“Alice”
Sunday 9pm, Syfy
Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is super-hot right now, between the anticipated Tim Burton/Johnny Depp flick coming out next year and this mini-series premiering this week on Syfy. Much like last year’s “Tin Man” extrapolated from L. Frank Baum’s Wonderful Wizard of Oz, “Alice” uses many of the themes and concepts from Wonderland but recasts them in a darker, weirder and much more grown-up light. This Alice (Caterina Scorsone) is a 20something martial arts expert who finds herself on a long, strange trip when her boyfriend “rabbits,” following him through a looking glass and into a new world. There she encounters a variety of odd folks, including revolutionaries Dodo (Tim Curry) and Caterpillar (Harry Dean Stanton), con man Hatter (Andrew-Lee Potts), and worst of all, the imperious Queen of Hearts (Kathy Bates).
“Robin Williams: Weapons of Self Destruction”
Sunday 9pm, HBO
Comedian/actor Robin Williams has carved out quite a successful career over the past three decades, mostly by throwing himself into projects that annoy the living shit out of me, and many other people who find his horny-man-child-on-speed persona tiring. But some people just love him—my Mom can’t wait to see that Old Dogs film with him and Travolta. (Oh, Mom…) This special features footage shot during his stand-up tour of the same name, which he launched last year as a last chance to get a few digs in on the Bush administration. Certainly those are fertile grounds for plowing (albeit not the most topical, at this point), but can the man behind Patch Adams, Bicentennial Man and Flubber really cast any stones at idiocy?
“Carrie Underwood: An All-Star Holiday Special”
Monday 8pm, Fox
I have a deep, abiding love for Carrie Underwood. Don’t judge me; I knew she was going to win “American Idol” Season 4 from literally the second she showed up at auditions, and she clinched my adoration forever when she belted out Heart’s “Alone” toward the end of the competition, negating whatever shaky notes she was hitting with that glorious bouffant hairdo of hers. Good times. Now the artist I primarily refer to as Cunderwood is a big-time country star, and has her own Christmas special, on which she’ll sing holiday standards alongside fellow “Idol” champ David Cook, Broadway diva Kristin Chenoweth, country stud Brad Paisley, and actual American idol Dolly Parton.
