2007 Christmas Television Specials, December 23 to December 25

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2007 Christmas Television Specials, December 23 to December 25

By PopSavant | December 6, 2007 | Email This Post

My nighly recommendations are highlighted in a festive green

Sunday, December 23
Time (Eastern)	Network	Show	Comments	Amazon
2:00 PM	TNT	National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation	There are five movies in the National Lampoon’s vacation series. Two of them are good. This is one of the two. Don’t we all have a Cousin Eddie?	Buy It!
11:30 PM	TBS	Jingle All The Way	Arnold Schwarznegger out to land the season’s hottest toy. Bonus points for a Phil Hartman appearance.	Buy It!
7:00 PM	ABC	Elmo’s Christmas Countdown	Elmo’s and friends count down the days until Christmas. New for 2007.
8:00 PM	TCM	Christmas in Connecticut	Barbara Stanwyck stars as sort of a 1945 version of Martha Stewart whose fictional life collapses around her in this screwball comedy.	Buy It!
Monday, December 24
TBS is running its “A Christmas Story” marathon starting at 8pm, and it’s never a bad choice. The quote? Obvious. You’ll shoot your eye out!
Time (Eastern)	Network	Show	Comments	Amazon
11:30 AM	AMC	A Christmas Carol	George C. Scott in perhaps the greatest film adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic.	Buy It!
12:00 PM	Family Channel	Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July	A Rankin-Bass stop motion Rudolph and Frosty take a trip to warmer climes.	Buy It!
2:00 PM	Family Channel	Frosty’s Winter Wonderland	The “forgotten” member of the Frosty trilogy, the one where he decides he needs a wife. No, really.	Buy It!
2:30 PM	Family Channel	Twas the Night Before Christmas	More Rankin-Bass goodness, a town insults Santa, so he plans to fly over it like it’s a red state.	Buy It!
3:00 PM	Family Channel	Rudoph’s Shiny New Year	Rudolph has to help Father Time find the New Year’s baby by midnight. It’s Rankin & Bass, that gets it a mention here.	Buy It!
4:00 PM	Family Channel	The Year Without A Santa Claus	Ah, Mr. Heatmiser!	Buy It!
5:00 PM	ABC	Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town	Fred Astaire narrates the Rankin/Bass classic.	Buy It!
5:45 PM	AMC	A Christmas Carol	George C. Scott in perhaps the greatest film adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic.	Buy It!
6:00 PM	Family Channel	The Polar Express	I confess I haven’t seen it, or read the book. I’m well-informed by various ad agencies that it’s a modern Christmas classic; unfortunately, it looks vaguely creepy to me.	Buy It!
6:45 PM	TCM	A Christmas Carol	The Reginald Owen version from 1938.	Buy It!
7:35 PM	Starz Kids	Miracle on 34th Street	The 1994 one staring Richard Attenborough, who is good, but unfortunately not the 1947 classic.	Buy It!
8:00 PM	NBC	It’s A Wonderful Life	Jimmy Stewart in the Frank Capra story that reminds us what life’s all about. One of the best movies ever made.	Buy It!
8:00 PM	TCM	The Bishop’s Wife	Cary Grant plays an angel out to help people it ways they don’t realize they need. You don’t think of this as a Christmas classic, but it is. Would be my easy recommendation in any other time slot, but going up against It’s A Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve… well.	Buy It!
5:15 PM	HBO Family	Scrooged	Bill Murry in an updated version of A Christmas Carol. You know I like the rough stuff, don’t you Frank? Another favorite of mine, but again, against IAWL on Christmas Eve, what chance does any move have?	Buy It!
8:30 PM	Family Channel	The Polar Express	It’s the Polar Express Channel for the night.	Buy It!
9:30 PM	Starz Kids	Home Alone 2: Lost in New York	Maccaulay is back in a movie that’s not as good as the first one, but not unwatchable.	Buy It!
10:00 PM	AMC	A Christmas Carol	George C. Scott in perhaps the greatest film adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic.	Buy It!
11:30 PM	Starz Kids	The Nightmare Before Christmas	The Tim Burton Halloween/Christmas combo. Nothing’s more suspcious than frog’s breath!	Buy It!
Tuesday, December 25
There are a few specials on Christmas itself, but I won’t recommend any of them – although some are good. If you need background noise, the Christmas Story marathon is on in TBS. Or perhaps put on a little Bing Crosby or Nat King Cole. Instead of watching TV, spend time with those you care about. Play board games. Sing carols. Cook together. Build a snowman, unless you’re in Sunny Florida. Remember why you love each other, even Cousin Eddie. My apologies if some of the reviews seem cynical. (Okay, not the Meredith Baxter stuff.) But really… A sincere Merry Christmas to all! See you in 2008!