Kennedy Center Honors, ‘Encanto’ at the Hollywood Bowl, Steve Hartman’s Kindness Tour, TCM’s Window Warnings

Kennedy Center Honors

Always one of the classiest events of any year, the annual salute to cultural icons brings together an eclectic roster of honorees: TV-to-movie superstar George Clooney, R&B icon Gladys Knight, Irish rockers U2, contemporary Christian pop singer-songwriter Amy Grant and Cuban-born composer-conductor Tania León. Highlights include Garth Brooks, Mickey Guyton, Ariana DeBose and Patti LaBelle teaming for “That’s What Friends Are For” in the Knight tribute; Julia Roberts, Matt Damon, Richard Kind, Don Cheadle and George’s broadcaster dad Nick Clooney participating in the Clooney segment, with Dianne Reeves performing; Eddie Vedder, Hozier + Jamala + Brandi Carlile playing U2 classics; Sheryl Crow, The Highwomen and Bebe & CeCe Winans and Michael W Smith singing Grant’s praises; and Anna Deavere Smith leading the León salute.

Encanto at the Hollywood Bowl

Fans will definitely be talking about this live-to-film concert event, reuniting the voice cast of Disney’s Oscar-winning 2021 animated musical, introduced by composer Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In the Heights). Stephanie Beatriz leads the cast as Mirabel in a lavish event at the iconic venue, featuring an 80-person orchestra and 50 dancers.

National Treasure: Edge of History

Justin Bartha from the National Treasure movies drops in on the Young Adult spinoff as computer expert Riley Poole, attending the wake of former FBI agent Peter Sadusky (Harvey Keitel) only to get caught with treasure hunter Jess (Lisette Olivera) in a breathtaking trap.

Rear Window

This month’s weekly spotlight on “Neighbors” takes a sinister turn with a night of movies in which people witness horrible acts (or think they do) from their windows. Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 classic leads the way, with James Stewart as an injured photographer spying on his courtyard through his rear window when he suspects a man (Raymond Burr) across the way has committed murder. Followed by 1949’s The Window (10/9c), starring little Bobby Driscoll as a boy who can’t get anyone to believe that he witnessed his neighbors killing a drunken sailor in their apartment. In 1973’s lurid Night Watch (11:30/10:30c), Elizabeth Taylor has similar trouble convincing anyone that she saw a murder across the street. (There’s a wicked twist to that one.) The lineup climaxes with Brian DePalma’s Hitchcock-inspired Sisters (1:15 am/12:15c) from 1972.

Inside Wednesday TV:

• The Gift: Kindness Goes Viral with Steve Hartman (10/9c, CBS): You’d better have tissues handy as you watch these heartwarming vignettes from veteran CBS raconteur Steve Hartman, who travels the country to find uplifting stories about everyday people performing extraordinary acts of goodwill. Among those profiled: an Ohio family who created a foundation to help children who are losing their sight to experience visual wonders, and an Iowa woman who started a program in which the sale of donated clothing can help finance families’ adoption fees.
• Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (8/7c, TLC): The Discovery+ docuseries makes its linear debut, exposing the Hillsong Church’s history of alleged trauma, abuse, financial and labor exploitation. A new fourth hour, Hillsong: The Newest Revelations, airs Thursday at 10/9c.
• The Control Room (streaming on BritBox): Iain De Caestecker (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) stars in a three-part thriller as an emergency-call handler for a Scottish ambulance service who may need to call 999 himself after taking a desperate call from a woman who seems to know him.