getTV DELIVERS A SLEIGHFUL OF FAVORITE YULETIDE FILMS, SPECIALS, AND SERIES IN THE 29-DAY “THE MOST WONDERFUL MONTH OF THE YEAR” PRIMETIME HOLIDAY EVENT, AIRING SUN., NOV. 27 THROUGH SUN, DEC. 25
The Lineup Includes Christmas Films Starring Patrick Stewart, Neil Patrick Harris, Naomi Judd, Roma Downey, Sammy Davis Jr., John Denver, Andy Griffith & More
Additionally, the Block will Feature Rare Christmas Variety Specials Featuring Cher, Mac Davis, Judy Garland, Perry Como, Johnny Cash, Andy Williams, & Bing Crosby, Among Others As Well as Holiday-Themed Episodes From TV Series Already in the getTV Lineup
CULVER CITY, CA – Monday, November 7, 2016 – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas on getTV, as the network celebrates the season with its second annual “The Most Wonderful Month of the Year” event. The channel turns over its daily schedule during primetime all month long in order to focus on a mixture of rare and classic Christmas-themed variety specials, TV series episodes, and films, starring some of entertainment’s biggest names, from Sunday, November 27 through Sunday, December 25, culminating in a weeklong 24-hour-a-day yuletide mega-marathon kicking off at 12 noon on Sunday, December 18 and running through Christmas day.
“The Most Wonderful Month of the Year” event launches at the tail end of the Thanksgiving weekend at 7:50 p.m. ET on Sunday, November 27 with getTV’s network premiere of 1998’s “The Christmas Wish”, starring Neil Patrick Harris as a young man who sets out to grant his grandmother’s (Debbie Reynolds) wish in THE CHRISTMAS WISH, which also features an early appearance by Naomi Watts. Then, at 10 p.m. ET, the network celebrates the holiday magic of Perry Como, with the first of four weeks of Sunday night Como specials, PERRY COMO’S CHRISTMAS IN PARIS (1982), with Angie Dickinson. Subsequent Sundays will feature holiday movies in the afternoon and early evening, followed at 10 p.m. ET by additional Como specials: PERRY COMO’S EARLY AMERICAN CHRISTMAS (Dec. 4) filmed in Colonial Williamsburg in 1978 with John Wayne and Diana Canova; PERRY COMO’S CHRISTMAS IN AUSTRIA (Dec. 11) from 1976, boasting timeless songs from THE SOUND OF MUSIC; and PERRY COMO’S CHRISTMAS IN THE HOLY LAND (Dec. 18), where Como is joined by Richard Chamberlain in 1980 for a journey to the land of the origins of Christmas. None of the classic Como specials, which annually took viewers on a holiday vacation to an exotic locale, have been broadcast since their initial telecasts in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
On Mondays, getTV remains the home for the best in classic ‘variety’ show entertainment with three hours of back-to-back seasonal spectacle and song. All month long, in addition to returning Christmas specials and episodes from THE SONNY AND CHER COMEDY HOUR, THE ANDY WILLIAMS SHOW, and THE JUDY GARLAND SHOW, getTV rediscovers hours from CHER (Dec. 5 at 8 p.m. ET), with music icon Cher and comedy legend Redd Foxx; THE JOHNNY CASH CHRISTMAS SHOW (Dec. 5 at 9 p.m. ET), filmed live in Nashville in 1977 with his wife June Carter Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Clark, Roy Orbison, and The Statler Brothers; and, from 1983, THE MAC DAVIS SPECIAL: THE MUSIC OF CHRISTMAS (Dec. 12 at 9 p.m. ET), where country singer/songwriter Mac Davis joins with Gladys Knight and The Pips, Barbara Mandrell, and Ronnie Milsap. Newly uncovered Christmas episodes of THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW feature holiday legends Rosemary Clooney and Danny Kaye (Nov. 28 at 10 p.m. ET) and Mel Tormé (Dec. 5 at 10 p.m. ET).
Tuesday evenings will highlight back-to-back holiday episodes of getTV’s latest acquisitions, THE JEFF FOXWORTHY SHOW, co-starring Haley Joel Osment, and THE BILL ENGVALL SHOW, co-starring Jennifer Lawrence, followed each week by a classic Christmas film. And Wednesdays, as part of the channel’s “Get Lost in TV” block, will feature Christmas-specific episodes of rare and classic television series, including a unique evening of ‘action/crime’ Christmas episodes from THE EQUALIZER, HARDCASTLE AND MCCORMICK, RIPTIDE, and more (Nov. 30), an evening of yuletide Westerns featuring THE RESTLESS GUN, CIMARRON CITY, THE TALL MAN, and more (Dec. 7) and a night featuring back-to-back holiday hours of IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (Dec. 14).
The festivities continue every Thursday evening with a combo night of an hour-long variety special at 8 p.m. ET, followed by a festive film at 9 p.m. ET. Then, on Fridays, settle in for a Christmas double feature of perfectly matched movies, starting on Dec. 2 with 2000’s ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS at 8 p.m. ET and its 2001 sequel TWICE UPON A CHRISTMAS at 10:00 p.m. ET, both starring Kathy Ireland and John Dye; and, on Saturdays, kick off getTV’s successful Westerns block each week with Christmas-themed classic Western TV episodes, starting at 7 p.m. ET. Then, the month culminates beginning Sunday, December 18 at 12 noon ET, when getTV erases its entire normal schedule of classic series and movies through Christmas day to present a non-stop mix of musical variety, movies and classic TV episodes that will incorporate all of its holiday programming inventory and serve as the perfect backdrop for its viewers’ holiday preparations and festivities.
“Following the tremendous success of last year’s holiday programming on getTV, we’re excited to take this year’s lineup to a whole new level, celebrating Christmas for 29 days straight,” said Jeff Meier, SVP of Programming, getTV. “We’re proud to be broadcast TV’s home for the holidays, featuring warm-hearted films with favorite stars such as Andy Griffith, John Denver, Della Reese and Roma Downey alongside specials with such Christmas icons as Bing Crosby, Andy Williams, Perry Como and Johnny Cash. It’s all a perfect Christmas time capsule, packed with unforgettable holiday moments that many of our viewers remember fondly, but haven’t been able to see for a long time.”
Additional variety specials appearing in this year’s “The Most Wonderful Month of the Year” event include CHRISTMAS WITH DANNY KAYE, with Peggy Lee and Wayne Newton; BING CROSBY AND THE SOUNDS OF CHRISTMAS, with Robert Goulet, CHRISTMAS WITH THE KING FAMILY, starring America’s first family of song; THE MITZI GAYNOR CHRISTMAS SHOW, with Ed McMahon, PERRY COMO’S CHRISTMAS SHOW, with The Carpenters and Peggy Fleming, and additional episodes of THE MERV GRIFFIN SHOW, one featuring Florence Henderson, Barbara McNair, and another featuring then child stars Kim Richards and Rodney Allen Rippy, among others.
“The Most Wonderful Month of the Year” event also features festive films, highlighted by Naomi Judd as a music teacher who falls for the man sent to shut down her school in A SONG FOR THE SEASON, with Andy Griffith and Gerald McRaney; fan-favorite Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Charles Dickens staple A CHRISTMAS CAROL; Cicely Tyson as a social worker who helps a widower adopt a son in THE KID WHO LOVED CHRISTMAS, with Vanessa Williams, Della Reese, and Sammy Davis Jr. in his last big screen appearance; Kris Kristofferson and Kim Cattrall as settlers who share the gospel with their captors in the 1991 Western MIRACLE IN THE WILDERNESS; Patricia Heaton as a reporter racing to find a runaway boy in A TOWN WITHOUT CHRISTMAS, with Ernie Hudson and Peter Falk; and 1951’s THE LEMON DROP KID with Bob Hope, which introduced the world to the holiday standard ‘Silver Bells,’ originally written for the movie.
Other films playing throughout the month include I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS with Ann Jillian, Jack Palance and Robert Hays; MS. SCROOGE with Cicely Tyson and Katherine Helmond; THE SONS OF MISTLETOE with Roma Downey; IT NEARLY WASN’T CHRISTMAS with Charles Durning; CHRISTMAS IN CONNECTICUT with Dyan Cannon; THE CHRISTMAS GIFT with John Denver; THE THREE KINGS with Lou Diamond Phillips; FATHER KNOWS BEST: HOME FOR CHRISTMAS with Robert Young and Jane Wyatt; MR. SOFT TOUCH with Glenn Ford; and THE CHRISTMAS STALLION with Daniel J. Travanti.
For a complete schedule of holiday programming and times, visit www.get.tv/schedule or click on this link for the Christmas calendar. In addition to airing these shows on the dates noted above, some of the programs mentioned are scheduled for further broadcasts throughout the month. (See listings for further details.)