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Beasts, Beauty Of National Parks Inspire Must-See Holiday Decor At White House

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By WALT BELCHER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2007

You know Rudolph and Frosty, Charlie Brown and the Grinch, Little Ralphie and George Bailey, but do you recall one of the best holiday shows of all?

HGTV's annual "White House Christmas" should be included on the must-see holiday programs list. The 2007 edition airs at 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

This marks the 10th year that the home and garden network has taken us behind the scenes at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., which gets all decked out in impressive splendor (or excessive splendor, depending on your viewpoint).
First lady Laura Bush picked the theme, "Holiday in the National Parks," and she shows off the woodland finery to host Sabrina Soto of HGTV's "Get It Sold."

"White House Christmas" is always impressive because of the sheer volume of the decorating, which includes an 18-foot-high Fraser fir in the Blue Room adorned with 347 ornaments representing the nation's flora and fauna. It's one of 33 decorated trees on the grounds.

Then there are the 20,000 cookies that the White House staff baked in various woodsy shapes: pine cones, acorns, elm leaves, bears, wolves, eagles, mountain lions, roadrunners and Barney and Miss Beazley (the Bushes' dogs).

There are 332 wreaths, 862 feet of garland and a monster gingerbread house created from the White House's original blueprints from 1800. Taking approximately three weeks to create, the house is made from 80 pounds of gingerbread, 30 pounds of chocolate and 20 pounds of marzipan.

Other decorations include a model of North Carolina's Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, a painting of Arizona's Grand Canyon National Park and a terra-cotta replica of Mount Rushmore.

TONIGHT'S CHEER: The networks are fast running out of original episodes, and among the programs that are not reruns tonight is a Christmas episode of my favorite comedy, "30 Rock," on NBC.

The staff of "The Girlie Show With Tracy Jordan" holds its annual "Ludachristmas" party, and Liz (Tina Fey) has to face a visit from her ever-cheerful parents, Dick (Buck Henry) and Margaret (Anita Gillette).

Also tagging along is her 40-year-old brother, Mitch (Andy Richter), who suffers from memory loss because of a skiing accident and thinks he's a 17-year-old high school senior.

Elaine Stritch guest stars as NBC executive Jack Donaghy's (Alec Bald-

win) feisty, cranky mother, Colleen, who is out to ruin Christmas for her son and everyone else within range.

Stritch won an Emmy for best guest star in a comedy for her debut as this character last season.

Also new tonight is "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" on CBS with a story that seems to have been inspired by a football star who got involved with dog fighting.

"Saturday Night Live Christmas," at 9:30 tonight on NBC, strings together gags that date to the good ol' days of the Not Ready for Prime Time Players. Viewers may get to see a younger Baldwin if the special includes the 1999 holiday skit where Baldwin as Pete Schweddy introduces his Christmas Schweddy Balls to the NPR ladies, Margaret Jo McCullen and Teri Rialto.

HAPPY FEAT: Those four zany penguins from the animated "Madagascar" films are coming to Nickelodeon. The kid-friendly network has signed a deal with DreamWorks to develop a series, probably for debut in early 2009.

BET STARS: Cast members from the BET reality series "College Hill Interns" are coming to Tampa for a fundraiser to promote AIDS awareness.

They will be appearing at the Home for the Holidays event at 9 p.m. Friday at Studio Inc., 3603 Waters Ave. The event is sponsored by the Tampa AIDS Network and Sisters Informing Sisters. There is an admission charge of $10.

Spearheading the event is Ivy Box, a Tampa resident and one of the cast members of "College Hill Interns." The series follows 10 college-educated strangers on their summer internship program in Chicago. For information, call (941) 685-1783.

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