'Shrek', 'Grinch' to usher in holiday TV season

ABC figures that waiting until the stroke of December is long enough when it gets its holiday season going with the back-to-back specials "Shrek the Halls" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, on WLS Channel 7. With its efficient animation directed by Chuck Jones, its Dr. Seuss-written soundtrack and Boris Karloff's narration, "Grinch" is a timeless classic, but "Shrek" is a fitting heir for today's dysfunctional families. In the immortal words of Donkey: "Christmas ain't Christmas until somebody cries."

Back to the beach

Geoffrey Baer revisits his classic look at "Chicago's Lakefront" in a new special that addresses Millennium Park and the rehabbed Soldier Field at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, on WTTW Channel 11. Baer will also look at the possible changes brought on if Chicago scores the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

Xmas' other Madonna

Madonna plays host to the documentary "I Am Because We Are" to mark World AIDS Day at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 1, on the Sundance Channel. Madonna wrote and produced the film, which looks at children orphaned by AIDS in the African nation of Malawi.

'Ring' them bells

"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has got to be one of the most tiresome and overblown movie series in cinema history. Don't bother looking for a single well-rounded female character. But taken as an extended if muddle-headed action romp, the films ain't bad. TNT runs all three on consecutive nights starting with "The Fellowship of the Ring" at 6 p.m. Friday.