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TUESDAY
DECEMBER 24
2013

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

 
IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

NBC’s earlier scheduled telecast of this 1946 Frank Capra classic was pre-empted by the network’s live Sound of Music special, so Christmas Eve turns out to be the first time in 2013 to catch this annual holiday TV treat. James Stewart and Donna Reed star, with supporting help from Bert and Ernie. The characters (seen here), not the subsequent Muppets.

 
  
 
 
HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

This season, repeats of decades-old animated holiday treats have drawn larger audiences than first-run TV fare – the most heartening example of which being the fact that ABC’s repeat of A Charlie Brown Christmas outdrew the season finale of Fox’s The X Factor. Good grief, Simon Cowell! And tonight, this Grinch cartoon, from 1966, figures to provide some holiday cheer as well, for the network as well as its viewers. ABC follows this telecast with an 8:30 p.m. ET presentation of the 2000 live-action movie Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, starring Jim Carrey, but stick with the original.

 
  
 
 
A CHRISTMAS STORY MARATHON

TBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

It’s now been 30 years since this little movie about Jean Shepherd’s holiday memories was released – and quite a few since TBS turned it into an annual TV tradition by showing it nonstop for 24 hours starting on Christmas Eve. So here it is again, thank goodness – a full day’s worth of BB guns, leg lamps and hidden squirrels. Peter Billingsley, Darren McGavin star.

 
  
 
 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Fox Movie Channel, 9:00 p.m. ET

Alastair Sim makes a crabby, craggy, perfect Scrooge in this 1951 version of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic – and though this is a very vintage version, in black and white, it’s also one of the scariest, even after all this time.

 
  
 
 
JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR

Sundance, 10:00 p.m. ET

In a case of either perfect or poor timing – a case could be made for both – Sundance uses Christmas Eve as the occasion to televise Jesus Christ Superstar, Norman Jewison’s 1973 movie version of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice rock opera. Yvonne Elliman reprises her role of Mary Madgalene, singing “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” as she did in the original LP that predated the stage and movie versions, but the other stars in this movie – Ted Neeley as Jesus and Carl Anderson as Judas – are different than those in the original album and Broadway versions. On the 1970 album “demo” that inspired all subsequent productions, Ian Gillan played Jesus, and Murray Head was Judas. On Broadway, in 1971, Jeff Fenholt starred as Jesus, and Ben Vereen played Judas.

 
  
 
 
 
 
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David Bianculli

Founder / Editor

David Bianculli has been a TV critic since 1975, including a 14-year stint at the New York Daily News, and sees no reason to stop now. Currently, he's TV critic for NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and is an occasional substitute host for that show. He's also an author and teaches TV and film history at New Jersey's Rowan University. His 2009 Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of 'The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour', has been purchased for film rights. His latest, The Platinum Age of Television: From I Love Lucy to the Walking Dead, How TV Became Terrific, is an effusive guidebook that plots the path from the 1950s’ Golden Age to today’s era of quality TV.
 
 
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