“Little Spirit: Christmas in New York”
Wednesday 8pm, NBC
This new animated holiday special tells the story of Leo, a little boy from the Midwest whose family moves to New York City right before Christmas. Leo is taken aback by all the people, buildings, and sights and sounds, and ends up losing it a bit when his dog runs away. While searching for the pooch, he’s aided by Little Spirit, a helpful holiday sprite who teaches Leo how to use Christmas trees as portals. (I know; trippy, right?) So Leo goes from tree to tree, meeting all kinds of different folks who live in New York City, all of them willing to help and teach a lesson about the joys of diversity. The voice cast includes Danny DeVito, Lucy Liu, and NBC News’ Brian Williams. Music provided by Duncan Sheik, whose score to Spring Awakening is seriously awesome, so drop the one-hit-wonder snickers.
“House of Saddam”
Sunday 9pm, HBO
The four-part miniseries concludes tonight with the final two installments (you can catch the first two on repeat throughout the week). The film recreates the career of Saddam Hussein, from his takeover of Iraq in 1979 through the fall of his regime in 2003, by examining the events from the perspective of his family and friends, or “inner circle.” That group includes his first wife, Sadija (Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog); eldest son Uday; half-brother Barzan Ibrahim (Said Taghmaoui, Vantage Point); and mistress and eventual second wife, Samira. Saddam himself is played by Igal Naor, who you might recognize from Rendition and Munich.
“Top Gear”
Monday 8pm, BBC America
“Top Gear” is a British institution, currently in its 11th season on BBC America, but stretching back farther than that in one form or another. The show is a gearhead’s wet dream, exploring everything that makes cars and car culture so popular with the guys (and, presumably, some ladies). Regular segments include an assessment of what’s hot or not in the auto industry, a look at new gadgets and gizmos, some totally nuts races and stunts, and the “Celebrity in a Reasonably Priced Car” spot where celebs get behind the wheel and take to a race track to see how they do. The show is being adapted by NBC for a mid-2009 American version. While across-the-pond imports have a sketchy history with success, it’s hard to screw up the gasoline-soaked format. Except Adam Carolla is apparently hosting it. So…yeah. Sorry about that, car fans.
