WEEK AHEAD: Jessica Simpson Lights Up N.Y.

By Serena Kappes

11/24/2004 at 11:00 AM EST

Jessica Simpson is ready to deck the halls in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday. PEOPLE has the scoop on her early holiday plans, and other events to watch for in the coming week:

TUESDAY, NOV. 30: Clay Aiken, Hilary Duff, Kenny Chesney and Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey are ready to flip the switch for New York's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting, airing on NBC stating at 7 p.m. But the night's biggest star will be the one atop the 71-foot-high, 40-foot-wide Norwegian spruce: It's crafted from 25,000 Swarovski crystals and weighs 550 lbs. – the largest ornament in Rockefeller Center history.

Meanwhile, not getting enough castaway drama with your weekly dose of Survivor or Lost? No worries: Here comes TBS's The Real Gilligan's Island, a new reality show based on the hit 1960s sitcom. This time out, contestants from two teams will have to perform tasks based on scenarios from the original show to get off the island. And as the theme song goes, two competing casts of characters will include a "Gilligan," a skipper, a millionaire couple, a professor, a farm girl and a movie star a la "Ginger" (supermodel-turned-actress Rachel Hunter and former Baywatch babe Nicole Eggert will handle those duties). Just sit right back and watch the tale unfold.

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 1: After 22 years on the air as an NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw is stepping down from his nightly throne. "Life is filled with seasons," he recently said in an interview, "and this is a different season." Though his Election Day coverage was his final major-story hurrah, Brokaw won't be disappearing from the network completely: He still has a 10-year contract with NBC and will contribute documentaries to the channel. The veteran anchor is passing the torch to Brian Williams. "It's a new generation taking over," Brokaw told the Associated Press.

Also on Wednesday, husbands will get their chance to see if the grass is any greener on a new lawn when ABC's Wife Swap airs a special Wife Swap: The Husband Edition. As usual, the spouses will be polar opposites and will have to experience their new family's rules: An environmentalist dad who's all about communal living will trade places with a tough "born to be wild" biker dad. Let the culture shock ensue!

THURSDAY, DEC. 2: Macaulay Culkin, who pleaded not guilty on Oct. 13 in an Oklahoma City courtroom to charges of illegally possessing marijuana and prescription anxiety medicine, will attend another hearing in the case. The former Home Alone star was pulled over Sept. 17 for speeding and arrested during a road trip with friend Brett Tabisel from California to New York. Police say they found 17.3 grams of marijuana, as well as 16 sleeping pills and eight Xanax anti-anxiety pills. Culkin was charged with drug possession, while Tabisel was charged with two traffic violations and marijuana possession. Culkin remains free on a $4,000 bond. If found guilty, he could face up to a year in prison, though he would likely be ordered to enroll in a drug-treatment program rather than serve jail time.