Hard times hit the cable fantasy factory as WE presents the new series “Downsized” (8 p.m., today, WE). No fancy wedding cakes here. “Downsized” follows a family of nine as they adjust with great difficulty to a rapid downward slide that has taken them from wealthy to shopping with food stamps.

Episode 1 finds the Bruce family $300 short as the rent comes due. Husband Todd goes out to try to collect some debts that he would have overlooked when times were more flush. Wife Laura doesn’t tell him that she’s hitting up her parents for help. And unbeknownst to both, their young triplets have been hitting the Dumpsters in search of collectible and redeemable bottles. The fifth season of “The Locator” (9 p.m., today, WE) follows.

• Thanksgiving can often seem like a speed bump on the consumer highway linking Halloween and Christmas. It’s hard to think of any prime time specials linked to the holiday that have had lasting resonance. But it’s not for lack of trying.

Hallmark offers two very familiar faces from different generations in “A Family Thanksgiving” (8 p.m., today, Hallmark). Lawyer Claudia (Daphne Zuniga, “Melrose Place”) has her sights on partner, and nothing, including making her staff work on Thanksgiving, will get in her way. Then she encounters a peculiar yet persistent stranger named Gina (Faye Dunaway, “Network”), who magically transports her to a parallel universe where Claudia lives a modest life with a husband, minivan and three kids. The mystical Gina pops up occasionally, like a Fairy GodMommie Dearest, to suggest that Claudia must endure this experience to learn “balance” in her life.

If this plot sounds familiar, it’s because it all but steals from the 2000 fantasy “Family Man,” starring Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni. It’s interesting to note that for several years, NBC used to air “Family Man” on the Friday evening after Thanksgiving, presumably in the desire to make it a holiday tradition, like “It’s a Wonderful Life,” a classic movie it closely resembles. But while “Wonderful Life” teaches Jimmy Stewart to treasure what he has, “Thanksgiving” and “Family Man” feature characters who learn to yearn for another life entirely. Not sure that’s exactly a lesson in giving “thanks.”

• Fans of the really big nature documentaries should not miss “Great Migrations” (7 p.m., Sunday, National Geographic), a seven-part series dedicated to the mass movements of animals, fish, fowl and insects across the globe in search of water, warmth and the right place to mate, spawn and die. Like many epic tales of this sort, “Migrations” never spends too much time on one creature or species, and it bounces back and forth between giant herds of wildebeests crossing the African plains to millions of monarch butterflies whose transcontinental voyage can take up to four generations to complete. Narrator Alec Baldwin lends an assured authority to the lavishly photographed proceedings, but “30 Rock” fans may have a problem getting the voice of the absurd and delusional Jack Donaghy out of their heads.

• Halloween isn’t truly over until “The Simpsons” (7 p.m., Sunday, Fox) presents its “Treehouse of Horror.” For those keeping score, we’re up to Treehouse XXI. As always, these include a dizzying combination of absurd horror violence and silly parodies and references to dozens of shows and movies both popular and obscure. Look for send-ups to “The Office,” “Dead Calm,” the “Twilight” franchise and “A Clockwork Orange,” the book and film that coined the phrase “ultraviolence.”

Speaking of gore, “Walking Dead” (9 p.m., Sunday, AMC) returns for a second episode after an impressive debut, attracting more than 5 million viewers for its premiere. The plot takes the stomach-churning quotient up a notch as Rick happens upon a way to walk among the zombies undetected.

Today’s highlights

• It’s hard to imagine why anyone would watch director James Cameron’s 3-D epic “Avatar” (7 p.m., HBO) on a mere TV screen. Without the gimmicky glasses, it should seem almost as long and dull as “Titanic.”

• Scheduled on “48 Hours Mystery” (9 p.m., CBS): A predator killer of two girls vows to do it again.

• Jane Lynch hosts “Saturday Night Live” (10:30 p.m., NBC), featuring musical guest Bruno Mars.

Sunday’s highlights

• Remember that your TV listings and DVR settings may be affected by the end of Daylight Savings Time, effective 2 a.m.

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (6 p.m., CBS): a post-election conversation with President Barack Obama.

• “Nature” (7:15 p.m., PBS, check local listings) looks at Iraq’s fabled marshes, long thought to be the site of the Bible’s Garden of Eden.

• A mad bomber ensnares strangers into his scheme on the “Masterpiece Mystery” (8 p.m., PBS, check local listings) adaptation of “Sherlock.”

• Nucky insinuates himself into the Warren G. Harding camp at the 1920 Republican Convention on “Boardwalk Empire” (8 p.m., HBO).

• Dexter and Debra bicker on “Dexter” (8 p.m., Showtime).

• Reality TV can be murder on “CSI: Miami” (9 p.m., CBS).

• Justin extends his visit on “Brothers and Sisters” (9 p.m., ABC).