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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Holiday TV


Santa stands beside his favorite reindeer, Rudolph, in a scene from
Mark Washburn Knight Ridder Newspapers

All that turkey and pumpkin pie can mean only one thing: Christmas is a mere month away.

And along with the holidays comes the annual array of accompanying TV specials, old and new.

Here’s what to look for in this year’s lineup:

Friday

•”Gift Show 2005” (9 p.m., HGTV): Latest in gifts at the New York International Gift Fair and the Atlanta Gift Show.

Sunday

•”Emeril Live: Christmas Holiday” (8 p.m., Food Channel): Emeril Lagasse with holiday recipes.

•”Silver Bells” (9 p.m., CBS): Anne Heche and Christopher Byrne team up in a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of the Luanne Rice story.

•”Decorating Cents: 100 Holiday Ideas Under $100” (9 p.m., HGTV): Host Joan Steffend and designers Cy Winship, Sara Trosen and Barbara Sculati offer 100 decorating ideas, all under $100.

Wednesday

•”Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” (8 p.m., CBS): The 1964 classic with Rudolph, Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius and Misfit Toys.

Dec. 1

•”Holiday Classics Marathon” (7 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Yule shows include “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” “Year Without a Santa Claus,” “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.”

•”Casper’s Haunted Christmas” (8 p.m., Cartoon Network): Kibosh, the head ghost, orders Casper to scare at least one person before Christmas Day. (Repeats Dec. 13, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 20, 11 a.m.; Dec. 24, 1 p.m.)

•”Great Things About the Holidays” (9 p.m., Bravo): First of four-night documentary on holiday moments, from the run on Cabbage Patch Dolls to “The O.C.” coining the term “Chrismukah.”

Dec. 2

•”Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Macaulay Culkin stars as the boy lost at Christmas.

•”Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (8 p.m., ABC): Fred Astaire narrates the classic cartoon about Kris Kringle (voiced by Mickey Rooney).

•”The Happy Elf” (8 p.m., NBC): Animated special starring the voice and music of Harry Connick Jr. as Eubie the Elf tries to save Christmas for the glum kids of Bluesville.

Dec. 3

•”Holiday Classics Marathon” (2 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Seven hours of classics, including “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus,” “Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey,” “Jack Frost,” ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year,” “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town.”

•”A Very Barry Christmas” (9 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Santa trades identities with a bumbler.

Dec. 4

•”A Christmas Carol” (6:15 p.m., AMC): The 1951 version with Alistair Sim as Ebenezer Scrooge.

•”Holiday Inn” (8 p.m., AMC): The 1942 classic with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire.

•”Chasing Christmas” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Tom Arnold stars in a parallel to Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” as a bitter man faced with the classic spirits.

•”Holiday Windows 2005” (9 p.m., HGTV): Department store windows from Macy’s, Saks, Harrod’s.

•”A Very Dead Zone Christmas” (10 p.m., USA Network): A psychic (Jennifer Finnigan) helps Johnny (Anthony Michael Hall) solve the mystery of a lost Santa.

Dec. 5

•”Jack Frost” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): A dead man (Michael Keaton) comes back as a snowman.

Dec. 6

•”A Charlie Brown Christmas” (8 p.m., ABC): The 1965 classic follows Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus and Lucy through the holiday.

Dec. 7

•”A Johnny Bravo Christmas” (7:30 p.m., Cartoon Network): Johnny Bravo teams up with Donny Osmond to deliver his Christmas list to Santa. (Repeats Dec. 23, 8:30 p.m.; Dec. 24, 11 a.m. and 6:30 p.m.; Dec. 25, 8 a.m.)

•”White House Christmas 2005” (8 p.m., HGTV): Host Joan Steffend leads a tour of the White House decorations.

•”SpongeBob SquarePants Christmas Special” (8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon): SpongeBob wants to bring Christmas to Bikini Bottom.

•”Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys” (9 p.m., ABC Family Channel): The Evil Toy Taker takes Santa’s toys. Voices of Rick Moranis, Jamie Lee Curtis, Richard Dreyfuss.

Dec. 8

•”I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Boy wages war against Santa after he sees mom kiss him.

•”Holly Jolly Jimmy” (8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon): Jimmy Neutron goes to the North Pole to prove Santa does not exist.

•”Three Wise Guys” (9 p.m., USA Network): Three gangsters help a woman deliver her baby, then learn they have to turn her over to a mob boss. Stars Tom Arnold, Eddie McClintock, Katey Segal, Judd Nelson.

Dec. 9

•”I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown!” (8 p.m., ABC): Lucy’s brother ReRun teams up with Snoopy.

•”Prancer” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Girl nurses a reindeer back to health, believing it is one of Santa’s.

•”Dear Santa” (8 p.m., Fox): Reality special tells stories of those who write to Santa with heart-breaking requests.

•”Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer” (8 p.m., Cartoon Network): Developers are trying to run out Grandma and her general store. (Repeats Dec. 16, 10 p.m.; Dec. 18, 4 p.m.; Dec. 19, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 22, 8 a.m.; Dec. 23, 11 a.m.; Dec. 24, 7 p.m.)

Dec. 10

•”Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (8:30 p.m., ABC): Movie version of the Seuss tale starring Jim Carrey, Jeffrey Tambor, Christine Baranski, Molly Shannon.

•”Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus” (9 p.m., Hallmark Channel): Santa’s son must find a wife before he can take over the family business.

Dec. 12

•”All Grown Up: the Finster Whole Stole Christmas” (8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon): Chuckie grabs what he thinks is an abandoned tree to decorate for Christmas.

Dec. 13

•”Holiday Classics Marathon” (7 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Three-hours of classics includes “Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey,” “The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” and “The Year Without a Santa Claus.”

Dec. 14

•”Christmas in Boston” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Marla Sokoloff and Patrick Adams play longtime pen pals who finally get a chance to meet in romantic comedy.

•”Christmas in Washington” (8 p.m., TNT): Dr. Phil McGraw and wife Robin host concert featuring Rascal Flatts, Carrie Underwood, Ciara.

Dec. 15

•”The Legend of Frosty the Snowman” (7:30 p.m., Cartoon Network): Frosty bends the rules in a little town where fun is against the law. (Repeats Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m.; Dec. 23, 7:30 a.m.)

•”Snow” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Tom Cavanagh plays a man in search of his reindeer.

Dec. 16

•”Jingle All the Way” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Arnold Schwarzenegger plays harried dad trying to track down fad toy.

•”How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (8 p.m., Cartoon Network): The Dr. Seuss cartoon version narrated by Boris Karloff. (Repeats Dec. 16, 8 p.m.; Dec. 19, 8:30 p.m.; Dec. 21, 8:30 p.m.; Dec. 22, 11:30 a.m.; Dec. 24, 9:30 a.m. and 10 p.m.; Dec. 25, 9:30 a.m.)

Dec. 17

•”Rugrats Chanukah Special” (2 p.m., Nickelodeon): Rugrats apply their reasoning to a Chanukah festival.

•”The Santa Experience” (4:30 p.m., Nickelodeon): Rugrats Tommy and Chuckie lay traps for Santa.

•”Frosty the Snowman” (8 p.m., CBS): Frosty and the silk hat return in classic tale narrated by Jimmy Durante.

•”Frosty Returns” (8:30 p.m., CBS): And he makes a comeback with narration by Jonathan Winters and John Goodman as the voice of Frosty.

•”Meet the Santas” (9 p.m., Hallmark Channel): In a sequel to “Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus,” Nick Claus (Steve Guttenberg) and Beth Marshall (Crystal Bernard) prepare for their wedding, complicated by Beth’s interfering mother (Mariette Hartley).

•”Robbie the Reindeer: Hooves of Fire” (9 p.m., CBS): Contemporary computer-animated reindeer tale with voices of Ben Stiller, Hugh Grant, Britney Spears, Jim Belushi, Brad Garrett, Leah Remini, Jerry Stiller and James Woods.

•”Robbie the Reindeer: Legend of the Lost Tribe” (9:30 p.m., CBS): Aided by Vikings, Robbie fights bad deer Blitzen.

Dec. 18

•”How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (5:30 and 8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Jim Carrey plays the role of the Grinch in the classic Dr. Seuss tale.

•”The Christmas Blessing” (9 p.m., CBS): Neil Patrick Harris, Angus T. Jones and Rebecca Gayheart team up in this sequel to the 2002 TV movie “The Christmas Shoes.” Rob Lowe makes a return appearance. NewSong performs “The Christmas Blessing” and Blake Shelton performs “Nobody But Me.”

•”All Out Christmas” (9 p.m., HGTV): Outrageous displays of household Christmas decorations.

Dec. 19

•”Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” (7 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Kris Kringle overcomes the Burgermeister.

Dec. 20

•”The Wiggles: Santa’s Rockin’!” (11 a.m., Disney Channel): A dozen new and classic Yule songs with John Fogerty joining The Wiggles.

•”The Ultimate Christmas Present” (8 p.m., Disney Channel): Children playing with a weather-making machine to get out of school almost ruin Christmas.

•”Eloise at Christmastime” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Eloise spends Christmas at the Plaza.

Dec. 21

•”A Very Brady Christmas” (8 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Grown-up “Brady Bunch” kids bring their families home for Christmas.

•”A Home for the Holidays” (8 p.m., CBS): Seventh edition of this special examining adoption issues. Jamie Lee Curtis hosts with performances by Sheryl Crow, Toni Braxton, Yolanda Adams and the Goo Goo Dolls.

Dec. 22

•”Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” (7 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Rudolph must find the missing baby new year, Happy.

Dec. 23

•”Olive the Other Reindeer” (Noon, Cartoon Network): From Matt Groening, creator of “The Simpsons,” and voiced by Drew Barrymore, the story of Olive the dog stepping in when a reindeer breaks a leg.

Dec. 24

•”Holiday Classics Marathon” (6 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Five hours of classics including “Jack Frost,” “Frosty’s Winter Wonderland,” “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.”

•”A Boyfriend for Christmas” (9 p.m., Hallmark Channel): A Christmas wish is delivered 20 years later.

Dec. 25

•”Celebrate! Christmas with Maya Angelou” (1 p.m., Hallmark Channel): Maya Angelou shows off her home.

•”A Mom for Christmas” (2 p.m., ABC Family Channel): A girl whose mother is dead wins a free wish; she wishes for a mom, and a department store mannequin comes to life as her mom for Christmas.

•”Mr. St. Nick” (4 p.m., ABC Family Channel): Santa passes on the job to his son (Kelsey Grammer), who’s not up to it.

•”The Christmas Secret” (6 p.m., ABC Family Channel): College professor (Richard Thomas) tries to prove that reindeer can fly.

•”Finding John Christmas” (9 p.m., CBS): A woman’s hero brother suddenly comes home after missing for years. Stars Valerie Bertinelli, Peter Falk, David Cubitt.

Dec. 26

•”A Rugrats Kwanzaa” (8:30 p.m., Nickelodeon): Irma P. Hall voices Aunt T., who arrives to celebrate Kwanzaa and give the Rugrats perspective on dignity.