Christmas specials come earlier every year. We haven’t even stuffed the Thanksgiving bird and Fox offers us “Kelly, Ruben & Fantasia: Home for Christmas” (8 p.m., Fox). “American Idol” winners Kelly Clarkson, Ruben Studdard and Fantasia Burrino will perform holiday songs. While it would be nice to see Clay Aiken show up as Santa’s elf, there’s no truth to the rumor that Simon Cowell will play the Grinch.

• For those who like their holiday specials a little bit country, there’s “Tim McGraw: Here and Now” (7 p.m., NBC). Despite the subtitle, there’s nothing live about “Now,” and it’s only “Here” if you happen to live in Green Bay, Wis., where the concert footage was shot some time back.
• How many roses have to die for the two-hour “Bachelor” finale (7 p.m., ABC)? This franchise definitely jumped the shark after Trista and Ryan’s absurd wedding ceremony, and it’s been running on fumes ever since. If you’re a glutton for punishment, there’s also “The Bachelor: After the Final Rose” (9 p.m.).
• There’s always “Naked Science: Alien Contact” (9 p.m., National Geographic Channel). “Contact” features interviews with the scientists at the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute. One expert, Seth Shostak, goes out on a limb and predicts it is likely that “we’re going to hear from extraterrestrials by the year 2025.”

Tonight’s other highlights

• Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): profiles of Alicia Keys and editor Bonnie Fuller; the last man rescued alive from Ground Zero.
• Mandy Moore and Shane West star in the 2002 romance “A Walk to Remember” (7 p.m., WB).
• A rookie driver gets no help from Doug on “King of Queens” (7 p.m., CBS).
• Bartlet agonizes when U.S. peacekeepers become casualties on “The West Wing” (8 p.m., NBC).
• A broker vanishes on “CSI: NY” (9 p.m., CBS).
• A crooked jeweler meets his maker on “Law & Order” (9 p.m., NBC). Mercedes Ruehl guest stars.

Series notes

Holiday high jinks on “That ’70s Show” (7 p.m., Fox) … Tensions mount between former friends on “America’s Next Top Model” (7 p.m., UPN) … Jason Priestley guest stars on “Quintuplets” (7:30 p.m., Fox).

Drama on the dance floor on “Kevin Hill” (8 p.m., UPN) … Art is his own worst enemy on “Center of the Universe” (8:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG)