“Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”
Friday 8pm, BBC America
You read C-VILLE Weekly, so obviously you are intelligent, witty, and urbane. So I’m sure you already know all about “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!”; National Public Radio has been broadcasting the news-panel game show for more than a decade. Host Peter Sagal corrals a group of smart, funny people and they participate in various games with questions based around the news of the week. It’s delightful. Apparently, even the Brits think so—and they’re usually so much fancier than us!—so BBC America is airing this special televised version of “Wait Wait,” which will offer a review of 2011’s news stories. Given that it’s an American program being broadcast on a British channel, look for a mix of Yankee and British news and personalities. At least they have the royal wedding as common ground.
“Christmas in
Chelsea Square”
Saturday 11:35pm, CBS
I have some religious relatives who get furious this time of year, complaining about the rampant commercialization and simultaneously de-Jesus-ing of Christmas. Personally, I feel like you should celebrate the holiday however you want. For me, that involves baking a ton of cookies, drinking ill-considered amounts of eggnog, and emotionally scarring my young nephews and nieces with stories of Krampus. But if you’d rather spend Christmas Eve reflecting on the birth of your savior instead of watching “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for the 90th time, CBS will broadcast a service of lessons and carols by the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church, from the Chapel of the Good Shepherd in New York City. It will conclude with a reading of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” for kids. So you still get some Santa in there, too.
The Polar Express
Sunday 8pm, ABC Family
This 2004 holiday film starring Tom Hanks (via vaguely creepy motion-capture digital animation) is just one example of ABC Family’s almost exhaustively cheery programming for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Starting at 10am Saturday you’ll get a nearly non-stop slew of holiday flicks, including the Joel Grey-narrated ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, The Santa Clause and Santa Clause 3 (I’m guessing the second film is too hot for TV?), and Home Alone 2 (which I would argue is better than the original). And once the kids pass out from their sugar/adrenaline highs, the adults can bask in the Griswoldian glory of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (Sunday 10pm).—