THURSDAY’S BEST PICKS
8PM & Annie Live! The Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical, which was itself based on a vintage comic strip, comes to TV in this new adaptation starring newcomer Celina Smith as the plucky Depression-era orphan who gets adopted by billionaire Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks (Harry Connick Jr.). Taraji P. Henson stars as Miss Hannigan, the nasty orphanage caretaker who tries to exploit Annie’s good fortune to her own ends. Tituss Burgess, Megan Hilty and Nicole Scherzinger co-star.
8PM * MOVIE Olaf’s Frozen Adventure Shown in theaters as a featurette accompanying “Coco,” this animated tale continues the saga of characters from the hit 2013 Disney-Pixar movie “Frozen.” Josh Gad again voices snowman Olaf, who tries to ensure that the Christmas being celebrated by Anna and Elsa (voices of fellow returnees Kristen Bell and Idina Menzel) is one that they’ll never forget. Jonathan Groff (“Hamilton”) also returns to the voice cast as the score boasts four original songs.
8PM (LIFE) MOVIE A Christmas Village Romance Romance novelist Diana (Jeni Ross) is dismayed to learn that the charming pioneer village of Maple Creek is going through some dire financial challenges, so she uses her celebrity to help spark interest in the community by sponsoring a Christmas gala. She gets support from family and friends, but she’s frustrated to clash almost every step of the way with Carter (Jake Epstein), Maple Creek’s historian and resident blacksmith. Olivier Renaud, Erin Eldershaw and Tim Progosh co-star in this 2021 yuletide romance.
8PM (HBO) Music Box Penny Lane’s documentary “Listening to Kenny G” takes a witty but illuminating look at saxophonist Kenny G, the bestselling instrumental artist of all time and arguably one of the most famous musicians living today. The film explores how this man formerly known as Kenny Gorelick learned to play jazz so smoothly that an entire new music genre coalesced around him. The musician himself speaks candidly about his musical background, his stringent work ethic and his controversial standing in the pantheon of jazz artists.
8:15 PM (SHO) MOVIE Last Call Paolo Pilladi co-wrote and directed this 2021 comedy-drama starring Jeremy Piven as Seamus “Mick” McDougal, who left his blue-collar Philadelphia neighborhood years ago to build a successful career in real estate. Now Mick has come home for a family funeral, where he discovers that the family business — a bar — is on shaky ground. While he works on reversing the fortunes of that venture, he reconnects with his childhood crush (Taryn Manning). Zach McGowan,
Cathy Moriarty, Cheri Oteri, Jamie Kennedy and Bruce Dern co-star.
8:30 PM * Toy Story That Time Forgot The characters from the animated, hugely popular Disney-Pixar movies return in this made-for-television special. The tale finds the toys venturing out of familiar territory — their owner Bonnie’s room — and into danger when they encounter a threatening set of action figures. The triceratops named Trixie (voice of Kristen Schaal) is the only hope of setting things right. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen and Don Rickles also are back in the voice cast.
9PM G Legacies As Alaric (Matthew Davis) had predicted, the Super Squad insists on continuing the efforts to help Hope (Danielle Rose Russell) recover her humanity, despite her complete lack of support for that notion, in the new episode “Someplace Far Away From All This Violence.” MG (Quincy Fouse) makes a last-ditch effort to help the team, but things do not go as he expected. Elsewhere, Lizzie (Jenny Boyd) searches for answers, while Josie (Kaylee Bryant) resorts to some desperate measures. Aria Shahghasemi, Chris Lee and Leo Howard also star. 10 PM (TRU) Tacoma FD The annual Tacoma Fire Department Pickleball Tournament gets under way in the new episode “Pickleball.” Meanwhile the pickleball veterans on Terry and Eddie’s (Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme) team are long-running-and-very-cocky station champs, but the crew has plans to finally take them and their attitudes down. Marcus Henderson, Hassie Harrison and Gabriel Hogan also star.
Gutfeld! (N) (cc)
The 11th Hour
World Poker
Rays The Card Life SportsCenter W/Van Pelt
AKC Heroes: 2021 Awards