TV HIGHLIGHTS

Ellen’s Game of Games, 8 PM on Ch. 2 and Ch. 5: Ellen DeGeneres’ new reality competition series gets another preview showing before beginning its regular run on Jan. 2. As host of the proceedings, DeGeneres plucks contestants from her studio audience for a shot at a big cash prize. First, though, they’ll have to maneuver past massive obstacles, answer tricky questions under intense time pressure, and take scary leaps into the unknown for games such as “Scary Go Round.”

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, 8 PM on Ch. 22 and Ch. 9: Good grief! Who assigns elementary-school children “War and Peace”? Charlie Brown’s teacher, that’s who. He has to read it over the Christmas break and write a report, but holiday distractions keep getting in the way. He ends up leaving a New Year’s party and sitting outside to read, but that doesn’t end well. Chad Allen (“Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman”) provides the voice of Charlie Brown in this animated 1986 “Peanuts” special.

The 40th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, 9 PM on Ch. 7 and Ch. 12: A yearly tradition is maintained with this celebration of five major contributors to American culture, staged at the title site in Washington, D.C. This year’s honorees are music superstars Gloria Estefan and Lionel Richie, television producer Norman Lear (“All in the Family,” among numerous other shows), hip-hop icon and “NCIS: Los Angeles” co-star LL Cool J and actress-dancer-choreographer Carmen de Lavallade. Such other talents as Meryl Streep, Luke Bryan, Rob Reiner, Queen Latifah, Stevie Wonder and Rita Moreno take the stage to offer tributes.