What to watch: The best TV for celebrating New Year’s Eve
Miley Cyrus is MIA this New Year’s Eve. That’s a shame for those of us enjoyed her bold, bawdy bashes for the past two years. If you want great music to celebrate this time around, your best bet is “Cynthia Erivo & Friends: A New Year’s Eve Celebration” (8 p.m. ET, PBS), a Kennedy Center event featuring her Broadway buddies Joaquina Kalukango and Ben Platt.
If country is more your speed, there’s “New Year’s Eve Live: Nashville’s Big Bash” (7:30 p.m., CBS) with a lineup that includes Thomas Rhett, Lainey Wilson and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
If it’s giggles and glee you want, spend the evening with “New Year’s Eve Live With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” (8 p.m., CNN). The two remind me of the friendship between Will Truman and Jack McFarland on “Will & Grace,” especially when the bosses allow the pair to throw back a few shots. It’s unclear whether booze is on the menu this time around.
If all you require is a visual backdrop for your house party, there’s always “Dick Clark’s Rockin’ New Year’s Eve With Ryan Seacrest” (8 p.m., ABC). You may want to turn the volume up when Green Day appears to perform some of its biggest hits.
Those who want to wait until Monday to mark the occasion can turn to “From Vienna: The New Year’s Celebration 2024” (8 p.m., PBS) with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna City Ballet.
Also this week …
‘I am Burt Reynolds’
Loni Anderson has every right still to be seething about the way her marriage ended with the mega movie star. But the Minnesota native is surprisingly gracious in this in-depth documentary about Reynolds’ personal and professional life. You’re left wishing that the actor, who died in 2018, had taken gutsier roles. But he would have been better served if the doc had spotlighted his terrific performances in 1979’s “Starting Over” and 1989’s “Breaking In.” 8 p.m. Saturday, CW
‘Rebel Moon’
Zack Snyder has managed to make the movie just different enough from a “Star Wars” installment to avoid getting sued by George Lucas. Our renegades pull out all the stops to combat the Empire — I mean, the Motherworld — but without the comic stylings of a Chewbacca. Those who just want loads of action (and a chance to see Charlie Hunnam channel Han Solo) will be more than satisfied. Part II drops in April. Netflix
‘Pokémon Concierge’
Pokémon Go may no longer be the hottest game around, but those critters aren’t going anywhere. In this silly stop-animation series, a nervous human who would panic over boiling water lands a job on a sort of Fantasy Island — assuming your fantasy is sledding with Psyduck. The creators fail in their attempts to provide anything close to life lessons. Letting your kids watch is like feeding them Skittles for dinner. Thursday, Netflix
‘America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League’
This spinoff takes a page from “The Voice” with judges Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Mel B serving as mentors to some past favorites. The premiere episode offers magic, pole dancing, opera, acrobatics, finger painting and Tape Face. 8 p.m. Monday, NBC
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