Blue Glow

Salon's TV picks for Thursday, Dec. 14, 2000

Published December 14, 2000 6:24PM (EST)

Series

Ross tries to teach his Christmas-inundated son about the joys of Chanukah on Friends (8 p.m., NBC). A snowstorm forces Rory to spend the night at her grandparents' house without Lorelai on a new Gilmore Girls (8 p.m., WB). Yes, we truly are Cursed (8:30 p.m., NBC) tonight, as Charlton Heston, who's apparently desperate for work, makes a guest appearance on the laughless Steven Weber sitcom. On Will & Grace (9 p.m., NBC), Will and Jack fight over the same guy, while Grace dates a guy who has an anatomical anomaly. Chen has her baby and Greene goes to New York to talk to a surgeon about his condition on ER (10 p.m., NBC).

Specials

Two holiday specials from 1999 get another airing. Cinderelmo (8 p.m., Fox) rewrites the Cinderella story with Muppet Elmo in the title role. Keri Russell, Oliver Platt and Kathy Najimy also star. And Matt Groening's delightful animated musical adaptation of the kids book Olive, the Other Reindeer (9 p.m., Fox) has sneaky pop-culture jokes aplenty, songs by Michael Stipe and an adorable performance by producer Drew Barrymore in the title role of a plucky dog who fills in for one of Santa's ailing reindeers. Live by Request: k.d. lang (9 p.m., A&E) finds the chanteuse in a giving mood as fans phone in their requests. Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year 2000 (10 p.m., CBS) honors great athletic performances in several categories. Legendary UCLA Bruins basketball coach John Wooden gets a lifetime achievement award. And, by the way, with Venus and Serena Williams in the running for this thing, shouldn't it be called the Sportsperson of the year?

Sports

Basketball:
Knicks at Raptors (8 p.m., TNT)

Hockey:
Rangers at Kings (10 p.m., ESPN2)

Talk

Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) Susan Lucci, Tom Cavanagh
David Letterman (CBS) Helen Hunt, Robert Klein
Jay Leno (NBC) Mel Gibson, Harlem Boys Choir
Politically Incorrect (ABC) Sharon Lawrence, Nadine Strossen
Conan O'Brien (NBC) Jeri Ryan, Tony Bennett
Craig Kilborn (CBS) Ashton Kutcher, Alicia Coppola

All times Eastern unless noted.


By Joyce Millman

Joyce Millman is a writer living in the Bay Area.

MORE FROM Joyce Millman


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