Sofia Vassilieva Fans

In the spirit of the economy, new holiday originals are scarce this year. Networks are largely relying on venerable favorites for the Yule season, like "Charlie Brown's Christmas" tale, the old Rankin-Bass classics and the "Frosty" cartoons. Boris Karloff returns to narrate the Dr. Seuss gem "The Grinch That Stole Christmas," my personal favorite. Also on the Grinch circuit will be the Jim Carrey movie adaptation from 2000, which leaves me cold.

Tight budgets have restricted the networks from turning out much new for the season, though CBS delivers a new animated piece, "Yes, Virginia," in December, based on the famous New York Sun editorial. In this story, editor Francis Church feels like he's got more important things to do than answer a query from little Virginia O'Hanlon about the existence of Santa, but subsequent events soften him up.

( Read More )