Is history a triumph of good over evil, or a messy affair where scoundrels are capable of noble deeds with far-reaching consequences? The “True Story of Charlie Wilson” (7 p.m., today, History), takes a warts-and-all view of a remarkable character and offers a documentary companion to the new Mike Nichols movie “Charlie Wilson’s War.”

You have to love a guy who finds his life’s calling while soaking in a Las Vegas hot tub and watching “60 Minutes” out of the corner of his eye. Surrounded by unclad women and under the influence of alcohol and possibly cocaine, Congressman Charlie Wilson glimpsed Dan Rather’s interview with anti-Soviet Afghan resistance fighters and caught sight of their deplorable World War I weaponry.

Despite his well-earned reputation as Capitol Hill’s “Good Time Charlie,” Wilson had considerable clout and managed to increase the funding for the Afghans.

Over the next six years, he would maintain a contentious relationship with the CIA, join forces with a larger-than-life socialite and wine and dine congressional big shots to get better funding and weaponry to the rebels. He even cajoled a lady friend to perform a belly dance for an Egyptian general in order to free up a spare arsenal.

“True” includes numerous interviews with Wilson and some of his Texas colleagues as well as screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (“The West Wing”), who wrote the script for “Charlie Wilson’s War”.

The documentary also includes many historic re-creations of Wilson’s international diplomacy as well as his mishaps, including a drunken driving accident that nearly scuttled his most important strategic rendezvous.

¢ Ben Stiller hosts the holiday special “Elmo’s Christmas Countdown” (6 p.m., Sunday, CBS). In addition to a story about Elmo saving Christmas from a series of mishaps (something about misdirected reindeer and Santa’s speeding ticket), look for plenty of musical performances and celebrity guest spots from Brad Paisley, Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Jennifer Hudson (“Dreamgirls”), Anne Hathaway (“The Devil Wears Prada”), Ty Pennington (“Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), Jamie Foxx, Steve Schirripa and Tony Sirico (“The Sopranos”).

Look for Elmo’s pals from “Sesame Street,” too, including Big Bird, Snuffy, Grover, Cookie Monster, Bert, Ernie, the Count, Oscar the Grouch, Prairie Dawn, the three bears and more.

Today’s highlights

¢ Will Ferrell stars in the 2003 fantasy comedy “Elf” (7 p.m., CBS), co-starring Bob Newhart and James Caan as father figures from very different worlds.

¢ On two specials from “Saturday Night Live” (NBC), the best from 2006-2007 (7 p.m.), commercial parodies (8:30 p.m.).

¢ Jim Carrey stars in the 2004 adaptation of the fantasy books “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events” (7 p.m., ABC).

¢ “The Year in Animals” (8 p.m., Animal Planet) looks back at 2007.

Sunday’s highlights

¢ Tobey Maguire stars in the 2004 fantasy “Spider-Man 2” (6:30 p.m., Fox).

¢ “Nature” (7 p.m., PBS) repeats the gorgeous 2006 documentary “Christmas in Yellowstone.”

¢ Theologians from every major faith discuss the big questions of our time on “In God’s Name” (8 p.m., CBS).

¢ Helen Mirren stars in the 2006 “Masterpiece Theatre: Prime Suspect: The Final Act” (8 p.m., PBS).