Jazz at Lincoln Center: Red Hot Holiday Stomp
Glenn Close hosts an evening of music and storytelling featuring Lincoln Center artistic director Wynton Marsalis, a New Orleans native, along with other musicians from the Crescent City. Highlights include the broadcast premiere of “Music, Deep Rivers in My Soul,” a collaboration between Marsalis and poet Maya Angelou; Law & Order’s S. Epatha Merkerson will read. Monday, Dec. 10, at 8 p.m., PBS
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Life on Mars
A unique cross between police procedural and sci-fi fantasy, this award-wining series stars John Simm as a Manchester cop who wakes from a car accident to find himself stranded in 1973. As the second season begins, he tries to prevent a murder before it happens—while fearing that,
30 years in the future, the same killer is threatening his own comatose body. Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 8 p.m., BBC America
Independent Lens: The Paper
The Daily Collegian, Penn State’s award-winning student newspaper, is a microcosm for the issues facing all print journalism: In this documentary, the young editors and reporters contend with institutional spin and stonewalling as they ponder whether to address falling circulation by reducing their coverage of hard news. Tuesday, Dec. 11, at 10 p.m., PBS; check local listings
CNN Presents:
We Were Warned—Iran Goes Nuclear
What if Iran had nuclear weapons? That’s the scenario this documentary investigates through dramatization and interviews with such experts as former arms inspector David Kay. Real-life policymakers, including former presidential advisor David Gergen and ex-EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman, simulate the response of a future U.S. administration. Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 8 p.m., CNN
Other highlights
P.O.V.: Wrestling With Angels
Oscar-winning documentarian Freida Lee Mock follows Tony Kushner, the author of Angels in America, through three tumultuous years. Wednesday, Dec. 12, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings
Tut’s Treasures
The great-grandson of the discoverer of Tutankhamen’s tomb travels to Egypt for a new analysis of the famed pharaoh. Sunday, Dec. 16, at 8 p.m., National Geographic Channel
Best Science Moments of 2007
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and others look back at the year’s top science stories in this high-def special. Sunday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m., Science Channel
All listings are Eastern time.
Show of the week
Extras: The Extra Special Series Finale
As this dark comedy series from the creators of Britain’s The Office comes to a close, former television extra Andy Millman has risen to become the star of an inane but popular BBC sitcom. But he longs for legitimacy, which spurs him to attempt a rash career move. Portrayed fearlessly by Extras co-creator Ricky Gervais, Andy is a monster of narcissism who’s just self-aware enough to be a bit ashamed. A supporting performance by Ugly Betty’s Ashley Jensen is superb, while Clive Owen, George Michael, and other celebrities do savage sendups of themselves. Gervais and series co-creator Stephen Merchant have crafted a breathtakingly bleak but deadly accurate assessment of the contemporary cult of celebrity. Sunday, Dec. 16, at 9 p.m., HBO
Movies on TV this week
Monday, Dec. 10
Body Double (1984)
Director Brian De Palma borrows liberally from Hitchcock’s Vertigo and
Rear Window in this thriller about an actor who witnesses a murder. 10 p.m., TMC
Tuesday
Chocolat (2000)
Temptation enters a straight-laced French village in the form of a shop that offers seductively delicious chocolates. Juliette Binoche stars in the hit romantic comedy. 9 p.m., IFC
Wednesday
For Your Consideration (2006)
The stars of a modest independent film contract Oscar fever in this satire from Best in Show director Christopher Guest and his usual talented comedy ensemble. 8 p.m., HBO
Thursday
Notes on a Scandal (2006)
A high school teacher discovers her colleague’s extramarital affair in the film version of Zoë Heller’s novel. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett were both Oscar-nominated. 8:30 p.m., Cinemax
Friday
To Catch a Thief (1955)
Cary Grant and Grace Kelly make romance in this stylish Alfred Hitchcock romp about a retired cat burglar on the Riviera. 8 p.m., TCM
Saturday
Nobody’s Fool (1994)
Paul Newman earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination for his performance as an aging wastrel confronting responsibility late in life. 7 p.m., HBO Signature
New on DVD
The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
In this skillfully made thriller, Matt Damon returns to the role of amnesiac agent Jason Bourne, who eludes assassins as he seeks the secret of his own past. (PG-13, $30)
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