A rare broadcast-network made-for-TV movie, “The Christmas Break” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) stars Justin Long and India Mullen as a perfect Chicago couple who may be hitting a rough patch.
When friends can’t get a babysitter and bring their baby to Jack and Caroline’s boozy Christmas party, Jack spends most of the time with the little one, making no secret of the fact that he’d love to be a dad. Caroline, focused on her career, is not in such a big hurry. Jack understands — or at least says he does.
They embark on a visit to Caroline’s extended Irish family back in the old country. There, Jack gets a hint about the source of Caroline’s maternal reservations. Her sisters seemed tethered to seriously overactive kids. As Jack plays the role of overeager uncle, even he notices how exhausting kids can become.
In a touch right out of a Hallmark movie, Caroline’s former boyfriend, still handsome and studly, has opened a pub that appears to be putting her dad’s establishment out of business.
So, we have to wonder how a busy female executive who thinks she has the world figured out can withstand the charms and blarney of her picture-postcard-perfect old home town.
In addition to his film and TV credits, Long played the confident Mac guy in a series of “Mac vs. PC” commercials that ran from 2006 to 2009, co-starring John Hodgeman as the nervous voice of the PC.
Mullen is a native of Ireland and recently starred in the 2023 crime drama series “The Vanishing Triangle,” streaming on Sundance Now.
— Max streams the comedy special “Gary Gulman: Born on 3rd Base.” Some of his observational humor stems from the contrast between his Jewish ethnic background and his athletic demeanor. He played college football and dabbled in hockey. So, he’s not the nervous comedian of the Marc Maron/Woody Allen variety.
Can a good-looking, confident guy also be funny? Comedians once dismissed beautiful people as uncomplicated and shallow. But the biggest blockbuster of 2023 is about “Barbie” (9 p.m., HBO) having an existential crisis.
— CBS revisits its sitcom history with “Dick Van Dyke: 98 Years of Magic” (9 p.m., TV-PG). After Sunday’s Willie Nelson tribute, this marks the second CBS special of the week to salute a celebrity in his tenth decade.
He’s best known for his role as comedy writer Rob Petrie on “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” a series created by Carl Reiner, based on his own television career. Reiner originally wanted to star, but moved over to play Petrie’s mercurial boss, seemingly based on Sid Caesar, the star of “Your Show of Shows.”
In addition to his role in the 1964 musical “Mary Poppins,” Van Dyke was the star of the long-running medical detective series “Diagnosis Murder” (1993-2001), also on CBS. That series, and “Murder, She Wrote” (1984-96) were emblematic of CBS’s genial style in the late 20th century, a tone that would change drastically under Leslie Moonves with the advent of reality television and far more graphically violent and morbid series like “CSI.”
Van Dyke also starred in the cigarette satire “Cold Turkey,” released in 1971, co-written and directed by Norman Lear, who died on Dec. 5.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— “Christmas at Graceland” (8 p.m., NBC, r, TV-PG).
— The Rams host the Saints in Thursday Night Football (8:15 p.m., Prime Video).
— Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen, Zach Williams and Miley Cyrus appear on the 2022 special “Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-PG), filmed at Dollywood.
CULT CHOICE
Arguably, the ensemble drama-comedy “Love Actually” (9 p.m., MTV) and “Elf” (7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., IFC, TV-PG) are the most consistently broadcast Christmas movies produced in this century. Both were released in 2003.
SERIES NOTES
The season(al) finale of “Big Brother Reindeer Games” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball 2023” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-14) … Inventing holiday cheer on “Shark Tank” (10 p.m., ABC, r, TV-14).
LATE NIGHT
Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen and Louis Cato are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Travis Scott, Joe Keery and Mario the Maker Magician on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Will Arnett, Lamorne Morris, Alec Benjamin and Melissa McCarthy appear on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (11:35 p.m., ABC, r).
Jack Antonoff, Michael Mann and Bleachers visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC) … Erin Jackson, Brad Trackman, Guy Branum and Jeffrey Garcia appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
