‘The Stand,’ ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,’ ‘The Expanse,’ and everything else you don’t want to miss on TV this week

MONDAY

The Shot: The Race for the Vaccine: Now that the first vaccine has been approved, 20/20 takes a look at how the vaccines were developed and how the government plans to deliver them to millions of Americans in record time. 9 p.m., ABC

The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All: Well, a handful of the men tell some. 7 p.m., ABC

Deliciousness: Tiffani Thiessen hosts this spinoff of Ridiculousness, in which they celebrate viral food moments. Series premiere. 7 p.m., MTV

Tiny Pretty Things: Elite ballet dramaz. Series premiere. Netflix

Lonestar Christmas: I’m mostly including this because it’s the first time I can personally remember a Lifetime holiday movie being set in Texas. I certainly could be wrong — I’m not a holiday movie scholar or anything, but most of these sorts of films take place in some anonymous Northeastern or Midwestern town where there is an abundance of snow and opportunities to wear sweaters. 7 p.m., Lifetime

TUESDAY

The Voice: A winner is chosen in the “star-studded” three-hour (read: bloated) finale. 8 p.m.

Song Exploder, Vol. 2: Musicians discuss their most intimate thoughts on the songwriting and creative process. Netflix

30 for 30: The Infinite Race: This documentary explores an indigenous community in Mexico who made barefoot running popular, but now face threats from drug cartels. Premiere. 7 p.m., ESPN

Play On: Celebrating the Power of Music to Make Change: Musicians perform to raise money for NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. and WhyHunger. 8 p.m., CBS

WEDNESDAY

The Masked Singer: The three finalists perform one last time before being demasked and one takes home the prized Golden Mask Trophy. Season finale. 7 p.m., Fox

The Expanse: Season five premiere (and first three episodes). Amazon

The Amazing Race: One team finishes the race first and wins the one million dollar prize in New Orleans. Season finale. 7 p.m., CBS

Devils: Series finale. 7 p.m., The CW

How to Ruin Christmas: A sister tries to make things right after ruining her sister’s Christmas wedding in this new comedy series. Series premiere. Netflix

The Ripper: This limited docuseries explores the Yorkshire Ripper who terrorized England in the late 70s (and who just recently died of COVID-19 in prison — oh, spoiler alert: they caught him). Premiere. Netflix

The Art of Political Murder: An examination of the murder of Guatemalan Bishop, Juan Gerardi, who had been looking into the atrocities committed in his country during the brutal civil war of the 80s. Premiere. 8 p.m., HBO

THURSDAY

The Stand: Alexander Skarsgård, James Marsden, and Whoopi Goldberg star in the new take on Stephen King’s classic epic apocalypse novel. Series premiere. CBS All Access

Homeschool Musical Class of 2020: High school seniors from across the country perform musical numbers from the safety of their homes and talk about their experiences in this insane year. Premiere. HBO Max

4 Blocks: A crime boss longs to leave the life in this new drama series. Premiere. HBO max

FRIDAY

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman star in this drama about a blues singer in the 1920s who battles her white manager over control of her music, and her trumpeter who has his own ambitions in the music industry. Netflix

The Grand Tour: A Massive Hunt: In this feature-length special, Clarkson, Hammond, and May set across Cambodia and Vietnam in boats. NOPE! They go to Madagascar in search of treasure. Premiere. Amazon

El Cid: The story of the legendary Spanish knight and mercenary who became a national hero. Series premiere.  Amazon

Creepshow: A Creepshow Holiday Special: Anna Camp and Adam Pally star in this Creepshow special in which Santa hunts werewolves. Premiere.  Shudder

On Pointe: If Tiny Pretty Things didn’t deliver enough ballet for you, this new docuseries goes inside the School of American Ballet (SAB) in New York City and follows the young students who study there. Premiere. Disney+

SATURDAY

Saturday Night Live: Kristen Wiig and Dua Lipa 10:30 p.m., NBC

Wendy: Devin France stars in this take on the Peter Pan story, but set in rural Louisiana. 7 p.m., HBO

Global Citizen Prize: Individuals who have taken action to try to end global poverty are celebrated. 7 p.m., NBC

Letters to Satan Claus: In this spoof of a typical Lifetime/Hallmark Christmas movie, a big city reporter accidentally writes a letter to Satan instead of Santa, and has to return to her small hometown to prevent catastrophe. 8 p.m., Syfy

SUNDAY

The Sound of Music: Hey, remember when being anti-Nazi was an unquestionably good thing? 6 p.m., ABC

Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert: The couple performs a holiday concert. Here’s to hoping Chris Gaines makes an appearance! 7 p.m., CBS

22nd Annual A Home for the Holidays: Gayle King hosts this annual celebration of adoption and foster care. 8:30 p.m., CBS

Gay Chorus Deep South: 300 members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus travel into the Deep South to confront faith-based prejudices one concert at a time. Premiere. 8 p.m., Logo & Pop

 

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