The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (1983) (TV)

Director:

George Schaefer

Writers:

Barbara Robinson (novel)
Barbara Robinson (screenplay)

Genre:

Comedy | Family

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Gossip | Nativity Play | Family Relationships | Change Of Heart | Gift Basket

Awards:

Nominated for Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Loretta Swit	...	Grace Bradley
Jackson Davies	...	Bob Bradley
Anthony Holland	...	Rev. Hopkins
David Alexander	...	Charlie Bradley
Warren Givens	...	Charlie Bradley
Fairuza Balk	...	Beth Bradley
Natalie Troutt	...	Beth Bradley
Ocean Hellman	...	Alice Wendlekin
Sally Durr	...	Helen Armstrong
Janet Wright	...	Helen Armstrong
Teri Dean	...	Gladys Herdman
Lydia Jarjoura	...	Gladys Herdman
Trent Dixon	...	Claude Herdman
Beau Heaton	...	Claude Herdman
Anne Hertl	...	Imogene Herdman

Runtime:

48 min

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Comworld Productions

Quotes:

Imogene Herdman: Somedy better be Herod!
Grace Bradley: Imogene, we're going to do this play the way it has always been done.
Imogene Herdman: [grabs Charlie by the collar] I know! Let Charlie be Herod. He tells the wise men to kill Jesus, and they say "okay" 'cause he's a king and all.
Ollie Herdman: But then they don't do it. They go back and get Herod...
[gesturing stabbing motions]
Ollie Herdman: "Take that, Herod! Take that!"
Charlie Bradley: I'm not going to be Herod!

Christmas pageant classic

Many people have been involved in a church Christmas pageant at one time or another, so there was bound to be a story like this. Take a typical middle-class family (the Bradleys) involved in a typical middle-class church Christmas pageant, a little uptight and steeped in tradition, and throw in some lower-class ruffian kids (the Herdmans) who take starring roles. This movie is a little different from the novel The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, but that should be okay, because Barbara Robinson wrote them both. It seems like the book did say that the narrator figured that the Herdmans were going to hell, while the movie has her say she figured they were going to the devil. I suppose "devil" was supposed to be less offensive than "hell," but I'd rather have the narrator say "hell" like in the novel. Loretta Swit from M*A*S*H plays the mother directing the pageant. You might think this would be an unlikely role for her, but she does a good job.