What’s Worth Watching: ‘White Hot Holidays’, ‘Pitch’, ‘Mom’, ‘Alone’ and more for Thursday, December 8
Taraji’s White Hot Holidays (8/7c, Fox): A new holiday tradition, courtesy of Empire’s reigning diva Taraji P. Henson, returns with the second annual serving of hip-hop infused seasonal music, including co-star Jussie Smollett and current love interest Taye Diggs, joined by a lineup that would do the Empire label proud: Smokey Robinson, Pharrell Williams, Missy Elliott, Ne-Yo, Alicia Keys, Tyrese Gibson, Andra Day, Snoop Dogg and TLC.
Pitch (9/8c, Fox): Get this for a meta storyline: Ginny (Kylie Bunbury) is close to her pitching limit, but management doesn’t want to end her season. Fans are likely to feel much the same way, as the underrated baseball drama airs its season finale with no indication of extra innings.
Mom (9/8c, CBS): An expert at mixing humor with wrenching pathos, this dark comedy finds Christy (Anna Faris) and Bonnie (Allison Janney) reaching out to Jill (Jaime Pressley) to help her cope on the anniversary of her mom’s suicide. Amazingly, there will be laughter.
Alone (9/8c, History): The survivalist series returns for a third season, having just been renewed for a fourth. See what the fuss is about as 10 new adventurers are stranded in a frigid, remote area of Patagonia, Argentina with limited gear and only one goal: to endure the unforgiving conditions. This will be followed by the premiere of executive producer Peter Berg’s The Selection: Special Operations Experiment (10/9c), in which 30 civilians are put through a grueling regimen of physical and psychological exercises to test their limits, led by Navy SEAL, Green Beret and Army Ranger veterans.
Inside Thursday TV: Best not to read too much metaphorically into the latest Supernatural scenario (9/8c, The CW), as Lucifer infiltrates the White House and the President makes a deal with you-know-who. … Crackle is streaming an animated SuperMansion: War on Christmas special with The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons joining a voice cast including Bryan Cranston, Keegan-Michael Key and Seth Green as bumbling superheroes tackling a crisis involving a real-life Santa (Gary Anthony Williams). … Once again, Bravo’s Top Chef (10/9c) pits the newbies vs. the veteran players as the chefs prepare a traditional Southern low-country family meal.
