An ordinary family man named Robert Harlan gets fired from his job. A bit later he gets the news that his death is imminent. In between, he sees his fondest dream come true. But, while he’s chasing it, he abandons what really means the most to him: his wife and little girl.

It’s all part of “A Perfect Day,” TNT’s holiday film of loss and recovery.

Rob Lowe stars as Harlan, who after losing his job as an ad salesman picks up the writing project he has puttered with for years: a bittersweet tale based on his wife’s experience saying goodbye to her dying father.

After plenty of rejections, Harlan lands an agent for his book (which he has titled “A Perfect Day”) and soon it gets published.

But then things turn sour. Harlan is gone constantly, on the road promoting the book, which becomes a huge best-seller while he becomes estranged from his family.

Meanwhile, a strange man named Michael keeps popping up in city after city, giving Harlan dire warnings: “Let me spell it out for you ... you don’t got much time.”

When Christmas Eve arrives, he is finally back at home but banished to the guest room, where, alone, he is haunted by nightmares of mortality.

By the film’s end, Harlan will learn an important lesson — of course — but it comes with a clever twist. Paget Brewster co-stars as Harlan’s wife and Christopher Lloyd is the mysterious Michael. “A Perfect Day” premieres Monday at 8 p.m. EST.

Other shows this week to look out for:

[bul] “This show is all about snap judgments,” declares Penn Jillette, host of NBC’s “Identity,” a new game show where “half a million dollars is riding on a person’s ability to size up people at a moment’s notice.” Strip away the dramatic lighting and portentous music, the concept is delightfully simple: Each contestant confronts a dozen strangers and, judging from their appearances, matches them, one by one, with a dozen listed “identities”: kidney donor, sushi chef, break dancer, etc. With each match, the winnings escalate, up to half-a-mil for all dozen pegged correctly. Jillette (the big, gravelly voiced magician-comedian who has long been teamed with the small, mute Teller) is a capable emcee, and the game implores each viewer to play along. To establish a prominent identity of its own, “Identity” will air all week — Monday through Friday — at 8 p.m.

[bul] As two billion Christians prepare to celebrate Christmas, CNN investigates the tumultuous early years of Christianity — from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to the conversion of Constantine, the Roman emperor who first legalised Christianity in 313 A.D. This two-hour documentary, “After Jesus — The First Christians,” examines how they originally spread their message, despite infighting as well as widespread persecution by Rome. CNN examined archaeological evidence and consulted with authorities to answer numerous questions, including maybe the biggest one: How did Jesus and his followers triumph over Roman persecution to establish a worldwide faith? The special premieres Wednesday at 7 p.m.

[bul] On Saturday, Sundance Channel airs an all-day tribute to the incomparable director Robert Altman, who died last month at age 81. It begins at 1 p.m. with “Tanner on Tanner,” the 2004 TV series Altman created with Garry Trudeau (“Doonesbury”), starring Michael Murphy and Cynthia Nixon. At 3 p.m., Elliott Gould stars in the 1973 film “The Long Goodbye,” based on Raymond Chandler’s classic L.A. thriller. At 5 p.m., the 1990 film “Vincent and Theo” marks a departure from the ironic ensemble dramas for which Altman is best known, in this intimate look at the post-impressionist painter Vincent Van Gogh (Tim Roth) and his long relationship with his art-gallery manager brother Theo (Paul Rhys). Finally, at 7:30 p.m., “The Player” (1992) is a shrewdly funny murder mystery set in Hollywood: Tim Robbins stars as a studio exec who kills a writer he believes is threatening him. The film is populated with dozens of cameos by the likes of Anjelica Huston, Burt Reynolds, Lyle Lovett, John Cusack and Gary Busey.[bul] Frazier Moore is a national television columnist for The Associated Press. He can be reached at fmoore(at)ap.org