Public Broadcasting Service

TV Sunday: 'End Is Near,' 'Good Wife,' 'Walking Dead'

Robert Bianco, USA TODAY

Michonne (Danai Gurira) and the rest of the 'Walking Dead' survivors head for a showdown with the Governor in Sunday's Season 3 finale.

National Geographic plays to fears about Armageddon
Hallmark shows 'The Christmas Heart,' a family special produced by Patricia Heaton
Hamish Linklater guests on the last new 'Good Wife' episode before a December break

Omens of the Apocalypse: The End Is Near

National Geographic, Sunday, 7 ET/PT

National Geographic devotes Sunday and Monday to films about the supposedly approaching end of the world, starting with these Omens and including such cheerful titles as 2012: Countdown to Armageddon and The Mayan Apocalypse: 2012. Were Armageddon to bring an end to such time-wasting pseudo-science specials designed to cash in on public fears, it might almost be worth it. And this from an organization that, back when it was allied with PBS, used to do some of television's best work.

Cougar Wives

TLC, Sunday, 7 ET/PT

The always-dependable TLC devotes most of this December Sunday to cougar wives and sister wives. I take it back. Maybe the apocalypse is upon us.

The Christmas Heart

Hallmark, Sunday, 8 ET/PT

Teri Polo and Tess Harper star in this Hallmark family special, but the network is calling it a "family affair" because The Middle's Patricia Heaton produced it, and her brother Michael Heaton, a newspaper columnist, wrote it.

Finding Mrs. Claus

Lifetime, Sunday, 9 ET/PT

When Mira Sorvino won her Oscar, odds are no one would have guessed she'd someday be on Lifetime playing Santa's unhappy wife, fleeing from an inattentive Santa played by Will Sasso. But there you have it. Better someone reruns Angela Lansbury's musical Mrs. Santa Claus.

The Good Wife

CBS, Sunday, 9:30 ET/PT

If you're watching The Walking Dead (AMC, 9 ET/PT), you obviously won't want to miss that supremely scary show's season finale. But fans of broadcast's best drama, The Good Wife, won't want to skip it either, as it airs its last new episode before heading for a December rerun rest. As a bonus, the terrific Hamish Linklater, of the much-missed New Adventures of Old Christine, guests as a justice department official.

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