BY CLIF GARBODEN

THURSDAY 22

10:00 [2] CHRISTMAS WITH THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR | The real Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City is kind of an ugly building, but it’s got great acoustics. A traditional concert sung by people who don’t drink coffee. To be repeated at noon on Christmas Day. | Until 11 pm

FRIDAY 23

8:00 [44] THREE FAITHS, ONE GOD | No waiting. A survey of the political history and current

practices of Christians, Jews, and Muslims — all in the spirit of "Why can’t we all just get along?" Want to know why? Because religions are based on intangible things that can’t be proved, and so, like UFO cults and crosstown buses, they attract crazy people. And it’s the extremist loonies (many in position of power) who cause all the trouble. | Until 11 pm

10:00 [2] LA HOLIDAY CELEBRATION 2005 | Elayne Boosler (now there’s a name from the past) hosts a Los Angeles Christmas show featuring the best of the Angels’ city’s local talent — of all ethnic and cultural persuasions. Well, several of the more high-proÞle persuasions, to be sure. Hmong may not be among them. | Until 11 pm

CHRISTMAS EVE 24

1:00 [12] FOOTBALL | The Tennessee Titans versus the Miami Dolphins.

4:00 [64] FOOTBALL | The Philadelphia Eagles versus the

Arizona Cardinals.

4:15 [12] FOOTBALL | The Indianapolis Colts versus the Seattle Seahawks.

6:00 [44] THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN | movie | Unable to come up with a more seasonal Þlm, WGBX falls back on Debbie Reynolds and Harvey Presnell in the 1964 adaptation of Meredith Willson’s corny musical about the famous Colorado self-made aristocrat who survived the Titanic. Spirited fun, great vocal performances, and only a few scenes that make you cringe. | Until 8:10 pm

8:00 [2] KEEPING UP APPEARANCES CHRISTMAS SPECIALS MARATHON | Patricia Rutledge takes her painfully well-drawn character of Hyacinth Bucket through three (oft-times painful) Christmas episodes — from 1993, ’94, and ’95. | Until 10:30 pm

8:00 [10] IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE | No need to describe it. Jimmy Stewart, Donna Reed. Potential suicide. Small-town values versus the Man. Capitalist exploitation breeds corruption. Bank failure. Angels without wings. Little kid named Zuzu. Christmas tree. Bedford Falls. Broken newel post. "Auld Lang Syne." Senile Uncle Billy. Frank Capra. 1946. You remember. | Until 11 pm

8:10 [44] WHAT’S UP DOC? | movie | And even farther off the subject of Christmas, we get Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, and Madeline Kahn in Peter Bogdanovich’s 1972 comedy about spies and jewels and lost luggage. Really just an excuse to pair Streisand and O’Neal on the big screen. | Until 9:45 pm

9:00 [6] I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS | movie | There are several editions of this holiday heartwarmer around. We’re assuming this is the 1988 version with Courtney Cox, Peter Gallagher, and Hal Holbrook. A family get through the holidays during World War II. | Until 11 pm

9:45 [44] LA CAGE AUX FOLLES | movie | If gay jokes are your Christmas Eve bag, this is a lot funnier — and a lot more honest — than Are You Being Served? The 1978 French/European farce (remade in the US as The Birdcage) about a gay man pretending he’s straight to impress his future in-laws stars Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, and RŽmi Laurent. | Until 11:17 pm

10:30 [2] THE ARE YOU BEING SERVED? CHRISTMAS EPISODE 1975: "CHRISTMAS CRACKERS." | The Brit-com whose appeal is to many, including us, incomprehensible. But the Brits always did think inadequately closeted homosexuals were funny. And in this one, the staff don colorful costumes on top of their usual gay apparel. | Until 11 pm

11:00 [2] DAVE MATTHEWS BAND: WEEKEND ON THE ROCKS | Dave Matthews, Carter Beauford, Stefan Lessard, LeRoi Moore, and Boyd Tinsley jam at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado. Taped in September. | Until midnight

11:30 [10] CHRISTMAS EVE AT ST. PETER’S BASILICA IN ROME | Where they take the whole thing very seriously. | Until 1 am

CHRISTMAS DAY 25

NOON [2] CHRISTMAS AFTERNOON STUFF | Lots of good programs on WGBH this afternoon. So many that there’s not room to list them individually. But here’s a summary. We start with Christmas with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, a concert from Salt Lake City; then at 1 pm we get Pioneers of Primetime, a nice show about the early TV comics. At 2 pm, it’s Jack Paar: Smart Television, a solid proÞle of TV’s neurotic genius that’s repeated tonight at 11 pm and on Thursday at 8 pm. At 3 pm, we have Lily Tomlin at the Kennedy Center; that explains itself, and it’s followed, at 4:30, by The 2005 Mark Twain Prize, which if memory serves was given to Steve Martin. After that, at 6:30 pm, it’s another comic high-proÞle, Bob Newhart: Unbuttoned (repeated on Thursday at 9 pm). And then we close things out at 8 pm with Broadway’s Best at Pops. More good stuff in a day than in an entire pledge period. Thanks, guys. | Until 9 pm

NOON [44] ASK THIS OLD HOUSE | Windows falling out? You know who to call. Channel 44 takes Christmas Day off by running ATOH episodes straight on through until 11 pm | Until 11 pm

NOON [6] BASKETBALL | The Detroit Pistons versus the San Antonio Spurs, follwed at 3 pm by the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Miami Heat.

5:00 [64] FOOTBALL | The Chicago Bears versus the Green Bay Packers.

9:00 [12] FINDING JOHN CHRISTMAS | movie | Peter Falk and Valerie Bertinelli star in this holiday heartwarmer about a mystery man and a nurse who thinks he’s his long-lost brother. Also, there are angels. | Until 11 pm

BOXING DAY 26

9:00 [2] THE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: REAGAN | part one | Ronnie Reagan — bad actor, hypocrite, confused family man — had his deceptively evil way with America from 1981 through 1989. The road to ruin didn’t necessarily begin with Uncle Ronnie, but he broke the budget paving it. Allegedly, he was also very personable. Just another tool of the military-industrial complex, really — but he smiled nice, even as he sanctioned death squads in Central America and the sale of weapons to our sworn enemies in the Middle East. Ah, those were the days. Nonetheless, this is a ßattering proÞle of the guy. To be repeated tonight at 1 and 4 am on Channel 44. | Until 11 pm

9:00 [5] FOOTBALL | The Pats versus the New York Jets.

TUESDAY 27

8:00 [2] MYSTERY: THREE HETTY WAINTHROP INVESTIGATES SHOWS | Patricia Rutledge again, this time as a batty British private detective, starring in three old episodes. Not bad if you haven’t seen them. Co-starring a very young Dominic Monaghan, of Lost and LOTR fame. | Until 11 pm

8:00 [44] GLOBE TREKKERS | Three GT episodes, all hosted by lovable trekker Justine Shapiro. She starts with Washington, DC, then at 9 pm moves over to San Francisco, and Þnally at 10 pm gets all the way to Sydney, Australia. | Until 11 pm

WEDNESDAY 28

9:00 [2] IMAGINING AMERICA: ICONS OF THE 20TH CENTURY | A conceptual documentary about Americans’ evolving relationship with nature and identity through 20th-century art. Featured artists include Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Thomas Cole. To be repeated tonight at 1 am on Channel 44, and at 2 am on Channel 2, and at 4 am on Channels 2 and 44. | Until 11 pm

THURSDAY 29

8:00 [2] JACK PAAR: SMART TELEVISION | TV’s underappreciated talk-show host from the 1950s through the mid ’60s. Paar’s guests were not all plugging movies. He interviewed everyone from Fidel Castro to Woody Allen to Robert Kennedy. A tribute worth watching. | Until 9 pm