CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET
In order to stop thinking about Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) once and for all, Robin (Cobie Smulders) decides to seduce him and get him out of her system. And if ambushing him in public at the laser-tag arcade doesn’t work, maybe ambushing him in private will. Works for me.
ABC Family, 8:00 p.m. ET
Parts of this 1989 comedy, starring Chevy Chase, are genuinely funny. It’s also funny, in a different sense, to watch Randy Quaid when he was acting crazy only on screen.
TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET
Diana Serra Cary got her first big break at 19 months, becoming an actress in silent films and becoming, along with Jackie Cooper, one of the most popular child stars in the then-young history of Hollywood. As “Baby Peggy,” the youngster was such a phenomenon that, in 1923 alone, she later claimed to have gotten 1.7 million pieces of fan mail. This 2011 one-hour biography tells her story – and, as TCM usually does, follows the documentary with some of the films covered in the nonfiction study. First up, at 9 p.m. ET: Captain January, a 1924 silent film later remade, in 1936, by another young actress who did okay for herself as a screen star: Shirley Temple.
NBC, 10:01 p.m. ET
Blake Shelton has a not-so-hidden motive for headlining this new NBC holiday special: to promote his recent holiday CD, Cheers, It’s Christmas. Along for the ride are several singer who have served as mentors for his teams of contestants on The Voice – Miranda Lambert (naturally), as well as Kelly Clarkson and Reba McEntire. Appearing, too, is a fellow judge from The Voice, but the one judge who isn’t a fellow: Christina Aguilera.
CBS, 12:35 a.m. ET
Question: What has an exposed skeleton, a one-man band, and a dancing horse on standby? Answer: This week, Craig Ferguson. Joining the omnipresent skeletal sidekick Geoff Peterson and the occasionally present guys-in-costume Secretariat, for this week’s shows, is guitarist Richie Sambora, who has agreed to act as the Late Late Show house band all week. Now all Craig needs is a matinee lady, like Johnny Carson’s Art Fern used to have, and he’s all set. Might I suggest frequent guest Kristen Bell?...