JOHN GRIN'S CHRISTMAS (TV)

Summary

A television film presenting an updated version of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol,” featuring a greedy toy manufacturer being visited by ghosts on Christmas Eve to get him to change his ways. John Grin is the miserly, friendless head of a toy manufacturing company. As Christmas nears, he demonstrates a marked lack of sympathy for others, such as when he refuses to donate toys to a local children’s hospital, and when he chastises a poor boy named Rocky for digging through his dumpster in the hopes of finding a Christmas present for his mother. Rocky also asks him for a job, but John refuses him. He also forces his accountant Sam Oliver to work through Christmas Eve. That night, John is beset by strange visions as he tries to sleep, and finally encounters a man dressed as an undertaker claiming to be the Ghost of Christmas Past. He claims he is there to try to change John’s ways, and starts by taking him to view a scene from his childhood, when one Christmas a fire burned down his house, killing both of his parents. Afterwards John is sent to an orphanage, where he is eventually adopted by a businessman who impresses upon him the value of money above all other things, and John works to gradually attain more responsibility and authority in the business. The ghost also shows John himself as a young man with his girlfriend Maria, with whom he was very much in love. However, she eventually marries someone else, as he ultimately cares more about making money than he does about her. Finally, the ghost shows him a scene from the previous Christmas wherein John cheats a union representative out of a contract and fires him, unwilling to give in to the union’s reasonable demands. John awakens in his own bed, but soon thereafter is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, an exuberant fellow in a polo shirt. He allows John to see the children of the children’s hospital that he refused to contribute to, noting the disappointment in their faces. He also shows John Sam at home with his wife and children. Although John is making Sam work through Christmas, he bears John no ill will. The ghost remarks that Sam’s relatively meager salary does not reflect the many responsibilities he has at the company, although John denies this. The ghost also shows him Rocky, who helps out a gift shop owner in exchange for a present for his mother in the form of a vase. However, he accidentally drops and shatters it, much to his disappointment. John decides that he’s seen enough and the ghost transports him back home. He chides John for his apathy before leaving. Finally John is confronted by a looming figure in a black robe, the Ghost of Christmas Future, who gravely intones that John is without family or friends and has “no future.” He shows John a bizarre otherworldly stage show depicting John on his deathbed surrounded by those he ignored in life, who dispassionately comment on his impending death. Rocky appears as well, and the ghost notes that he had “gone bad” without John’s help. John watches as he dies unmourned and barely remarked-upon. The vision ends and John awakens in his bed on Christmas morning. His experiences with the three ghosts have caused him to reappraise his outlook on life, and he acts upon his newfound generosity. He donates toys to the children’s hospital, promotes Sam to senior vice-president, has presents delivered to his employees, asks that the union representative be re-hired and his demands met, and starts a job training program for young people at the company, offering a position on it to Rocky. John then attends a Christmas service at the local church, where he seems genuinely moved by the spirit of the holiday, and makes an effort to connect with the other parishioners. Includes commercials. Also includes an “ABC News Brief” with Brit Hume.

Details

• NETWORK: ABC
• DATE: December 6, 1986 9:00 PM
• RUNNING TIME: 0:58:29
• COLOR/B&W: Color
• CATALOG ID: B:08866
• GENRE: Specials
• SUBJECT HEADING: Specials
• SERIES RUN: ABC - TV, 1986
• COMMERCIALS:
  • TV – Commercials – Cheez Whiz cheese spread
  • TV – Commercials – Heinz ketchup
  • TV – Commercials – Isotoner gloves
  • TV – Commercials – Medipren pain relief
  • TV – Commercials – Seagram’s Golden wine coolers
  • TV – Commercials – Sure & Natural feminine hygiene products
  • TV – Commercials – Tylenol pain relief
  • TV – Commercials – Underalls pantyhose
  • TV – Commercials – Visions cookware
  • TV – Commercials – Wheat Thins snacks
  • TV – Commercials – Whirlpool dishwashers
  • TV – Commercials – Wrigley gum
  • TV – Commercials – Zales jewelry
  • TV – Commercials – “Listen to the Joy!” music album
  • TV – Promos - “Perfect Strangers”
  • TV – Promos – “ABC’s NFL Sunday Night Special”
  • TV – Promos – “A Smoky Mountain Christmas”
  • TV – Promos – “Head of the Class”
  • TV – Promos – “JC Penney Classic”
  • TV – Promos – “Jack and Mike”
  • TV – Promos – “Moonlighting”
  • TV – Promos – “Swiss Family Robinson”
  • TV – Promos – “The Perry Como Christmas Special”

CREDITS

• Robert Guillaume … Executive Producer, Director
• Phil Margo … Executive Producer
• Mark Brull … Producer
• Charles Eric Johnson … Writer
• Charles Dickens … Based on "A Christmas Carol" written by
• Mitch Margo … Music by
• Dennis Dreith … Music by
• Robert Guillaume … Cast, John Grin
• Ted Lange … Cast, Ghost of Christmas Present
• Roscoe Lee Browne … Cast, Ghost of Christmas Past
• Alfonso Ribeiro … Cast, Rocky
• Candy Ann Brown … Cast, Mrs. Oliver
• Kevin Guillaume … Cast, Sam Oliver
• Geoffrey Holder … Cast, Ghost of Christmas Future
• H.B. Barnum … Cast, The Preacher
• Robert O'Ree … Cast, Mr. Hodges
• Jackie Richardson … Cast, Mrs. Alcott
• Philip Akin … Cast, Union Rep
• Tony Craig … Cast, John Grin (Age 21)
• Charlene Richards … Cast, Maria
• Djanet Sears … Cast, Mrs. Williams
• Bobbi Sherron … Cast, Mrs. Clark
• Jo-Anne Brooks … Cast
• Phyllis Marshall … Cast
• Richard Mills … Cast
• For "ABC News Brief"
• Brit Hume … Anchor