Christmas viewing

Now that we're at Christmas Eve, we're getting to the non-stop portion of the Christmas programming schedules on various channels, with things ending seomtime on the 25th or 26th depending on how people consider days starting and ending. TCM started last night with the Christmas remakes -- and I probably should have pointed out the John Wayne version of 3 Godfathers since I don't think I've actually reviewed that one yet -- but the programming is going until 8:00 PM Wednesday when TCM goes back to the "Pets on Sets" spotlight. (Technically, the 8:00 PM film, The Thin Man, is set at Christmastime.) TCM trots out a lot of traditional titles, such as The Bishop's Wife at 8:00 PM tonight; the 1938 version of The Shop Around the Corner (midnight tonight); or Babes in Toyland (7:00 AM tomorrow).

As for FXM, all they're doing is running the 1951 Alastair Sim Scrooge/A Christmas Carol into the ground in the commercial-filled part of their schedule. Starting tonight at 7:00 PM, there are five straight airings of the film, follwed by a Wednesday morning of what's currently in the FXM Retro rotation. At 3:00 PM Christmas, we get another seven airings of the Sim film, until the FXM Retro stuff returns at 4:00 AM Thursday.

If you can stomach the commercials, Sundance Channel is running a loop of the 1954 White Christmas starting about 8:00 this morning going through early tomorrow. But surprisingly, there seems to be rather less Christmas programming on the movie channels than I would have expected. Of course, nowadays, most places seem to stop Christmas programming on the 25th, rather than celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas.