Helen Mirren in ‘Goodbye June,’ ‘Pluribus’ Finale, ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and More Christmas Classics, a Faked Funeral at ‘Palm Royale’

Movie Premiere

It shouldn’t be a surprise that Kate Winslet, who’s earned an Oscar and two Emmys, would get terrific performances from an A-list cast in her directing debut. What’s less expected is that her son Joe Anders is the writer, basing this poignant film on his grandmother’s (Kate’s mom) battle with cancer in a hospital during her final days. That’s the scenario of Goodbye June, set against the Christmas season as the wry and defiantly unsentimental June (the great Helen Mirren) gathers her fractious family to her bedside, including her disbelieving husband (Timothy Spall), her three daughters — successful Julia (Winslet), bitterly resentful Molly (Andrea Riseborough), hippie-dippie Helen (Toni Collette) — and devoted son Connor (Johnny Flynn). “I make it my duty to make sure people get good goodbyes,” says June’s devoted nurse (Fisayo Akinade). June’s sendoff is memorable indeed, but be sure and have some tissues nearby to be safe.

Season Finale

When Carol (Rhea Seehorn) met Manousos (Carlos-Manuel Vesga) … It’s not exactly a meet-cute, or the makings of a romcom, when two of the Earth’s last two standouts against the hive-mind “joining” finally meet in the Season 1 finale of Vince Gilligan‘s provocative sci-fi dramedy. Manousos has made the perilous trip from Paraguay to Albuquerque to meet the only other person willing to fight against the otherworldly conformity, and his extreme anti-“other” paranoia makes Carol’s look sedate by comparison. What will it take for them to get on the same page and fight to save the world, if it can even be saved?

8/7c

Those bells you hear ringing on Christmas Eve? If they make you believe for even an instant that an angel might have earned their wings, then you, too, are a fan of director Frank Capra‘s beloved 1946 classic, It’s a Wonderful Life, now a Christmas Eve fixture on NBC, where it has been a holiday fixture for more than 30 years. Jimmy Stewart stars as the affable George Bailey, a self-sacrificing Everyman who needs the adorable angel Clarence (Henry Travers) to remind him of just how wonderful his life has truly been (8/7c).

A Christmas Story (8/7c, TBS; 9/8c, TNT): Every hour on the hour for 24 hours straight, this 1983 family favorite triple-dog-dares you to watch — or binge-watch, as the case may be — as young Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) sets out to score a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas — even at the risk of shooting his eye out. Or you could delay the marathon for a few hours by starting the night with 1990’s Home Alone (8/7c) on ABC. Recently parodied by Saturday Night Live with buckets of blood, the slapstick John Hughes-Christopher Columbus collaboration stars Macaulay Culkin as 8-year-old Kevin McCallister, left behind while his family jets to Paris, turns out to be as resourceful as a Special Ops agent when it comes to protecting his home from hapless burglars (Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci).

Rumors of Maxine’s (Kristen Wiig) death have been greatly exaggerated — but understandable, since it was her long-lost twin sister Mirabelle (also Wiig), who no one even knew about, who was found floating in the Palm Springs resort’s pool. To flush out the presumed killer, Norma (Carol Burnett), Maxine goes into hiding — though it’s probably not the best idea to stash such a fabulous social butterfly in a gay motel, where she becomes instant besties with another of the town’s local queens (Matt Rogers). And while fed agent Virginia (Amber Chardae Robinson) warns Maxine to stay far away from the fake funeral, what are the odds she’ll listen?

INSIDE WEDNESDAY TV:

• Christmas Eve Mass (11:30/10:30c, NBC): For his first Christmas since becoming pontiff, Pope Leo XIV leads the annual global broadcast of the traditional Mass from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. This is the first time the Mass has been celebrated at midnight since 2004 under Pope John Paul II.
• Tom Segura: Teacher (streaming on Netflix): The comedian schools an audience with his witty observations in his fifth stand-up special for the streamer.