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Alas, Christmas
with the Griswolds

AMC launches a five-day marathon of the movie

By Louisa Ada Seltzer
Nov 30, 2009

If there's one modern Christmas movie that deserves to join the ranks of classics like "Miracle on 34th Street" and "It's a Wonderful Life," it's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation," the story of Griswold family dysfunction that anyone who's ever endured a houseful of holiday guests can relate to.

"Vacation" takes its official place among the classics tonight at 8 p.m., when AMC begins a five-night marathon, airing the 1989 movie every weeknight this week.

"Vacation" is the third Griswold movie, following "National Lampoon's Vacation" and "National Lampoon's European Vacation." It stars Chevy Chase as Clark, a father who is always pushing to give his family the perfect holiday, whether it's a trip to Wally World, a tour of Europe or, in this case, a traditional Christmas.

It never works out as planned, of course. From the lights that won't light up to the white trash in-laws camping out in the front yard to the tree that catches on fire, anything that can go wrong does, and Chase is at his over-the-top best as each disaster mounts.

"Vacation" probably won't draw huge ratings, airing opposite "Monday Night Football" and Fox's "House," but it should help AMC as a branding gimmick that can grow over time, much as TBS's annual 24-hour marathon of "A Christmas Story" has become a holiday tradition.

Perhaps most importantly, "Vacation" rings in four weeks' worth of holiday specials, with an especially heavy helping over the next three days.

"Vacation" airs opposite "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" and "Shrek the Halls" on ABC. Tomorrow ABC Family kicks off "The 25 Days of Christmas," and CBS has "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" on Wednesday.

A look at this week’s top TV draws
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 30
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	“How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (A)	There will be plenty of these specials airing over the next month.
8 p.m.	Fox	“House” (D)	Wilson bets House over his friend’s potential cancer relapse.
8:30 p.m.	ESPN	“Monday Night Football” (S)	Could be another highly rated NFL game between the Patriots and the undefeated Saints.
9 p.m.	CW	“Gossip Girl” (D)	A Thanksgiving episode, “Gossip Girl” style. And we thought they didn't do leftovers on the Upper East Side.
9 p.m.	VH1	“For the Love of Ray J” (R)	The girls get catty with the one they think Ray likes best.
10 p.m.	Lifetime	“Rita Rocks” (C)	Rita feels insecure when she meets a colleague of Jay’s.
11:35 p.m.	NBC	“The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien” (T)	Actor William Shatner guests.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Be sure to call your mother—or grandmother, for that matter: Barry Manilow performs.
7 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Wake Forest takes on Purdue in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
8 p.m.	NBC	“The Biggest Loser” (R)	The contestants are forced to run a full marathon.
8 p.m.	Fox	“So You Think You Can Dance” (R)	The final 10 dancers perform.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Scrubs” (C)	Season premiere. J.D., Turk, Cox, Kelso and Denise take medical school teaching jobs.
10 p.m.	CBS	“Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show” (A)	Heidi Klum hosts and the Black Eyes Peas perform.
10 p.m.	FX	“Sons of Anarchy” (D)	Season finale. SAMCRO tries to finish of Ethan and his crew.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 2
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	CBS	“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” (A)	The beloved 1964 special makes its annual return.
8 p.m.	Fox	“So You Think You Can Dance” (R)	The final 10 turn into the final eight after two are bounced.
8 p.m.	Versus	“Boxing” (S)	Bernard Hopkins takes on Enrique Ornelas in Philadelphia.
9 p.m.	CBS	“Grammy Nominations Concert Live!” (A)	LL Cool J hosts the Grammy nomination celebration.
9 p.m.	Fox	“Glee” (C)	A tight budget at school means no yearbook photo for the glee club.
9:30 p.m.	ESPN	“College Basketball” (S)	Duke versus Wisconsin in more Big Ten/ACC play.
10 p.m.	FX	“Nip/Tuck” (D)	Christian consults with a friend of Liz's, then rethinks his relationship with Kimber.
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	ABC	“FlashForward” (D)	Mark and Demetri head to Hong Kong to find a woman who may know the fate of Demetri.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Bones” (D)	Brennan and Booth look into the killing of a competitive gamer.
9 p.m.	NBC	“The Office” (C)	Jim tries to start an employee-of-the-month program.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Private Practice” (D)	The first of back-to-back episodes has Addison impressing her dad after a tough surgery.
9 p.m.	Comedy Central	“The Jeff Dunham Show” (C)	Peanut wants to hire a dance crew for the show.
9 p.m.	ESPN	“College Football” (S)	The annual Civil War game between Oregon and Oregon State.
10 p.m.	Bravo	“The Real Housewives of Orange County” (R)	Vicki tries to find someone for her daughter to date.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4
Time	Network	Program	Description
7 a.m.	NBC	“Today” (N)	Acting legend Robert De Niro guests.
8 p.m.	CBS	“Ghost Whisperer” (D)	A high-school-aged ghost tells Melinda a policeman murdered him.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Dollhouse” (D)	Two hours of the show can only mean one thing: burnoff time.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Ugly Betty” (D)	Shakira guests as the Mode staff heads to the Bahamas.
9 p.m.	USA	“Monk” (D)	Series finale. Monk tries to finally find Trudy’s killer.
10 p.m.	CBS	“Numb3rs” (D)	Henry Winkler guests as an FBI agent.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5
Time	Network	Program	Description
12:30 p.m.	CBS	“College Basketball” (S)	Good early-season game between North Carolina and Kentucky.
4 p.m.	CBS	“College Football” (S)	Alabama versus Florida for the SEC title, with the winner likely headed to the BCS championship game.
8 p.m.	Fox	“Cops” (R)	Cops in Vegas deal with a man who thinks the police are out to get him.
8 p.m.	ABC	“College Football” (S)	The Big 12 championship game between Nebraska and Texas.
9 p.m.	Food Network	“Guy’s Disney Holiday” (A)	Guy Fieri takes a look at Disneyland during the holidays.
10 p.m.	CBS	“48 Hours Mystery” (N)	The case of a young father who went missing in a small town.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6
Time	Network	Program	Description
8 p.m.	Fox	“BCS Selection Show” (S)	The participants in the BCS title game and Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and Rose Bowls are revealed.
8:15 p.m.	NBC	“NFL Football” (S)	A battle between to aging quarterbacks: Favre and the Vikings and Warner and the Cardinals.
9 p.m.	ABC	“Desperate Housewives” (D)	A plane crashes and endangers lives on Wisteria Lane. (Wait, isn't sweeps over?)
9 p.m.	Showtime	“Dexter” (D)	Debra is close to breaking open the Trinity Killer case.
10 p.m.	ABC	“Brothers & Sisters” (D)	Justin and Rebecca’s wedding plans are still up in the air.
10 p.m.	Biography	“Shatner’s Raw Nerve” (T)	Season premiere Shatner welcomes Rush Limbaugh.
10 p.m.	E!	“The Girls Next Door” (R)	Hef’s new girls throw a baby shower for Kendra.
A = awards show or special, C = comedy, D = drama, DD = daytime drama, G = game show, K = kids, M = movie, N = news/documentary, R = reality, S = sports, T = talk/variety show.