A near-Christmas miracle, my friends: Not only are the Sunday shows actually interesting this morning, two of them qualify as bona fide must-sees. First, Romney will try to explain to Chris Wallace on FNS why he’s the ideal tea-party candidate in his first Sunday-show appearance since, no joke, March 2010. Meanwhile, on “This Week,” some ideological bloodsport to enjoy with your Cheerios — it’s Paul Ryan and George Will debating Barney Frank and Robert Reich on the proper role of the federal government. I like these odds.

Not enough? You’ve also got Newt on FTN and Bachmann on MTP, with awkward subjects in both cases bound to be broached. The full line-up via WaPo:

NBC’s Meet the Press: Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), Speaker of the House; Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN); Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC); E.J. Dionne, Brookings Institution and Washington Post columnist; Mike Murphy, Republican strategist.

CNN’s State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Jon Huntsman, Republican presidential candidate; Paul Bremer, former presidential envoy to Iraq; Gen. James Cartwright (Ret.), Former Vice-Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff; Robin Wright, Woodrow Wilson Center…

CBS’ Face the Nation: Newt Gingrich

ABC’s This Week: “The Great American Debate” series debuts with Rep. Paul Ryan, (R-WI); George Will, ABC News and The Washington Post; Rep. Barney Frank, (D-MA); Robert Reich, University of California-Berkeley.

Fox News Sunday: Mitt Romney, Republican presidential candidate