SUNDAY

DECEMBER 24

2017

BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Encore, 7:08 p.m. ET

On Christmas Eve, there are many, many things to enjoy on television, because TV knows there are a lot of eyeballs out there – many of them belonging to adults who are exhausted already, and lots of them looking for things to keep the young ones quiet, and relatively still. Encore is one of those savvy TV programmers, and tonight presents the three Home Alone movies in a mini-marathon – starting with John Hughes’ smash 1990 original, in which eight-year-old Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is left behind by mistake during his family’s Christmas vacation, and has to defend his home from opportunistic, cartoonish burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern).

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Now that the live-action version is out, ABC is celebrating the holidays by bringing back the 1991 animated original movie musical, with the voices of Paige O’Hara as Belle and Robby Benson as the Beast.

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

With NBC-owning Universal holding exclusive rights to this 1939 holiday fantasy drama starring James Stewart, it now shows up rarely, and usually at well-timed occasions. Here, for example, it’s shown exactly when it ought to be: on Christmas Eve.

I LOVE LUCY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

A well-timed instant repeat from Friday: For four years now, CBS has shown a pair of colorized episodes of I Love Lucy: one of them always the aptly named “The Christmas Episode,” from the classic sitcom’s final season in 1956, and the other a newly computer-colorized episode from the Lucy canon. Tonight, the new color-enhanced oldie is “The Fashion Show,” from 1955. It’s the one in which Lucy, linking with several other show-biz wives, puts on a fashion show – despite having a painful sunburn on the big day (pictured).

DIE HARD MARATHON

Cinemax, 8:00 p.m. ET

Like Home Alone, Die Hard launched a franchise, but began as a holiday movie – or, at least, one set during the holidays. Remember, this 1988 action film, which next year turns 30 years old, stars Bruce Willis as John McClane, whose wife is one of several office workers taken hostage during a Christmas party.

A CHRISTMAS STORY MARATHON

TBS, TNT, 8:00 p.m. ET

One week ago, Fox presented a live, musical version of A Christmas Story. Tonight, both TBS and TNT present the original 1983 movie – and present it and present it, for 24 hours straight. That’s a lot of Fragile…

THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW – NOW IN LIVING COLOR!

CBS, 9:01 p.m. ET

Another well-timed instant repeat from Friday: The Dick Van Dyke Show, too, is a CBS classic given the colorized treatment of late. And while I’m of two minds about this phenomenon – I’m fine with the original black-and-white versions, yet these full-color versions are tinted with taste and care – anything that preserves the legacy of The Dick Van Dyke Show, the smartest and funniest sitcom of the 1960s, is fine with me. Tonight’s special offers two newly colorized classic episodes. In “October Eve” from 1964, Laura Petrie (Mary Tyler Moore) poses for a full-body, fully clothed portrait – but the bohemian artist, played by series creator Carl Reiner, takes the artistic license of depicting her in the nude. And in “My Blonde-Haired Brunette,” from the show’s first season in 1961, Laura tries to surprise her somewhat distracted and inattentive husband Rob (Dick Van Dyke) by dyeing her hair blonde (pictured). This was the episode, according to Reiner, that showed everyone what an unexpectedly rich talent Moore had for comedy.

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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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BIANCULLI’S BEST BETS

Encore, 7:08 p.m. ET

ABC, 8:00 p.m. ET

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 8:00 p.m. ET

Cinemax, 8:00 p.m. ET

TBS, TNT, 8:00 p.m. ET

CBS, 9:01 p.m. ET

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