THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 16, 1995 TAG: 9512140036
SECTION: TELEVISION WEEK PAGE: 1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
Television Columnist
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
WHILE FLYING HOME to Los Angeles from Norfolk about a year ago, producer Beth Polson read a book called ``The Christmas Box'' about a man haunted by dreams about a ``stone angel.'' With the angel's help, husband and father Richard Paul Evans discovers which gift should be No. 1 on everyone's Christmas list.
Polson, a former reporter for this newspaper who hails from nearby Gates County, N.C., has adapted Evans' book into a two-hour production for the ``CBS Sunday Movie'' Sunday at 9 p.m. ``The Christmas Box'' cast includes Maureen O'Hara, Richard Thomas and Annette O'Toole.
Polson, a three-time Emmy winner, heads up a company that makes TV films with the look and feel of quality - good stories well told by fine actors in wonderful settings. ``The Christmas Box'' is vintage Polson.
The story in a nutshell: Thomas, playing Evans, moves into a fabulous mansion with his wife (O'Toole) and 5-year-old daughter (Kelsey Mulrooney) to look after an ailing widow in her 70s (O'Hara). Evans has to learn the lesson that family comes before business, and with the help of the angel and O'Hara, he comes to appreciate his wife and daughter.
There's a little mystery in the plot to keep viewers interested. What are the secrets of the handsome Christmas box that Evans finds in the attic of the great house? And Polson adds a bit of fantasy, too.
``I'd love to see Maureen O'Hara emerge from this with an Emmy nomination,'' said Polson. ``She is such a professional.'' And she looks great.
Ater you've watched ``The Christmas Box,'' you're likely to be asking where producer Polson found such a magnificent house in which to set the story. The estate with the enormous attic in Pasadena, Calif., once belonged to a silver magnate. Polson shot the entire film there, built no studio sets.
While we are in the Christmas spirit, let's consider several other holiday programs in the week to come.
The Nashville Network on Wednesday night at 8 presents ``A Wrangler Cowboy Christmas.'' Charlie Daniels and Chris LeDoux bring on the holidays with the help of rodeo cowboys at a ranch in Mt. Juliet, Tenn. A&E on Sunday at 8 p.m. puts on ``Holiday at Pops'' - the Boston Symphony in a joyous concert with young Keith Lockhart conducting. The Disney Channel on Sunday at 9 runs the Harry Connick Jr. Christmas special, which is Cajun Christmas N'awlins style.
Christmas is a holiday for all the senses. What's that baking in the oven? Smells great. The Learning Channel on Sunday at 1 p.m. takes you into the kitchens of gourmet chefs Craig Claiborne and Paul Prudhomme for Christmas feasts prepared in the Southern tradition in ``New Southern Cooking's Christmas Special.'' Steamed watercress. Yummy.
The A&E ``Biography'' series on Friday at 8 p.m. gives an hour to the man who practically invented Christmas. ``Charles Dickens: A Tale of Ambition and Genius.'' What's a Christmas without Pooh? CBS on Thursday night at 8 p.m. airs ``Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too.'' Pooh plays Santa and goofs it up. On ``Ellen'' on ABC Wednesday night at 8, Ellen DeGeneres gets an unexpected gift from her parents - a burial plot. Happy holidays, Ellen.
While it's not exactly a Christmas special, the Cinemax presentation, ``The Gospel According to Jesus,'' is uplifting programming, to be sure. The producers put a simple idea at work here - travel 10,000 miles across the U.S. and ask people of all ages and walks of life to read The Word out loud. It premieres on Wednesday at 8 p.m.
Other specials of note in the week ahead include one with just about everything you ever wanted to know about the one-eyed god we worship so faithfully. I'm talking about television, which The Learning Channel covers completely, from the mechanics of the thing to the programming new and old, in ``Understanding Television'' on Wednesday at 9 p.m.
How do they get the pictures to fly through the air and into the 1 billion TV sets in use worldwide? TLC knows and TLC tells. TV as a concept has been around since 1886 or just a couple of years before Uncle Miltie. Before satellites, cable and VCRs, there was Milton Berle.
Another neat special from TLC: ``Human Beings: Blue Jeans.'' If ``Understanding Television'' is almost everything you wanted to know about TV, this special (Saturday night at 10) is the same deal with denim. Levi Strauss started the jeans' madness in 1873 when he created long-wearing, riveted overalls for gold miners.
And aren't we glad he did?
This is the time of the year when many fret most about the homeless including the panhandlers. Should we be that concerned? Why do the beggars beg? The PBS ``Frontline'' series supplies some answers in ``The Begging Game'' airing on Tuesday at 10 p.m.. . . Two specials for animal lovers: James Brolin on ``ABC's World of Discovery'' introduces us to creatures who weigh 150 tons and have the loudest voices. ``Blue Whale: Largest Animal on Earth'' airs Thursday night at 8. On Wednesday night at 8, PBS presents ``On a Wing and a Prayer,'' a ``New Explorers'' documentary about the decline in the numbers of North American songbirds. Is man to blame? Is it something called ``brood parasitism''?. . . Christine Elise, who's new to ``ER,'' and makes the fan mags a lot because she's Jason Priestley's main squeeze, hosts a show about what's hot in fashion and entertainment on E! ``US Magazine's Hot Zone'' debuts Sunday night at 9. Lisa Kudrow of ``Friends'' shops at her favorite boutiques. Sharon Stone talks shoes. Cindy Crawford poses. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
Richard Thomas stars with Maureen O'Hara, Annette O'Toole and little
Kelsey Mulrooney in "The Christmas Box," which airs Sunday night at
9 on CBS.
Bill Kurtis examines a Kentucky Warbler on ``The New Explorers with
Bill Kuris, On a Wing and a Prayer,'' which airs Wednesday night at
8 on PBS.
by CNB