TV tonight: U2, Xmas lights, animated greats
TV's Funniest Animated Stars: A Paley Center for Media Special
Fox, 8 ET/PT
This two-hour special offers a countdown of the 40 cartoon characters the Paley Center deems the funniest, best-loved and most-iconic. It could be fun, in that designed-to-provoke-arguments kind of way — but "animated stars?" No. Let's reserve the term "stars" for humans — like, for example, H. Jon Benjamin, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith, who provide the voices of Sterling Archer, Bart Simpson and Lisa Simpson, respectively, and are among the voice artists interviewed on the show.
The Great Christmas Light Fight
ABC, 8 ET/PT
Because really, what says "Christmas" more than people battling to see who can put up the most lavish, ostentatious holiday display? Carter Oosterhouse and Taniya Nanak are in charge of awarding a $50,000 prize that, one imagines, will be shared with any neighbors who may not be thrilled to suddenly find themselves living next to a tourist attraction featuring 500 synchronized fireworks, 500,000 lights, and a giant snowflake that can be seen from half a mile away. See it as a way of preserving peace on earth.
U2: Innocence + Experience: Live in Paris
HBO, 9 ET/PT
Sometimes a concert is more than just a concert; it's a tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Tonight, U2 performs in Paris, in a concert that was postponed after the terrorist attack there.