What’s Worth Watching: ABC comedies for Wednesday, December 9

Blackish, LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ANTHONY ANDERSON
Ron Batzdorff/ABC
BLACK-ISH - "Stuff" -- Dre thinks Christmas has become commercialized and is all about "stuff," and no one loves "stuff" more than his kids. Pops thinks they have forgotten the true meaning of Christmas and comes up with a new plan to pare down gifts and spend more time together. The kids don't handle the news well and hope that if they act nice, Dre and Bow will change their stance. Meanwhile, Dre shares his Christmas plan at work and they have him starting to doubt his new traditions, on "black-ish," WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9 (9:31-10:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. (ABC/Ron Batzdorff) LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ANTHONY ANDERSON

The Middle, “Not So Silent Night,” 8/7c
The Goldbergs, “A Christmas Story,” 8:30/7:30c
Modern Family, “White Christmas,” 9/8c
black-ish, “Stuff,” 9:30/8:30c, ABC

Tis the season for very special holiday episodes, and ABC’s first-rate family comedies have a reputation for rising to the occasion:

As usual, The Middle takes the hard-knock approach, with Frankie (Patricia Heaton) so fed up with showing up to Christmas Eve church late, she decides to keep the family home to watch a service on TV. You know what they say about best-laid plans.

On The Goldbergs, Beverly (Wendi McLendon-Covey) decides to bring some holiday spirit into the house by creating “Super Hanukkah,” but somehow it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas. And not just because the boys have decided to reenact a famous scene from a certain classic Christmas movie.

Modern Family leaves L.A. behind for a trip to the mountains, so Gloria (Sofia Vergara) can experience the white Christmas of her dreams in a rented cabin—that turns out already to be occupied (by guest star Andrea Martin, a proven scene-stealer).

And on black-ish, Dre (Anthony Anderson) goes all Linus—as in A Charlie Brown Christmas—railing against society’s rampant commercialization and his spoiled kids’ obsession with “stuff,” determined to teach them the true meaning of Christmas. Inviting herself to the party: guest star Wanda Sykes as new boss lady Daphne, seeking family comfort on her first Christmas as a divorcee. And she thinks she’ll find it at the Johnsons?