Photo: James Minchin/CBS, Colin Hutton/HBO Max Here’s what’s happening in the world of television for Thursday, December 17. All times are Eastern. Advertisement Top picks The Stand (CBS All Access, 3:01 a.m., miniseries premiere): “A character-based approach is appropriate given that King’s characters are often cited as his greatest strength. But The Stand is so big, with so many characters—King’s expanded version, generally considered the definitive text, runs more than 1,150 pages—that an adaptation’s emphasis on one plotline is likely to come at the expense of a half-dozen others. Garris’ four-part version wasn’t enough to contain King’s story, and neither is this nine-part effort. Will those unfamiliar with the story be able to enjoyably process the complex narrative and abundant character arcs with the added challenge of navigating a peripatetic, time-hopping structure? The pilot, the cleanest and most efficient of the six episodes available for review, argues that they will.” Read the rest of Randall Colburn’s pre-air review. Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya’s recaps will run weekly.