LDS Fiction Christmas Specials

by Robison Wells

With the growth of LDS cinema over the years, it was no surprise that we'd soon see an LDS TV channel. I know that you've enjoyed such instant classics as Welcome Back, Elder Kotter, and Who's the Patriarch? But the striking screenwriters have hit LDTV hard, and the network is having to seek story ideas from other places. And, since there's no bookwriters strike--and since novelists are amoral scabs who have no qualms about crossing picket lines--it was only natural for the network execs to recruit from the ranks of LDS fiction.

Here are a few of the upcoming Christmas Specials:

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (and a Teenage Girl)
by Josi Kilpack

Fifteen-year-old Jess is having a blue Christmas until she meets a new boy on the internet. He's nice and funny, and he understands her so much better than her parents--especially when she complains about her family's lame holiday traditions. Imagine her surprise when he comes to her house to steal the Who Pudding, the Who Roast Beast--and her! Fortunately, when he reaches the top of Mt. Crumpet, he sees the light. His heart grows three sizes that day, he returns the presents--and Jess--and decides to go on a mission (Cleveland Ohio South). Staring Wilford Brimley as the Grinch.

Merry Christmas, Gidgiddonihah!
by Chris Heimerdinger

Christmas is getting way too commercial, according to Gidgiddonihah, even down in pre-Columbian mesoamerica. Even Gid's own capybara, Snoopihah, has entered a Lights and Display Contest. Lucihah, Gid's childhood friend, attempts to get him involved by making him director of the Christmas play. But then the unbelievers threaten to put them all to death if the prophecies of Samuel the Lamanite don't come to pass! Guest starring Carmen Rasmussen as Peppermint Pattikiah.

Spires of Gumdrops
by Annette Lyon

Sure, Bethany Hansen was involved in the construction of the Salt Lake Temple. But can she build it again, this time out of gingerbread?!


Children of the Promise, Go Where I Send Thee
by Dean Hughes

At the height of The Battle of the Bulge, Alex Thomas misses his family's Christmas traditions. Sure, shooting Germans is great, but it's not snowball fights and eggnog. He also doesn't know what to get his girlfriend, Anna, for Christmas. Knowing how much she loves a certain photo of her family, Alex sells his rifle and buys her a picture frame. Meanwhile, knowing how much Alex loves war, Anna sells the family photo to buy bullets! Wackiness ensues in this comedy of errors.

Jack Weyland Presents: A Country Music Christmas
by Jack Weyland

Jack just wants to have a quiet Christmas with a few close friends and a warm fire. But when John Denver's tour bus gets caught in a snow storm, what choice to they have but to put on a show? Watch for guest star cameos including Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, and Patsy Cline. (And don't miss the final five minutes when Jack realizes all of his guests are dead--zombies! Time to get the shotgun!)

A Very Work-and-the-Glory Christmas
by Gerald Lund

Nothing ever seems to go right for Nathan Steed. His brother is dating the girl he loves, he keeps getting beaten up by the mobs, and, to top things off, Uncle Billy accidentally gave the bank deposit to Mr. Potter! Nathan feels that everything would have been better if he'd never been born. An angel appears (Elias) and shows him what the world would be like: Lydia would have married Joshua and been very sad, Palmyra would have been named Pottertown, and the early church leaders would have been kidnapped and held in a dungeon under the Vatican.

Nathan changes his mind and returns home to his family. He listens to a bell ring and says "Attaboy, Elias!"