The Week’s guide to what’s worth watching

last updated 8 January 2015

Independent Lens: The Calling

A two-part special profiles seven young clergy—of Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. Following them through years of training to their first steps into public life, the documentary provides a cross-section view of various issues, including the Catholic Church’s response to sexual-abuse scandals, the emergence of female leaders in African-American churches, and Islam’s struggle to establish an American identity. Monday–Tuesday, Dec. 20–21, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

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The Cistercian monks of Austria’s Heiligenkreuz Abbey have practiced quiet lives of prayer and devotion for nearly 900 years—yet a recording of their Gregorian chants recently sold more than a million copies worldwide. This charming documentary draws a portrait of pop’s unlikeliest stars, who pray six hours a day but are fully conversant with cell phones and YouTube. Wednesday, Dec. 22, at 8 p.m., HBO2

A real-life incident during World War II inspired this warmhearted drama, in which leaky plumbing at London’s National Gallery compels the curator to hide the museum’s art treasures near a Welsh village—only to have the cache discovered by local schoolchildren. Trevor Eve stars in this adaptation of Frank Cottrell Boyce’s award-winning children’s novel, in which children teach a connoisseur the true value of art. Sunday, Dec. 26, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

Oprah Winfrey, Paul McCartney, Merle Haggard, Broadway composer Jerry Herman, and choreographer Bill T. Jones are honored in ceremonies taped Dec. 5 in Washington before an audience including the president and first lady. Performers and presenters include Edward Albee, Willie Nelson, Angela Lansbury, Chris Rock, and Barbara Walters; Caroline Kennedy returns as host. Tuesday, Dec. 28, at 9 p.m., CBS

This savagely satirical new series pokes wicked fun at Hollywood cynicism and mendacity. Green Wing’s Stephen Mangan and Tamsin Greig star as the married co-creators of a successful British sitcom who come to L.A. to work on its American version, only to find themselves changing it beyond recognition to suit the talents of the actor they’ve been saddled with. Matt LeBlanc of Friends is the troublesome star, clearly having a good time playing himself as a conceited conniver. Sunday, Jan. 9, at 9:30 p.m., Showtime

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