The musical talk show “Off the Record” (10 p.m., HBO) captures one of the exquisite and rapidly vanishing pleasures of conversational life – sitting around and talking about your favorite albums. There’s something wonderfully tactile about being able to pick up a 12-by-12-inch cardboard sleeve and hold in your hand a cultural statement and a collection of songs and memories. I’m not sure whether CDs ever had the same emotional impact, and I can’t imagine a discussion about great downloads some 30 years hence.

Host Dave Stewart is best known for his work with Annie Lennox in the Eurythmics. His first guests on “Off the Record” are Bono and the Edge of U2. He presents concert footage and clips of music videos and discusses the 30-year history of U2. But the show really takes off when he opens a briefcase filled with old albums and invites Bono and the Edge to share their thoughts about David Bowie’s “Low” and “Marquee Moon” by Television, and other albums by Patti Smith, the Ramones, the Clash, the Beatles and Van Morrison.

¢ After the big gathering and the bigger meal, some may have had their fill of family togetherness. But no family has as much drama and intrigue as those Machiavellian Meerkats. Animal Planet invites post-holiday layabouts to spend a solid day in the desert with the 13-hour “Meerkat Manor” (6 a.m., Animal Planet) marathon.

¢ Looking for gift ideas? “Gift Show 2006” (7 p.m., HGTV) showcases quirky notions like a $130 Mirror Magnet board. The manufacturer says it’s guaranteed to “add elegance to any office space.” Just don’t drop it during your office grab bag.

Tonight’s other highlights

¢ An angry Major League ghost hosts his own field of nightmares on “Ghost Whisperer” (7 p.m., CBS).

¢ A rich, callous broker (Nicholas Cage) gets a chance to live with his college sweetheart (Tea Leoni) in modest circumstances in the 2000 comedy “The Family Man” (7 p.m., NBC). This variation on “It’s a Wonderful Life” has its moments but ultimately seems unsure of its Capra-esque convictions.

¢ God (Morgan Freeman) endows an ordinary man (Jim Carrey) with divine powers in the 2003 comedy “Bruce Almighty” (7 p.m., Fox).

¢ The voices of Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz and Eddie Murphy animate the 2004 sequel “Shrek 2” (7 p.m., ABC.