Ringing in the new year
“New Year’s Eve Live” (11:30 p.m., Fox). Nancy O’Dell and David Archuleta in Las Vegas. This sounds awful.
“New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” (live at 10 p.m., taped at 11:30 p.m., NBC). With musical performances from Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj and My Chemical Romance. I’ll pass.
“New Year’s Live” (11:30 p.m. KRON). The Bay Area’s only live new year’s countdown, hosted from downtown San Francisco. Also featuring look-ins at celebrations in L.A., Las Vegas and Seattle. This is the one to watch — it’s usually worth it just to see Gary Radnich and Pam Moore drunk on the air. (OK, maybe they’re not really drunk, but they get kinda goofy and I like to imagine they’re buzzed.)
“Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve” (live at 10 p.m., taped at 11:30 p.m., ABC). I’m sorry, the guy’s a legend and it’s nice that he hasn’t let a stroke stop him, but it’s so uncomfortable watching Dick Clark these days. Time to end the awkwardness and hand the reins completely over to heir Ryan Seacrest. They’ll be live in Times Square with Jenny McCarthy(!?) and musical guests Ke$ha and Train, and Fergie “reporting” from L.A. I’ll skip it.
“New Year’s Eve Live with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin” (live at 8 p.m., taped at 11 p.m., CNN). This has been worth watching for the past few years just to watch Kathy Griffin drop f-bombs on live TV. But this year she’s supposedly been muzzled, contractually. No f-bomb trainwreck, no point in watching.
“MTV’s New Year’s Eve Bash 2011” (10:30 p.m., MTV). Acerbic comedian Whitney Cummings hosts, with the cast of “Jersey Shore” grinding and fist-bumping among the masses at Times Square. This will probably be the trainwreck of the night, and worth watching for its sheer stupidity. Hint: Have plenty of booze on hand (and in belly), and you’ll enjoy this a lot more.
UPDATE: Forget Times Square, now they’re going to drop Snooki in a hamster ball at Seaside Heights, N.J. That seals it, I’m watching.
The marathons
There are a lot of ’em today. Among the most watchable: “Deadliest Catch” (Discovery), starting at 9 a.m. and running until 3 a.m.; Season 2 of “Jersey Shore” (MTV) from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.; the “Back to the Future” trilogy (AMC), from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and again from 6 p.m. to 1:30 a.m.; and “House Hunters International” (HGTV) from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., followed by “House Hunters” from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The best games
Sun Bowl: Miami vs. Notre Dame (11 a.m., CBS). It’s not exactly the Convicts vs. Catholics rivalry of the ’90s, but it’s still a pretty intriguing matchup.
NBA: Warriors vs. Bobcats (noon, CSN-BA). Hey, it’s a winnable road game for the Dubs.
Chick-Fil-A Bowl: Florida State vs. South Carolina (4:30 p.m., ESPN). This should be a fun one with lots of offense. And it’s always fun to root against Steve Spurrier.
