CBS (Monday, Dec. 17, 8 p.m. ET)
Simply wonderful. George C. Scott makes an eminently believable Ebenezer Scrooge in this faithful, umpteenth remake of Dickens' seasonal story. When he growls "Humbug!" you want to take down the Christmas tree, put away the wreath, forget the whole thing. That's what makes his conversion to humanity all the more heartwarming and uplifting: If a bunch of ghosts and spirits can make this Scrooge into a decent person, they must be doing something right. The cast is rounded out with some equally heavy talent: Roger (Nicholas Nickleby) Rees as Scrooge's nephew, David (Time Bandits) Warner as Bob Cratchit, Susannah (Tom Jones) York as Mrs. Cratchit, Edward (Breaker Morant) Woodward as the Ghost of Christmas Present. And the production is meticulously designed and photographed; it is lush and lovely. This will become a classic rendition of the classic tale, one that deserves to be rerun for many Christmases to come.
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