IT'S A SPONGEBOB CHRISTMAS!
CBS, 9:30 p.m. ET
This isn’t your normal SpongeBob SquarePants TV cartoon. It’s not a cartoon at all – but a stop-animation holiday special, an intentional and affectionate nod to some of the classic holiday TV specials of the 1960s. It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! has an appropriately holiday-themed plot: Plankton, in his latest scheme to discover the secret formula for the Krabby Patty recipe, floods the already-underwater town of Bikini Bottom with fruitcakes. Those, too, have a secret ingredient: They’re laced with “jerktonium,” and eating a slice turns everyone from nice to naughty. Seeing SpongeBob and company as three-dimensional puppets is fun, but parents, beware: Fast on the heels of this special is a barrage of SpongeBob SquarePants holiday merchandise, including new CDs and DVDs.