HBO, 9:00 p.m. ET
This 2011 documentary is as unsettling as it is fascinating. It’s about a chimpanzee who, in the Seventies, was raised almost as a human child, living in the upper West Side of New York City. Director James Marsh interviews many participants anew, and uses lots of “home movies,” to examine the rights, and wrongs, of such a social experiment.
Starz!, 9:00 p.m. ET
Now that Daniel Craig is back as Bond in Skyfall, here’s another opportunity to see him in a recent, very effective dramatic role, one that has him playing someone much more vulnerable. And with a much stronger partner: in this case, played by Rooney Mara, who shines, somewhat darkly, in the title role.
USA, 9:00 p.m. ET
SERIES RETURN: It’s back, for reasons I don’t quite understand, with a pre-Christmas double feature of fresh episodes. But here they are nonetheless – and a welcome diversion, when so many dramatic series are spending the rest of the year in reruns. Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwar star.
TCM, 9:30 p.m. ET
This Bob Hope comedy takes place around Christmas, so it qualifies for TCM’s holiday screening month – but Bob Hope on film is a treat any time. He’s a clear comedy precursor to Woody Allen, and though he excels in buddy comedies with Bing Crosby, he more than holds his own here as well. In this 1951 comedy, he pays a man who runs afoul of a powerful gangster and has to scramble to repay some money. Lots of money, very quickly. Marilyn Maxwell co-stars as the gangster’s moll – and, at Christmas, who can avoid at least one visit to a moll?
MTV, 10:00 p.m. ET
SERIES FINALE: This is not, not, not, not a recommendation. But it is definitely worth noting that, at long last, this horrid MTV series comes to an end. I always took Jersey Shore as one of the signs of the impending apocalypse – but maybe, since this revolting reality show concludes tonight, we may all live to see past tomorrow.