Both new specials try to revive the variety tradition in their own ways: redneck raucousness and sarcastic smarm. So shoot us for liking both.

Larry the Cable Guy isn't kidding about that title. His live concert celebration comes packin' lots of star power -- Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvall, Lewis Black, Tony Orlando, Toby Keith, Blake Shelton, Fred Willard, Joey Fatone, Terry (please, please don't sing) Bradshaw, and many more.

Colbert gets excited about the season, too -- excited enough to be "sporting a yule log." (Heh-heh.) Marooned for the holiday in his snowy mountain cabin [pictured above], the "broadcasting legend" still manages to cross paths with Jon Stewart, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Feist, the ubiquitous Toby Keith and, our favorite, Willie Nelson, who offers a personal Christmas carol about that "wonder weed" so dear to his heart (and lungs).

Second chances, all times ET: Larry the Cable Guy's Star Studded Christmas Extravaganza repeats Friday at 10:30 p.m., Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and 1 a.m., Sunday at 8 and 11:30 p.m., and pretty much daily beyond that, so check listings. A Colbert Christmas repeats Sunday night at midnight, Tuesday at 10 p.m. and midnight, and subsequent times, so check listings.

Bradbury has effused at length in various documentaries about his childhood passion for the elder Chaney -- the silent screen's versatile "man of a thousand faces" -- and here the 88-year-old sci-fi legend chooses two of Chaney's best-known titles, from his mid-1920s stint at the Universal studio. Each involves a ton of the makeup mastery for which Chaney remains renowned -- experts still can't figure how he accomplished some of it -- helping the actor evoke the pathos of outcast characters in tender performances. Immerse yourself in Chaney's work the way the young Bradbury and his contemporary audience did -- paying rapt attention to the screen, without the distractions of chatting and popcorn-eating that overtook the art once sound blared its way into movie theaters.

After this visually absorbing double feature come two equally imposing triumphs from Bradbury's early adulthood. Alfred Hitchcock made his Hollywood debut, after his distinguished British career, with 1940's stark romance suspenser Rebecca (Thursday at 11:45 p.m. ET), starring Laurence Olivier and Joan Fontaine. Then it's another directing giant -- Orson Welles [photo below], in his 1941 film debut, the always fascinating Citizen Kane (2 a.m. ET). That one I've probably seen 60 times, and it always seems to be a fresh discovery. Amazing.

Like Chaney.

Besides, the supporting cast includes a few of our faves -- Nancy Travis (Almost Perfect), Tim Meadows (Saturday Night Live) and Brian Doyle-Murray (Bakersfield, P.D., and could it come out on DVD sometime soon, pretty please?).

Their new Christmas outing (premiering Saturday at 8 p.m. ET on TBS) is pretty standard kids-too-busy-for-family-traditions stuff, but Engvall makes an amiable enough holiday obsessive. And the situations are delivered with enough conviction and verve to make all the expected happenings feel fresh again.

The Milwaukee-shot standup hour makes sure to show that it's hip to all the Christmas tricks -- fake snow and backdrops, et al -- while Dunham's split (voice) personality allows him to express both cynicism and seasonal spirit. (An extended version of Dunham's special hits DVD Tuesday, Nov. 18.)

This isn't the last of TV's Christmas cheer, of course -- not by a loooong shot. And all the festivity will be collected here at TV Worth Watching's yule tube HQ. You'll be seeing a surfeit of seasonal listings, reviews, video links, DVD holidays, and more. Not for nothing am I the queen of Christmas on Television . . .

(Second chances: The Bill Engvall Show holiday episode repeats Monday at 11 p.m. ET and Saturday Nov. 22 at 5 p.m. ET on TBS. Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special repeats Sunday at 10 p.m. ET, Tuesday at 10 p.m. and midnight ET, and Sunday Nov. 23 at 9 p.m. ET, leading in to the premiere of A Colbert Christmas.)

Here's a preview of Engvall's holiday hoopla --

James Bond Ultimate Collector's Set includes every 007 flick through Daniel Craig's Casino Royale -- and Amazon marks it down today (Friday) to just $90.

That's for 21 movies on 42 discs!

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This guy loves the tube as much as Dave and I do. And that's no small crush.

Subscribe to The Programming Insider -- it's free -- by visiting the Mediaweek site and clicking on Newsletter Sign Up (top right corner of page, in orange letters). Marc also does a daily podcast, if you want to hear it straight from Mr. Television's mouth.

Now available to view online, Studs' Place was his freewheeling "dramatic equivalent of jazz," as described in this web salute to Terkel's contributions to the laid-back "Chicago school of television."

"Terkel, arms waving, words exploding in bursts, leaning close to his talking companions, didn't merely conduct interviews," the Chicago Tribune's Rick Kogan wrote of Studs' Place in Terkel's obituary. "He engaged in conversations. He was interested in what he was talking about and who he was talking to."

The series was a precursor to the two careers for which the former radio actor would become best known. In 1952, Terkel began hosting shows on Chicago's WFMT arts radio station, where he could be heard on-air weekdays for 45 years. And in 1967, when he was 55, Terkel became a bestselling author with Division Street: America, collecting the tales of ordinary American workers. (He'd previously written 1957's Giants of Jazz.) He went on to pen Hard Times, Working, The Good War and other oral histories. (You can watch a CSPAN Book TV interview here, conducted last year in Terkel's Chicago home.)

Terkel humbly reflected and recorded a century in the life of everyday Americans, in their own voices. Who will be our next Studs Terkel?

Hollywood Canteen (11:15 p.m., TCM) has Bette Davis spearheading work at the Tinseltown nightclub, where the parade past visiting soldiers includes Joan Crawford, Barbara Stanwyck, Jack Benny, Roy Rogers (and Trigger), the Andrews Sisters, and big-banders Jimmy Dorsey and Carmen Caballero, among others.

Stage Door Canteen (1:30 a.m., TCM) shifts the action to Manhattan, for appearances by Peggy Lee with Benny Goodman's band, Ethel Waters with Count Basie, Katharine Hepburn, Harpo Marx, Johnny Weissmuller, Tallulah Bankhead, and many more. Even Gypsy Rose Lee!

Preceding it all is the new hour documentary Warner at War (8 p.m., TCM), chronicling the Warner Bros. studio's undertakings to support the war effort.

That's ALL six seasons for less than $100 total -- 75 percent off list.

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The 44-year-old was at the center of two of the most amazing moments I saw while flipping channels during a workday's worth of nighttime election returns.

Smith got personal, but not maudlin, soon after Obama's victory was declared when west coast polls closed at 11 p.m. ET. He quietly noted into the camera that he remembered, as a kid growing up in a Mississippi small town, his parents explaining to him why the local movie theater was burning down -- because black people were forced to sit in the balcony while he could take a seat on the main floor. And now someone who would have been relegated to that balcony was instead becoming president. Smith told this seismic-shift story calmly but with clear emotion, never letting his feelings get the best of succinctly relating a rich anecdote.

An even better moment -- both personally and professionally, and demonstrating beautifully how those aspects can coexist without tripping over each other -- came well after midnight. At an hour the networks were essentially filling time and spinning commentary, Smith was interviewing third-party 1-percenter Ralph Nader -- who made the astounding pronouncement that he was now waiting to see if Obama would become Uncle Sam or Uncle Tom. Smith was clearly appalled by the uncalled-for racial edge to what already seemed a bitter cheap-shot, yet he reacted with the simple human response, "Are you kidding me?" He even asked Nader if he wanted to reconsider the exact words he'd uttered during a live interview, but the legendary consumer advocate and more recent presidential spoiler set his jaw and proudly responded, "Not at all."

Smith smartly cut to commercial before returning to ask his panel of pundits, again calmly but with quite personal puzzlement, "What was that?" He said it the way younger people do, not with overt condemnation or true confusion, but to convey "Geez. Weird. Did that really happen?" Which was the perfect reaction to such an off-the-wall moment from a man seeking to be considered a serious leader. No judgment needed be spoken.

Smith's Fox network work was professional without being impassive, and personal without being gushy -- a bullseye lots of other channels missed by a mile. He also demonstrated that news doesn't have to be sliced and diced into music video snippets to reflect younger tastes and attitudes. (Yes, Current, we mean you.) Where so many of this election's anchors were long-timers taking a last lap -- not that there's anything wrong with that -- it was great to see Smith freshly racing toward the future.

Wednesday night's ABC "World News" expands to 6:30-7:30 p.m. ET to hold all the post-election reporting and analysis. Says ABC: "The extended broadcast will examine reaction around the country and the world, the challenges facing the new administration, plus the historical significance of the racial barriers that fell last night."

You'll have to go elsewhere for Alex Trebek.

Current goes Digg-ing. BET lets you Be Heard. Dan Rather recruits college reporters. DirecTV has its multi-screen Election Mix, and DISH Network goes mosaic, too.

Among Tuesday's most offbeat 2008 election coverage alternatives:

Current Diggs the Election (starting at 7 p.m. ET, Current) -- Real-time social media contribute to what this youth-aimed channel touts as "the future of election coverage." Digg and Twitter are "co-hosting" the night's results, with video from 12seconds.tv and a live DJ set by Diplo. Their promise: "No pundits, just perspective."

Dan Rather Reports On Politics: Election Night 2008 (starting at 7 p.m. ET, HDNet) -- The veteran newsman anchors before a live audience at the Newseum in Washington, presenting footage from 12 college correspondents reporting from New Hampshire to Florida, Delaware to Alaska.

BBC America/BBC World News (starting at 6 p.m. ET) -- Ricky Gervais, Christopher Hitchens, Bill Bradley, Karen Hughes, Gore Vidal and others join anchors David Dimbleby and Matt Frei in Washington, with analysis from Ted Koppel and reports from BBC correspondents in key states. BBC coverage streams live all evening on bbc.com, which also carries live blog commentary from both elections experts and viewers.

BET News: Be Heard Election 2008 (starting at 8 p.m., BET) -- Jeff Johnson anchors, with reports from correspondents at Obama and McCain headquarters, among other locations. Commentators include Keith Boykin, Jamal Simmons, Keli Goff and Angela McGlowan. Viewers are invited to interact via bet.com/beheard with comments and videos showing their voting experiences. Prime-time coverage also streams at bet.com/onblast. Special BET news coverage continues all day Wednesday.

TV One's Election Night 08: A Vote for Change (starting at 7 p.m. ET, TV One) -- Reporting for this adult-aimed African-American cabler are Arthur Fennell, Joe Madison and Jacque Reid, with commentators including Michael Eric Dyson, Tom Joyner, Roland Martin (reporting from CNN Election Headquarters), and pollster Shawnta Walcott.

DirecTV Election Mix Channel (DirecTV Chs. 102 and 352, from 7 p.m. ET) -- One screen splits to show eight feeds -- the four broadcast networks, CNN, Fox News Channel, MSBNC and alternating feeds of Comedy Central when it’s live and BBC America -- and a real-time election results blog. The same as on DirecTV's sports feeds, viewers with interactive receivers can listen to audio on any channel or select one to watch full-screen.

DISH Network mosaic (DISH Ch. 100, continuing through Nov. 7) -- The satellite service showcases six networks' coverage simultaneously on a single screen -- CNN, Fox News, Headline News, MSNBC, CSPAN and CSPAN2 -- from which users can choose any individual network for full-screen format.

And if you speak Spanish:

• Destino 2008: Noche de Elecciones (7 p.m. ET, Univision)


• Decision 2008 (7 p.m., Telemundo)


• Participa 2008 (7 p.m., V-Me on PBS digital subchannels)

South Park (Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET, Comedy Central) -- After the votes are counted, Trey Parker and Matt Stone do another quick turnaround. Wednesday's new episode, titled "About Last Night...," finds the victorious candidate already taking action: "A new President has been elected, and the citizens of South Park are partying in the streets . . . While the country celebrates, the President-elect catches everyone off-guard when he arrives at the White House prematurely." (Sneak peek here.)

Well, you could try the Internet Archive's robust online collection of classic television. And you would, in fact, find two examples of Newman on TV there, appearing in the 1952 fantasy series Tales of Tomorrow and a 1954 Armstrong Circle Theatre installment titled The Contender with Inger Stevens (photo above). Just click and watch.

They're all there at the Internet Archive. You can not only stream these vintage goodies but download them, too, for later viewing on your computer or portable device. You could build a pretty nifty "golden age" archive of your own here.

There are commercials, too, hundreds of them, plus other Internet Archive sections devoted to news coverage, industrial and educational films, feature films and more.

It's so easy to dive in and lose complete track of time. Don't forget to Beat the Clock!

The musical explorations of people connected with The Police continue in Dissonance and Harmony (Sunday at 10 p.m. ET, PBS; check local listings). In this documentary from group manager Miles Copeland (who was raised in the Middle East), American musicians like Nile Rodgers, Charlotte Caffey of The GoGos, and Wu-Tang Clan's RZA work with artists visiting from Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. It's part of PBS' globetrotting film series America at a Crossroads. (Watch previews here.)

The same night, former Nixon administration counsel John Dean joins Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne for a screening of 1976's All the President's Men (Sunday at 8 p.m. ET, TCM). Dean discusses the Alan Pakula movie's take on the Watergate scandal, starring Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman as real-life Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. It's one of those rare films that manages to convey the workaday reality of reportorial digging and journalistic decision-making.

Fright flicks and creepy comedy are all over the tube for Halloween. No Roseanne celebrations, unfortunately -- her Halloweens were always so frightfully fun -- but lots of other ghoulish goodies. Young Frankenstein. Phantom of the Paradise. The Munsters. And more.

Turner Classic Movies is already unreeling its 48 Hours of Horror marathon, running Thursday and Friday with vintage tales from the 1930s to 1970. Thursday's treats lean toward mid-century low-budgeters from William Castle and Roger Corman, and foreign-made frights. Friday's toppers include Val Lewton's 1942 original Cat People (Friday at 7:30 a.m. ET), Tod Browning's long-banned sideshow chiller Freaks (Friday at 9 a.m. ET), and the Underground double feature of Herschell Gordon Lewis' Blood Feast and Two Thousand Maniacs! (Friday night at 2:30 and 3:45 a.m. ET).

AMC's round-the-clock Fearfest continues toward its Friday conclusion with recent titles like Keanu Reeves' Constantine (Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET) and library classics like Jamie Lee Curtis' Halloween (Friday at 9:30 a.m. ET).

Young Frankenstein, the fine Mel Brooks-Gene Wilder horror lampoon, gets appropriately classic treatment from Fox Movie Channel. First there's the half-hour retrospective It's Alive: Creating a Monster Classic (Thursday at 10 p.m., Friday at noon and 5:30 p.m. ET), then the 1974 blockbuster itself (Thursday at 10:30 p.m., Friday at 12:30 and 6 p.m. ET).

The Munsters runs non-stop on WGN from 4 p.m. to midnight ET, with '70s fright-fiend rocker Alice Cooper hosting the '60s sitcom marathon.

E! contributes a showbiz cheesefest: Doomed to Die? 13 Most Shocking Hollywood Curses (Friday at 8 p.m. ET), outlining the curses, jinxes and misfortunes related to Superman, The Exorcist, James Dean and other tinseltown names.

Dee Snider's Dead Art (Friday 8 p.m.-1 a.m. ET, Gallery HD) tours world cemeteries filled with classic art, architecture and famous names. (Full episodes also stream online here.)

History Channel's Primal Fear (Friday at 10 p.m. ET) explores our instinctual responses to such common fears as being buried alive or attacked by monsters. (More Halloween history here.)

And the best for last:

Brian DePalma's delirious Phantom of the Paradise is Fox Movie Channel's Fox Legacy classic of the week (Friday night at 8, 10 and midnight ET). This 1974 gem is an astonishingly ambitious mix of Faust, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Phantom of the Opera and rock music burlesque, chronicling a composer's descent after making a deal with a rock mogul for immortality. Paul Williams -- yes, the '70s popster who wrote Carpenters songs -- not only plays the villainous mogul with slimy relish, but also composed the song score that smartly sends up death doowop, surf music, glam rock and other genres. Keep your eyes (and ears) open. The music/movie/literary references come fast and furious.