December 24th

Tonight is Christmas Eve. In recent years a new holiday tradition has emerged, the 24 hour marathon showing of 1983's "A Christmas Story" on cable TV. I saw this film, based on humorist Jean Shepard's childhood recollections, when it first premiered in theaters, and like other well known films (The Wizard of Oz, Fantasia, It's a Wonderful Life, etc.) it was a box office flop and only became a classic after repeated showings on TV. Now, people couldn't imagine a Christmas without seeing it on TV.

My personal favorite Christmas film is 1989's "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" starring Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold dealing with crazy relatives visiting for the holidays (including his Cousin Eddie.) I laugh every time I see it.

This year, a commercial has been produced on TV using a video clip from the internet of a little boy and his sister overly excited about receiving a gift. This ubiquitous ad has become onre of those instant classics, and people either love it or hate it. (I know my four year old stops to watch it every time it comes on.)

Today I'm writing to some of the stars (and the director) of A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, and to the little boy (now 17 years old) from the Christmas video.

Bob Clark

Peter Billingsley

Ian Petrella

Scott Schwartz

Zack Ward

Randy Quaid

Branon Kuzma