Between network, cable and streaming, the modern television landscape is a vast one. Here are some of the shows, specials and movies coming to TV this week, Dec. 19-26. Details and times are subject to change.
Monday
THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (2022) 7 p.m. on HBO. Heated language and cold fingers fly in this dark comedy from Martin McDonagh, about two old buddies, Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), whose friendship meets a sudden end. Set on a fictional Irish island in 1923, the movie kicks into action when Colm announces, seemingly out of foggy air, that he’s had enough of Padraic. What follows is surreal and downbeat, with ambitious performances from Farrell, Gleeson and a supporting cast that includes Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan. “It’s not necessary to believe what you see — it may, indeed, not be possible,” A.O. Scott wrote in his review for The New York Times, “but you can nonetheless find yourself beguiled by the wayward sincerity of the characters and touched by the sparks of humanity their struggles cast off.” The movie is positioned to be part of the awards conversation in the lead-up to the Oscars in March.
DEAD FOR A DOLLAR (2022) 8:10 p.m. on Showtime 2. This throwback, low-budget western from Walter Hill (“The Warriors,” “48 Hours”) centers on a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) searching for a businessman’s wife (Rachel Brosnahan), whose reasons for having gone missing are not what they seem. It is “solidly and proudly a B picture,” Scott wrote in his review for The Times. But, he added, “in an age of blockbuster bloat and streaming cynicism, a solid B movie — efficiently shot (by Lloyd Ahern II) and effectively acted (by everyone) is something of a miracle.” The cast also includes Willem Dafoe, Hamish Linklater and Benjamin Bratt.
THE WHEEL 10 p.m. on NBC. The British comic Michael McIntyre has hosted a few seasons of this quiz show overseas for the BBC; it makes its stateside debut on Monday night. The show — whose set looks something like a gigantic roulette wheel — pairs contestants with celebrity guests who are sometimes experts on the trivia subjects, and sometimes very much not. Guests on Monday’s episode include the actress Christina Ricci, the comic Amber Ruffin and the television journalist Steve Kornacki.
MARIAH CAREY: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! 8 p.m. on CBS. For the fourth consecutive year, Mariah Carey’s 1994 single “All I Want for Christmas Is You” has recently topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart, despite its age. That feat should add extra flair to Carey’s performance of the song during this two-hour special, which was filmed in Manhattan at a bedazzled Madison Square Garden.
Wednesday
HOMEWARD BOUND: A GRAMMY SALUTE TO THE SONGS OF PAUL SIMON 9 p.m. on CBS. The first Grammy Award that the singer-songwriter Paul Simon ever won was for “Mrs. Robinson,” the 1968 Simon & Garfunkel hit he wrote for the Hollywood classic “The Graduate.” So perhaps it makes sense that this Grammy-hosted tribute to Simon took place in Los Angeles, despite Simon’s associations with New York. Filmed in April at the Hollywood Pantages Theater, the concert includes performances of Simon’s songs by a multigenerational (and multigenre) group of artists, among them Brandi Carlile, Rhiannon Giddens, Angélique Kidjo, Dave Matthews and Irma Thomas.
Thursday
THE LION IN WINTER (1968) 5:30 p.m. on TCM. Ahh, Christmas 1183 at King Henry II’s chateau, where holiday cheer is overtaken by familial scheming. (If this sounds like your own end-of-year gathering, consider that this one includes actual jousting.) At issue is who will take over the throne of the aging king (Peter O’Toole). Will it be Prince John (Nigel Terry)? Prince Richard (Anthony Hopkins)? In the end, the real winner is surely Katharine Hepburn, who won an Oscar for her performance as Eleanor of Aquitaine, the king’s wife.
Friday
THE 24TH ANNUAL A HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS AT THE GROVE 8 p.m. on CBS. Gloria Estefan is the host of this benefit program, which tells positive stories of adoption from foster care. It also brings out musical performances, with this year’s lineup including Andy Grammer, Mickey Guyton, David Foster and Kat McPhee, and Little Big Town.
CHRISTMAS EVE PROGRAMMING on various networks. Even among those who celebrate, Christmas of course means different things to different people. And nowhere is this more apparent than on TV this Saturday, when you can catch the stoner comedy A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS (2011), at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. on IFC; then flip over to see Pope Francis lead CHRISTMAS EVE MASS from the Vatican, which begins at 11:29 p.m. on NBC.
Also on offer are several adaptations of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” including FX’S A CHRISTMAS CAROL, a dark 2019 rethink with Guy Pearce that will air at 9:40 p.m. on FXM, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), a classic black-and-white adaptation that stars Reginald Owen and will air at 10 p.m. on TCM. See also: A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on TNT; LOVE ACTUALLY (2003) at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. on BBC America; and THE GRINCH (2018) at 8 p.m. on FX.
Sunday
ZIWE 11 p.m. on Showtime. Ziwe Fumudoh will wrap up the second season of her sharp variety show on Sunday by bringing on Wayne Brady, with whom she discusses the commercialization of Juneteenth, and several other guests, including the actress Laura Benanti and the comic Larry Owens.
