ALL TIMES ARE EST UNLESS NOTED CHECK LOCAL LISTINGS. - - - - - - - - - - - - RECENTLY IN BLUE GLOW R.I.P. Chris Farley (12/19/97) "Daily Show's" Kilborn has a big mouth (12/18/97) - - - - - - - - - - - - ENTERTAINMENT THIS WEEK The year in TV 10 highs and lows on the small screen The year in film Charles Taylor finds a few shining glories in a lackluster year - - - - - - - - - - - - M O V I E S The Sweet Hereafter Mysterious beauty in the ultimate loss Jackie Brown Tarantino's valentine to Pam Grier As Good as it Gets Jack Nicholson's grubby fairy tale - - - - - - - - - - - - RECENTLY A full list of recent reviews, interviews and table talk. - - - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE MOVIE ARCHIVES TV ARCHIVES

blue glow SALON'S TV PICKS FOR WED., DEC. 24-THURS., DEC 25 BY JOYCE MILLMAN S P E C I A L S Last call for How the Grinch Stole Christmas (8:05 p.m. Wed., TBS). Todd Eldredge and Elvis Stojko are among the competitors in the men's division of the Skate International Champions Final (8 p.m. Wed., Fox). Pope John Paul II celebrates midnight mass in Christmas Eve at St. Peter's (11:35 p.m. Wed., NBC). Bill Pullman, Penelope Ann Miller, Nathan Lane, Sally Field and Martin Landau perform the 1947 Lux Radio play Merry Christmas, George Bailey (8 p.m. Thurs., PBS) for a TV audience. You know it better as "It's a Wonderful Life." M O V I E S Do you like A Christmas Story (8 p.m. Wed., TNT)? I mean really like it? Then you're in luck! TNT is running the 1983 comedy about a boy who wants a BB gun from Santa for 24 hours straight. Really. Bing Crosby sings "White Christmas" in 1942's Holiday Inn (7 p.m. Wed., American Movie Classics). It's not really a Christmas movie but it's about over-indulgence: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (7 p.m. Wed., USA). ABC dusts off the 1962 classic To Kill a Mockingbird (8 p.m. Thurs., ABC) for a special Christmas showing. Gregory Peck won an Academy Award for his portrayal of a lawyer who defies the bigotry of a small Southern town to defend a black man accused of rape. S P O R T S NBA: Rockets at Jazz (3 p.m. Thurs., NBC); Heat at Bulls (5:30 p.m. Thurs., NBC). Golf: Tiger and Friends (1 p.m. Thurs., CBS) is a celebrity round hosted by Tiger Woods. Actor Chris O'Donnell and Ken Griffey Jr. are among the field. College football: The Blue-Gray All-Star Classic (Noon Thurs., ABC); Aloha Bowl (3:30 p.m. Thurs., ABC): Washington vs. Michigan State. S E R I E S Dateline NBC (10 p.m. Wed., NBC) has a Christmas Eve special with (of course) the Iowa septuplets. PrimeTime Live (10 p.m. Wed., ABC) looks back at stories covered in the past year. In case you missed it last Sunday, Fox is rerunning the Christmas episode of King of the Hill (8 p.m. Thurs., Fox), with Tammy Wynette as the voice of Hank's mother. Seinfeld (9 p.m. Thurs., NBC) reruns a funny episode where George goes to work for his father, Jerry lets out his emotions (it's not pretty) and Elaine is hit on by a Bar Mitzvah boy and a rabbi. Blue Glow returns Monday, Jan. 5, 1998. Happy Festivus, one and all! SALON | Dec. 24, 1997

Blue Glow for < href="/ent/glow/1997/12/23glow.html">Tuesday, Dec. 23, 1997

ILLUSTRATION BY CATERINA FAKE