In 1980, I got to spend the entire day all by myself at Disney World in Orlando, Fla. Although I was a well-grown man, I’m not too proud to admit I spent most of the time exploring the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse in Adventureland.
Those who recall Disney’s 1960 film will know what a marvel that creation was. I saw the film when I was 12 and wanted desperately to live in a treehouse just like that.
Who doesn’t love a treehouse? They speak to the inner kid in all of us, especially when they are as elaborate as the Robinsons’. The attraction closed in 1999, I’m told, to be replaced by Tarzan’s Treehouse. I’m sure it’s equally swell.
That childlike spirit of adventure is what treehouse whisperer Pete Nelson has tapped into with his hit reality series Treehouse Masters. The show’s freshman season was a hit for Animal Planet, and the show returns for Season 2 with the first of seven new episodes at 9 p.m. Jan. 10.
Thirteen more episodes are set for the summer.
For those of us who can’t wait that long, Treehouse Masters presents an “Ultimate Treehouses II” special at 9 p.m. Monday.
In “Santa’s Workshop,” Nelson and his creative team of craftsmen visit with St. Nick and the missus, whocall on them “to spruce up their yard with some holiday magic.”
Fortunately, the yard happens to be in Southern California and not at the North Pole. There’s a definite dearth of trees up there that would make a treehouse difficult.
In the special, Nelson designs and creates a treehouse workshop complete with Santa’s red chair, a naughty-ornice drawbridge, a trap door for elves, a candy cane and holly access bridge and some miracle Christmas snow.
Come January, the crew will build treehouses for an award-winning country music duo, a world-class skier, and the owners of a major recording studio.
In another episode, the gang will build one of their highest treehouses to date for a free-spirited outdoorswoman who wants to move out of her house and live in the trees full time.
They also build a butterfly-theme treehouse for a family who, after being struck by tragedy, formed a nonprofit foundation that’s represented by the butterfly - a symbol of transformation.
One thing: These creations don’t come cheap. Although some are relatively simple one-room lofts, they are frequently multi-bedroom dream treehouses complete with plumbing and electricity.
Some of the Treehouse Masters projects even include zip lines and vine swings, Indiana Jones-inspired bridges and secret entrances.
Daily Yule. Christmas is Wednesday and if you are behind your quota of Christmas movies this year, ABC Family isdoing its best to accommodate.
At noon today The Santa Clause will air, followed at 2 p.m. by The Santa Clause 2, and at 4 by The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause.
Use your DVR. That may be too much Tim Allen to take in one sitting.
At 6 p.m., How the Grinch Stole Christmas with Jim Carey airs once again, followed by an encore at 8:30.
Monday on ABC Family, The Year Without a Santa Claus airs at 6 p.m.; 1992’s delightful The Muppet Christmas Carol follows at 7 with Michael Caine starring asEbenezer Scrooge and Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit; and The Polar Express rolls in at 9.
Doc returning. I’ve had several emails from rabid fans (perhaps rabid is inappropriate here) of The Incredible Dr. Pol asking when the series will return to cable’s Nat Geo Wild channel.
The kindly country veterinarian kicks off Season 2 at 8 p.m. Jan. 4. Once again the good doctor travels around the Michigan countryside making house calls on a variety of farm animals.
Especially memorable will be an emergency castrationof two bulls after their owner botched the procedure himself.
Hmm.
She’s baaack. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has joined cable’s Sportsman Channel as host of a new series, Amazing America With Sarah Palin, set to debut in April.
The channel (available in only a third of TV households) labels Palin as a “cultural, political and media force.” The weekly series will be an anthology of stories “that explore some of the most original, interesting - and sometimes inspiring - people, places and pastimes connected to America’s outdoors lifestyle.”
Burger time. A&E has Wahlburgers, a new reality show, scheduled for Jan. 22. Actor brothers Mark and Donnie Wahlberg join older brother Paul in their hometown of Boston. The series is set in the family restaurant.
Magic revenge. A&E will debut a new original series, Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne, at 9 p.m. Jan. 13. The 13 halfhour episodes will feature the “next-generation illusionist” and “mischief-loving magician” as he “sets out to reinvent revenge.”
His goal is to use his skills to help people teach a lesson to those who’ve wronged them.
The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: [email protected]
Style, Pages 50 on 12/22/2013