What’s on TV

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 7:30 p.m. on FX. Tombstones, darkness and cold all feature prominently in this bleak Charles Dickens rethink. Created for FX and BBC One by Steven Knight (best known for “Peaky Blinders”), this three-part, not-for-kids version of the Christmas staple stars Guy Pearce as Ebenezer Scrooge, who travels back to his childhood with the Ghost of Christmas Past (given eerie form here by Andy Serkis). The journey touches on some heavy subjects: sexual abuse, neglect (particularly by Scrooge’s father, played by Johnny Harris) and other cruelties. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Knight explained the reasoning behind some of the show’s more disturbing elements — like the abuse — that make for an especially troubling telling of the story. “I wanted to look at these things, not to disrupt or be shocking, but to say the things one can say now,” he said. “I am trying to make some suggestions about why Scrooge is Scrooge.”

HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (2000) 4:40 p.m. on Freeform. For a more child-friendly tale of holiday repentance (with a far wider color palette), consider revisiting this lavish Dr. Seuss adaptation, which stars Jim Carrey as the ornery green Grinch. Directed by Ron Howard, this version gives the Grinch a back story — like “A Christmas Carol,” it involves a troubled childhood — and a playground of special effects. “Every so often, beneath the layers of gadgetry and glitter and its two million feet of Styrofoam (according to the production notes), you can glimpse what might have been an enchanted family movie,” Stephen Holden wrote in his review for The Times. Discerning children will likely prefer the 1966 animated version, which is available to rent on streaming platforms including Google Play, iTunes, Vudu and YouTube.