sunday
Picks for Monday follow the picks for Sunday (scroll down to see ‘em).
The “Merry-thon” continues on TV Land (through 5am Monday).
Pinky and the Brain (Nick, 4:30am), Animaniacs (Nick, 5am, 5:30am).
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (AMC, 5am). The MST3K version is far more watch-able.
Bruce Campbell stars in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (TNT, 5am) and guest stars in the “King of Thieves” episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (USA, 5am).
A special about The Great Christmas Movies (AMC, 6am).
Holiday with the Stars (E!, 7am).
Behind the Scenes: Ali (E!, 8am) and Will Smith on Revealed with Jules Asner (E!, 9am).
Would I make this up? The Competition: World Snow Shovel Race Championship (A&E, 9am).
Another airing of Linda Eder, the Christmas Concert (Bravo, 10am-Noon).
Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady (AMC, 10:30am).
Mae West, Star Trek, vacuums, dolls, Ferraris on The Incurable Collector (A&E, 11am).
A bunch of Christmas episodes of Married With Children (FX, 11am- ).
Return to Mayberry (WGN, Noon) is an Andy Griffith reunion movie from 1986.
The Pink Panther (TCM, 12:30pm).
Nothin’ but all things Madonna (VH1, 1pm-10pm).
Nothin’ but Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNN, 2pm-7pm).
The original Ocean’s Eleven (TCM, 2:30pm, letterboxed).
Another film essential: The Maltese Falcon (TCM, 5pm).
“Family Roast” episode of Good Eats (Food Network, 5:30pm).
“Torpedo” episode of Junkyard Wars (TLC, 6pm).
“Christmas Party” episode of Nero Wolfe (A&E, 7pm and 11pm).
Rerun of Kevin Spacey on Inside the Actor’s Studio (Bravo, 7pm and 11pm).
The Black Stallion (TCM, 7pm). I remember seeing this as a kid and thinking the book was better than the movie (though the movie is awfully pretty).
Holiday food: Emeril’s Happy Happy Holidays (Food Network, 7pm and 10pm); Al Roker’s Colonial Christmas (Food Network, 8pm and 11pm); Holidays Unwrapped (Food Network, 9pm and midnight).
Rerun of the second episode of Alias (ABC, 8pm). The first one after the pilot. If you’re confused and need to catch up, they’ll be running all of the episodes (thus far) in order on New Year’s Day, starting at Noon on ABC Family Channel. Just to give you a heads up so you can stock up on tapes and/or make room on your Tivo.
Rerun of a wintry movie from a couple of years ago: One Special Night (CBS, 8pm). Why should you care? James Garner and Julie Andrews star in it.
Rerun of the “Hyde’s Christmas Rager” episode of That ’70s Show (FOX, 8pm).
Never before aired Christmas episode of Futurama (FOX, 8:30pm). It’s “A Tale of Two Santas”.
New episode of Mysterious Ways (PAX, 9pm).
Another airing of the 5am-6am episode of 24 (FX, 9:30pm).
A group of women face charges for assaulting a male stripper on Law & Order: Special Victim’s Unit (USA, 10pm).
Space Ghost Coast to Coast (Cartoon Network, 10:30pm).
Christmas Past (TCM, 11pm-1am) is a fascinating collection of silent short holiday films.
Monday, December 24th
Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays! Thanks so much for reading. Wishing you and those you care about a great holiday and a wonderful 2002.
Christmas episode of C.H.I.P.S. (TNT, 5am). Heh.
The Rockettes, Destiny’s Child, Will Smith on The Early Show (CBS, 7am-9am).
Patrick Stewart, Liev Schreiber, Jada Pinkett Smith on The Today Show (NBC, 7am-10am).
Christmas episode of Lois and Clark (TNT, 7am). Howie Mandel guest stars.
Holiday episodes of Family Matters (TBS, 7am) and A Different World (TBS, 7:30am, 8am).
Top 50 of 2001 (VH1, 7am-11am). Countdown of the Top 50 videos of 2001.
Christmas episodes of Jesse (USA, 7:30am), Martin (USA, 8am), Living Single (USA, 8:30am), Veronica’s Closet (USA, 9am), and Wings (USA, 9:30am).
The Golden Girls (Lifetime, 8:30am) are taken hostage by Santa.
There’s No Business Like Show Business (AMC, 8:30am).
Cartoon Network has holiday cartoons for a lot of the day. And ABC Family Channel continues airing holiday specials and movies. Disney Channel has holiday specials all day, too.
Court TV airs holiday theme episodes of the shows in their lineups, including the “Night of the Dead Living” episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, 11am) which doesn’t take place at Christmastime, but does feature a cameo appearance by Santa Claus.
Fred MacMurray, Frank Sinatra in The Miracle of the Bells (TCM, 11am).
“All Through the House” is not only a great holiday episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, 2pm), it’s also one of my favorite episodes, period.
Christmas episode of Promised Land (PAX, 2pm).
Holiday mini-marathon of Ally McBeal (FX, 2pm-7pm).
“The Documentary” is a really cool episode of Homicide (Court TV, 3pm) that takes place (more or less) on New Year’s Eve.
Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck in Frank Capra’s Meet John Doe (TCM, 3pm).
Christmas episodes of Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper (TNN, 3pm, 3:30pm).
Christmas episodes of Mama’s Family (TBS, 3pm and 3:30pm), Full House (TBS, 4pm and 4:30pm), and Roseanne (TBS, 5pm, 5:30pm).
“All Is Bright” is a decent holiday episode from the sixth season of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, 4pm).
Scrooged (TNT, 4pm).
Expect holiday episodes of a lot of syndicated series, too (check your local listings). And expect holiday editions of shows on the Food Network and Home & Garden TV.
Sissy Spacek, Maggie Smith on The Rosie O’Donnell Show (syndicated, check your local listings).
Woo! Holiday axe murders on Profiler (Court TV, 5pm). That’s what my TV guide says (except without the “woo!” part).
Prancer (USA, 6pm, 10pm) is followed by a new movie Prancer Returns (USA, 8pm, midnight).
TNT airs A Christmas Story (TNT, 6pm Monday – 6pm Tuesday). A lot of times. For 24 hours.
Christmas Across America 2001 (HGTV, 7pm-10pm; 10pm-1am). Holiday music, celebrations across the country.
James Stewart stars in Frank Capra’s It’s A Wonderful Life (NBC, 7pm). Chock full of more commercials than you can stand.
Yes Virginia, there is . . . well, you know. AMC begins airing Miracle on 34th Street a whole bunch, with the episode of Backstory about the film in between airings. AMC, 7pm Monday – 7pm Tuesday.
Holiday installment of It’s a Miracle (PAX, 7pm).
The Rise of Christianity: The First 1000 Years (A&E, 7pm-11pm; 11pm-3am).
Little Women (TCM, 7pm, 1am).
“Amends” is a very cool and moving holiday episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (FX, 7pm). Though it won’t work for you if you’re new to Buffy and haven’t seen what comes before.
Christmas reruns of The King of Queens (CBS, 7pm), Everybody Loves Raymond (CBS, 8pm), and Becker (CBS, 8:30pm). Plus a non-holiday rerun of The Ellen Show (CBS, 7:30pm).
Rerun of the eighth episode ever of Boston Public (FOX, 7pm). Maybe it’s last year’s Christmas episode? Oh, it features Joey Slotnick a lot.
Aw. A nice rerun of Gilmore Girls (WB, 8pm). It’s the one where Rory asks Dean to a formal dance, from last year.
Rerun of the “Nine-One-One” episode of Ally McBeal (FOX, 8pm) that just aired a couple of weeks ago. It’s a holiday episode that also tries to address the events of September in a way. Works out alright, I guess (though it could’ve been better). Tom Berenger and Peter Scolari guest star.
The Ref (TBS, 9pm, 1:30am) is one of my favorite holiday movies. Denis Leary, Kevin Spacey, and Judy Davis star in this film from director Ted Demme.
Christmas In Connecticut (TCM, 9pm).
One last airing (this week) of the 5am-6am episode of 24 (FX, 9pm).
“Night of the Dead Living” episode of Homicide: Life on the Street (Court TV, 9pm). One of my favorite episodes, it’s all about the characters (and not about any plot).
And “All Through The House” is an even better episode of Homicide (Court TV, 10pm). One of my favorite holiday episodes of any series.
A Bing Crosby Christmas: Like the Ones We Used to Know (Bravo, 10pm-11pm).
The most depressing holiday X-Files ever, the episodes “Christmas Carol” (FX, 10pm) and “Emily” (FX, 11pm).
No Late Show or Late Late Show, instead expect a Christmas church service and other specials (CBS, check your local listings).
No Tonight Show or Late Night, instead a holiday concert called The Greatest Gift and Christmas Eve at Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome (NBC, check your local listings). In most markets.
Don’t miss A Space Ghost Christmas (Cartoon Network, midnight).
“Omerta” is a wonderful holiday episode of Millennium (FX, midnight). I know, who’d've thunk it? Magical, you don’t need to have seen the rest of the series to appreciate this. Jon Polito guest stars. One of my favorite holiday episodes of any series.
Picks for Tuesday will be online late Sunday or else sometime on Monday.
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