OnTV: Holiday Film Fests
The Big Three Networks Go All Out for the Holidays
You know it’s almost time for Santa to slide down the chimney when all three Big Three networks air holiday-inspired, kid-friendly movies during prime time. It actually makes me feel kind of bad for misanthropes and holiday haters around the world, who must be absolutely seething over all of this joyousness. For them, I advise tuning into the Sci Fi Channel at 9pm EST, where they can catch the premiere of Dead & Deader, the basic cable station’s latest zombie-fied original movie, featuring former small-screen Superman Dean Cain. Or if you prefer your films on the fantasy, modern-classic side, give basic cable’s TNT a try at 8pm EST. It’s broadcasting director Peter Jackson’s triumphant, 11-Oscars-winning LOTR trilogy finale, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which will only be about a whopping 255 minutes with commercials thrown in. That translates to three hours and twenty-one minutes of movie, folks, with an extra fifty-four minutes of adverts stirred in for your viewing pleasure. Talk about an anti-holiday film fest for the rest of us who can’t stand sappy Xmas TV. I’m not one of those people, though, so read on…
If animated flicks are your thing or you have young ones, ABC is the place to be at 8pm EST for 2003′s Finding Nemo, the Oscar-winning underwater delight about a clown fish, voiced by Albert Brooks, in search of his missing son. Awww, isn’t that sweet?
Sea World not your idea of a good time? Then how about gigantic elves? CBS has just the thing for you then if yes, namely Will Ferrell’s funny turn in the 2003 big-screen comedy Elf at 8pm EST. How can you not laugh in the presence of a 6'3 ½" man who genuinely thinks he’s one of Santa’s diminutive helpers? Thankfully, the movie is about a bit more than only that, making it good entertainment for Ferrell fans and then some.
Have you no love for film-length cartoons or oversized elves? Well, an undisputed classic is also available on NBC at 8pm EST—Frank Capra’s definitive It’s a Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart, of course, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, and Henry Travers. This 1946 movie makes you think twice about wishing you’d never been born, all the better to appreciate your life.
Photos courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, New Line Cinema, and Liberty Films
