FROM HERE TO PATERNITY: HBO’S ‘BABY GOD’

On one level, the 2020 documentary “Baby God” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-MA) is an expose. On another, it’s a detective story decades in the making.

The “God” in question is Dr. Quincy Fortier, an OB/GYN doctor in the Las Vegas area who helped desperate women start their families from the 1940s through the ‘80s, decades before current fertility treatments were developed.

The film, from first-time director Hannah Olson, makes stylish use of home movies and chamber of commerce films about the explosive growth of the gambling mecca. The casinos employed thousands, offering a steady clientele for a “women’s doctor” who appeared to work miracles with his patients.

Fortier had a secret. Rather than work with his patient’s husbands, he used secret sperm donations, often providing his own sperm, and went on to “father” dozens of children over the decades, unbeknownst to the parents.

His story only became known when one of his progeny, a retired police detective, decided to do a DNA test and discovered many genetic “siblings.” In a heartbreaking interview, her mother wondered where her daughter “had got her brains.” It certainly wasn’t from her or her since-deceased husband. And she goes on to say that neither of them would have submitted to a sperm donation had they been asked. So, in a cosmic twist, Fortier fathered the very detective who would later track him down.

He’s hardly the only doctor to have behaved in this manner. This “treatment” was even the subject of the short-lived Fox series “Almost Family,” starring Timothy Hutton.

— The “88th Annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (8 p.m., NBC) will be a bit different this year. Due to COVID, the public has been disinvited. Even the Rockefeller Center website has suggested people watch the lighting from home on TV, where they can see performances from Dolly Parton, Meghan Trainor, Kelly Clarkson, Brett Eldredge, Tori Kelly, Goo Goo Dolls, Leslie Odom Jr., Dan & Shay, the cast of “Ain’t Too Proud” and the Radio City Rockettes.

The tree, from the town of Oneonta in upstate New York, has already made a bit of a splash. When the 75-foot Norway spruce arrived in midtown Manhattan, it contained a stowaway owl. Thought to be hungry, he was given mice to eat and named Rockefeller, after his new home.

The tree has been criticized by some nitpickers for not looking “perfect.” Everybody knows that quirks give a tree character. Just ask Charlie Brown.

— There just aren’t enough movies made from American folklore. Adapted from a short story by Stephen Vincent Benet, the 1941 fantasy “The Devil and Daniel Webster” (9:45 p.m., TCM, TV-G) presents the 19th-century statesman (Edward Arnold) as a people’s champion who takes on the devil himself (Walter Huston) in a celestial courtroom, arguing that Satan tricked an impoverished farmer (James Craig) into selling his soul. Look for Simone Simon (“Cat People”) as the devil’s fetching assistant.

“Devil” features a rousing score by Bernard Hermann, who wrote the soundtrack for “Citizen Kane” the same year as well as “Jane Eyre” (8 p.m., TCM) in 1943. Hermann would collaborate with Alfred Hitchcock on “Vertigo,” “North by Northwest” and “Psycho.” He died in 1975, after completing the score for director Martin Scorsese’s “Taxi Driver.”

TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

— Finalists perform on “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG).

— Estranged children gather for the holidays in the 2020 romance “The Christmas House” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).

— On a two-part season opener, “SEAL Team” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-14) goes after a second-generation terrorist.

— “Trafficked With Mariana van Zeller” (9 p.m., National Geographic, TV-14) explores international scams and fraud.

— The Rockettes perform on “Radio City Christmas Spectacular Special” (10 p.m., NBC).

— Aaron takes a controversial case on “For Life” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-14).

CULT CHOICE

Compare and contrast Gillian Anderson’s portrayal of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix’s “The Crown” with Meryl Streep’s performance in the 2011 biopic “The Iron Lady” (9:45 p.m., TMC).

SERIES NOTES

“The Amazing Race” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … Winter vacation plans get the cold shoulder on “The Goldbergs” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … A bedside vigil on “Devils” (8 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Pushing envelopes on “American Housewife” (8:30 p.m., ABC, TV-14).

Drug testing on “The Conners” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-14) … A suspect escapes on the season finale of “Coroner” (9 p.m., CW, TV-14) … Dre returns to his roots on “black-ish” (9:30 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).

LATE NIGHT

Natasha Lyonne appears on “Conan” (11 p.m., TBS, r) … Dan Aykroyd, Anya Taylor-Joy and Carter McLean drop by “Late Night With Seth Meyers (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Bad Bunny is booked on “The Late Late Show With James Corden” (12:35 a.m., CBS).