Whether you're looking to take a breather from getting things ready for Santa or just kicking back and decompressing after the holiday, the Christmas week TV schedule is filled with returning favourites and new yuletide-themed entries.
In fact, favourite perennials such as TBS' annual marathon showing of A Christmas Story beginning on Christmas Eve, outnumber the new offerings. Even if you already know whether Ralphie will somehow manage to snag his coveted Red Ryder BB gun, you may still join the throngs who have made this nostalgic comedy a regular part of their Christmas ritual. Even better: The marathon is immediately preceded by an encore telecast of the animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
That same day, ABC Family has a bulging bag full of programmes for younger viewers, topped by a 'rawther' delightful double bill of Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime, based on Kay Thompson's evergreen children's books. Sofia Vassilieva and Julie Andrews star as the irrepressible Eloise and her stern but loving Nanny.
Later, on the same channel, stay tuned for a marathon of Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated specials including Little Drummer Boy, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey, Jack Frost, Pinocchio's Christmas, Frosty's Winter Wonderland, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus and 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, among many others.
On NBC, Sunday brings a mix of new and old holiday programming, starting with an afternoon telecast of The Hilton Family Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular. Don't expect to see Paris flaunting her triple loop, but the lineup is expected to include Brian Orser, Michael Weiss and Evgeni Plushenko among the figure skaters and Shannon Miller and Dominique Moceanu among the gymnasts.
Later that same night, the Peacock presents another welcome encore screening of Frank Capra's surprisingly dark holiday classic It's a Wonderful Life, followed by coverage of Christmas Eve services from St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.
CBS offers a Christmas Eve rebroadcast of A Very Married Christmas, a 2004 TV movie starring Joe Mantegna and Jean Smart, while ABC offers a late-night religious special, Celebrating Light and Hope, from Milwaukee.
Lifetime gets into the Christmas Eve spirit in a big way with a new movie called Holiday Wishes, a body-switching fantasy starring Amber Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) as a party planner with magical powers. That movie caps a day of Lifetime programming that also includes such TV movie encores as Leslie Nielsen in Santa Who? as well as two Christmas-themed Frasier episodes.
Among other Christmas Eve cable offerings, AMC presents a marathon of the original 1947 Miracle on 34th Street, in both black-and-white and colourised versions, while Turner Classic Movies celebrates Christmas in Connecticut with Barbara Stanwyck. Also, the Christmas-themed movie comedy The Family Stone makes its HBO debut Sunday night.
Many NBC affiliates will get Christmas day off to a serene start with an early-morning telecast of The Music of Vespers From Bethlehem ... the Christmas City, followed later in the day by more figure skating in Capital One Holiday Celebration on Ice.
ABC features Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa co-hosting the Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade from Orlando, Florida, a holiday staple, while TCM's Monday movie lineup includes Meet Me in St. Louis, the 1944 musical in which Judy Garland introduced the song Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, along with Cary Grant and Loretta Young in The Bishop's Wife.
Once again, Lifetime devotes its lineup to holiday TV movie encores, capped by the Christmas night premiere of Home by Christmas, starring Linda Hamilton as a homemaker trying to win back the respect and love of her daughter in the wake of a nasty divorce. Hey, it's Lifetime.
ABC Family also turns over its afternoon programming to holiday movie repeats, capped by a prime-time airing of the animated movie hit The Polar Express.
Things quiet down substantially after the big day is over, but there's sure to be a festive atmosphere to the 29th Annual Kennedy Center Honors airing Tuesday, December 26, on CBS.
The sun'll come out Wednesday, December 27, on ABC Family, thanks to a rebroadcast of Annie, the Christmas-themed movie musical starring Carol Burnett, Albert Finney and young Aileen Quinn.
Finally, on Saturday, December 30, ABC starts easing into the long New Year's weekend with another figure-skating special, Stars on Ice from Lake Placid, N.Y., followed that evening by a prime-time marathon of Ugly Betty episodes. The latter may or may not include holiday story lines, but you're bound to be royally entertained nevertheless.
John Crook, Zap2it
