The holiday TV doldrums are upon us, and tonight  “How I Met Your Mother” and “Accidentally on Purpose” on CBS are two of the few series airing new episodes this week.

But if you’re in the Bay Area and try tuning in to those shows at the usual time, you’ll find the 49ers-Cardinals game on instead. Ch. 5 will be simulcasting ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” broadcast. There’s some rule about how a local team has to also be shown on a broadcast channel if a cable channel is airing the game.

So fans of those shows are going to have to set their DVR, or else stay up really late. “HIMYM” will air after Craig Ferguson, around 1:35 a.m., with “Accidentally” following around 2:05 a.m. Not a perfect solution, but 49ers fans who don’t have cable (are there any of those people left?) will be happy.

Speaking of the dearth of new episodes, my daily “Watch This” blog posts will be going on hiatus until January. There’s just not enough on to justify it. Reruns, Christmas specials and, starting Saturday, lots of college bowl games — that’s almost all that’s on until after the new year.

It’s a good time to catch up on what you’ve got saved up on your DVR or have laying around on Netflix. For me, that’s the BBC’s “Collision,” a bunch of music specials, Season 2 of “Californication” (which I’m about three episodes into and am not digging, despite Carla Gallo’s best efforts) and the highly touted Canadian series “Slings & Arrows.”