SUNDAY’S BEST PICKS
8 PM _ The Simpsons It may have missed the Halloween deadline, but the new “Treehouse of Horror XXXI” marks the 31st edition of this seasonal favorite. As usual, the format is a terror-themed trilogy, this year encompassing a frightening look at the 2020 election, parodies of Pixar and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” and a ninth birthday that Lisa (voice of Yeardley Smith) just can’t get over. Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner and Nancy Cartwright also star in the voice cast.
8 PM ( FOOD) Holiday Wars Five teams of cake masters and sugar artists will have to put all their holly-jolly skills to the test to see who can make the most mind-blowing displays in Season 2 of this competition series. The team that rises above their competitors will win $25,000. Raven-Symoné returns as host, with Shinmin Li and Erin McGinn taking their seats at the judges table.
8 PM ( HALL) MOVIE On the 12th
Date of Christmas Jennifer (Mallory Jansen, “Galavant”), a headstrong game designer, is teamed with the more experienced Aidan (Tyler Hynes), who doesn’t play well with others, on a challenging assignment: creating, in less than a week, a romantic, Chicagowide scavenger hunt with a “12 Days of Christmas” theme that’s part of a marketing campaign for a new hotel. Executives in the hotel chain’s corporate offices are insanely demanding, but if Jennifer and Aidan can pull it off, they may well land a huge account in this new yuletide romantic comedy.
8 PM ( LIFE) MOVIE The Christ
mas Aunt Rebecca Miller (Keshia Knight Pulliam) returns to her Tennessee hometown just before Christmas to care for her young niece and nephew when their parents are called away in this new 2020 holiday movie. As she tries to cheer up the kids and restore their belief in Santa with one of her favorite yuletide traditions from her own childhood — observing the 12 Days of Christmas — Rebecca is pleasantly surprised to be reunited with Drew (Jarod Joseph), her best friend from those early days.
8:20 PM & NFL Football A clash of struggling NFC East rivals is in the offing tonight at Lincoln Financial Field, where Carson Wentz and the Philadelphia Eagles hope the home field is to their advantage against the Dallas Cowboys. Though the Cowboys’ defense has been a big reason for their losing record in the early going, and on top of that, the recent loss of quarterback Dak Prescott to injury, the play of WR Amari Cooper has been a bright spot. As for the Eagles, they’ve also been bitten by the injury bug, resulting in their disappointing play in the first month.
9 PM ^ Roadkill on Masterpiece David Hare, the brilliant playwright and screenwriter behind the crackling “Worricker Trilogy” of spy dramas starring Bill Nighy, penned this dark, complex four-part drama (airing through Nov. 22) starring Hugh Laurie as former furniture salesman Peter Lawrence, who has risen to the heights of British politics on a wave of populism. He is abetted by cunning Prime Minister Dawn Ellison (Helen McCrory), who fears Peter’s formidable popularity with voters, yet knows his closet is jammed full of skeletons. Saskia Reeves, Iain De Caestecker, Pip Torrens and Patricia Hodge also star.
9 PM ( NGEO) Virus Hunters Timed to coincide with National Geographic Magazine’s November issue on COVID-19, this new companion special chronicles global efforts by researchers, epidemiologists and other experts who are racing to avert the next deadly contagion by identifying and targeting the human behaviors and environmental factors that can trigger them. Chief among these, according to some reports, are deforestation, human encroachment on wildlife habitats and the global rise of sea levels, which can disrupt and amplify weather impact. 10 PM ( BRV) (E!) Race in America:
Our Vote Counts In this new 90-minute special (also simulcast on E!), host Nina Parker welcomes a group of celebrity guests to talk about issues facing America today and how events have converged to make the Black vote more important than ever before, on both a local and national level. Topics also include the ways in which local elections play a critical role in changing the system and how a new generation of voters can wield real power through their votes.