Posted on: Friday, December 24, 2004

Tube notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

"A Christmas Story" (1983), 6 p.m., 8 p.m., 10 p.m., etc., TBS. For 24 hours, TBS reruns this classic. Written and narrated by Jean Shepherd, it offers a cynical adult's perspective on a boyhood Christmas in the 1940s. Peter Billingsley is perfect as the lad. He is terrified of the department store Santa Claus and dreams of getting a BB gun. If he does, adults say, he'll shoot his eye out. Droll and clever, this views the holiday through a dark (and funny) prism.

"A Christmas Carol," 7 p.m., NBC. Here is one more chance to catch this new, musical version, with Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge. The songs — by Alan Menken ("Little Mermaid") and Lynn Ahrens ("Ragtime") — are smart and snappy. There are, however, too many of them; they're packed so tightly that there isn't enough chance to develop the drama or comedy. Still, Grammer is excellent and the sprawling setting neatly re-creates Dickensian England.

Of Note

"The Angel Doll" (2000), 3 p.m., Lifetime. A delightful and heart-warming Christmas story told through the eyes of two young boys, Jerry (Michael Welch) and Whitey (Cody Newton), living in a small Southern manufacturing town in the 1950s. Jerry and Whitey set out on a journey to find the perfect Christmas gift for Whitey's polio-stricken younger sister, Sandy. Along the way, they overcome fear, prejudice and theft as they learn the true meaning of the holiday spirit. A sweet little tale that doesn't overdo it.

"Miracle on 34th Street" (1947), 6 a.m., AMC. Here is a 24-hour marathon of this well-made classic, with Edmund Gwenn as a department-store Santa, Natalie Wood as a sweet child and Maureen O'Hara as her mom. Some viewers also can get Fox Movie Channel, which has a 24-hour marathon of the 1994 version, with Richard Attenborough, Mara Wilson and Elizabeth Perkins.

"The Best Man" (1999), 4 p.m., UPN (KIKU). Taye Diggs, now a big UPN star with "Kevin Hill," plays a writer whose novel has revealed friends' secrets. Now he meets them at a wedding.

"Frosty's Winter Wonderland," 7 p.m., ABC Family. Animated reruns might soothe kids during the final hours before Christmas. Next comes "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" at 7:30 p.m., "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" at 8, "The Year Without Santa Claus" at 9 and "Rudolph's Shiny New Year" at 10.

"The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle" (2000), 7 p.m., Fox. The wonderful old cartoon characters were turned over to live actors, including Jason Alexander, Robert De Niro and Rene Russo. Critics shrugged; audiences stayed away.

Church services, 10:35 p.m., NBC, CBS. NBC will have Pope John Paul II's Christmas Mass from St. Peter's Basilica. CBS will broadcast a Protestant service from Church of the Brethren, at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind.