TV tonight: 'Rudolph,' 'New Normal'

• Our favorite reindeer lands at 8 p.m. on CBS
• New women keep popping up on Fox's 'New Girl'
• Marlo Thomas guest-stars on 'The New Normal'

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
CBS, 8 ET/PT

Where would networks be during the holiday season if their counterparts back in the '60s hadn't devoted time, money and talent to Christmas specials? Because nothing produced for the season over the past decade or so can compete in either quality or popularity with that Great '60s Triumvirate: A Charlie Brown Christmas, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and, tonight's offering, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Delight in yet another holly-jolly musical voyage to Christmasville and the Land of Misfit Toys — and then ponder CBS' decision to bookend its evening with The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show (10 ET/PT). Different Christmas gifts for different ages, one supposes.

New Girl
Fox, 9 ET/PT

New women continue to brighten the comic landscape at New Girl, as Nick meets a customer with boy troubles — a woman played by Newsroom's Olivia Munn — while Schmidt continues to be torn between his love for Cece and his attraction to his tough boss. Considering she's played by Carla Gugino, it's hard to blame him.

The New Normal
NBC, 9:30 ET/PT

Two female guests, Cheri Oteri and Marlo Thomas, also provide hope that The New Normal may move past its normal adjectives — "promising," "interesting," "frustrating" — and become a show you actually, wholeheartedly enjoy watching every week. If Thomas' role as a star real-estate agent gives Ellen Barkin's fellow agent a reason to stick around town beyond spouting ridiculous gay insults and making her granddaughter's life miserable, that will be all to the good. And if Oteri can push a few more scenes past mildly amusing to "funny,'' that will be even better.