25 Days of Christmas Schedule

ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas programming guide has been posted!  Click here to view and print a copy of the schedule.

Like most years, they have a mix of Christmas classics for all ages {The Polar Express, The Grinch, Christmas Vacation, The Santa Clause}, ABC Family originals {Holiday in Handcuffs, 12 Dates of Christmas}, and movies that have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas {a Harry Potter marathon again this year, ABC Family?}.  Many on the 25 Days of Christmas message board are already voicing their displeasure at the non-Christmas movies ~ and I agree, when I think "Happy Holidays", Disney-Pixar's Up is not the first {or second, tenth, or top 1000th} film that comes to mind.  However, there are plenty of traditional films available for viewing throughout the month of December.  Plus, don't most of us own our favorite Christmas movies anyway?  See below for a quick reference guide to when you should set your DVR for your faves...

The Santa Clause
Thursday December 1 7pm/6c
Wednesday December 21 8pm/7c

Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Friday December 2 8pm/7c
Friday December 23 8pm/7c

The Polar Express
Monday December 5 8:30pm/7:30c
Tuesday December 20 9pm/8c
Sunday December 25 8pm/7c

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
Wednesday December 7 9pm/8c
Monday December 12 9 pm/8c

That's just a sampling of the air times for some of the more popular Christmas movies.  Check the 25 Days of Christmas schedule for a complete list of their holiday programming {including their late-November "countdown" offerings}.  Surprisingly, there is no classic Rudolph listing ~ just an airing of Rudolph and the Island of the Misfit Toys.  Santa Clause 2 also slipped through the cracks, although parts 1 and 3 made the cut.  Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is featured several times in November and December, but there is nary an original Home Alone showing in sight.  Some strange choices by ABC Family, but I suppose the idea is to mix it up each year. 

If you're hoping to catch some traditional Christmas flicks that ABC Family doesn't have down on the schedule, you may be in luck ~ Saturday December 17 and Saturday December 24 are both listed as airing a "Holiday Classics Marathon" all day long.  Here's hoping for a little good old-fashioned, Burl Ives and psuedo-claymation Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer action!


Happy Holiday Viewing!

xoxo
Bean

Halloween Entertainment Round-up!

 

I love a good Halloween special {not as much as I love a good Christmas special, but we're not quite there yet}.  When I was younger, I could watch a scary movie {or Unsolved Mysteries} in the dark, late at night, by myself...and love every second of it.  For some reason, the older I've gotten, the more of a scaredy-cat I've become ~ I haven't watched Scream in close to a decade, I haven't seen any of the Paranormal Activity flicks, and just the thought of Robert Stack's voice narrating those eerie Unsolved Mysteries sends chills up my spine.  But I still love some good, clean, family-friendly spooks ~ like the movies pictured above {well, admittedly, I haven't watched Double, Double, Toil and Trouble since the mid-90s ~ but it's still getting four- and five-star reviews on Amazon, so I guess the Olsen twins have still got it!}. I own Hocus Pocus and have watched it every single year since it came out; my heart skips a beat when any Charlie Brown seasonal special airs.  All of these DVDS, and more Halloween-y films for kids of all ages, are available on Amazon, some for only a few dollars.

If you don't feel like adding to your movie collection but still want to get into the spooky spirit of things, get ready to set your DVR.  Disney Channel's "Monstober" event has been going on all month, and includes Halloween specials of most of their hit shows and repeats from previous seasons ~ and Disney tends to air, and re-air, and re-air their shows, so catching a repeat of already-aired episodes shouldn't be a problem.  For the wee little ones,  Nick Jr's Halloween marathon starts on Monday October 24th at 9 a.m., with specials from Dora, Diego, Max & Ruby, and more.  And ABC Family's "13 Nights of Halloween" kicks off on October 19 and airs different features straight through Halloween night {see the line-up below}.

So rustle up some candy corn, fun-size chocolates, and any other ghoulish goods you can think of, and settle in for some eerie entertainment!

Boo! ;)

xoxo

Bean

Wednesday, October 19
Pretty Little Liars Marathon at 11a/10c - 8/7c
Pretty Little Liars Halloween Special at 8/7c

Thursday, October 20
Hocus Pocus at 9/8c

Friday, October 21
Beetlejuice at 9/8c

Saturday, October 22
The Addams Family at 8/7c

Sunday, October 23
Coraline Network Television Premiere at 8/7c

Monday, October 24
Melissa & Joey Halloween episode at 6/5c
Bewitched ABC Family Premiere at 6:30/5:30c

Tuesday, October 25
The Haunted Mansion at 7/6c

Wednesday, October 26
Disney/Pixar's Monsters Inc at 7/6c

Thursday, October 27
Scooby-Doo at 9/8c

Friday, October 28
The Addams Family at 7/6c

Saturday, October 29
Hocus Pocus at 8/7c

Sunday, October 30
Van Helsing at 8/7c

Monday, October 31
Casper at 7/6c

Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words

Jacqueline Kennedy: In Her Own Words airs tonight on ABC

I do love a fashion icon, especially one from the 1950s or 1960s.  I find the ladylike fashions {and manners} of this era gorgeous and inspiring.  One of the biggest American fashion icons ever, if not the biggest, was Miss Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis.  As First Lady in the early ‘60s, Jackie never took a fashion misstep.  From pillbox hats to pearls, and shift dresses to suits, she was always put together ~ the perfect politician’s wife.  Together with her husband, they became the closest thing America has ever had to our own royal family.  After the White House years, the widowed and remarried Jackie O continued to be a fashion inspiration, now in slim-fit t-shirts, tailored pants {skinny leg and flared}, glamorous head scarves, and of course, those sunglasses.

But Jackie Kennedy Onassis was more than just a fashion plate ~ most of us just never got to see the woman behind the couture.  Tonight, however, we are invited in Jackie’s private world, as ABC airs it’s two-hour special Jacqueline Kennedy:  in her own words.  We will hear for the first time about Jackie’s experiences in the White House, in Jackie’s voice.   Jackie recorded over eight hours worth of interview tapes several months after her husband’s death, and instructed that the tapes not be released until “the appropriate time”.   Her children, John Jr and Caroline, read transcripts of the death shortly after their mother’s death, and Caroline finally listened to the audio tapes recently.

In the tapes, Jackie talks with her interviewer about a range of topics, from what it was like to transition to the White House {she did not want to embarrass or disappoint her husband, and was thrilled for his sake when people took a liking to her}, to her husband's feelings about vice-president Lyndon Johnson {he wasn't a fan}, to their private conversations during the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis {she was determined to stand by her husband, literally and physically, in the event of a nuclear war; "...I just want to be with you, and I want to die with you, and the children do too ~ than live without you"}.

So I invite fans of fashion, politics, and history to watch with me tonight as the incomparable Diane Sawyer and ABC bring us “Jacqueline Kennedy: in her own words”.  Democrat or Republican, Kennedy fan or not, young or old ~ I think we are all about to become privy to some pretty fascinating information from the mouth and mind of one of our country’s most inspirational women.

xoxo
Bean

{photo credits: dailymischief.com; artinthedeal.blogspot.com; lvloves.blogspot.com; habituallychic.blogspot.com; just-chic.blogspot.com; thefashioncaucus.wordpress.com}