A little holiday advice for you: kids know the difference between Tickle Me Elmo and Punch Me Fred. So then why haven’t producers figured out that Christmas TV viewers don’t want cheap rip-offs, either?
The season starts off fine on Thursday with Fred Astaire’s 1970 Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (9pm, ABC), but then it all goes to tinsel-town on Monday, with Jim Carrey’s nightmare-inducing How the Grinch Stole Christmas (9pm, Global) and Tuesday’s 2008 Henson-free A Muppets Christmas, starring Whoopi Goldberg. You’re better off sticking with Glee—Brittany still believes in Santa. Even the nearly perfect A Charlie Brown Christmas gets updated with the short Prep & Landing: Operation Secret Santa (9pm, CBS). As Charlie would say, “AAUGH!”
Wednesday is the real nog scratcher, though. Do you watch Jenny McCarthy as a business executive who just happens to be Santa’s daughter in Santa Baby (9pm, ASN), or Shannen Doherty as a babysitting professional thief in Christmas Caper (8pm, Showcase)? ‘Tis the night to make a pile of sandwiches and rent Bad Santa, instead.
This article appears in Dec 2-8, 2010.