Chimney Sweep

What’s on TV Saturday: ‘Mary Poppins’ and John Cena on ‘S.N.L.’

Spend a happy vacation with “Mary Poppins”. Or treat yourself to a portion of Christmas Goo with “Actually Love”.

MARY POPPINS (1964) 8 p.m. on ABC. English nanny from PL Travers brings her spoonful of sugar and a bottomless bag to the Banks family home in London in this Disney fantasy starring Julie Andrews. Dick Van Dyke is the chimney sweep with a soft spot for them. “Of course it’s sentimental,” wrote Bosley Crowther in the New York Times. “And, as Mary Poppins says, ‘Virtually perfect people never let feelings mix up their feelings.’ But since I’m not practically perfect, I find it irresistible. “

CATCH THE FAMILY (2016) 9 p.m. on Starz. When their parents disappear as performance artists, a writer (Jason Bateman, who directed) and an actress (Nicole Kidman) search for clues as to whether their father (Christopher Walken) and mother (Maryann Plunkett) are dead or on during their poisoned childhood Life are. “Mr. Bateman’s directing the actors is particularly sensitive,” wrote Manohla Dargis in The Times, “and shows a delicacy with emotional textures that does not always match the story.”

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE 11:30 p.m. on NBC. John Cena makes his debut as a host; Maren Morris is the musical guest.

LOVE REALLY (2003) on Amazon, iTunes and Netflix. AO Scott, who writes in the Times, called this Richard Curtis comedy “an indigestible Christmas pudding.” But admit it: you want another serving. Hugh Grant plays a bachelor prime minister who introduces himself to a member of the household staff at 10 Downing Street. Emma Thompson is his sister and Alan Rickman is her husband, infatuated with his secretary; Liam Neeson is a widowed stepfather; and Colin Firth is a writer who is betrayed by his own brother. And Bill Nighy plays a washed-up rock star.

A VERY MURRAY CHRISTMAS on Netflix. When the holidays come, it is the small, perfectly imperfect gifts that we often return to. And we get back to this one with Bill Murray’s version of himself, whose cabaret act at the Carlyle Hotel goes broke when a snow storm closes New York. So he improvises with the help of his pianist friend Paul Shaffer as well as Rashida Jones, Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, Chris Rock, David Johansen and – in the fantasy climax – Miley Cyrus and George Clooney. It’s a little damp and a little foggy.

THE LOBSTER (2016) on Amazon and iTunes. In a country where marriage is a police duty, the newly divorced David (Colin Farrell) is sent to a hotel where singles have 45 days to mate or be turned into the animal of their choice. (Namely: his dog is actually his brother.) Residents can extend their stay by hunting and calming down “loners” in the forest in the gruesome comedy of Yorgos Lanthimos. Then David himself goes into the forest, where he gets into a forbidden romance with a woman (Rachel Weisz).

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