Rating: NNNNN
Thursday, December 15
THE APPRENTICE You’re fired! Once the undisputed ratings king of Thursday night, the Trumpster’s fourth season limps to its conclusion. 9 pm on NBC/Global
Friday, December 16
THE LEADERS’ DEBATE Temper tantrums, hollow promises and good old-fashioned mudslinging – the heads of the nation’s leading political parties go mano-a-mano in Vancouver in their first televised English slagging match. 8 pm on CBC/CTV/Newsworld, repeated on Newsworld at 11 pm and 2 am
LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN Internet indie sensations Clap Your Hands Say Yeah demonstrate how to sell records and get on national TV without the help of an archaic music industry. 12:35 am on NBC/A-Channel
Saturday, December 17
THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965, D: Robert Wise , w/ Julie Andrews , Christopher Plummer ) Star Plummer likes to refer to this chestnut as The Sound Of Mucus, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its rabid fans. 7 pm on ABC/CTV
DENIS LEARY’S MERRY FUCKIN’ CHRISTMAS SPECIAL With the help of celebrity elves Carmen Electra , William Shatner and Barenaked Ladies , the curmudgeonly comic attacks the season, including a contentious Charlie Brown spoof. 10 pm on Comedy, repeated at 2 am
Sunday, December 18
A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS Despite the cool jazz piano soundtrack of Vince “Cast Your Fate To The Wind” Guaraldi , the 1965 animated Charles Schulz holiday classic comes with a decidedly heavy-handed Christian subtext. But, then, ’tis the season. 7 pm on YTV
WORST JOBS IN HISTORY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL UK comic actor Tony Robinson – long-suffering Baldrick to Rowan Atkinson’s Blackadder – tackles the holiday’s ugliest tasks: wrenching the guts from freshly plucked turkeys, burning kelp and cleaning up puke. 7 pm on History
Monday, December 19
A DIVA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL Vanessa L. Williams stars as Ebony Scrooge, a bitchy popstar alone on Christmas eve in this R&B adaption of Dickens’s morality tale. 8 pm on BET
SOUTH PARK: A VERY CRAPPY CHRISTMAS Inspired by a Charlie Brown Christmas special, the boys go in search of Mr. Hankey and the real spirit of the season – blatant commercialism. 9:30 pm on Comedy, repeated at midnight
Tuesday, December 20
THE OFFICE: THE CHRISTMAS PARTY Morale at the stationery plant hits an all-time low when it’s revealed that this year’s Secret Santa raffle for an iPod has been rigged. 9:30 pm on NBC/CHCH
A LAUGH, A TEAR, A MITZVAH Borscht Belt comedian Jackie Mason , activist folksinger Theodore Bikel , author Calvin Trillin and late member of Congress Bella Abzug explore how immigrant communities assimilated and achieved success in the last century. 10 pm on PBS
Wednesday, December 21
THE APPRENTICE: MARTHA STEWART The final episode of the doyenne of domesticity’s flop reality series. Perhaps the next time one of her handlers suggests another go, she’ll remember her post-jail mantra: “Not everyone’s good at everything.” 9 pm on NBC/Global
