Today's Entertainment

Christmas on TV: A few of our favorite things By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it If you need a holiday helper over the next sev- eral days, try television. Since Christmas is on a Thursday this year, there's still plenty of sea- sonal programming to come. It's actually more than "some," since certain outlets are investing so heavily in yuletide fare before and on Dec. 25, Santa will have no doubt that it's time to get in his sleigh. Here's a look at a num- ber of the highlights yet to be seen. "Miracle on 34th Street" (Monday, Dec. 22, AMC): Take your pick of depart- ment-store Santa, Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn or the update's Richard At- tenborough, as showings of the 1947 and 1994 ver- sions alternate throughout the day. "Home Alone" (Tues- day, Dec. 23, ABC Family): Accidentally left behind by his va- cation-bound family, resourceful young Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) shows two thieves (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) they picked the wrong house to tar- get in the 1991 comedy movie. "White Christmas" (Tuesday, AMC): Memo- rable Irving Berlin music underscores the team- work of Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye as soldiers turned showbiz partners, in the 60th-anniversary year of this classic also starring Rosemary Cloo- ney. "Black Nativity" (Wednesday, Dec. 24, HBO): Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett play a teen's (Jacob Latimore) estranged grandparents in the premium-cable premiere of this 2013 film, based on Langston Hughes' musical play. "It's a Wonderful Life" (Wednesday, Dec. 24, NBC): Though it also is shown earlier in the month, director Frank Capra's 1946 tale of beleaguered George Bailey (James Stewart) and a redemptive novice angel named Clarence (Henry Travers) remains a Christmas Eve viewing tradition for many. "A Christmas Story" (Wednesday, TBS and TNT): The annual 24-hour marathon of Ralphie (Pe- ter Billingsley) wanting a very special holiday gift — despite Mom's (Melin- da Dillon) familiar warn- ing, "You'll shoot your eye out" — gets an extra avenue this time as TNT joins the event's tradition- al site, TBS. "Disney Parks Frozen Christmas Celebration" (Thursday, ABC): Do you have a memory of a past Disney Christmas Parade? Well, let it go! (Sorry. We had to.) The company bases its annual extravaganza on its recent box-office blockbuster ... and sisters Anna and Elsa surely will make an ap- pearance. "Call the Midwife Holi- day Special 2014" (Thurs- day, PBS; check local listings): In this year's extra edition of the series, Nonnatus House's nuns and nurses try to navigate the extra mayhem gen- erated by an upcoming Christmas concert. "Northpole" (Thursday, Hallmark Channel): The fantasy casting Robert Wagner and Jill St. John as another famous couple, Santa and Mrs. Claus, is included in an all-day fes- tival of the channel's most recent holiday movies. Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn star in "Miracle on 34th Street" Monday on AMC. 2 The Goshen News • TV Spotlight • December 22 - 29, 2014 Say It On Page 2 Of The • Announcements • Birthdays • Memorials • Special Events • Congratulations Advertisements must be paid in advance. Contact us for deadlines and prices. 574-533-2151 or 800-487-2151 ext. 398

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