Kennedy Center Honors, ‘Sunny’ and ‘Hawkeye’ Finales, Emily Still in Paris

Kennedy Center Honors

Always a class act, this year’s tribute to entertainment greats has something for everyone: comedy (Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels), Motown greatness (label founder Berry Gordy), showbiz pizazz (the divine Bette Midler), songwriting brilliance (the sublime Joni Mitchell) and a dose of classical timeliness (operatic bass-baritone Justino Diaz). Among the former Kennedy Center honorees saluting their peers: Herbie Hancock (for Mitchell), Grace Bumbry and Chita Rivera (for Diaz), Steve Martin and Paul Simon (for Michaels), Oprah Winfrey, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder (for Gordy). Other performers include Norah Jones, Ellie Goulding, Brandi Carlile, Brittany Howard, Denyce Graves, SNL stars past and present (Amy Poehler, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers, Kevin Nealon, Kristen Wiig, Kenan Thompson, Kate McKinnon, Colin Jost and Michael Che), Broadway stars Kate Baldwin, Kelli O’Hara and Billy Porter, Andra Day and the Broadway cast of Ain’t Too Proud.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Shifting gears to one of TV’s proudest crass acts, the bawdy comedy’s 15th season wraps with back-to-back episodes and the Paddy Pub’s gang still in Ireland. Mac (Rob McElhenney) learns what it takes to join the priesthood, Charlie (Charlie Day) bonds with his pen pal and tends to a corpse, while Dee (Kaitlin Olson) nearly drowns in a bog. As one does. Talk about your unlucky charms.

Hawkeye

Over already? The Avengers spinoff wraps its first season with Clint/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and his protégé Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld), in their new suits, confronting the Tracksuit Mafia’s big boss, revealed to be none other than Marvel fan-favorite villain Wilson Fisk/Kingpin (Vincent D’Onofrio). Expect plenty of action, a possible cameo by another Marvel hero, and maybe even a happy holiday ending.

Emily in Paris

Ooh la la, the Emmy-nominated (!) romantic comedy is back for a second twirl around Gay Paree. The complications start early for Emily (Lily Collins), the American in Paris, now that she’s hooked up with the ex (Lucas Bravo) of her gal pal Camille (Camille Razat).

Inside Wednesday TV:

• The Price Is Right at Night (8/7c, CBS): A heartwarming special edition finds families competing for prizes and pets hoping to be matched with their own families in an adoption segment. Come on down, Lassie!
• The Masked Singer Christmas Singalong (8/7c, Fox): You don’t need to wear a mask to enjoy the antics in a two-hour special including bloopers, holiday performances from fan-favorite contestants (including “Skunk” Faith Evans’ “Santa Baby”) and a memorable rendition of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
• It Takes a Christmas Village (8/7c, Lifetime): Get your holiday-movie fix with this yarn about a small-town mayor (Brooke Nevin) who lures a hermit (Corey Sevier) out of seclusion to turn his family mill into a market.
• Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller (9/8c, National Geographic): The investigative journalist goes inside outlaw motorcycle clubs to learn about their codes of brotherhood. (Maybe she should watch Sons of Anarchy first?).
• Snapshots: A Musical Scrapbook (streaming on Broadway HD): The prolific catalogue of Broadway/film composer Stephen Schwartz provides the score for this original musical produced by A Contemporary Theater of CT. The story is propelled by songs from Wicked, Pippin, Godspell, Enchanted, Working, Children of Eden and lesser-known shows including The Baker’s Wife and Rags.