THE TV COLUMN

TBS unwraps 24 hours of A Christmas Story

It’s Christmas Eve and you know what that means - 24 hours of A Christmas Story!

The TBS tradition begins at 7 p.m. today. The film repeats every two hours with the last showing beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday. How many times can you watch before you have all the dialogue memorized?

Between TNT and TBS, it’s the 17th annual edition of the Christmas Story marathon, and the 30th anniversary of the beloved movie based on the short stories of humorist Jean Shepherd.

Shepherd narrates the film. He also co-wrote the script based on his own childhood experiences growing up in Hammond, Ind.

The film follows the mischievous adventures of young Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley) who desperately, longingly, fervently wants a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.

Seriously. Ralphie really, really wants the BB gun and is determined to convince his parents (played by Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin) that he is mature enough to handle such a gift, despite everyone telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

The film also stars Ian Petrella as Ralphie’s little brother, Randy, and Scott Schwartz as Ralphie’s friend, Flick, who gets his tongue frozen to a metal flagpole in one of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

I triple-dog-dare you not to laugh out loud.

And what red-blooded American male has not yearned for his very own leg lamp after watching the movie?

“Fruh-GEE-lee. It must be Italian,” Ralphie’s dad says when the large crate marked “Fragile” arrives at the house. Inside was the most magnificent lamp in the world. The lamp was “a major award.”

Once plugged in, “The lamp blazed forth in unparalleled glory.”

Here are some fun facts as supplied by TBS.

A Christmas Story was shot on location in Cleveland, although some scenes were filmed in Canada.

The residents of Cleveland were apparently so entranced with the movie, many local auto club members donated the use of their antique cars to help portray the movie’s 1940s setting. As a tribute to the city, the producers named the street the movie family lived on Cleveland Street.

In an E! Entertainment poll, A Christmas Story was selected as the No. 1 holiday movie of all time.

Memorabilia connected to A Christmas Story is popular and widely available, including replicas of the famed leg lamp and the official Daisy Red Ryder Range Model 1938 BB gun in exclusive retro box.

Billingsley (who’s 42 now) continues to act in movies. He has also become a successful producer, with such credits as Iron Man and Four Christmases. Billingsley and producing partner Vince Vaughn serve as executive producers on the TBS sitcom Sullivan and Son.

In October, Hammond unveiled a $40,000 bronze statue depicting the famous frozen flagpole scene. Schwartz, who is 45 now, was on hand for the occasion.

The Christmas Story marathon is one of the most popular holiday programming events on cable. Last year, the marathon averaged 3 million viewers, with a total accumulated audience of 48.8 million viewers over the 24 hours.

There you have it. Bundle up in your pink bunny suit pajamas, relax and watch away. It’s OK to take a break after eight or nine airings.

MORE MARATHONS

As does most of regular programming, The TV Column will be taking a few days off until next year. So, here is a good place to tell you about some other TV marathons coming up.

Syfy autopilot. A series of Christmas and winter-themed films will take care of the Christmas lineup on Syfy from 8 a.m. Wednesday to 2 a.m. Thursday. Examples: Snowmageddon, Ice Quake, Snow Beast and Yeti.

Nothing says “Christmas” like 2011’s Snowmageddon with its deadly mystical snow globe.

Syfy’s Being Human Season 3 marathon will run Monday from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m. Tuesday. Being Human Season 4 debuts at 8 p.m. Jan. 13.

Syfy’s annual Twilight Zone marathon begins at 7 a.m. New Year’s Eve and concludes at 3:30 a.m. New Year’sDay. Somewhere, Rod Serling is smiling.

Overkill? Nah. Warm up the DVR! AMC will air two back-to-back marathons of its Emmy Award-winning original dramas Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead starting Friday.

A four-day Breaking Bad marathon kicks off at 11 a.m. each day from Friday through Monday. It will feature every single episode in the series. What a deal.

On New Year’s Eve, a two day Walking Dead marathon begins with the pilot at 8 a.m. Episodes will air back to back in chronological order until 4 a.m. Jan. 2.

Watch all that and your brain will be fried.

This is an outstanding opportunity to catch up with The Walking Dead. The poignant study on the human condition (forget all the gore) is the highest-rated series in the history of cable television. The first eight episodes of the current fourth season averaged 13 million viewers.

The Walking Dead will return for the second half of Season 4 at 8 p.m. Feb. 9.

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Style, Pages 30 on 12/24/2013

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