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ABC Family plans more than 200 hours of shows this week
By Rich Heldenfels
Beacon Journal popular culture writer
POSTED: 01:08 p.m. EST, Dec 01, 2008
The holiday season has its share of rites, and one of the largest is on ABC Family.
The cable network has been doing its annual 25 Days of Christmas, a compendium of new and vintage TV specials, for more than a decade. And this week it promises more than 200 hours of programming. That does include some programs shown more than once, and others that fit only a very broad interpretation of holiday fare — like Cars, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter movies.
Still, the festival does offer some Christmas perennials, starting on Monday with the Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It also promises a couple of new productions:
• The hourlong special A Miser Brothers' Christmas, premiering at 8 p.m. on Dec. 13, is an animated sequel to the 1974 Rankin-Bass classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus. Mickey Rooney is once again the voice of Santa and George S. Irving returns as the Heat Miser. The story has Santa throwing out his back just before Christmas. The Heat Miser and his brother, the Snow Miser, have to patch up their differences to help save Christmas.
• Snow 2 Brain Freeze, starting at 8 p.m. Dec. 14, is another sequel, this time to the TV-movie Snow, from 2004. Tom Cavanagh again plays Nick Snowden, better known as Santa; Ashley Williams returns as Sandy; and Patrick Fabian is back as Buck. The plot: While rushing to get ready for Christmas, Santa loses his memory and forgets who he is, putting the holiday in jeopardy. As far as I know, he won't get help from the Miser brothers.
Also new to ABC Family is Christmas in Wonderland, a 2007 film starring Patrick Swayze and Carmen Electra. Swayze plays Wayne Saunders, who tries to cheer up his family during tough times by taking them to the mall for decorations and presents. Instead, the family finds a bag of money that could end some of its troubles. But the money belongs to a crook (Electra) and her bumbling sidekicks (Tim Curry, Chris Kattan), and they want it back.
Elsewhere on the ABC Family schedule: The Polar Express, starting Tuesday; the charming Eloise at Christmastime, Dec. 7; Jingle All the Way, with the governor of California, Dec. 8; animated The Little Drummer Boy, Dec. 13; Santa Baby, with Jenny McCarthy, Dec. 14; and more. Consult your TV listings or go to http://www.abcfamily.com for information.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
The holiday season has its share of rites, and one of the largest is on ABC Family.
The cable network has been doing its annual 25 Days of Christmas, a compendium of new and vintage TV specials, for more than a decade. And this week it promises more than 200 hours of programming. That does include some programs shown more than once, and others that fit only a very broad interpretation of holiday fare — like Cars, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter movies.
Still, the festival does offer some Christmas perennials, starting on Monday with the Jim Carrey version of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It also promises a couple of new productions:
• The hourlong special A Miser Brothers' Christmas, premiering at 8 p.m. on Dec. 13, is an animated sequel to the 1974 Rankin-Bass classic, The Year Without a Santa Claus. Mickey Rooney is once again the voice of Santa and George S. Irving returns as the Heat Miser. The story has Santa throwing out his back just before Christmas. The Heat Miser and his brother, the Snow Miser, have to patch up their differences to help save Christmas.
• Snow 2 Brain Freeze, starting at 8 p.m. Dec. 14, is another sequel, this time to the TV-movie Snow, from 2004. Tom Cavanagh again plays Nick Snowden, better known as Santa; Ashley Williams returns as Sandy; and Patrick Fabian is back as Buck. The plot: While rushing to get ready for Christmas, Santa loses his memory and forgets who he is, putting the holiday in jeopardy. As far as I know, he won't get help from the Miser brothers.
Also new to ABC Family is Christmas in Wonderland, a 2007 film starring Patrick Swayze and Carmen Electra. Swayze plays Wayne Saunders, who tries to cheer up his family during tough times by taking them to the mall for decorations and presents. Instead, the family finds a bag of money that could end some of its troubles. But the money belongs to a crook (Electra) and her bumbling sidekicks (Tim Curry, Chris Kattan), and they want it back.
Elsewhere on the ABC Family schedule: The Polar Express, starting Tuesday; the charming Eloise at Christmastime, Dec. 7; Jingle All the Way, with the governor of California, Dec. 8; animated The Little Drummer Boy, Dec. 13; Santa Baby, with Jenny McCarthy, Dec. 14; and more. Consult your TV listings or go to http://www.abcfamily.com for information.
Rich Heldenfels writes about popular culture for the Beacon Journal and in the HeldenFiles Online blog at http://heldenfels.ohio.com. He can be reached at 330-996-3582 and rheldenfels@thebeaconjournal.com.
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