Over the river and through the woods doesn’t quite convey the distances traveled on “Lost Cities Revealed” (9 p.m., National Geographic, TV-PG). Explorer and scientist Albert Lin takes viewers to the ruins of lost urban areas, some well documented in antiquity, legend and biblical lore, and others more recently discovered.
As season two begins, he’s in Sudan to find evidence of a kingdom lost to history. Lin’s travels are not merely geographical adventures, but journeys of empathy and imagination. He asks viewers to put themselves in the places of the people who built these dwellings, temples, public baths and fountains — at a time when their civilizations may have been just years or generations removed from nomadic life. What needs or concepts inspired these ancient people to settle down? Was it the need for safety in numbers? A reliable source of water? Or the need to build places of worship, devotion and sacrifice?
— Previously seen on CNN after a brief theatrical release and now streaming on Max, the 2023 documentary “Little Richard: I Am Everything” profiles the rock ‘n’ roll pioneer in all his audacity and personal contradictions. A musical product of the Black church as well as a veteran of gender-fluid honkytonks and clubs, Little Richard was often considered a scandalous outcast to his community and just too much for parents and arbiters of good taste in the 1950s.
Director John Waters speaks of him as a kind of cultural Big Bang, producing “the music you loved that your parents hated that became the soundtrack to your life.” Homoerotic lyrics to his song “Tutti Frutti” had to be toned down, and white record executives had the song covered by both Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, bowdlerized performances that far outsold Little Richard’s bawdy original.
Like many rock pioneers including Chuck Berry and Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard was condemned in the 1950s and then eclipsed by the British Invasion of the 1960s, before emerging in the next decade at oldies shows. His career was further complicated by frequent decisions to retire and renounce his “sinful” life. A spectacular explosion of talent accompanied by profound contradictions, Little Richard (1932-2020) remains an American original.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A broadcasting tradition since 1948, NBC broadcasts the 97th Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (8:30 a.m.).
— Kevin Frazier and Keltie Knight host The Thanksgiving Day Parade (9 a.m., CBS).
— David Frei and John O’Hurley host The National Dog Show (noon, NBC).
— Frank Capra’s 1946 fantasy “It’s a Wonderful Life” (3 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m., midnight, E!, TV-PG) unspools in marathon fashion.
— A fetching news anchor encounters a man who claims to be the jolly old guy’s son in the 2023 holiday romance “Catch Me If You Claus” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— A tween runaway (Judy Garland) takes up with misfits in between killing one woman and eventually liquidating her sister in the 1939 musical “The Wizard of Oz” (8 p.m., TBS, TV-G).
— The Seattle Seahawks host the San Francisco 49ers in NFL action (8:15 p.m., NBC). Following a playbook I’m sure somebody understands, NBC carries this game as a “Sunday Night Football” offering. Prime Video’s regular “Thursday Night Football” stream arrives tomorrow afternoon, when the Jets and Dolphins meet (3 p.m.).
CULT CHOICE
A couple (Henry Fonda and Maureen O’Hara) raise their wholesome brood against Wyoming’s dramatic scenery in the 1963 drama “Spencer’s Mountain” (8 p.m., TCM, TV-G). While the location was far from an Appalachian homestead, this film is considered a precursor to the TV series “The Waltons,” which arrived a decade later. The cast includes James MacArthur (“Hawaii Five-O”), Wally Cox (“Mister Peepers”) and Veronica Cartwright (“The Birds,” “Alien”). Savaged by big-city critics, it has remained a corny classic and frequent holiday favorite.
SERIES NOTES
Labor day for Mandy on “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … New citizens receive a congratulatory brunch on “Hell’s Kitchen” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14) … Three repeat episodes of “The Golden Bachelor” (8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … Relationship advice on “Ghosts” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
On two episodes of “Ghosts UK” (CBS, TV-PG): we the living (9 p.m.); cash strapped (9:30 p.m.) … “Lego Masters” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Off to Africa on “SEAL Team” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Cher, Mike Birbiglia and Offset on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … The Meyers Family visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Christopher “Kid” Reid, Vince Morris, Kym Whitley and Rod Man appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
