It’s the season for classic holiday specials and new attempts to break into the pantheon of beloved favorites. Tonight, ABC plays it safe with “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (7 p.m., ABC), a cartoon evergreen animated by the voice of Fred Astaire.

NBC tries something new, and the results are not pretty. Add “The Happy Elf” (7 p.m., NBC) to the discard pile of mistletoe misfires.

Let’s start with the special’s computer-generated animation. The characters have a cold, hard edge that makes them resemble a bunch of renegade creatures from “The Sims.”

The story concerns an irrepressible elf named Eubie, who is not so much happy as over-caffeinated. And to emphasize his chirpy nature, his fellow elves, and even Santa himself, behave in a businesslike, if not downright cranky manner as the big night of reindeer and deliveries approaches. Has the North Pole gone bipolar?

“The Happy Elf” is also an hour long, an eternity as these things go. In its drawn out and convoluted story, Eubie happens upon a town named Bluesville, with a population of depressed children whose social environment makes them more naughty than nice. He defies Santa and the Elf hierarchy, and departs for the glum burg to cheer up the kids and get them back on the nice side of the ledger.

Featuring songs and narration by Harry Connick Jr., “Happy” is supposed to be a musical. But the tunes are few and far between, and they do little to move the narrative along. And speaking of moving, the computer animation lacks the fluidity to allow the characters to dance or swing in time with Connick’s catchy New Orleans-style numbers.

“The Happy Elf” is not truly rotten, but merely misbegotten, an awkward collection of disjointed concepts glued together by an uninspired script apparently written by committee. It’s completely harmless, utterly charmless and best forgotten.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ A church retreat becomes a rout on “Bernie Mac” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ Lois seeks sole support on “Malcolm in the Middle” (7:30 p.m., Fox).

¢ “Three Wishes” (8 p.m., NBC) plays secret Santa in several cities.