TV This Week: December 20 - 26
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Click here to download TV listings for the week of Dec. 20-26, in PDF format This week’s TV Movies
SUNDAY
Every season, it seems there’s at least one contestant who generates as much admiration as aggravation; this time around, it’s the burly, bearded Russell, above, who is still very much in contention to win it all on the season finale of ‘Survivor: Samoa.’ (8 and 10 p.m. CBS)
MONDAY
He’s the scion of folk music royalty, he’s channeled Judy Garland and covered Leonard Cohen, and now the new documentary ‘Rufus Wainwright: Prima Donna’ spotlights this eclectic and eccentric singer-songwriter as he prepares to mount his very first opera. (Sundance, 9 p.m.)
TUESDAY
Airing on consecutive Tuesdays, the three-part special ‘Chelsea Lately Bloopers’ assembles goofs and gaffes committed by host Chelsea Handler, below, and guests on her always snarky and frequently anarchic late-night gabfest. (E!, 10:30 p.m.)
WEDNESDAY
On a new edition of ‘Great Performances,’ Mexican tenor Rolando Villazon and Russian soprano Anna Netrebko portray ill-fated lovers Rodolfo and Mimi in a lavish Metropolitan Opera production of Puccini’s timeless classic ‘La Bohème.’ (KCET, 9 p.m.)
THURSDAY Ralphie (Peter Billingsley, above with Santa) sets his sights on obtaining a Red Ryder BB gun as TBS kicks off its annual 24-hour marathon of the nostalgic 1983 fable ‘A Christmas Story,’ narrated by and based on the stories of Jean Shepherd. (TBS, 8 p.m. through 8 p.m. Friday)
FRIDAY
Turner Classic Movies counter-programs Friday’s release of a new ‘Sherlock Holmes’ film with its own marathon of thrillers featuring the famed sleuth, beginning with Basil Rathbone in 1939’s ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles.’ Take that, Robert Downey Jr.! (TCM, 5 p.m.)
SATURDAY
‘Titanic’ lovers Leonardo DiCaprio (above) and Kate Winslet reunited for ‘Revolutionary Road,’ director Sam Mendes’ moody 2008 tale of not-so-quiet desperation set in 1950s suburbia. Spoiler alert: This one ends even more tragically than that one about the boat. (HBO, 9 p.m.)
MUSIC FOR THE PEOPLE
‘The 50th Annual L.A. County Holiday Celebration’ finds this storied six-hour musical event marking its golden anniversary with several returning acts, including the Salvation Army Tabernacle Children’s Chorus, and a first-time-ever live webcast at kcet.org. (KCET, 3 p.m. Thursday)
MARY CHRISTMAS
The new special ‘Christmas in Washington 2009’ features musical guests including Mary J. Blige, while ‘The 11th Annual a Home for the Holidays With Faith Hill’ features musical guests including . . . Mary J. Blige. (TNT, 8 and 11 p.m. Sunday; CBS, 8 p.m. Wednesday)
HOO-AH!
‘Fighting soldiers from the sky . . . ‘ Get a rare behind-the-scenes look at the rigorous two-week selection process for the U.S. Army’s elite Green Berets in the new documentary ‘Two Weeks in Hell.’ Now drop and give me 20! (Discovery, 8 p.m. Sunday)