(2 of 2)
THE FRUGAL GOURMET CELEBRATES CHRISTMAS by Jeff Smith (Morrow; $25). "I love theology more than food," writes the renowned cookbook author and TV host, and this handsome, unconventional volume proves his point. There are plenty of recipes here, to be sure, many of them imaginatively linked to the traditional figures assembled in Nativity scenes: a flower salad for the Virgin Mary (don't include poinsettias, whose leaves are poisonous), unleavened brown bread for Joseph, milk and honey for the baby Jesus. But most of the nourishment is intended for the spirit, for those who remember Christmas as the most magical time of their childhoods. Even Dickens might wince at some of the sentiment, but the author's relentless cheer and moral uplift prove hard to resist.
TELEVISION
What do the networks want for Christmas? A new TV movie that will become an instant holiday classic. Among this year's crop of It's a Wonderful Life wannabes are CHRISTMAS ON DIVISION STREET (CBS, Dec. 15), starring Fred Savage as a teenager and Hume Cronyn as the homeless man he befriends, and IN THE NICK OF TIME (NBC, Dec. 16), in which Santa Claus (Lloyd Bridges) must scramble to find his replacement by Christmas Eve. Several new animated specials, meanwhile, are joining the seasonal evergreens. WINNIE THE POOH AND CHRISTMAS TOO (ABC, Dec. 14) features the familiar A.A. Milne characters, and A WISH FOR WINGS THAT WORK (CBS, Dec. 18) marks the TV debut of Opus and Bill from Berke Breathed's Bloom County comic strip. Most unusual holiday offering: LA PASTORELA (PBS, Dec. 23), a musical retelling of the shepherds' trip to Bethlehem, written and directed by Luis Valdez (La Bamba) and starring Linda Ronstadt, Paul Rodriguez and Cheech Marin. Most predictable: the headline guest on Bob Hope's annual Christmas special (NBC, Dec. 18) is Macaulay Culkin.
ETCETERA
VIENNA CHOIR BOYS. This indefatigable troupe, now nearly 500 years old, is again touring the U.S. with a holiday program. As always, the range is wide -- from Adeste, Fideles to a little-known one-act Mozart operetta -- and the musicianship remains high over the decades and generations. In Baltimore; Wilkes-Barre, Pa.; Allentown, Pa.; and New York City, all before Dec. 25.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL
You might think that movie versions, from the Alastair Sim classic to the George C. Scott made-for-TV stunner, would be enough to satisfy Americans' seasonal appetite for Dickens' tale of remorse and redemption. But just as The Nutcracker has become a box-office bonanza for countless ballet companies, Ebenezer Scrooge's journey from crotchets to Cratchits is now a yearly mainstay for about 40 of the nation's regional theaters and a few commercial venues. The shortest is probably the eight-minute skit, complete with onstage flying ghosts and horse-drawn carriage, presented each year as part of the Radio City Music Hall holiday revue in New York City. The most minimalist may be the solo version to be performed on Broadway by Patrick Stewart, Dec. 17-29. And surely the most provocative is Seattle Repertory Theater's Inspecting Carol, a satire about would-be censors of the arts, which depicts a troupe staging the Dickens story, yet also recalls Gogol's mordant The Government Inspector.