Series
Will & Grace (9 p.m. Thurs., NBC) flashes back to Thanksgiving 1985 -- when Will and Grace were sort of dating and a teenage Jack encouraged Will to come out of the closet. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (9 p.m. Thurs., ABC) begins a two-night "family tournament," with parents and their kids answering questions as a team. Abby's mom (Sally Field) continues to make trouble, Chen's mom enters the picture, Greene and Corday both get sick and there's an explosion -- just another Thanksgiving on ER (10 p.m. Thurs., NBC). Mad TV (11 p.m. Sat., Fox) spoofs Jim Carrey's Grinch movie. On King of the Hill (7:30 p.m. Sun., Fox), Peggy becomes the most hated person in Arlen when she flunks the school's star fullback (voice of Brendan Fraser) and he's suspended from the team. Needing someone to humiliate while Smithers is away, Mr. Burns hires Homer to be his "prank monkey" on The Simpsons (8 p.m. Sun., Fox). Touched by an Angel (8 p.m. Sun., CBS) has a Very Special Episode in which the angels conjure up the life of Billie Holiday to scare a drug-taking girl straight. Scully is held against her will by a cult in an isolated Utah town on The X-Files (9 p.m. Sun., Fox). E! True Hollywood Story (9 p.m. Sun., E!) has the behind-the-scenes scoop on "Cheers." Everybody knew their names, but did they know their dirty secrets? Lindsay uses a risky strategy to defend a serial killer on The Practice (10 p.m. Sun., ABC). On Curb Your Enthusiasm (10 p.m. Sun., HBO), Larry is less than gracious when his dinner party guests want to say grace.
Specials
Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a gigantic Al Roker balloon! Roker, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer host the 74th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (9 a.m. Thurs., NBC), which features Hanson, Jessica Simpson, Aaron Carter, Santa Claus, Emeril Lagasse and the debut of the Ronald McDonald balloon. Faith! (8 p.m. Thurs., CBS) -- as in "Hill!" -- performs in concert in her first network special. The new kids special Arthur's Perfect Christmas (8 p.m. Thurs., PBS, check local listings) finds the earnest aardvark sampling holiday celebrations of many faiths. The Grand Ole Opry 75th: A Celebration (9 p.m. Thurs., CBS) pays tribute to the venerable Nashville stage. Performers include Loretta Lynn, Martina McBride, Alan Jackson, George Jones and Trisha Yearwood. Teams of inventors scavenge scrapheaps to put together complicated contraptions on a deadline in a 15-hour Junkyard Wars marathon (noon Thurs., Learning Channel). Leo. Kate. Celine. Titanic (7 p.m. Sun., NBC). What more can we say? VH1 Storytellers: The Doors Celebration (10 p.m. Sun., VH1) features the surviving band members jamming with Scott Weiland, Perry Farrell, Ian Astbury and other Fans of Jim.
Sports
College basketball:
Great Alaska Shootout (midnight Fri. and Sat., ESPN)
Basketball:
Raptors at Pacers (8 p.m. Thurs., TNT)
Football:
Patriots at Lions (12:30 p.m. Thurs., CBS)
Vikings at Cowboys (4 p.m. Thurs., Fox)
Saints at Rams (noon Sun., Fox)
Bills at Buccaneers, Browns at Ravens or Steelers at Bengals (1 p.m. Sun., CBS)
Bears at Jets, Falcons at Raiders or Eagles at Redskins (1 p.m. Sun., Fox)
Broncos at Seahawks, Chiefs at Chargers, Titans at Jaguars or Dolphins at Colts (4 p.m. Sun., CBS)
Giants at Cardinals (8:30 p.m. Sun., ESPN)
Hockey:
Devils at Kings (8:30 p.m. Thurs., ESPN2)
Stars at Blue Jackets (8 p.m. Sat., ESPN2)
Talk
Rosie O'Donnell (syndicated) "Survivor" special (Thurs.); Ricky Martin (Fri.)
David Letterman (CBS) Keri Russell, Stupid Human Tricks (Thurs.); Matthew Broderick, David Gray (Fri.)
Jay Leno (NBC) Tom Arnold (Thurs.); Dylan McDermott (Fri.)
Conan O'Brien (NBC) David Blaine, Deftones (Thurs.); Chris Elliott, Tom Everett Scott (Fri.)
Craig Kilborn (CBS) Ron Howard, Natasha Henstridge (Thurs.); Jewel, Foo Fighters (Fri.)
All times Eastern unless noted.
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