Want a break from Christmas movies and holiday sentiment? The ID Network, a place seemingly dedicated to “women-in-peril” documentaries, dedicates four hours and two nights to “Let Us Prey: A Ministry of Scandals” (9 p.m., ID, TV-14, concluding Saturday), a harrowing expose and a rousing tale of wronged women turning on their abusers.
Many viewers may be unfamiliar with the independent fundamental Baptist (IFB) church organization. But according to investigators and hundreds of women who have gone to police and authorities, this religious group, representing some 6,000 churches and 8 million members, is a nightmare of cruelty and control, an incubator for predators — serious allegations.
Playing on the popular nostrum of “spare the rod and spoil the child” as well as Bronze Age edicts about submissive women, the church has practiced rituals intent on “breaking a child’s will” that some say lean toward mind control, if not depravity.
Women interviewed here relate tales of sadistic control practiced by their ministers, who forced them to drink their own vomit as a sign of obedience. And many tell of manipulation, sexual abuse, rape and a culture of grooming.
Survivors of the IFB culture also recall being threatened with violence and even death should they reveal their secrets. Fort Worth Star-Telegram reporter Sarah Smith discusses her pioneering work uncovering abusive behavior at churches as well as its network of unregulated teen boarding schools.
— Streaming on PBS.org and PBS’s YouTube channel, the 18-minute film “Homecoming” offers a coda of sorts to “The American Buffalo,” the documentary PBS miniseries produced by Ken Burns that aired earlier this fall. “Homecoming” documents the return of the buffalo to Indigenous lands and the impact this reintroduction of such mythic beasts has had on tribal cultures.
— At this time of year, there are so many holiday movies to choose from that I could dedicate every column to them — or perhaps just to the horrible and misbegotten ones. Prime Video imports the peculiar 2023 Italian fantasy “Elf Me,” about one of Santa’s helpers who just can’t help himself.
Hired (if that is the word?) to make toys, he finds himself compelled to make dangerous and destructive trinkets. Ordered to collect some of his defective goodies, he finds himself discovered by a little boy, frightened out of his wits by the bearded dwarf in his living room.
Fear not. Together they will conspire against a nefarious corporation out to corner the market on Christmas. Did I mention this was from Amazon? Help yourself.
— Speaking of Prime Video, today’s Thursday Night Football offering is neither at night nor on Thursday. The Jets host division rivals the Dolphins (3 p.m.).
— If stuffing a carcass on Thanksgiving wasn’t gory enough for you, Shudder streams the 2020 shocker “Harvest of Horrors” and the latest 2023 iteration of “Children of the Corn.”
— E! presents a Tolkien marathon, including the 2002 epic “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (8 a.m., 4:30 p.m., TV-14), and its 2003 sequel “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (noon, 8:30 p.m., TV-14).
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— College football action includes Texas and Texas Tech (7:30 p.m., ABC); Penn State and Michigan State (7:30 p.m., NBC) and Oregon State at Oregon (8:30 p.m., Fox).
— Stranded strangers rent a van and experience unexpected detours in the 2023 holiday comedy “Holiday Road” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— A miser’s (Lionel Barrymore) trick turns Christmas Eve into a dark night of the soul for an idealistic banker (Jimmy Stewart) in director Frank Capra’s 1946 holiday fable “It’s a Wonderful Life” (8:30 p.m., Bravo, TV-G).
— “Great Performances” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) presents a survey of Broadway’s best performances in the 50 years since 1973.
— Danny negotiates with Erin’s captors on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, r, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
Drawing on Greek mythology, Chaucer’s poetry and perhaps the popularity of the 1934 fantasy “Death Takes a Holiday,” the 1939 fable “On Borrowed Time” (1:45 p.m., TCM, TV-G) stars Lionel Barrymore as an old man who tricks Death into climbing up a tree and traps him there. Beulah Bondi and Cedric Hardwicke also star.
SERIES NOTES
“The Greatest @Home Videos” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Raid the Cage” (9 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Jimmy Fallon welcomes Dwayne Johnson, Colman Domingo and Cat Power on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r) … Ariana DeBose and Iman Vellani visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Ben Gleib, Chris Voth, Dominique and Grant Lyon appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
