TV critic's picks: Hi ya, Mickey!

December 24, 2009 at 9:36PM

Hi ya, Mickey! Turns out it's a lot easier to get celebrities to spend the holidays with you if you're surrounded by sunshine. "Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade" (9 a.m. Friday, KSTP, Ch. 5), which captures footage from both California and Florida sites, features Yanni's presentation of "O Holy Night," Anika Noni Rose performing a song from her animated hit "The Princess and the Frog" and Stevie Wonder tearing through his classic, "What Christmas Means to Me."

Catskills Christmas Nobody puts Baby in a corner -- especially during the holidays! Watch (and rewatch) Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze generate heat without any need of mistletoe during 12 straight hours of 1987's "Dirty Dancing" (11 a.m. Friday, TV Guide Channel). "This Is It" director Kenny Ortega provides the choreography.

Death takes a holiday The folks at Fox are clumsily trying to stuff giant Brad Garrett down our stockings. The network is offering the "gift" of four new episodes of his never-say-die sitcom "'Til Death" (7 p.m. Friday, KMSP, Ch. 9), including one with guest stars Valerie Harper and Jerry Adler.

Patty melt Long before cable news could turn any minor story into a national obsession, there was the 1974 capture and possible brainwashing of socialite Patricia Hearst, a tale that's well rehashed in "Witness: The Kidnapping of Patty Hearst" (9 p.m. Sunday, MSNBC). Hearst doesn't participate, but there are enough testimonials from other major players to give a good sense of how the story entranced and bewildered the country.

NEAL JUSTIN

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