Settle in for a Weekend of Christmas Specials

By RITA SHERROW World Television Editor

Melinda comes up against a case of “Ghost Interrupted” on Friday’s repeat episode of “Ghost Whisperer,” airing at 7 p.m. on CBS, channel 6. It seems a girl’s twin is haunting her sister, who is in a psych ward because she thinks her dead sister is still “with” her.

Animated prehistoric critters find a human baby and learn how to babysit in “Ice Age,” airing at 7 p.m. Friday on Fox, channel 23 and cable channel 5. Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Jack Black, Jane Krakowski, Goran Visnjic and Cedric the Entertainer provide the voices for this special CGI film.

Gene Wilder was the best in the 1971 version of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” airing at 7:30 p.m. Friday on ABC Family, cable channel 37. Like Johnny Depp in the latest version, Wilder plays a bizarre candymaker who takes little children on a wild and often perilous trip through his candy factory.

Lil’ Bow Wow – or are we calling the 18-year-old just Bow Wow now? – stars in “Like Mike” as a 13-year-old boy who finds weird and wonderful things happening when he wears a pair of shoes supposedly worn by NBA great Michael Jordan. The film airs at 7 p.m. Friday on WB, channel 19 and cable channel 12.

Sitting in the dentist’s chair makes Hope confess everything on a repeat of “Hope & Faith,” 8 p.m. Friday on ABC, channel 8.

Harry Hamlin guest-stars on a new episode of “Hot Properties,” airing at 8:30 p.m. Friday on ABC, channel 8.

Premiering on BBC America is “Mr. Harvey Lights a Candle,” a new slightly bizarre film starring Timothy Spall as a completely misunderstood high school teacher who harbors a secret until he takes a field trip to a 13th-century Salisbury cathedral. It airs at 7 p.m. Friday on cable digital channel 166.

Celebrate Christmas with a laugh with BBC America’s new holiday film “Christmas Lights,” airing at 8 p.m. Friday. Robson Green stars as one of two longtime friends who have spent their entire friendship trying to outdo each other. From cars to jobs to girls, their competition has now moved on to Christmas decorations. Can they wake up and realize what Christmas is really all about?

Film shorts from the makers of the hilarious Wallace & Gromit make up “Creature Comforts – Merry Christmas Everybody,” at 9:30 p.m. Friday on BBC America, cable digital channel 166. The collection provides answers to the questions: How do hamsters cope with an upset stomach, why do dogs hate wearing Christmas hats, what happens when a partridge is evicted from its pear tree and why do Welsh corgis find Christmas unbelievably emotional? It’s a half- hour hoot!

The Military Channel, cable digital channel 104, says “Tanks for the Memories” with a six-hour lineup of Bob Hope Christmas Specials kicking off at 11 a.m. Sunday. The classic programs include his 1957 and 1968 visits to South Asia, his 1971 show starting off in Hawaii, and 1990′s “Bob Hope’s Christmas Cheer” in Saudi Arabia with Oklahoma Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, Ann Jillian, Marie Osmond, the Pointer Sisters and country music star Aaron Tippin, among others. The latter airs from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.

ABC Family, cable channel 30, has scheduled a five-hour “Holiday Classics Marathon” starting at 5 p.m. Saturday and including “Jack Frost,”"Frosty’s Winter Wonderland” and “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year.”

In case you missed it a couple of weeks ago, NBC will rebroadcast the Frank Capra classic “It’s Wonderful Life” at 7 p.m. Saturday on channel 2 and cable channel 9. Jimmy Stewart, former Tulsan Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore star in this special presentation, which will be narrated by former President George Bush for the blind and visually impaired.

Eddie Murphy talks to the animals in “Dr. Dolittle 2,” airing at 7 p.m. Saturday on Fox, channel 23 and cable channel 5. Providing the critter voices are Lisa Kudrow, Andy Dick, Norm McDonald, Isaac Hayes and more. Raven Symone and Kyla Pratt also star.

I’m dreaming of a “White Christmas.” Fat chance in Oklahoma but there will be one at 7 p.m. Saturday on UPN, channel 41 and cable channel 10. B-b-b-bing Crosby and Danny Kaye play Army pals turned song-and-dance act who call in a lot of favors to save an inn owned by their former general. Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen play a sister act booked into the failing inn in Vermont. Love and snow are in the air.

TBS wants to make sure you don’t miss “A Christmas Story” this season. The classic film will air in a 24-hour marathon starting at 7 p.m. Saturday on cable channel 47. Peter Billingsley stars in this 1983 comedy about a 1940s youngster who, more than anything, wants a BB gun for Christmas.

Jonathan Taylor Thomas (“Home Improvement”) plays a college student who plans to trade his ticket home for a beach vacation with his girlfriend (Jessica Biel) when things go awry in “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” It airs at 8 p.m. Saturday on ABC, channel 8.

The Hallmark Channel, cable digital channel 165, grants a Christmas wish 20 years after the fact with “A Boyfriend for Christmas” at 8 p.m. Saturday. Kelli Williams, Charles Durning and Patrick Muldoon star.

The Cartoon Network, cable channel 63, has everybody’s favorite animated special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” at 9 p.m. Saturday.

Locally, KOTV, channel 6, broadcasts the “Christmas Service” at Tulsa’s Boston Avenue Methodist Church at 10:30 p.m. Saturday on channel 6.

NBC then celebrates with “Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Basilica” at 11:30 p.m. Saturday on channel 2 and cable channel 9. Pope Benedict XVI conducts the mass at St. Peter’s in the Vatican.

Start your Christmas morning off with the “Walt Disney World Christmas Day Parade,” at 9 a.m. Sunday on ABC, channel 8. Regis Philbin and gal pal/co-host Kelly Ripa will host with musical performers Lonestar, Vanessa Williams, the Cheetah Girls, Aly and AJ and John O’Hurley, plus Tiger Woods, Julie Andrews, Star Jones, Hayden Christensen and the stars of the “Chronicles of Narnia” film – - Anna Popplewell, Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes and William Moseley.

Olivia Neutron Bomb, I mean Olivia Newton John, stars in the sappy but sweet holiday film “A Mom For Christmas,” airing at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC, Family, cable channel 37. The pop singer plays a store mannequin who comes to life to grant a little girl’s wish for a mother.

At 3 p.m. Sunday, on the same channel, Kelsey Grammer is a son of Santa Claus who doesn’t want to take over the company business in “Mr. St. Nick.” At 5 p.m., Richard Thomas is a college professor who believes in flying reindeer in “The Christmas Secret” and, at 7 p.m., Roma Downey plays rent-a-wife for Eric McCormack in “Borrowed Hearts: A Holiday Romance.”

Brandy, Whitney Houston, Jason Alexander and Bernadette Peters relive the musical fairytale “Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella” at 7 p.m. Sunday on Disney, cable channel 32.