Celebrate the holiday season with WKAR-TV!
Check out a variety of holiday and religion and spirituality specials on WKAR-HD 23.1 and WKAR WORLD 23.2
WKAR-HD 23.1 Listings
4 | Mon
10:00 Lucy Worsley’s 12 Days of Tudor Christmas
Join Lucy Worsley on a 12-day extravaganza as she discovers that much of what we enjoy in contemporary Christmas - from carols to turkey, gift-giving to mistletoe and mulled wine - has surprising Tudor origins, rooted in devotion and charity.
8 | Fri
9:00 Christmas at Belmont
"Christmas at Belmont" is an annual Belmont University tradition celebrating the holiday season and the musical diversity and rich talent of the university's School of Music. The concert features a collage of familiar carols, classical masterworks, world music and light-hearted seasonal favorites. More than 400 student voices join with School of Music faculty to present the annual holiday production.
12 | Tue
8:00 Season of Light: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir
The Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square join with award winning artists Lea Salonga and Sir David Suchet for Season of Light: Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir, a festive and uplifting Christmas special. This concert will illuminate your holiday experience with timeless carols, treasured songs, and a story of heroic service.
18 | Mon
9:00 Mary Berry’s Highland Christmas
Mary Berry spends Christmas in her mother's homeland of Scotland to enjoy a winter break soaking up her Scottish heritage and enjoying traditional festive delights with familiar faces, as well cooking up some of her own indulgent dishes.
20 | Wed
8:00 Santa’s Wild Home
Get an intimate look into life in Lapland, fabled land of Santa Claus and actual home of tenacious wildlife such as reindeer, wolverines, Brown bears and more.
26 | Tue
8:00 Cultural Expressions: Kwanzaa
Honoring the heritage, unity, culture, and rich contributions of African Americans, Kwanzaa is more than just a celebration; it's a way of life. CULTURAL EXPRESSIONS: KWANZAA is an hour-long documentary that explores the seven principles that are the foundation of Kwanzaa by sharing seven real-life stories of impact. These stories reveal how each principle plays a role in the Black community, enhanced by cultural elements of dance, storytelling, music, and spoken word.
31 | Sun
8:00 Next at the Kennedy Center: A New Year's Eve Celebration
Ring in the New Year with a star-studded musical celebration on stage at the Kennedy Center.
WKAR WORLD 23.2 Listings
5 | Tue
9:00 Expedition with Steve Backshall: Greenland - Frozen Frontier
Accompany Steve Backshall to Greenland, where he aims to kayak across the world's largest fjord during the Arctic's most volatile and dangerous time of year - the spring melt - in an attempt to understand how rising temperatures impact the area.
10 | Sun
8:00 Nature: American Arctic
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has long protected survivors of the Ice Age, but this once remote and frozen fortress is on the brink of change. Now, for the caribou, musk oxen, polar bears, and Arctic foxes, the ice age is slipping away.
15 | Fri
8:00 In Their Own Words: Pope Francis
Learn what experiences led Jorge Bergoglio to the highest office in the Catholic Church. Taking the name Francis, he is the first pope from the Americas, and the first non-European and first Jesuit priest to be named pope.
18 | Mon
9:30 Stories from the Stage: Holiday Horror
Cyndi Freeman becomes one of Santa's elves and uncovers a gruesome reality; Ekhlas Ahmed faces hunger as calamity creates a long Ramadan fast; Matt Dicks gathers his courage at Thanksgiving to stand up to his girlfriend's tough-as-nails dad.
21 | Thu
9:35 Will to Preach
The half-hour documentary A WILL TO PREACH offers viewers an unprecedented look at a pastor moving from scripture to sermon. In the program, Reverend Doctor William H. Willimon accepts an invitation from a young clergyman to guest preach at a small Episcopal church in Salisbury, North Carolina. The congregation is planning a weekend discussing racism and Rev. Willimon will deliver the sermon that culminates the weekend. Compounding the challenge of speaking about a sensitive subject, the Episcopal Church's assigned scripture for that Sunday does not appear to offer anything on racism. How will Willimon take the allotted biblical text and connect it to the topic, at a church of a different denomination, in a town he does not know? Through interviews with family and colleagues, plus intimate camera access to Willimon and his process, A WILL TO PREACH offers a fascinating study of story, homiletics, humor, faith, and ultimately, the art of preaching.
24 | Sun
8:00 Nature: Santa's Wild Home
Get an intimate look into life in Lapland, fabled land of Santa Claus and actual home of tenacious wildlife such as reindeer, wolverines, Brown bears and more.
25 | Mon
9:00 FILMS BYKIDS: Buddhism, Bhutan, and Me
18-year-old Rinzin Jurmey from Bhutan decided to become a monk and student of Buddhist cosmology when he was 11 years old. Unlike many of his more materialistic peers who attend modern schools, Jurmey enjoys a contemplative lifestyle. The small nation of Bhutan was cut off from the rest of the world until only a few decades ago, and the country uses a Gross National Happiness Index to measure economic and moral progress while promoting Buddhist spiritual values. However, tourism, technology and globalization have had a major impact on Bhutan. As Jurmey travels between his monastery, mountain village and the city, he meets with hip-hop dancers, video game enthusiasts and sports fans, seeking to understand the intersection of tradition and pop culture. With guidance from cinematographer Cat Papadimitriou, Jurmey documents the ways in which he - and his country - are striving to preserve ancient Bhutanese practices while embracing modernity.
9:30 Stories from the Stage: Holiday Spirit
Top storytellers share stories that conjure the holiday spirit. David Dean Bottrell discovers his passion after stealing the school play's spotlight. Andrea Kamen's bright menorah cuts through darkness of anti-semitism. Joe Charnitski tries to break a nightmare-before-Christmas bad luck streak.
29 | Fri
8:00 Earth's Sacred Wonders: Closer to the Divine
Travel to Japan, where a Shinto devotee undertakes a grueling challenge at a sacred waterfall. A young Muslim helps re-plaster a mosque in Mali. At a New York City cathedral, an Episcopal priest brings people and their pets closer to God.
9:00 Earth's Sacred Wonders: Visions of the Divine
Follow a young Yazidi woman as she searches for salvation in Iraq. Meet an orthodox Christian who must deliver a holy flame into the hands of his bishop in Jerusalem. In Nepal, a Buddhist painter battles the elements to honor Buddha's birthday.
31 | Sun
8:00 Nature: Penguins: Meet The Family
A celebration of one of Earth's most iconic and beloved birds, featuring footage of all 17 species of penguins for the first time, from New Zealand, Cape Town, the Galapagos Islands and Antarctica.
11:00 Musher
Musher is a film about the lives of four sled dog racers (mushers) and their dogs. What it means to be a musher, and what it takes to be a sled dog, is revealed over the course of a year as they all wait out summer so they can train for the coming winter's races. The film also explores the role of women in the sport, as dog mushing is one of just a few sports where men and women compete together.