TV Tinsel: 'Tis the season for Christmas favorites
Published in Entertainment News
The Christmas marathon is almost over. As folk wrap that last gift for Aunt Lizze, gnaw that crumbling sugar cookie, and dip into the last penny in the Christmas fund, TV is there to remind everyone that it’s still a merry season.
TBS will be presenting its 24-hour feast of the classic movie, “A Christmas Story.” Will Ralphie secure the Red Ryder Carbine-action 200-shot Range Model air rifle of his dreams? Will the Old Man snag a “major award” in the newspaper contest? Will the furnace misfire again? All to be resolved starting at 9 p.m. ET Wednesday, Dec. 24.
The hearty Jonas Brothers are on tap with “A Very Jonas Christmas Movie,” streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The flick features a soundtrack pumping out seven new songs and three additional tracks for the music lovers in the crowd.
And football fans are not likely to forget the NFL doubleheader on Netflix Christmas Day with the Dallas Cowboys — in not their first rodeo — against the Washington Commanders, followed by the Detroit Lions challenging the Minnesota Vikings. Special live performances will accompany the gridiron gladiators.
Of course, the midwives don’t ever get a day off. This time they’re headed to Hong Kong in the PBS event, “’Call the Midwife’ Holiday Special 2025,” premiering on Thursday, Dec. 25.
You don’t have to look far for some nostalgic fun. The Fraggles are waiting for snowfall in the Apple TV special, “First Snow at Fraggle Rock.” When only one snowflake arrives the troupe is thrown into turmoil. The Fraggles, puppets first created by Jim Henson in 1983, haven’t aged a day and are still an enchanting fascination for children.
A little satire goes well with the eggnog this season as “Family Guy” streams its Christmas special called “Disney’s Hulu’s Family Guy’s Hallmark Channel’s Lifetime’s Familiar Holiday Movie.”
Fans won't be disappointed as the cartoon takes on generic holiday movies with this edition which finds Lois covertly searching for Peter’s secret family pie recipe.
Speaking of generic holiday movies, viewers can trek on over to Great American Pure Flix to stream Hallmark-favorite Candace Cameron Bure in “Another Sweet Christmas.” The film enjoyed its very own theatrical release before it landed on the streamer. More to come too as the next in the series is being filmed in Europe.
Paramount+ dives into the yuletide spirit with classics like “A Christmas Carol” starring George C. Scott as the grumpy Scrooge in this evergreen take. The musical adaptation, “Scrooge,” is also streaming as well as Bill Murray’s limp version, “Scrooged.”
The classic “Miracle on 34th Street” enjoys double jeopardy as Paramount+ is streaming both the 1947 version and the 1994 rendition. Pick your favorite.
For the 22nd year, the Mormon Tabernacle choir will celebrate the holiday with “Hope of the Season: Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir” airing on PBS Wednesday. The special will also air on BYUtv through Christmas Day and will stream on the BYUtv app and BYUtv.org.
Actor Dennis Haysbert serves as narrator with Broadway musical star Ruthie Ann Miles providing the musical solos.
On Christmas Day, AMC and AMC+ will jingle everyone’s bells starting at 6:45 a.m. with “White Christmas,” followed by the magical “Wizard of Oz,” “Polar Express,” “National Lampoon’s Vacation,” “Elf” and more throughout the night.
It’s been 14 years, but animated elves Lanny and Wayne are back in the Christmas special “Prep & Landing: The Snowball Protocol” streaming on Disney+. Families can catch up on the previous” “Prep & Landing” adventures via the streamer too.
Best buds “Frog and Toad” are looking forward to spending Christmas Eve together, streaming now on Apple TV. But when Frog gets sidetracked on an errand, Toad wonders if his pal will arrive in time for the festivities. Based on the popular book by Arnold Lobel, this “Frog and Toad Christmas Eve” features top voices like Nat Faxon as Frog, and Kevin Michael Richardson as Toad, as well as Yvette Nicole Brown, Margaret Cho and Tom Kenny (yep, he voices SpongeBob.)
Cinema company Filmrise has arranged scores of free holiday movies on Roku, Sling, Vizio, CW app and more. Called “Filmrise Christmastown,” some of the choices include: “Borrowed Hearts,” starring Eric McCormack as a businessman who hires a woman and her daughter to pose as his family for the holidays.
“Santa Baby” stars Jenny McCarthy and George Wendt. McCarthy portrays the daughter of Santa Claus who returns to the North Pole to help her daddy modernize his business in this 2006 movie.
“The Family Holiday” finds Dave Coulier as a con man who conjures up a fake family in order to inherit his uncle’s vast estate. Not a good sign.
Mystery is afoot at BritBox
There’s always time for mystery as BritBox will prove on Dec. 30 when it presents “The Widow,” starring the British Kate Beckinsale as the grieving widow of a hubby who reportedly died in a plane crash in the Congo. She hauls off to Africa in hopes of finding more information about the tragedy, but is she prepared for what she finds? The eight-part series will stream all at once.
Beckinsale, who’s famous for her American movies like the four “Underworld” hits, “Click” and “Van Helsing,” tells me, “I’ve already done a few movies with an American accent and nobody was worried whether I would be able to do it or not. But people assume things if you're British — really nice things — like you're really clever and classy which, you know, it’s nice to get that for free, whether it’s true or not. And second of all, they think you'll be a little stiff. But I have four stepbrothers and I probably have the most jokey sense of humor of anybody on the set. It’s always surprising to people when they hear bad things coming out of a mouth that speaks like I do.”
New series traces investigations
With the proliferation of crime shows on TV, more and more people are wondering exactly how a crime is solved. Do the detectives really get the DNA evidence back in five minutes? Do the bloody footprints immediately duplicate the tennis shoes of a suspect? Are eyewitnesses really accurate in their reports?
Well A&E has a new show that will solve all those questions. Called “Crime in Progress,” this show dogs the investigation from the 911 call all the way to the judge’s gavel. There are no reenactments here, no episodic tinkering. The series will follow the complete arc of the investigation as it unfolds, just the way the investigators view it. The series premieres at 10 p.m. on Jan. 1.
Acting couple reunited
Husband and wife team Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick are back on screen together after 20 years. They’re starring in the character-driven comedy, “The Best You Can,” streaming on Netflix starting Thursday.
Bacon tells me that he never takes a job without consulting Sedgwick. And Sedgwick explains how they maintain their stability. “I think we have similar priorities and values and think that really makes it all very simple — although it's very complex and difficult,” she says.
“I feel like the business is difficult, the security is difficult out there. But in here, it's all very clear completely what we both want, what we both have the desire to do, and it's way up there on our list of priorities.”
Bacon recalls, “I actually met Kyra when I was 19 and she was 12. I was in a play in the city, and she was born and raised in Manhattan. She came to see the play and came up to me afterward in a deli and spoke to me. I don't remember it, but that was actually where we first met.”
Sedgwick recalls, “I always thought he was great. I'd seen him in a lot of plays in New York. I had really thought he was fantastic — this is a time when I was just getting the bug. I went to see the play, and we loved it. And my brother and I were walking out afterward. He said, ‘There's the guy from the play. Go tell him you really liked it.’ I said, ‘No’. But I'm really glad I did. Years later I said, ‘Do you remember that girl who came up to you?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I remember.’ I said, ‘Really?’ He said, ‘Of course I don't remember.’”
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