You never know where people will find inspiration. Beginning Saturday, SYFY will air short documentary films in a series called “Looking for Leia” (11 p.m. and 11:13 p.m. Saturday). Each film profiles women who were motivated to emulate Carrie Fisher’s character Princess Leia from the “Star Wars” movie franchise. Each subject saw strength in a female character who went from being a renegade refugee to a sex object to a general over the course of the saga.
One of the best aspects of web-based films is the freedom to tell stories and discuss ideas in formats shorter than TV’s traditional hour or 30-minute lengths. All seven installments of “Looking for Leia” will be available to stream at SYFY.com.
— Eddie Murphy hosts “Saturday Night Live” (11:30 p.m. Saturday, NBC, TV-14), featuring musical guest Lizzo. This year marks the return of two prodigal talents to the “SNL” stage. For decades, both Murphy and Adam Sandler seemed to define themselves as movie stars who would not return to the venue that launched them; 2019 was the year of their return. Murphy is quite good in the Netflix original biopic “Dolemite Is My Name,” a celebration of raucous comic Rudy Ray Moore and his legendary low-budget movies.
— You know we’re breathing down Christmas’ neck when network stars put down the tinsel to start glancing back at the year about to end. Robin Roberts hosts “The Year: 2019” (9 p.m. Sunday, ABC).
A brief summary of the show’s contents posted on its Facebook page indicates that “Year” reflects the sensibility of a morning show or a daytime chat fest and will concentrate heavily on entertainment news and celebrity breakups. The only face I saw not featuring heavy makeup was that of environmental activist Greta Thunberg. There were several shots of Baby Yoda as well.
Programs like this only underscore the starvation diet that many “news” junkies inflict upon themselves. You can watch network and cable news for hours on end and never be confronted by the fact that other countries, languages, cultures or points of view actually exist.
— A smooth-talking priest (Bing Crosby) clashes with a no-nonsense nun (Ingrid Bergman) in the 1945 holiday favorite “The Bells of St. Mary’s” (10:15 p.m. Sunday, TCM).
The movie’s theme song was covered by dozens of artists in the mid-20th century, from Connie Francis and Vic Damone to Chet Atkins, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mother Maybelle Carter.
A version of “Bells” by Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans is included in the 1963 LP “A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector,” featuring the producer’s distinctive “wall of sound” treatment on seasonal songs and holiday favorites recorded by Darlene Love, the Crystals and the Ronettes. Writer, producer and Beach Boy Brian Wilson has described this as his favorite album of all time.
“The Bells of St. Mary’s” is that rare classic movie also referenced in other classic movies. A version of its theme song by the Drifters is heard on the radio when Samuel L. Jackson’s character is murdered in the 1990 drama “Goodfellas.”
Michael (Al Pacino) and Kay (Diane Keaton) go on a date to see “The Bells of St. Mary’s” in the 1972 gangster epic “The Godfather.” They are shown leaving the movie theater and discussing it when Kay spots a newspaper reporting the attempted assassination of Don Corleone. Suddenly, they’re not thinking about Ingrid Bergman anymore.
SATURDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Boise State and Washington meet in the Las Vegas Bowl (7:30 p.m., ABC).
— A busy hotelier learns that her big promotion depends on her successful execution of a major holiday bash in the 2019 romance “Christmas Hotel” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-G).
— Sparks fly when office rivals host competing parties celebrating Christmas and Hanukkah in the 2019 romance “Double Holiday” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Hey, chefs, put down your ladles and start spinning your dreidels! Molly Yeh hosts the “Ultimate Hanukkah Challenge” (10 p.m., Food, TV-G) just in time for the festival of lights.
SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS
— Scheduled on “60 Minutes” (7 p.m., CBS): artist Mark Bradford, Italy’s king of pasta and an Ethiopian shrine still attracting pilgrims after hundreds of years.
— A beauty lures the guy next door in the 2019 romance “Christmas Crush” (7 p.m., ION, TV-G).
— The Chicago Bears and Kansas City Chiefs meet in NFL Football action (8 p.m., NBC).
— “Kids Say the Darndest Things” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) about Christmas.
— Dean Cain and Laura McKenzie host “The Christmas Caroler Challenge” (8 p.m. and 9 p.m., CW, TV-PG).
— Bridget, Bunchy and Jim besiege Ray with their problems on “Ray Donovan” (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-MA).
— A beautiful tech genius discovers a way to move people from the naughty list to the nice on “A Date by Christmas Eve” (8 p.m., Lifetime, TV-PG).
— A contest pits two wholesome towns against each other in the 2019 romance “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Idina Menzel hosts this year’s “A Home for the Holidays” (9 p.m., CBS) special. Guests Adam Lambert, Ne-Yo and Kelly Rowland appear amidst stories of adoption, children who found safe and stable homes and families enriched by new members.
CULT CHOICE
— A conflicted Episcopalian priest (Richard Burton) leaves his wife (Eva Marie Saint) for a bohemian beachcomber (Elizabeth Taylor) in the 1965 romance “The Sandpiper” (9:45 p.m., Saturday, TCM, TV-14).
SATURDAY SERIES
A special gift on “Young Sheldon” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … Two helpings of “Dateline” (8 p.m., NBC) … A handsome widower attracts attention on “The Unicorn” (8:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … A new doctor draws upon her past on “Carol’s Second Act” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … A sock salesman is thunderstruck on “Bob (Hearts) Abishola (9:30 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
“48 Hours” (10 p.m., CBS) … A vintage helping of “Saturday Night Live” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
SUNDAY SERIES
“Football Night in America” (7 p.m., NBC) recaps the day’s action … Mike searches for the perfect gift on “Last Man Standing” (8 p.m., Fox, r, TV-PG) … A surprise vacation on “The Simpsons” (8:30 p.m., Fox, r, TV-14).
Zeke needs help on “Bob’s Burgers”(9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … Prehistoric pachyderms celebrate the holidays on “Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas” (9:30 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … A drive-by tragedy on “NCIS: New Orleans” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
