The Haunting Hour, new series, courtesy The Hub
YourFamilyViewer will be on hiatus until January 3, so see you then!
Okay – I don’t really advocate turning on the Tube during Christmas. But, hey, it’s possible you don’t celebrate Christmas because you’re not of Christian extraction. Or it’s Christmas Eve and the kids just are too hyper to even think of settling down. Or whatever.
So – because I will be shutting down and going on hiatus during the week between Christmas and New Year’s, here’s a whole list of shows you may or may not feel inclined to turn on.
Please note the new series on The Hub, premiering Saturday night, December 25. R.L.Stine’s The Haunting Hour is just scary enough for them to start with a warning that encourages parents to watch with their kids. And, yeah, it’s moderately scary, but mostly okay, execution-wise. I’m not big on it just because I can’t stand the horror genre, in general.
But, starting at 6 p.m. tonight (Christmas Eve), TCM is airing Scrooge, with Albert Finney – a fairly intense version of the Dickens classic with some good music. It’s followed at 8 p.m. by one of my husband’s all-time favorite Christmas movies, The Bishop’s Wife, starring Cary Grant, David Niven and Deborah Kerr.
At 8p.m., TBS starts its annual 24-hour marathon running of A Christmas Story, about Ralphie’s Christmas in search of a BB gun.
Syfy starts the second half of its Star Trek: The Next Generation marathon at 10 p.m. and runs those episodes ’til 5 a.m.
On Christmas Day, catch the Mythbusters marathon on Discovery, and I can’t resist mentioning this one from The Weather Channel, Countdown 2010: The Year in Weather at 9 p.m. [Insert your preferred joke here].
Monday, Dec. 27, TCM is running its tribute to director Blake Edwards, who died last week, starting at 8 p.m . with Breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Tuesday, Dec. 28, CBS has The Kennedy Center Honors at 9 p.m., with a star-studded list of performers and Oprah as one of the honorees.
New Year’s Eve, you’ve got your choice of Countdown shows, including Dick Clark’s Bash on ABC with Ryan Seacrest, and get this – Fox is letting a woman do the honors for its show – Nancy O’Dell.
Or better yet, head back to TCM for the coolest marathon of all, The Marx Brothers – a whole slate of classic comedy (just watch out for lots and lots of slapstick and gender issues – we are talking the 1930s and ’40s here).
NBC will be airing the Rose Parade on New Year’s Day. It generally steps off at 8 a.m. around here (about four miles north of the parade route), which means 11 a.m. if you’re on Eastern Time. Personally, however, I recommend HGTV’s coverage – no commercials. And they re-run it.
There’s another Mythbusters marathon on New Year’s Day, as well.
Finally, Food Network is premiering the second season of The Worst Cooks in America – another elimination competition, this time among folks who can’t cook worth a lick and are competing to see who can turn that around the best. This one airs on January 2, check your local listings for times.
