At first glance, the Netflix debut of the computer-animated kids’ movie comedy “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget” has nothing to do with the 2023 DayGlo blockbuster “Barbie,” streaming today on Max. But both follow similar themes.
A sequel to the 2000 “Chicken Run” comedy from Aardman Animation, the makers of “Wallace and Gromit,” “Nugget” sees the chickens safely ensconced on their own island, safe from Farmer Tweedy and other ax-wielding predators.
This Eden ends when Molly (Bella Ramsey), the daughter of Ginger (Thandiwe Newton) and Rocky (Zachary Levi), runs away from home. Her odyssey confronts her with the strange people and things that she has been sheltered from before she is finally enticed into a kind of pink theme park with other young and naive chickens who have no idea that they are being pampered and fattened in order to be turned into processed fast food.
When Molly’s protective poultry parents catch wind of this, they hatch an epic break-in to liberate their daughter and her fellow victims. I’m not sure if “Free Bird” is on the loud and intrusive soundtrack, but it should be.
“Barbie” follows a similar “hero’s journey,” when she leaves the safe confines of her world to “find herself” in the process.
Both “Nugget” and “Barbie” are probably best appreciated on the big screen. And both put the accent on color. At least there’s more than pink going on in “Chicken Run.”
— Mickey Guyton hosts the National Christmas Tree Lighting (8 p.m., CBS). Look for performances of festive seasonal songs from Darren Criss, Samara Joy, Ledisi, Maddie & Tae, St. Vincent, Joe Walsh and Dionne Warwick. The United States Coast Guard’s Guardians Big Band will also accompany the illumination of the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse at The White House and President’s Park in Washington, D.C.
The ceremony also streams live (and later on-demand) on the Paramount+ platform.
— Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner host the 50th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards (9 p.m., CBS). Longtime soap opera star Susan Lucci receives a Lifetime Achievement award. The “All My Children” star appeared as character Erica Kane on the series’ entire run from 1970 to 2011.
Technically, that makes Kane and Lucci’s “lifetime” even longer than the awards themselves. The Daytime Emmy Awards were first presented in 1974.
Both streaming and the popularity of reality TV have taken their toll on the daytime soap. It’s hard to call something “daytime” when it can be streamed any hour of the day.
Yet long before streaming, daytime soap operas were often appreciated “on-demand.” When home VCRs were first popularized in the late 1970s and early ’80s, they were put to use by soap fans with daytime jobs who got their “All My Children” and “General Hospital” fixes when they got home.
— The 2023 drama “Finestkind” streams on Paramount+. Toby Wallace and Ben Foster star as estranged brothers who tangle with Boston’s underworld. Jake Gyllenhaal and Tommy Lee Jones also star. The film was not well-received by critics.
— Hulu imports the U.K. sitcom “Such Brave Girls.” A purposefully brutal take on a single parent raising two nearly adult and utterly confused and self-absorbed daughters, it has been hailed by British critics for its take-no-prisoners sensibility.
— Based on the deliriously violent series of “Jack Reacher” books by Lee Child, the Prime Video series “Reacher” enters its second season. Alan Ritchson (“Smallville”) stars.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— A poor Tennessee family endures with faith and love in the 2015 period special “Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-G), inspired by Parton’s song and life story.
— A handsome young widower reconnects with his daughter with the help of his fetching personal shopper in the 2023 romance “The Secret Gift of Christmas” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— “Lookingglass Alice” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-G, check local listings) uses circus performances to adapt Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking Glass.”
CULT CHOICE
A day job, family and daily dramas distract a sculptor (Michelle Williams) from her work in the 2023 drama “Showing Up” (9 p.m., Showtime), directed by Nancy Reichardt (“Wendy & Lucy,” “First Cow”).
SERIES NOTES
“WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Artisanal vegan cheese on “Shark Tank” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) … “Dateline” (10 p.m., NBC).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Jessica Chastain, Ken Burns and Alanis Morissette on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Paul Giamatti, Andrew Moskos and Pep Rosenfeld visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Michael Colyar, Craig Gass, Frazer Smith and Sarah Tiana appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
