Tonight's TV Hot List: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010

The Office
9/8c NBC
The well-spun mock-doc sitcom puts some ho-ho-ho's and yuletide yuks in the Christmas season with a one-hour holiday-themed outing. It'll be gifts galore for Michael when his nemesis, slumping HR vet Toby, takes a leave of absence. Better yet, this opens Dunder Mifflin's doors for one Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), Michael's true romantic flame, who returns to Scranton to cover for Toby. Talk about a Holly jolly Christmas. When a thrilled Michael insists the branch throw a bash for Holly's return, Pam must organize two holiday parties. Meanwhile, Jim comes to regret his decision to engage in a snowball fight with flaky Dwight. — Dean Maurer

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The Gruffalo
7/6c ABC Family
This animated adventure is an adaptation of Julia Donaldson's popular children's book of the same name, written in 1999. Mother Squirrel (voice of Helena Bonham Carter) narrates the tale of a mouse who treks through the woods and runs into many scary predators, including a snake, a fox (voice of Tom Wilkinson) and an owl (voice of John Hurt). The mouse manages to outwit these other animals by telling them about a monstrous thing known as a Gruffalo (voice of Robbie Coltrane). — Jennifer Sankowski
The Santa Incident
8/7c Hallmark
Hallmark's latest holiday film has a thoroughly modern spin as it opens with Santa's sleigh being shot down by Homeland Security, which classifies his sleigh as an unidentified aircraft. Ione Skye plays a nurse who helps St. Nick recover from the fall, and her kids assist the jolly man with setting up a makeshift workshop to finish the important business of creating toys. Greg Germann and Sean McConaghy also star as bumbling FBI agents on a mission to track Santa down. — Brie Hearn

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Thursday Night Football8/7c NFL NetThe Titans host the Colts in an AFC South matchup. With just four games to go, it certainly appears that the only playoff team from this division will be the division winner. The Colts are playing .500 ball, with Peyton Manning putting up his usual big numbers, but some unusual big numbers, as well: Manning has been intercepted 11 times in the last three games, including four in last week's loss to Dallas. After starting the season 5-2, the Titans have dropped five in a row, and haven't scored an offensive TD in 13 quarters. — Dave RoederBarbara Walters Special9/8c ABC Big changes are on the way for Oprah Winfrey: She's winding up her daytime talk show in the spring and will launch her new cable network, OWN (the Oprah Winfrey Network), next month. And so, as is often the case when American royals arrive at a crossroads, it's time for her to step into the Barbara Walters confessional. But tonight's sit-down (taped on Oprah's turf in Chicago) is more than a review of past choices, regrets and accomplishments; there are also tidbits about Stedman Graham, and on O Magazine editor Gayle King. And, of course, Oprah will have ample opportunity to plug OWN. — Paul DroeschThe Apprentice10/9c NBCNBC Donald Trump means business when Cycle 10 of his corporate-climbing reality series comes to a close with the season finale's conclusion. It'll be a hiring over a firing tonight when the final two candidates — Clint and Brandy — continue efforts to accomplish their crowning challenge. With previously fired contestants helping them, Clint cooks up a gala dinner show featuring entertainment icon Liza Minnelli, while Brandy tees off in her bid to organize a VIP golf tournament. In the end, one finalist will get the Trump bump and the other will be named seasonal winner. — Dean Maurer
Is The Apprentice appointment viewing in your home? Tell us hereBarbara Walters Special10:01/9:01c ABC Folks around the country are likely to disagree on many of the adjectives that might be used to describe former vice-presidential (and future presidential?) candidate Sarah Palin, but "fascinating" certainly isn't one of them. And as it happens, this is the third year in a row that the moose-hunting former Alaska governor has cracked Barbara Walters' annual "most fascinating" list. Joining Palin this year are Justin Bieber, Sandra Bullock, LeBron James, the Jersey Shore cast, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Middleton, Gen. David Petraeus and Betty White. As usual, the No. 1 choice is announced tonight. — Paul Droesch