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Do holiday movies need big names? Hallmark churns out Christmas romances like pastries, featuring unknowns and up-and-comers. But this season, we’ve already seen Melissa McCarthy appear as a tinsel-besotted “Genie” (Peacock), and now Prime Video streams “Candy Cane Lane,” starring Eddie Murphy and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Not unlike Hollywood stars from the golden age of the studio system, Eddie Murphy has enjoyed a long career by playing characters who straddle the line between “normal,” manic and even deranged.
Think of Jimmy Stewart’s desperation in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Vertigo,” and of the tortured inner thoughts of Spencer Tracy’s middle-aged character in “Father of the Bride.” Murphy can go from the perfectly reasonable to obsessed in the blink of an eye.
In this holiday satire, he plays Chris Carver, a husband and father determined to win the annual neighborhood Christmas-decorating contest. He’s so competitive that he strikes a Faustian bargain with a stranger named Pepper (Jillian Bell, “SNL”) who is actually an evil elf.
Blending holiday twinkle and supernatural terror is rather inspired. In a variation on “The Devil and Daniel Webster,” Pepper turns out to be a collector of souls who transforms her victims into holiday ornaments. After realizing his cosmic mistake and the danger posed to his loved ones, Chris rallies his wife (Ross) and family to undo the spell before it’s too late.
As a star who has been around since the Reagan era, Murphy has made the most of the streaming era. Prime Video streamed his sequel “Coming 2 America,” and he made the 2023 comedy “You People” and the Rudy Ray Moore biopic “Dolemite Is My Name” for Netflix. Not unlike his fellow still-working ’80s sensation Tom Cruise, Murphy does not seem to age.
— Speaking of horror movies, Peacock streams “The Exorcist: Believer,” the sixth adaptation/variation on the novel by William Peter Blatty, a direct sequel to the original book and the 1973 original, directed by William Friedkin, who died on Aug. 7.
The movie was poorly received by critics, who saw few original ideas or shocks.
— Disney+ streams “The Shepherd,” a movie adaptation of Frederick Forsyth’s 1975 fantasy novella. Ben Radcliffe plays an RAF pilot whose plane malfunctions over the North Sea on Christmas Eve 1943. Just when all seems lost, he’s saved by a mysterious flying Good Samaritan (John Travolta).
— Disney+ also streams “Timeless Heroes: Indiana Jones and Harrison Ford,” a documentary profile of both the character and the actor.
— After a brief theatrical run, the 2023 drama “May December” streams on Netflix, starring Julianne Moore as a woman at the center of a tabloid scandal now decades old, and Natalie Portman as a young actress preparing to portray her in a forthcoming film. Directed by Todd Haynes, who worked with Moore in “Safe” (1995).
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— The Washington Huskies play the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 College Football Championship (8 p.m., ABC).
— The new series “The World According to Football” (8 p.m., Showtime, TV-14) offers a documentary take on the game’s international appeal. For an American audience that still prefers to call it soccer. First up: Football in Brazil.
— An acclaimed chef explores the cuisine of the Southwest on “La Frontera With Pati Jinich” (9 p.m. and 10 p.m., r, PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
— A note from a DNA lab rattles Sean on “Blue Bloods” (10 p.m., CBS, TV-14).
CULT CHOICE
A precocious teen (Shirley Temple) develops an infatuation with an artist and playboy (Cary Grant) in the 1947 screwball comedy “The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer” (6:15 p.m., TCM, TV-G), co-starring Myrna Loy. An interesting glance at teen culture in the pre-rock-‘n’-roll era. Part of a daylong salute to Grant, including the films “Arsenic and Old Lace” (2:30 p.m., TV-G) to “I Was a Male War Bride” (10 p.m., TV-G).
SERIES NOTES
“The Price Is Right At Night” (8 p.m., CBS, r, TV-PG) … “The Wall” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG) … “WWE Friday Night SmackDown” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Raid the Cage” (9 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “Dateline” (9 p.m., NBC).
LATE NIGHT
Due to the host’s medical issues, “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) will run repeats … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Eric Idle and Rick Ross & Meek Mill on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC, r).
Rachel Maddow, Jeff Tweedy and Ms. Pat visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC, r) … Dean Edwards, Todd Glass, Kathleen Madigan, Ron Pearson, DeRay Davis, Spike (Michael) Davis, James Hannah and Angela Means appear on “Comics Unleashed With Byron Allen” (12:35 a.m., CBS).
