This is what is happening in the television world on Sunday, December 27. All times are Eastern.
Best choice
Dead to 2020 (Netflix, 3:01 a.m., premiere): It’s been quite a year, wouldn’t you say?
Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones (van Black mirror) return to their comedy-special roots with this flip-of-the-bird to the year that was. Look for Zack Handlen’s review of this special, featuring Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, Kumail Nanjiani, Tracey Ullman, Samson Kayo, Lisa Kudrow, Diane Morgan, Leslie Jones, Cristin Milioti, Joe Keery and Laurence Fishburne.
Jokers
We’ve reached the point in this long, long year where most broadcast options are either a) festive or b) repeats. So for the rest of 2020, we’ll be highlighting some of those festive things, as well as some great shows or episodes from the year that you may have missed.
G / O Media can receive a commission
The masked dancer (Fox, 8 p.m., series premiere): This spin-off feels like a fitting addition to 2020. The dancers, they are masked, and the celebs will never be there again.
Pen 15 (Hulu): “It’s easy to poke fun at the extremely uncomfortable puberty, an era that causes the kind of insecurity and suffering that high school pariahs Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle) endure by the pound. Finding ways to balance said suffering – an accessible and bottomless source of comedy – with moments of growth, emotional depth and the occasional social triumph in ways that don’t indicate total overhaul is considerably more difficult … For a coming-of-age comedy that was pretty brilliant, Pen 15 continues to deliver all too relatable growing pains, with an amateur witchcraft side to it, in the sharpest and most recognizable ways. ” Read the rest of Shannon Miller’s thoughts in our list of the best television of the year.