.m.), in a two-hour episode.
The only network showing new scripted episodes tonight is CBS with “NCIS” (CBS, 8 p.m.), “NCIS: New Orleans” (CBS, 9 p.m.) and “Limitless” (CBS, 10 p.m.).
Double portions of “Grandfathered” (Fox, 8 and 9 p.m.) reruns are paired with double episodes of “The Grinder” (Fox, 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.).
The actress Carole Landis is star on Turner Classic Movies tonight with her breakthrough “One Million B.C.” (8 p.m.) followed by “Topper Returns” (9:30 p.m.), “Road Show” (11:15 p.m.), “Turnabout” (1 a.m.), “Secret Command” (2:30 a.m.) and “Having Wonderful Crime” (4 a.m.).
Men’s college basketball includes Georgia Southern at Duke (ESPN2, 7 p.m.), Norfolk State at Cincinnati (ESPNU, 7 p.m.), Monmouth at Georgetown (Fox Sports 1, 7:30 p.m.), VCU at Georgia Tech (ESPN2, 9 p.m.), Longwood at Oklahoma State (ESPNU, 9 p.m.) and DePaul at Stanford (Fox Sports 1, 10 p.m.).
Pro basketball includes Cleveland at Boston (NBA, 7:30 p.m.) and Houston at Sacramento (NBA, 10 p.m.).
In NHL action, it’s Colorado at Chicago (NBC Sports, 8:30 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly & Michael: Jennifer Lawrence, Raymond Crowe. The View: Jeffrey Tambor. The Talk: Debbie Allen, Nate Berkus. Ellen DeGeneres: Lupita Nyong’o. Wendy Williams: The cast of “Elf: The Musical.” The Real: Lori Laughlin. Meredith Vieira: Maura Tierney.
Late Talk
Stephen Colbert: Quentin Tarantino, Jonathan Groff, Squeeze. Jimmy Kimmel: John Krasinski, Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Seal. Jimmy Fallon: Mark Wahlberg, Bill Burr, Sheryl Crow. Seth Meyers: Jennifer Lawrence, Kurt Russell, Fred Noe, Ilan Rubin. James Corden: Domhnall Gleeson, Mike Epps, Churches. Carson Daly: Saffron Burrows, Swingin’ Utters, Brian Posehn. Tavis Smiley: John Williams. Trevor Noah: Pusha T. Conan O’Brien: Sharon Stone, Pete Holmes, Beach House.