Life changes dramatically on ‘12 Days’
“Groundhog Day” meets “A Christmas Carol” in the 2004 fantasy “12 Days of Christmas Eve” (8 p.m., USA). Steven Weber (“Wings”) stars as Calvin Carter, a hard-hearted businessman who suffers an accident and undergoes a magical transformation that puts him face to face with the consequences of his life of selfishness. Molly Shannon (“Saturday Night Live”) co-stars as a kindly nurse who helps him find his inner Santa.
It had to happen. The documentary “Mummy Autopsy” (9 p.m., Discovery) combines “CSI”-like forensics with archaeology and, to my mind, our current faddish predilection for nosy morbidity.
Don’t let the title fool you. “Mummy” doesn’t limit itself to 3,000-year-old bandaged Egyptians.
The show’s tomb-disturbing experts scour the globe for interesting cadavers, including skeletal remains from Wyoming’s Wild West settlers, a Peruvian bundle of bones, and forgotten shrouded remains crammed in a church tower in London for several centuries. Rest in peace, indeed.
The reality series “High School Reunion” (9 p.m., WB) enters its third season. Former teenage stereotypes from a parochial school near Fort Lauderdale, Fla., reconvene on the island of Oahu to revisit old romances and rivalries. This series was originally titled “High School Reunion: Catholic School,” but apparently that was too “controversial.” I’m holding out for the home-school edition.
“Cold Turkey” (9 p.m., Pax), the fake reality show that dared its bamboozled contestants to quit smoking on camera, concludes.
Fans of occupational reality shows should sample the new weekly series “Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares” (9 p.m., BBC America). Every week, chef and consultant Gordon Ramsay visits a foundering restaurant to see if it can, or should, be saved.
A hard worker with a sharp tongue, Ramsay encounters a real disaster in the first episode. A negligent manager has allowed Bonaparte’s, a restaurant located in a working-class Yorkshire town, to be taken over by a 21-year-old chef who is both dim and pretentious. Ramsay forces the cook to realize that his market will never buy his fancy dishes and helps transform Bonaparte’s into a cozy bistro.
Modern jazz, Beethoven, neurotic children, a devious dog and blatant references to psychiatry and the Bible – there’s something in the 1965 special “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (8 p.m., ABC) to offend everyone!
Other highlights
Lorelai expresses her disappointment on “Gilmore Girls” (8 p.m., WB). The second season of this chatty series is available on DVD starting today.
Joan Steffend hosts “White House Christmas 2004” (8 p.m., HGTV), a glance at the holiday transformation of the Blue Room, the State Dining Room and the East Room of the executive mansion.
“Buster Keaton: So Funny It Hurt” (5 and 8:30 p.m., TCM) profiles the silent-movie comedian.
John Ratzenberger hosts “Made in America” (9 p.m., Travel), a road trip to the factories and mills that still produce famous American products.
Maxine suffers cardiac arrest on “Judging Amy” (10 p.m., CBS).
A convenience-store robbery on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (10 p.m., NBC).
The father of a busted suspect offers Bale a bribe on “NYPD Blue” (10 p.m., ABC).
Cult choice
Randy Quaid, Whoopi Goldberg, Roger Daltrey, Colm Meaney and a cast of zillions of real and digitalized performers appear in the four-hour special-effects-laden 1999 fantasy “The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns” (7 and 9 p.m., Sci Fi).
Series notes
A Marine’s wife kills her attacker on “Navy NCIS” (8 p.m., CBS) … Caroline Rhea hosts “The Biggest Loser” (8 p.m., NBC) … Tia needs privacy on “All of Us” (8 p.m., UPN).
A one-sided reconciliation on “Eve” (8:30 p.m., UPN).
Stampeding tourists on “The Amazing Race” (9 p.m., CBS) … Feud for thought on “According to Jim” (9 p.m., ABC) … Election fraud at the student level on “Veronica Mars” (9 p.m., UPN).
JD’s pep talk turns personal on “Scrubs” (9:30 p.m., NBC) … A creche crushed on “Rodney” (9:30 p.m., ABC).