Christmas TV Classics

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It’s December and that means it’s time for the timeless television Christmas classics to bring the holiday spirit into perspective.  These classics have been on television now for almost 50 years.  They were favorites when our parents grew up, they were adored when we grew up, and they are still around for our children as they grow up.

Most of these timeless specials were made by Rankin and Bass.  They created these shows with clay-mation and cartoon animation.  Some of their better known specials are:  ”Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty The Snowman,” “Twas The Night Before Christmas,” “A Year Without Santa,” “Nester The Long Eared Donkey,” and “The Little Drummer Boy,”  just to name a few.  Almost every one of these was narrated by a celebrity and they became animated to narrate the story.  For instance, Jimmy Durante was the narrator of Frosty, Burl Ives was Rudolph, and Fred Estaire was in “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.”  Each celebrity sang classic Christmas carols in the specials that have forever defined the Christmas season for generations.

In the 1980s however, some of the Rankin and Bass classics had sequels produced, but not by the original creators.  Personally, I never found them quite as good as the originals.  ”Frosty The Snowman” was one that had a sequel made, which included ”Frosty Returns” and “Frosty and the Christmas Snow.”

Rankin and Bass were not the only makers of great cartoon Christmas classics.  Hanna Barbara made a great cartoon called “Yogi’s First Christmas.”  In this cartoon the entire Hanna Barbara gang came together for Christmas at a ski lodge only to be spoiled by a rotten child who hated Christmas.  Yogi quickly turned the frown upside down for the boy and he became a true lover of Christmas.  We must not forget  A. Shultz’s, “It’s Christmas Charlie Brown.”  This Peanuts special is probably one of the most revered specials Shultz ever produced.  I also must mention a forgotten favorite of mine.  ”The Christmas Toy” was created by the late Jim Henson and although it is not played anymore, the story was beautiful.  This special was about toys that came to life when no one was around.  They all eagerly awaited the next toy to come for Christmas.  The lion, who was last year’s Christmas toy, was not going to be replaced and made every effort to get into the box and relive the magic.  However, if any human caught them out of place, the toy would forever become  frozen and die.  In the end, the lion’s friends talked him out of the box, made him realize that he would never not be one of the favorite toys, and then broke the curse to bring all the frozen toys back!  A wonderful special that I truly wish was back on TV.  Did you think I would forget Dr. Seuss’s, “How The Grinch Stole Christmas?”  This is one of my beloved favorites, narrated by Boris Karloff, who was famous for his role in “Frankenstein” and “The Mummy.”  Karloff  made this classic memorable with his deep gruff voice perfectly suiting the Grinch, plus it had the magic of Dr. Seuss.

Then we have the classics that were not designed for children in particular, but for the whole family.  Some of those classics are “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,”  the timeless “Miracle On 34th Street,” “White Christmas” with Bing Crosby, “It’s A Wonderful Life,”  ”A Christmas Carol” with George C Scott, and of course, “A Christmas Story,” featuring the loveable Ralphie who only wants a “Red Rider BB Gun” for Christmas.

We must also not forget some of the newer specials that are headed for a “timeless” title such as  “Shrek The Halls,” “Spongebob Squarepants Christmas” and many many others.

Check your local listings for the times and channels these specials come on.  Most of the time they come on around 8:00 P.M and run until 9:00 P.M.  Don’t miss them, because many stations only play them once.  TBS and TNT usually have them on and play them over and over again.  Also, the Family Channel usually has the “24 days of Christmas” dedicated to these specials.

WGN Brings Back The Great TV Shows

Just about anyone with cable will have access to a kind of time machine in a non-literal sense, controlled with a television remote, because each night on WGN Chicago they play some classic television shows. The shows range from the 50s and 60s sitcoms to the late 80s with an abundant hour block.  You can see shows like Mary Tyler Moore, Dick Van Dyke, I Dream Of Jeanie, Bewitched, ALF, and even Growing Pains, shows that are timeless classics.

These classic television shows made their way into our homes every week, they gathered us together, we’d get together with our parents and siblings to sit and enjoy each other’s company while watching some great television.  WGN now gives us a chance to do the same for our children as our parents did with the same great shows.  While you watch, they will send you back to the old days and make you smile with the great memories that will flash through your head.

This is a series you won’t want to miss, they play these shows in the morning, and around 9:00 est.  So pop some popcorn, grab the children, snuggle up on the couch with your pajamas and watch some great television that is timeless in itself.

31 Days Of Horror On Sci-Fi

If you are a horror film buff who enjoys the essence of the older low budget horror films or today’s gory bloody thrillers, then the Sci-Fi channel has something for you to enjoy.  In the spirit of the Halloween holiday rapidly approaching us, they dedicated most of their daytime and nighttime syndication to the horror film industry showing movies such as:

 

 

• Wicked Little Things
• Dark Ride
• Mortuary
• Man-Thing
• Swamp Devil
• Friday The 13th
• Hellraiser
• Twilight Zone
• Vincent Price films
• Alfred Hitchcock films
• and so many more…..

If the movies don’t peak your interest, then maybe their ghost hunting syndications like T.A.P.S. Ghost Hunters based out of Rhode Island will.  T.A.P.S. takes you through real ghost hunting investigations using top of the line scientific gear to prove the dead lives beyond the grave.

The Sci-Fi channel has many other great shows till Halloween to peak your interest, so find the station on your local cable or satellite provider and tune in to make the hair stand up on your neck.

CSI- Death Hits The Group

Last season Sara Sidel decided to leave the group after she was the victim of the “Miniature Killer.”  Fortunately for her, the attempt was unsuccessful and she was rescued by her beloved collegues.  Shortly following that cliff hanger, her relationship with Grissom came to light, shocking everyone. 

This season, the group who has been together since the beginning will be split up due to a death!  Warrick, the one Grissom once called the rock of his group, and most likely successor to Grissom upon retirement, will suffer an untimely demise from an attack.  Warrick throughout his tenure on CSI battled gambling addictions, scrutiny from his own partners, and the terrifying attack on Nick Stokes (buried alive) and Sara Sidel (Miniature Killer).  He once led the group in Grissom’s absence, and showed the most potential on the show for advancement.

What will the team do without Warrick?  I know CSI will never be the same nor will Grissom without his right hand man; although he was given to Catherine when his group was split up to punish Grissom.  This death does not come as a surprise to me though, I thought CBS was just going to replace him this year and keep the character, or give him a leave of absence.  This was due to his Cocaine possession he endured when a California trooper found Gary Dourdan passed out in his car.  CBS vowed to not let him back on the show.

This episode will forever change CSI, it will be an epic that will be a must see drama.  The Rock of CSI and Grissom, with his stern fight for justice ends, as his own team must speak for Warrick telling the tale of his demise to bring his killer to justice.  In a special treat, Sara Sidel returns for a one time appearance to bring Warrick’s killer to justice or could she be back permanently ? Watch and see!

This episode airs on CBS October 9, 2008 at 9:00 PM.

90210 - The 90s are Back, Sort Of

I remember when I was back in middle school, all my friends would run home on Tuesday night to watch 90210.  Those numbers defined a generation, it was the soap opera for tweens and teens alike.  It launched the career of Jennie Garth, Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Tori Spelling, Shannon Dorothy and so many more.  Shanice made a number one chart topper with “Saving Forever For You” that they played at their senior prom.  Yes, those were the days.  We all would watch, dreaming of what High School would be like and those in High School dreamed reality was like 90210.

I still remember the break up of Dylan and Brenda, then Dylan went with Kelly causing a huge riff between Brenda and Kelly… Remember?  Do you remember the last episode, they were all grown up and in college… I think when that show ended, an entire generation lost its identity. Except Melrose Place helped keep it along.

Tonight, on the CW… its back!  Its 90210 in 2008. Some of the old charecters come back as adult charecters, West Beverly High reigns supreme for a whole new generation to fall in love with.  New Charecters, new plots, same great drama that any child will relate to. 

This time the show is created by Jeff Judah who has big shoes to fill; he re-creates the hit Aaron Spelling made a household name with. Lets give it a chance, remember, this spin-off has a lot of hype and standards to live up to and the makers know it.  Having some of the old cast on should help soar it to another night time tween drama success.  So all you 90s kids, get your popcorn ready, get in your pajamas and get in front of the television as 90210 is reincarnated.  Get on the phone and talk to your girl friends and gossip about the plot, and remember…no school tomorrow…. except for you class of 2008 and those still in school!

Check your local listings for the time and actual channel CW is.

Kitchen Nightmares - Season 2!

If you’re already going through Gordon Ramsay withdrawl like I am, then I have some good news for you.  Fox’s Kitchen Nightmares Season 2 starts this fall with more outrageous kitchen situations that seriously make you re-think eating out. Until then Season 1’s re-runs are being replayed on Tuesday nights in anticipation for season 2.

Last season, Gordon Ramsay met with restaurant owners from all over the United States and evaluated their food, decor, management, and cleanliness to see what might be the cause of the failing restaurant.  Every episode, he found violations that would make any normal person’s stomach turn. Whenever he challenged the person in charge about why these situations are around, tempers flared. Ramsay minces lots of food but is not one to mince words, he has no problem getting in your face and telling you what a donkey you are, to put it nicely.

In the end, he usually managed to change the restaurant around and get them back on the right foot.  Sometimes it was just too late despite the changes, sometimes Ramsay found that they went back to their old ways.

Season 2 is going to be a little different, the show is more like the BBC version of Kitchen Nightmares.  Ramsay will go to Mexico, Italy, New York, and more places around the world.  It won’t be a strictly US version.

This show is a must see if you love Ramsay and you are concerned about the kitchens at the establishments you frequent.  Who knows, I hope it doesn’t happen to you but you may find your favorite place on his show!

Hell’s Kitchen - The Winner

We all knew it was going to be a crazy finale, you had two of the most unlikely candidates competing for the spot as Ramsay’s Executive Chef at his new London - LA Restaurant.  We all knew some of the horrible chefs who competed would be coming back to help these two candidates, but which ones?  What we saw in this finally would surprise us and, quite frankly, make this finale one for the books that we will talk about for years to come.

Week of June 28th

Christina - Set a record on Hell’s Kitchen because the women won almost all the challenges, but when they went to individual challenges, she won three consecutive giving her 9 total victories in the challenge department. Christina wasn’t the most qualified, as she was “just” a culinary student, everyone from Day One wanted her out, especially Jen; but she used that to her advantage and put her heart into every performance and made it to the Final 2.

After Corey was eliminated, she went to her room to create her “OWN” menu.  This menu was extremely important as it defines her as a chef.  Christina amazingly did it before the sunrise the next day.  She created her menu with simple yet tasteful dishes, and if you ever watched Kitchen Nightmares or know Ramsay at all, you will know she is doing exactly what he would do… keep it simple.

She then met with an interior designer to design her side of Hell’s Kitchen.  She chose earth tones to create a relaxing atmosphere: soft couches and chairs and windows that had murals of the city painted behind the frames.  It was going to be beautiful.  

Following the interior designer, she met with Jean-Phillipe to get maître d’ outfits.  She refused to choose any of the examples.  She said she wanted something someone would wear everyday, comfortable and down to earth.  Jean-Phillipe disagreed but made her wishes a reality.

Petrozza - Ramsay said he was by far the messiest cook on Hell’s Kitchen, but he rarely ever hit the bottom two, unlike Christina.  He maintained a level ego and even nominated himself for the cutting block one time gaining the respect of Ramsay and made him a candidate for the finals for sure. 

Petrozza had a hard time coming up with a menu, and even though he had all night to come up with one, Petrozza, unlike Christina, decided to go to bed.  In the morning, he was shocked to find out Christina had her menu complete.  He got some help with one of the sous chefs working on the show to pound out a very elaborate and risky menu, but (if successfully executed), would make him the candidate to win Hell’s Kitchen.

After making his menu, he met with the interior designer and came up with something right out of NYC for his dining room.  It has a brick veneer, flowers, and great padded booths… accented perfectly by a fireplace. It looked like a loft in the Soho district.

Ironically, when Petrozza met with Jean-Phillipe, he managed to choose the outfit Christina HATED. Showing how exactly opposite these competitors are.

The Challenge

After all the prep work was ready, Gordon Ramsay took them to his restaurant in New York for their final challenge.  They were to make their signature dishes that would be judged by the Executive Chefs from 6 of Ramsey’s restaurants from around the world.  The last few challenges have been a point or two difference from Petrozza and Christina.  This week would prove no different.  Tied at 2, the tie-break came from the boss of the London- LA restaurant where they will be the executive chef.  He chose Petrozza, ending Christina’s winning streak and giving Petrozza the first choice for his team.

Gearing Up For Next Week

After returning from New York, Christina and Petrozza met the former teammates that would be helping them win Hells Kitchen.  Returning was:  Ben, Jen, Matt, Corey, Louross, and Bobby.  The first choice for Petrozza was Bobby and Christina chose Corey.  Petrozza then chose Ben, Christina chose Louross, leaving Matt and Jen.  Neither Petrozza or Christina wanted anything to do with the remaining two, but we all had to wait for the Grande Finale to see who was chosen last.

July 8, 2008

Back to the teams, Petrozza opted for Jen for his last pick, and Christina was pleased to take Matt for her team rather than Jen.

Everything started off well, except for Christina who was not impressed with her kitchen layout.  She didn’t like the stripes.  The interior designer came up with a compromise and painted them chocolate which made her dining room breathtaking. Petrozza wasn’t free from stress, the designer was unable to contact the people padding Petrozza’s booths. Panicking, they arrived with 15 minutes to spare.

While prepping the food, and Petrozza out of the kitchen dealing with his designer, Jen got some of the biggest set of balls ever, and asked Gordon Ramsay for a letter of recommendation.  This not only floored her team, but the Red Team as well.  Ramsay just ignored her and went on dealing with the preparations of tonight’s service.  No contestant has EVER asked for a letter of recommendation, it just goes to show how petty she is, and how she again tried to take the spotlight away from her own team leader.

The dinner service went well, all tables were served, all patrons happy.  Some slight mishaps came with Matt’s undercooked fish, and Jen’s inability to work with the team, but both Petrozza and Christina bounced back and made it into a success.

In the end, Ramsay was very pleased, saying there were far more ups than downs.  He said it would be a very hard decision, and it was.  Christina and Petrozza said goodbye to their team and went upstairs to await their fate.

Ramsey summoned them to the famous doors.  Each contestant grabbed the handle and awaited the chance to turn it. Christina said, ”good luck,” to Petrozza and Petrozza looked so sick to his stomach, he simply nodded in the affirmative.  When Ramsay counted to three, each contestant turned their door handle…

Christina’s door opened and she won Season 4 of Hell’s Kitchen!  Her parents were in tears, her team elated that she won. Ramsay made the absolute right choice to win Hell’s Kitchen based on pure potential for the long-term success of his new London restaurant.

CONGRATULATIONS CHRISTINA!

So Mia Michaels Thinks You Suck

Tonight’s show included the rudest (undeserved) comment from a judge I have heard on the show thus far:

“Will, you look tired of carrying [Jessica]…You look tired. You’re tired,” speaking about his dance partner, Jessica, who was praised last week for keeping up with such a well-trained dancer.

That was uncalled-for! The judges have had it in for several dancers with better partners for a couple of weeks now. The only problem has been that one week they congratulate the weaker dancer for doing a great job and stepping up to the plate, and then the next week they slam them as dragging the couple down.

While I’m on my rant, I’d like to mention that Mary Murphy has no place EVER telling anyone anything about the fashion police coming after them, with the dresses and hair that she wears. Her chest is almost always a movement away from a wardrobe malfunction of Super Bowl® proportions.

Finally, for the last time, Cat Deely, the decisions are UP to the viewers, not DOWN to the viewers.

Hell’s Kitchen - the Final Two

Tonight’s episode was especially entertaining, as Chef Ramsay softened up a tad and becomes more of a coach rather than a beast. As he has in previous seasons, he wanted to see how the contestants handle the pressure of running the show from the hot plate “at the pass.”

First up was the competition to mix things up. Everyone’s family was there for a Ramsay-catered lunch. Christina was the only contestant who had the presence of mind to know that something was up and started tasting her food and picking it apart as they ate. Corey and Petrozza were oblivious to the impending doom and the challenge came down on them hard: figure out how Chef made the dish and fix it for him in 45 minutes.

Christina had everything correct except for the puree that she chose rather than cream. Corey had everything right except she chose buffalo over venison. Poor Petrozza had the whole thing right, but plain old forgot to make the puree altogether. With that, Christina won and went on a lame tour of L.A. and a couple of restaurants with Chef and her parents. Corey and Petrozza had to clean the glasses and break blocks of ice by hand.

Prior to dinner service, Chef Ramsay did his usual pep talk to test the contestants’ fire and authority by having them yell at him. Petrozza and Christina pretty much sucked. Then Corey didn’t do too hot for her first attempt and Ramsay threw the plate he was holding as he showed her what authority is all about. Best line of the night: laughing, Petrozza didn’t realize that Ramsay threw it and said, “I didn’t get to break any plates.”

Petrozza manned the hot plate first and missed the sabotage by the sous chef, Scott, who left the peas out of the risotto. Meanwhile, Christina burnt her first attempt at a salmon and then proceded to pass on the replacement raw. Ramsay started getting really mad at her and, of course, asked her if she wanted to go home. Other than those little things, Petrozza did fine.

Corey was next and also missed Scott’s intentional meat sauce swap until she had already poured it on the Wellingtons. Fail! Right from the start, she couldn’t read the food tickets and was very hesitant. After that, she pretty much stayed on top of the game and the kitchen ran smoothly under her watch.

Then it was all eyes on Christina, including all 42 of Ramsay’s eyes. Just to make things difficult, she caught the basil in the mashed potatos rather than the mint. While the kitchen kept turning out food with her direction, the mistakes of earlier were just below the surface, waiting to boil over.

Ramsay refused to pick a winner of the service and told them to each nominate one person.

Corey nominated Christina, Christina nominated Corey, and Petrozza nominated Christina. After a commercial break and a very long sentence, Ramsay revealed that the first finalist is…

Petrozza

After another unbearably long, pausing sentence and some flashback clips, he chose for his second finalist…

Christina

With that, Corey left on good terms and with a British farewell kiss from Ramsay and a couple of compliments.

That’s it, Petrozza and Christina face off next week for the grand prize. If it was anything like last year’s showdown, it is going to be riveting. I’m looking for some celebrities and at least two ridiculously hard contests to decide the winner.

So You Think You Can Dance - Top 18

Last night saw two more contestants leave the competition. All in all, I thought the performances were good from Wednesday night, with a couple of exceptions. The choreographers seemed to step up to the plate and only delivered one bad costume/routine act of the night, in my opinion. Thayne and Chelsea got a raw deal with their routine because the costumes and story didn’t come through at all.

There are certainly a fair share of athletic, attractive girls this year, but the men are a bit sparse in the mass-appeal department. Some are gangly while others seem to lack personality either when dancing or during the interviews. They do make for some interesting pairings, and most of them are working.

Before getting to the Bottom 3 couples, I have two groups of favorites right now: a couple favorite and two individual favorites. I think the strongest couple so far is Joshua and Katee. They had two back-to-back great routines and performances. This week’s Broadway number was out of this world entertaining. Individually, I love Twitch and Kherington the best for their skills, looks, and personalities.

The Bottom 3 couples last night were: Thayne and Chelsea, Marquis and Susie, and Chris and Comfort.

Thayne and Chelsea were victims of a bad routine, so I can’t really blame them for being in the Bottom 3. Their dancing was fine, but the movements, story, and costumes doomed them to the dance-off.

For the salsa dance, I thought Susie and Marquis plain old sucked. Nigel was right when he judged them and said that he’s seen more chemistry in high school chemistry 101. They didn’t have any hotness at all and Marquis moved like a go-go dancer.

Chris and Comfort pretty much bombed the krumping. Of course Comfort did great, because that is what she does, but when you put her with Chris… it was just awkward. My favorite part was during the judging when Nigel said that his grandma is more gangsta than Chris and Chris replied that he didn’t want to grab his crotch on TV. /sad

After the dance-off, which was good for everyone but two, the decision was made pretty easy. For the second week in a row, a couple was voted off together as Marquis and Susie left the show. I wonder what she will be doing for a career now, because she sure as heck isn’t going to be let back into the school system after what she wore for tryouts.

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