Around the dial

The above is not me, alas, although it does feature three of my favorite things: Christmas, television, and cats. And while there are no cat posts below, we do have plenty of the first two that we can look at on this Boxing Day, which I've always thought ought to be a national holiday. Of course, when you're retired, every day is a holiday it its own way. Anyhow. . .

At Cult TV Blog, John brings to a conclusion his series on The Prisoner and how it may (or may not) mirror Soviet Russia. We come to the final two episodes, "Once Upon a Time" and "Fall Out," plus his overall conclusions from this fascinating exploration.

I love Paul's review of A Very Brady Christmas at Drunk TV. Granted, it might not be the most charitable review of the Bradys, but it's all done with affection toward the original series, and makes the excellent point that "we don’t want these classic properties helpfully 'updated' for the times." Amen, brother.

Comet over Hollywood interviews Jeremy Arnold, film historian and author of Christmas in the Movies: 35 Classics to Celebrate the Season on—what else?—the history of Christmas movies, with some very insightful historical, cultural, and sociological notes on the evolution of the genre. 

Speaking of which, at A Shroud of Thoughts, Terence has a look at five Christmas TV movies from when Hallmark was good. I don't know if there's much for me to add to what I've already written about Hallmark movies in the past, but if you haven't read it yet, my annual Christmas humor essay does the heavy lifting.

Martin Grams dips into the Christmas season with this review of "Cold Death," a 1937 episode of The Shadow, starring 22-year-old Orson Welles in the title role, and telling a story that bears more than a passing resemblance to one of our favorite Christmas stories, proving just how adaptable it is.

At The Lucky Strike Papers, Andrew shares two different versions of "The Christmas Song," sung by Rosemary Clooney and Nat King Cole, on their respective television series. What a fun look back at one of the great songs of all time. In fact, I'm listening to Nat as I write this, with total enjoyment.

Garry Berman is back with a story on the resurgence of the network sitcom, one of the oldest and most loved of television genres, and his report is that the sitcom is alive and well. Hard to imagine television without it; whether it's your favorite genre or not, it shows people can always use a good smile. 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, that you're enjoying this Boxing Day, and that the rest of your Christmas season is a peaceful one. See you back here tomorrow! TV

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