The old story of an orphan girl sent to Prince Edward Island more than 100 years ago gets a new treatment with Martin Sheen, Ella Ballentine and Sara Botsford in “Anne of Green Gables” (PBS, 8 p.m., check local listings). The Lucy Maud Montgomery tale followed by the 2002 “Pollyanna” (PBS, 9:30 p.m., check local listings).
Hallmark goes meta with its latest holiday movie. “Christmas in Homestead” (Hallmark 8 p.m.) when the star of a holiday movie being filmed in a small Iowa town falls for the local mayor. Taylor Cole and Michael Rady star in the film, which was actually shot in Dahlonega, Ga., where they used copious fake snow
“The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade” (NBC, 9 a.m.) marks its 90th year. The New York tradition stops for performances and lip-synching for the cameras, with performances this year from Tony Bennett, Aloe Blacc, Sarah McLachlan, De La Soul and various Broadway casts and the Muppets, among others. Balloons include the Trolls, Charlie Brown and Felix the Cat. Matt Lauer, Savannah Guthrie and Al Roker lower their journalistic standards accordingly.
With a different angle of the same event (from the rear) is the similarly three-hour ”Thanksgiving Day Parade” (CBS, 9 p.m.) with Kevin Frazier and Keitie Knight hosting, and performances slated from Sting and Miranda Lambert. It might be fun to watch on Telemundo this year, though.
In parades elsewhere, there’s one from Chicago on “McDonald’s Thanksgiving Parade” (WGN America, 9 a.m.).
In prime time comes “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” (ABC, 8 p.m.), a pre-taped thing from Walt Disney World, hosted by Julianne and Derek Hough and featuring performances by Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, Boyz II Men and JoJo, Alessia Cara, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson, OneRepublic, Flo Rida and Sofia Carson.
This afternoon, the 15th annual National Dog Show (NBC, noon) with John O’Hurley hosting. It repeats later on NBC Sports Network at 7, 9 and 11 p.m.
The biggest marathon of the holiday weekend is “The Simpsons” (FXX, noon), running all 600 episodes in order. It won’t end until Tuesday, Dec. 6.
Other marathons include 22 episodes of “The Andy Griffith Show” (TV Land, 9 a.m.), a full day of “Star Trek” (BBC America, 6 a.m.), ”Parks and Recreation” (Esquire, 7 a.m.), “Chrisley Knows Best” (USA, 8 a.m.), “Z Nation” (Syfy, 6 a.m.), 10 hours of “Will & Grace” (WE, 10 a.m.), and the original “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” (IFC, 6 a.m.), airing 10 times.
In regular prime time programming, Jack gives a tough performance review on “The Great Indoors” (CBS, 8:30 p.m.).
Violet falls ill on “Mom” (CBS, 9 p.m.).
“Search Party” (TBS, 11 and 11:30 p.m.) is racing toward its conclusion. A good time to start from the beginning and binge (online).
Lark takes her first steps on “Life in Pieces” (CBS, 9:30 p.m.).
A hockey player with a severe spinal injury faces risky surgery on “Pure Genius” (CBS, 10 p.m.).
“Jurassic Park” (Spike, 11 a.m., 7 p.m.) is followed by its two sequels twice today.
The 1978 “The Wiz” (Fuse, 8 and 11 p.m.) gets a double play.
For the holiday gatherings, Turner Classic Movies promises to show families “crazier than yours” with “The Life of Riley” (8 p.m.), “Auntie Mame” (9:45 p.m.), “You Can’t Take It With You” (12:15 a.m.), “With Six You Get Eggroll” (2:30 a.m.) and “Life with Father” (4:15 a.m.).
For many, the day is about football. So, there’s the annual Lions home game of Minnesota at Detroit (CBS, 12:30 p.m.), Washington at Dallas (Fox, 4:30 p.m.) and the prime time Pittsburgh at Indianapolis (NBC, 8:30 p.m.).
There’s lots of men’s college basketball, too, mostly in tournaments with Baylor vs. Michigan State (ESPN, noon), Indiana State vs. Iowa State (ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.), Temple vs. Florida State (ESPNU, 12:30 p.m.), Stanford vs. Miami (ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.), Wichita State vs. Louisville (ESPN, 2:30 p.m.), Illinois vs. West Virginia (ESPNU, 2:30 p.m.), New Mexico vs. Virginia Tech (ESPN, 4:30 p.m.), Gonzaga vs. Quinnipiac ( ESPN2, 6:30 p.m.), Butler vs. Vanderbilt (Fox Sports 1, 8 p.m.), Seton Hall vs. Florida (ESPN2, 8;30 p.m.), Dayton vs. Nebraska (ESPNU, 8:30 p.m.), Arizona vs. Santa Clara (Fox Sports 1, 10:30 p.m.), Portland vs. UCLA (ESPN2, 11 p.m.) and UC Davis vs. Weber State (CBS Sports, midnight).
Hockey has Carolina at Montreal (NHL, 7:30 p.m.).
And there’s one college football game: LSU at Texas A&M (ESPN, 7:30 p.m.).
Daytime Talk
Kelly Ripa: Juliette Lewis, Brad Keselowski, Mark Consuls (rerun). The View: Joy Behar, Meredith Vieira, Star Jones, Debbie Matenopoulos, Priyanka Chopra (rerun). Chelsea Handler: Valerie Jarrett, Emmy Possum, Flula Borg. Harry Connick: Jason Sudeikis, Karla Souza. Ellen DeGeneres: Christian Slater, the Clairvoyants (rerun). Wendy Williams: Ali Wentworth, Castro. The Real: Tyler Perry, Lexy Panterra, Yousef Erakat (rerun).
Late Talk
Stephen Colbert: Tom Hanks, Adam Conover (rerun). Jimmy Kimmel: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ken Jeong, Albert Tsai, Banks (rerun). Jimmy Fallon: Kevin James, Tim Gunn, the Weeknd. Seth Meyers: Josh Meyers, Hilary & Larry Meyers. James Corden: Andy Samberg, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Mike Yung, Globe of Steel (rerun). Carson Daly: Mike Colter, Summer Cannibals, Jared Hess, Lucy Lawless, Bob Mould, Travis Rice (rerun),