“Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars”
Saturday 9pm, BBC America
In roughly two weeks the Brits will get to meet the new Dr. Who. We’ll get him in America eventually, a few months after the Christmas/New Year’s two-parter bids adieu to current series star David Tennant and replaces him with Matt Smith, who will play the 11th incarnation of the time-traveling hero. But for now we get the stateside broadcast of the most recent special starring the sci-fi hero, this one set in 2059, with the Doctor visiting humanity’s first colony on Mars. If all of this sci-fi talk has your head spinning, you should probably move on to the next blurb. If, however, time travel and aliens are your thing, “Dr. Who” is where it’s at. Although Russell T. Davies, the man who brought the franchise back to prominence earlier this decade, will be departing along with Tennant, the nearly 50-year-old franchise still has plenty of juice left.
“SNL Presents: A Very Gilly Christmas”
Thursday 8pm, NBC
Kristen Wiig hosts this holiday clip show as her deranged character Gilly. That should be fun. Also fun are some of the classic “Saturday Night Live” holiday skits that will be on display, including my personal favorite, “NPR’s Delicious Dish and the Schweddy Balls,” featuring Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin. And wouldn’t you know it! Baldwin will make an appearance to introduce the sketch, as will Steve Martin, who will introduce his “A Christmas Wish” bit. And wouldn’t you know it! Baldwin and Martin are co-starring in the new Meryl Streep comedy It’s Complicated, out Christmas Day. I guess somebody wanted a little corporate synergy for Xmas this year…
“World News”
Monday 8pm, ABC
Tonight marks the debut of Diane Sawyer as the first solo woman anchor on “World News.” Sawyer’s transition to the seat has been remarkably quiet, especially in contrast to all the hoopla generated by CBS when Katie Couric took over the anchor desk at the “CBS Evening News” about three years ago. That’s almost certainly intentional, since there was a major backlash against Couric, and it seems like Couric is still struggling to prove that she’s the right person behind the desk. We’ll have to see how Sawyer fares taking over from Charlie Gibson, but it’s nice to have more non-old-white-guy options when it comes to hearing everything’s going to hell.
