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Viewers Can Feast On Holiday Goodies Including Film Starring June Lockhart

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

If for no other reason, check out "Holiday in Handcuffs" to see how June Lockhart is holding up at age 87.

We have already seen a spry 90-year-old Ernest Borgnine in "A Grandpa for Christmas" on the Hallmark Channel. It repeats at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Lockhart, who is best remembered as a beloved TV mom on "Lassie" and "Lost in Space," plays a grandmother in "Holiday in Handcuffs."

This new movie, starring Melissa Joan Hart and Mario Lopez, debuts at 8 p.m. Sunday on ABC Family as part of the network's "25 Days of Christmas."

Markie Post, another name from the past ("Night Court"), plays Hart's mother.

Hart is also a part of TV history having grown up on-screen, first as the title character in "Clarissa Explains It All" and then as "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch."

In "Holiday," Hart plays Trudie, an aspiring artist who is working as a waitress. She hasn't started a career or a family, so she's a disappointment to her parents.

After losing out on a "real" job and getting dumped by a boyfriend, she suffers a nervous breakdown and kidnaps a stranger (Mario Lopez) to bring home for Christmas and pass off as "the one."

You can guess how this one ends before it starts.

Here are some other holiday TV treats:

•"Rachael Ray's Holiday Feast" serves up some edible goodies at 9 tonight on the Food Network.

•"A Carol Christmas," at 9 tonight on the Hallmark Channel, is a 2003 TV movie starring Tori Spelling as a modern-day female Scrooge. Look for Gary Coleman as the ghost of Christmas past.

•"National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," at 9 p.m. Thursday on TBS, stars Chevy Chase in one of the funniest holiday films.

•"Frosty the Snowman," at 8 p.m. Friday on ABC, features Jimmy Durante narrating the story of that "jolly happy soul." It's followed at 8:30 by "Frosty Returns."

•"The Polar Express," at 8 p.m. Friday on ABC Family, is an animated adventure about doubting children who go on a wild train ride to the North Pole.

•"Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas," at 8 p.m. Saturday on ABC, is the 2000 live-action version, starring Jim Carrey.

•"I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown," at 8 p.m. Monday on ABC, is a1993 Peanuts Christmas special centering on the antics of Snoopy.

•"What's With That Decked Out Christmas House?" at 9 p.m. Sunday on HGTV, takes viewers inside those decorated neighborhood homes that stand out thanks to extreme decorations.

•"White Christmas," at 8 p.m. Monday on MyNetworkTV (WTTA, Channel 38), stars Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye in the 1954 classic.

•"Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too!" at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday on ABC, finds Pooh and Piglet playing Santa with expectedly comical results.

For more on holiday viewing, go to TBO.com, keyword: Holiday TV.

"LAW & ORDER" RETURNS: NBC is bringing back "Law & Order" to Wednesday nights beginning Jan. 2. The long-running crime drama has been on hiatus this fall. NBC had originally planned to bring it back on Sunday nights following the NFL season. The writers strike may have influenced the change of plans.

"Law & Order" will return with a two-hour special beginning at 9 p.m. Jan. 2. The following week, it will run in the 10 p.m. slot. That same week, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will air at 9 p.m. Wednesdays. These will be reruns of the "Criminal Intent" episodes that have been shown on the NBC-owned USA network this fall.

NBC did not disclose what will happen to the "Bionic Woman," which has been airing at 9 p.m. Wednesdays. Also unclear is the fate of "Life," which normally airs at 10 p.m. Wednesdays. "Life" probably will move to Mondays at 10.

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