‘Shadows’ Signs off, Little Big Town’s Opry Christmas, More About Gibbs’ Origins, Rockin’ With Brenda Lee

What We Do in the Shadows

After six seasons of supernatural mirth played out in mockumentary style, the lovably vapid vampires of Staten Island are taking a final bow. “Awkward things must come to an end,” declares Nadja (Natasia Demetriou), though human sidekick Guillermo (Harvey Guillén) is less sanguine, so to speak, about things ending so abruptly. (To be fair, fans of the show aren’t all that jazzed to be saying goodbye, either.) Eternal life goes on, of course, with Laszlo (Matt Berry) prepping a mate for his monster (Andy Assaf) and Nandor (Kayvan Novak) yearning for a subterranean lair to realize his crime-fighting dream. Many meta surprises await as these vamps head back into the shadows. We’ll miss them.

Christmas at the Opry

Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the legendary Nashville cathedral known as the Grand Ole Opry, familiar holiday music soars, courtesy of headlining hosts Little Big Town. They welcome country-music peers (Dan + Shay, Kelsea Ballerini, Orville Peck), gospel great Kirk Franklin, Sheryl Crow, Josh Groban, and Kate Hudson for a two-hour concert of Christmas and holiday classics, featuring duets and memorable collaborations. Tis the musical season. Followed by a replay of Michael Bublé’s Christmas in the City (10/9c), the Voice coach’s 2021 special.

NCIS: Origins

Here’s yet another origin story for the young NIS probie Gibbs (Austin Stowell), with a Christmas framework providing a poignant backdrop for his sudden estrangement from his partner Lala (Mariel Molino), after she discovered the truth about his Mexican mission of vengeance before he joined the agency. As Gibbs faces his first holiday without his murdered family, he reflects back six months to one of his lowest points, when he leaves the Marines without telling his dad and is left adrift, with Franks (Kyle Schmid) keeping him at arm’s length and only an acerbic landlady (the terrific London Garcia) for company. The unusually emotional episode reveals how Gibbs finally gets his act together and becomes a member of NIS.

On the NCIS mothership (9/8c), another Christmas story unfolds, with the team helping to clear the record of a decorated Marine who’s about to be smeared by a tell-all book.

American Masters

The first woman to be inducted into both the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame, Brenda Lee was only 13 when she recorded her signature Christmas ditty, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree.” Many hits would follow, including “I’m Sorry,” propelling her into global stardom. (The Beatles were her opening act in Hamburg, Germany, in 1962.) American Masters profiles the musician in a special that includes interviews with Lee, now 80, and such admirers as Keith Urban, Tanya Tucker, Trisha Yearwood, Pat Benatar, producer Neil Giraldo and radio personality Shotgun Tom Kelly.

The Chelsea Detective

As a warm-up for the British mystery’s third season, to premiere in 2025, a Christmas special finds DI Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough) and DS Layla Walsh (Vanessa Emme) investigating the death of a former tabloid-favorite pop star in her Chelsea mansion, when what appears to be an overdose turns out to be a homicidal drowning. Also on Acorn: the two-part season finale of Dalgliesh, with the title Commander (Bertie Carvel) suspecting a terrorist connection to serial killings at a nuclear power station.

INSIDE MONDAY TV:

• The Neighborhood (8/7c, CBS): New dad Marty (Marcel Spears) is going back to work, but hates the thought of leaving baby Daphne in daycare. Followed by Poppa’s House (8:30/7:30c), where Poppa (Damon Wayans) adopts an alarming new look after getting some bad news.
• Monday Night Football (8 pm/ET, ABC and ESPN): The Chicago Bears face the Minnesota Vikings in the primetime simulcast, with the countdown starting at 7:30 pm/ET.
• TMZ Investigates: Liam Payne: Who’s to Blame? (8/7c, Fox): A special explores the tragic November death in Argentina of the One Direction singer-songwriters.
• Blink (9/8c, National Geographic): A moving documentary follows a family on a scenic world tour designed to provide lasting visual memories after three of the four children are diagnosed with a degenerative eye disease.
• Law & Order (streaming on Hulu): The first 20 seasons (before the inexplicable decade-long hiatus) of Dick Wolf’s iconic legal drama are available for streaming on Hulu.