A CHRISTIAN CAROL (2016) – Balladeer’s Blog’s 16th Annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon continues with this look at a religious-themed variation of A Christmas Carol. Directed by Stan Severance and written by Wesley T Highlander, A Christian Carol follows in the footsteps of the 1983 production The Gospel According to Scrooge.
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That 1983 project has been reviewed previously by Balladeer’s Blog and I will say again that it is so well done that it can appeal to true-believers AND others. By comparison, this 2016 production is pretty weak and may barely even appeal to active, devout Christians. Acting, writing, special effects and singing are strictly low-level with only a few bright spots along the way.
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Let’s take A Christian Carol beat by beat:
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SCROOGE: The stand-in for Ebenezer Scrooge in this modern adaptation of A Christmas Carol is a woman known to us only as Carol. She’s the usual “tight-fisted hand at the grindstone” and runs a company called Rev13. GET IT? The British narrator – who sounds a bit like Robin Leach at times – tells us Carol was as dead inside as a doornail in a cute little twist on the Carol‘s opening line. Our title character has lost her Christian faith and cares only about money now.
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Carol is portrayed by Brenda Roesel but comes across more like a potential mass shooter than a Scrooge-like figure. Her pathological hatred of any and every display of Christmas spirit by her employees was so heavily on the unhinged side that I actually paused to check if she was the same woman who played the end-of-her-rope madwoman in the mock Claridryl ad from years ago. (She’s not, but could have been, she’s THAT creepy.) Continue reading
The HILLSDALE COLLEGE CHARGERS will play the UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY PEACOCKS. 
The WEST TEXAS A&M BUFFALOES will play the ARKANSAS TECH WONDERBOYS. 
NERO WOLFE (1959) – This was a failed pilot for a potential series about Rex Stout’s iconic detective – the rotund, snobbish but brilliant Nero Wolfe, portrayed by Kurt Kasznar. William Shatner played Archie Goodwin, the affable leg man for his reclusive boss. 
The chemistry between Kasznar and Shatner was remarkable, and at just 26 minutes without commercials, this would have been just the right length for each episode without Wolfe’s egotism and impatience with lesser minds wearing out their welcome with viewers. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2019) – Directed and co-written by Steven Salgado, this adaptation of the 1843 novel sets the story in present-day Miami. Though some may try to pigeon-hole this indy film as “a Hispanic-American Christmas Carol” that would not be quite accurate. 
ROUND TWO: GAME ONE – The BENEDICTINE COLLEGE RAVENS played host to the CAMPBELLSVILLE UNIVERSITY TIGERS. The Ravens led 7-0 in the 1st Quarter but Campbellsville U. was on top 17-7 by Halftime. From there, Benedictine College shut out the Tigers while adding a Touchdown in the 3rd and 4th Quarters each. The Ravens won 21-17.
ROUND TWO: GAME TWO – In this game the MARIAN UNIVERSITY KNIGHTS entertained the DORDT UNIVERSITY DEFENDERS. A 6-0 opening Quarter edge for the Knights became 14-0 at the Half. After the break, the Defenders outscored Marian University 18-12 but that still left them short as the Knights logged a 26-18 triumph. 
ROUND TWO: GAME THREE – The MONTANA TECH OREDIGGERS took the field against the visiting CARROLL (MT) COLLEGE FIGHTING SAINTS. The Orediggers had it all their own way at first and took a 17-0 advantage into the locker room. The Fighting Saints rallied in the 3rd Quarter, pulling to within 24-21 of Montana Tech, but the Orediggers won out 31-21 in the 4th. 
FROM NOVEMBER 9th, 2013. Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Barack Obama are the two presidents I despise the most, but nobody is surprised at what garbage Bush was. Obama loons like to ignore the criticism he received in office. Even when language like “war criminal” and “dictator’s dream” were used to describe Obama, it never approached the hysteria seen in the Trump years. 
SPIDER-WOMAN Vol 1 #17 (Aug 1979) 
Our heroine slips away from Eric to try getting back her costume without exposing her secret identity. At one point, the drunken woman dressed as Spider-Woman falls off the deck of the mountaintop disco. Jessica uses her powers to save the woman and recover her costume before the drunk knows what’s what. 
If it’s the Friday after Thanksgiving, then regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog know it’s the day when I kick off my annual Christmas Carol-A-Thon in which I review several versions of A Christmas Carol. I look at movies, television shows, radio shows and books which adapt the Dickens classic. Every year I present new reviews with a few old classics mixed in since newer readers will have missed them. 
A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2000) – Christmas Carol-A-Thon 2025 begins with a new review. This ITV production from British television which presented the Scrooge figure as a loan shark coincidentally came out the same year as the Brazilian version which featured Scrooge as a drug dealer. 
Neither one was a comedy, but this UK adaptation adds lighter moments here and there. A Christmas Carol runs just under 75 minutes and was made by a creative team that genuinely understands the Carol. You can tell not just from their insertion of some of the more obscure lines from the Dickens novel but by the way that even their necessary departures from Dickens to stay true to their loan shark gimmick still perfectly reflect the novel’s themes. 
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