Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular – 9/8c on NBC
Happy 233rd, America -- and happy 33rd to Macy’s and its traditional (though not quite Thanksgiving Day Parade traditional) Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular. NBC’s Natalie Morales and Tiki Barber anchor the NYC coverage, which will feature Rob Thomas, Jewel, the cast of Broadway’s West Side Story and “over 120,000 fireworks from around the world.” Take pity on the sky. ALSO …
Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular – 10/9c on CBS
Easily the best host of the night, Late Late Show’s Craig Ferguson emcees for CBS, whose pairing of Neil Diamond with the Boston Pops (take that, New York Pops!) may be aimed at viewers who will want to cover their ears for the fireworks climax that’s “accompanied by the ‘1812 Overture’.”
Capitol Fourth – 8/7c on PBS (Re-Airs at 9:30/8:30c)
And then there’s this special, appropriate for the young (Natasha Bedingfield performs), old (Aretha Franklin and Barry Manilow perform), really young (Sesame Street’s Muppets perform), and really old (Erich Kunzel conducts the National Symphony Orchestra and, again, there's Manilow too). Jimmy Smits hosts the proceedings from the West Lawn of the Capitol.