‘The Crown’ Final Bow, CMA Country Christmas, 100 Years of Disney, Julia Goes to the White House

The Crown

After six seasons and three different casts to mark the passage of time, the Emmy-winning drama about the British royal family and the historic reign of Queen Elizabeth II (currently played by Imelda Staunton) takes a dignified bow with its final six episodes. Thankfully, the Ghost of Diana sits out these episodes, though her legacy haunts her survivors—most particularly sad Prince William (Ed McVey), who’s uneasy with his celebrity as he matriculates to St. Andrews, where he crushes on Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy), whose mother (House of the Dragon’s Eve Best) is seen as something of a manipulative gold-digger. For the Queen, it’s a period of reckoning with mortality, with personal losses causing her to reflect on her monarchy (with cameos from Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, the actresses who portrayed her in previous years). She has regrets about the system that often denies the royals to be their true selves, but to the end, duty calls.

CMA Country Christmas

Hosts Amy Grant and Trisha Yearwood are among the country stars making a joyful noise in the annual holiday music special. They team on “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” and welcome Lindsey Stirling for “Joy to the World.” Other performers include Lady A, Ashley McBryde, The War and Treaty, Jordan Davis, and Zach Williams with Lainey Wilson.

20/20

From ABC News Studios, 20/20 honors the legendary history of its parent company with a two-hour retrospective of Disney on the entertainment giant’s 100^th anniversary. The special, titled Disney 100: A Century of Dreams—A Special Edition of 20/20, covers the studio’s iconic animation, starting with Mickey Mouse, as well as the theme parks, TV shows and music as the brand expands to include Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21^st Century Fox. Among those interviewed: Mary Poppins stars Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, songwriters Richard Sherman, Elton John, Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and those providing voice to animated hits including Frozen’s Idina Menzel, The Little Mermaid’s Jodi Benson, Beauty and the Beast’s Paige O’Hara and Ariana DeBose from the recent Wish.

Julia

In one of the strongest episodes of an uneven second season, Julia Child (the wonderful Sarah Lancashire) and members of her WGBH TV family head to Washington, D.C. to film a report on a state dinner at the Johnson White House. The French Chef doesn’t get quite the red-carpet treatment she’s expecting as she remarks on 1960s standards: “The world isn’t very kind to women, is it?” It’s a sentiment shared by her friend Avis (Bebe Neuwirth), who’s in for a rude awakening in her new relationship, and by her editor Judith (Fiona Glascott), who’s determined to give her ailing boss Blanche Knopf (Judith Light) the respect she deserves.

Heaven Down Here

The Yule Log: The inspirational Heaven Down Here (8/7c, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), with a title taken from Mickey Guyton’s song, finds four people—a widowed mom, her Scrooge-like boss, a troubled pastor and a hospice nurse—stranded by a snowstorm in a diner on Christmas Eve, where their bickering soon turns to bonding. For laughs, NBC’s That Clip Show: Holiday Edition (8/7c) features hosts Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila (American Ninja Warrior) providing commentary on holiday videos that went gone viral. Streaming on BET+: Christmas Rescue, about a man who thinks kidnapping his true love from her holiday-themed wedding is the best way to win her back; and Favorite Son Christmas, in which an estranged family comes together to save a financially struggling church.

INSIDE THURSDAY TV:

• Hell’s Kitchen (8/7c, Fox): The remaining chefs endure the infamous blind food taste test, then struggle with scallops and soufflés at dinner service, with actors Rosanna Arquette and Greg Germann among those supping. Followed by the season finale of LEGO Masters (9/8c).
• MTV Unplugged Presents: A Hip Hop 50^th Celebration of Jersey’s Finest (9/8c, MTV): The channel wraps its yearlong celebration of hip hop’s half-century with a special “Unplugged” concert from Newark’s Symphony Hall with a lineup including Queen Latifah, Wyclef Jean, Redman, Naughty By Nature’s Treach and genre pioneers The Sugarhill Gang.
• A Saturday Night Live Christmas Special (9/8c, NBC): Relive highlights of holiday sketches and music from the late-night show’s nearly 50-year history.
• Ghosts UK (9:30/8:30c, CBS): It’s Christmas in the haunted house, and when Mike (Kiell Smith-Bynoe) invites his family for a holiday party, the gathering triggers regrets for the spirit of disgraced politician Julian (Simon Farnaby) about how he treated his own family.
• The Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip: RHONY Legacy (streaming on Peacock): Alums of The Real Housewives of New York City head to Saline Beach on tropical St. Barts to pick up the fun and gossip where they left off.