The TV Column

Emmy-winner Prep & Landing returns with elfin magic

Disneyís Prep & Landing follows the adventures of Lanny (left) and Wayne as they scramble to prepare the way for Santa on Christmas Eve.
Disneyís Prep & Landing follows the adventures of Lanny (left) and Wayne as they scramble to prepare the way for Santa on Christmas Eve.

You loved these guys from their 2009 animated special, now here's the chance to watch them all over again.

Disney's Prep & Landing airs at 7:30 p.m. today on ABC and follows the adventures of the elite, high-tech elf outfit charged with getting millions of homes around the world ready for Santa Claus' visit each year.

Warning: If you are one of those parents freaked out by the invasive presence of The Elf on the Shelf, then the thought of elves creeping about the house on Christmas Eve could be a deal breaker.

P&L's mission statement: "Get in. Get out. Never be noticed."

Prep & Landing centers on Wayne, a Christmas elf who has been working at P&L for 227 years and assumes he's next in line for the big promotion to be Director of Naughty List Intelligence. Alas, the job goes to Wayne's former partner and trainee, Peterson.

In her wisdom, Magee, the North Pole Christmas Eve Command Center Coordinator (NPCECCC), then teams Wayne with Lanny, an overly enthusiastic rookie trainee.

The disgruntled Wayne decides he'll slack off this Christmas Eve and let Lanny do all the work. "The figgy pudding hits the fan" when a massive snow storm moves in and the elves haven't finished their prep work at little Timmy's house.

Will Wayne and Lanny rally? Will Santa be able to make it to Timmy's house? Oh, the tension; the drama.

Voicing the elves in the 30-minute Emmy-winning special are Dave Foley (NewsRadio) as Wayne, Sarah Chalke (Scrubs) as Magee and Derek Richardson (Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd) as Lanny.

Lidia Celebrates America returns for a fifth season at 9 p.m. Friday on AETN. The 70-year-old Lidia Bastianich escaped Communist Yugoslavia with her family in 1956 and emigrated to New York in 1958.

In this series of PBS specials, Bastianich "explores how immigrants have preserved their unique culinary traditions, weaving their cultures into the diverse land that is America."

In Friday's episode, "Homegrown Heroes," she shows how military veterans returning home create new lives for themselves as farmers and caretakers. In addition, a farm-to-table feast prepared by, and for, veterans.

I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown! encores at 7 p.m. Saturday on ABC. The 2003 animated hour features Linus and Lucy's younger brother, Rerun.

In the special, Rerun wants a dog for Christmas, but his mother and sister tell him he's not ready for the responsibility.

So, Rerun asks Charlie Brown if he can play with Snoopy instead and the beagle is OK with it at first. However, Snoopy gets bored and calls in his brother, Spike, from his desert home (he lives in a hollowed-out saguaro cactus) to play with Rerun. A life lesson for the small fry ensues.

Trivia: Snoopy had seven siblings, five of which appeared in the Peanuts cartoon strip -- Andy, Marbles, Olaf, Spike and Belle. Their mother, Missy, appeared in the strip only once.

News news. Here are a few TV news items that have backed up on my desk.

First of all, Jeff Glor has replaced Scott Pelley as the permanent anchor of CBS Evening News. Anthony Mason took over on an interim basis in June. No scandals here. The network simply hopes the 42-year-old Glor will lure a younger audience to the third place newscast.

Pelley, 60, had been on the evening desk for six years and has now returned full time to 60 Minutes.

The competition: David Muir of the top-rated ABC World News Tonight is 44, and Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News is 58.

Meanwhile, not only did ABC News President James Goldston suspend chief investigative reporter Brian Ross for a month for botching a story on former national security adviser Michael Flynn, he has now decreed Ross will no longer be allowed to cover stories involving President Trump.

Ouch.

Finally, PBS has announced that Amanpour, veteran journalist Christiane Amanpour's existing program on CNN International, will be aired by PBS stations "on an interim basis," as a replacement for the fired Charlie Rose.

Amanpour joined the PBS schedule Monday. The AETN schedule wasn't finalized at deadline, however, a spokesman said AETN's plan is to air Amanpour at 11:30 p.m., The Tavis Smiley Show at midnight and Articulate With Jim Cotter at 12:30 a.m.

The highly respected Amanpour, 59, has won 11 Emmys, four Peabody Awards and two George Polk Awards.

Charlie Rose was canceled by PBS on Nov. 21 and Rose was fired as co-host of CBS This Morning following an extensive Washington Post report about his alleged unwanted sexual advances toward women.

Other TV journalists fired following similar accusations include Matt Lauer (Today) , Bill O'Reilly (The O'Reilly Factor) and Mark Halperin (MSNBC political analyst).

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email:

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Weekend on 12/14/2017

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