Posted on: Saturday, December 25, 2004

Tube Notes

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Tonight's Must-See

Marathons, everywhere. Take your pick today. There's all-Bond, all-"Mad," all-Biblical and more. Here's a partial list:

• "A Christmas Story" (1983), 6 a.m., 8 a.m., etc., TBS. This delightfully offbeat movie continues its 24-hour run, concluding at 6 p.m.

• "Jingle All the Way" (1996), 6 a.m., 8 a.m., etc., FX. This 24-hour marathon concludes at 6 p.m. Alas, this one — Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sinbad seeking an elusive toy for Christmas — is OK, but no classic.

• "Jesus of Nazareth" (1977), 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., History Channel. Franco Zeffirelli's miniseries, starring Robert Powell, is part of biblical marathon. Documentaries follow, including "A History of God," from 8-10 p.m.

• "Mad TV," 9 a.m., Comedy Central. This sketch-comedy marathon runs for 10 hours, to 7 p.m.

• "The Muppet Christmas Carol" (1992), noon, ABC Family. The "25 Days of Christmas" programming wraps up today. Highlights include this film (with Michael Caine as Scrooge), "Snow" at 4 p.m., "Three Days" (2001) at 6 p.m. and Bill Murray's "Scrooged" (1988) at 10 p.m.

• "The Living Daylights" (1987), noon, Spike TV. This James Bond marathon starts with two so-so Timothy Dalton films — "Daylights" at noon and "License to Kill" (1989) at 3 p.m. Things improve with Pierce Brosnan's "The World is Not Enough" (1999) at 6 p.m.

Of Note

"My Dog Skip" (2000), 7 p.m., CBS. Frankie Muniz stars in a family film. He plays a kid whose dog helps him through a lonely, rural childhood.

"The Sound of Music" (1965), 7 p.m., ABC. Families keep revisiting this Julie Andrews musical, which features Rodgers and Hammerstein score and a true story about love and kids in the shadow of the Nazis.

"It's a Wonderful Life" (1946), 7 p.m., NBC. Here's yet another showing of this Frank Capra classic. Jimmy Stewart is a good-hearted banker, facing despair at Christmastime.