TV Today

Forrest Gump

(8-11 p.m., A&E) - The title character - a guileless, slow-thinking Alabaman played by Tom Hanks - shares his autobiography with a succession of folks waiting for their buses. His life strangely dovetails with key moments in modern American politics and pop culture. Although this is an enjoyable and, at times, emotionally charged picture with wonderfully funny episodes, there's a hollowness too.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

(8-10:30 p.m., ENC) - Faithfully adapted from the first of C.S. Lewis' seven

Narnia

books, this tale of 1940s English schoolkids finding their inner courage in a magical land of talking fauns and foxes, combines elements of

The Lord of the Rings

and the

Harry Potter

series.

A Christmas Story

(8-10 p.m., TBS) - "You'll shoot your eye out!" Peter Billingsley stars in this 1983 comedy, airing nonstop for the next 24 hours on the cable channel, as the little boy who yearns to find a Red Ryder BB gun under the Christmas tree. Not just a Christmas story, it's about parents, little brothers, bullies, decoder rings, double dog dares and most of all, the workings of a youthful mind. Jean Shepherd's writing captures it all perfectly. Darren McGavin also stars. Repeats at 10 p.m.

Two and a Half Men

(9-9:30 p.m., CBS3) - When Rose (Melanie Lynskey) tells Charlie (Charlie Sheen) she's leaving, he has to face the truth about his feelings for her. Alan (Jon Cryer), meanwhile, doesn't trust the truth when it comes to his love life and pads his profile on an Internet dating site. The woman he meets (guest star Allison Janney) turns out to have done the same thing.