The documentary has always made a special place for the genuine eccentric. The medium seems almost defined by them. The tragic dowagers of the Maysles brothers’ “Grey Gardens” and the offbeat pet-cemetery proprietors in Errol Morris’ “Gates of Heaven” established a template. Christopher Guest has used the mock-documentary genre to create and present dozens of chatty and delusional personalities from “Spinal Tap” to “Best in Show.”

“Cat Dancers” (7 p.m., HBO) adheres so closely to this tradition that it’s not always clear whether it is intended as tragedy or kitsch, or a knowing combination of the two.

Now well into his 70s, Ron Holiday is shown as he dresses, comforts his pets, and dons a wig that dates back to the Ford administration. What follows, in a series of contemporary interviews, vintage clips and home movies and videos, is a five-decade love story that expands the definition of love stories.

We learn about his life with wife, Joy Holiday, and their flourishing show-business career during the 1950s. William Holden introduced them to wild jungle cats and soon they incorporated them into their act. In what looks like the late 1970s or early 1980s (as videotape supplants Super 8), they adopted a young male apprentice, Chuck Lizza, who became lover to both Holidays.

Ron’s reminiscences include the day in 1998 when Jupiter, a Bengal tiger, killed Chuck, and the moment five weeks later, when a despondent Joy also entered Jupiter’s cage, with similarly gruesome results.

Holiday looks back with sadness and obvious pride, having virtually invented his peculiar corner of show business. As Ron explains rather early on, “I knew Siegfried before he met Roy …”

Seasonal highlights

• A Christmas Eve burglar hits the store on “Chuck” (7 p.m., NBC, TV-14).

• Lucy and Linus have a younger brother, and he wants a pet in the animated special “I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!” (7 p.m., ABC).

• A miser (George C. Scott) learns the lesson of a lifetime in the 1984 adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” (7 p.m., AMC).

• Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star in the 2004 comedy “Christmas with the Cranks” (7 p.m. and 9 p.m., FX).

• A mystery benefactor melts the heart of a cynic (Jennie Garth) in the 2003 fantasy “Secret Santa” (8 p.m., Lifetime).

• A child thinks that she’s discovered one of Santa’s reindeer in the 1989 fantasy “Prancer” (9:15 p.m., AMC).

Tonight’s other highlights

• A mystery is solved on “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” (7 p.m., Fox), which will be returning to the schedule on Feb. 13.

• “Antiques Roadshow” (7 p.m., PBS, check local listings) focuses on valuable treasures that have been literally saved from the trash.

• Peter confronts Nathan in the third season finale of “Heroes” (8 p.m., NBC).

• Michael receives a doctor’s care on “Prison Break” (8 p.m., Fox).

• Friends and family come to the aid of addicts in the series “Intervention” (8 p.m., A&E), now in its sixth season.

• “20/20” (9 p.m., ABC) documents the makings of a high-school production of “The Wiz.”

• Edward takes a do-it-yourself approach to his identity crisis on “My Own Worst Enemy” (9 p.m., NBC).

Cult choice

• A lab nerd (Jerry Lewis) concocts a potion that unleashes his inner cad in the 1963 comedy “The Nutty Professor” (1 p.m., TCM).