NOW ENTERTAINMENT Dec. 22 Month 00--28, 00,2024 2023
Your Weekly TV Entertainment Brought To You By Olean Times Herald & The Bradford Era
Kick-start your holiday viewing with “Elf” (2003), Tuesday, Dec. 24, on AMC, before seeing “Home Alone” (1990) on ABC and “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) on NBC. Will Ferrell stars in “Elf”
Cover Story Christmas on cable: ‘Elf,’ ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Wonderful Life’ make TV’s Nice List By Dana Simpson It’s the most wonderful time of the year for many — a time to shirk all that has been keeping you busy during the day-today and instead wake up to a home drenched in twinkly lights and take a deep, Proustian whiff of baking cookies while curling up in a cozy armchair with a hot cup of cocoa. And whether you are wholeheartedly prepared to submit to the comfort of the season — or if you lead a more active, stressful lifestyle — cable television has all the classics lined up to make you feel like a kid again this Christmas Eve. Beginning with the modern holiday fairytale “Elf” (2003) on AMC, be sure to pop over to ABC later in the day for the 1990 Christmas classic “Home Alone.” Later, learn how angels get their wings with “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) on NBC, or try your hand at some trivia and games when “Celebrity Jeopardy!” and “The Price is Right at Night: Holiday Heroes” air on ABC and CBS, respectively.
Kick-start your holiday viewing on Tuesday, Dec. 24, by “pass[ing] through the seven levels of the candy cane forest, through the sea of swirly-twirly gum drops” and over to AMC for director Jon Favreau’s (“Chef,” 2014) family-favorite film “Elf.” “Elf” stars “Saturday Night Live” alum Will Ferrell as the titular elf, Buddy, who grew up at the North Pole as one of Santa’s (Edward Asner, “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) elves. When Buddy learns he is actually a human adopted into an elf family, he sets out to learn about his past, leading him to his father, Walter Hobbs (James Caan, “Misery,” 1990), in New York City. What Buddy wasn’t prepared for, however, was for his father to be on Santa’s Naughty List. After “spread[ing] Christmas cheer by singing loud for all to hear,” switch over to ABC for some home safety dos and don’ts with crafty kid Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin,
“My Girl,” 1991) in the original “Home Alone.” During a hectic night before a big family trip to Paris, Kevin is sent to the attic bedroom by his parents to reflect on his poor behavior at the dinner table. Begrudgingly wishing he didn’t have a family to push him around, Kevin awakens the following morning to find his family has left for France without him. At first confused and upset, Kevin soon realizes that his Christmas wish has been granted. But when a pair of burglars show up to rob the McCallister house while they’re on vacation, Kevin finds himself at the helm of a series of contraptions meant to protect himself and the family home. Likewise, the burglars find they are in for their toughest job yet. Next up on television’s Nice List this Christmas Eve is 1946’s “It’s a Wonderful Life,” starring James Stewart (“Vertigo,” 1958) as crisis-bound Bedford Falls banker George Bailey. Follow along from an omniscient perspective as Bailey
grows from a young, hopeful graduate into a dutiful husband and father of four during World War II. As a Good Samaritan and the new owner/operator of Bailey Bros. Building and Loan, George feels the hectic world around him would be better if he had simply never existed. As his despair grows, an angel (Henry Travers, “The Invisible Man,” 1933) arrives on Earth to show him just how different the lives of his loved ones would be without him. For some holiday viewing that is a bit lighter on sentiment, gather friends and family and turn the TV over to ABC to play along with a rebroadcast of “Celebrity Jeopardy!,” starring Macaulay Culkin. Afterward, tackle an episode of “The Price Is Right at Night: Holiday Heroes,” airing on CBS. Plenty of holiday viewing awaits this week, so grab the blankets, huddle up with those closest to you and enjoy the multi-network entertainment. Happy Holidays, one and all!
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