RAVE of the week: ABC Family’s ‘25 Days of Christmas’

Like the “13 Nights of Halloween” but better, ABC Family’s “25 Days of Christmas” is 25 nights of pure holiday delight. The nightly schedule is filled with specials, movies and other holiday-centric premieres that inject the festive spirit during this time of the year.

While several specials and films are hokey (how many more movies about talking animals can be done?), the cable network also airs classics that can be watched over and over again. For instance, “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” is one of the better films aired frequently during the month. While not as satisfying as its predecessor, the sequel to “Home Alone” features pigeon lady (!) and a fantastic performance from Catherine O’Hara (Kate McCallister).

The network also airs “The Santa Clause,” which is another childhood favorite. Tim Allen stars as a workaholic father who takes over Santa’s duties after Santa Claus falls off his roof on Christmas Eve.

The numerous animated specials like “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” are also fun to watch. Thanks, ABC Family, for the continuous run of specials, but please refrain from any more made-for-television movies starring Christina Milian and Mario Lopez and stick to the oldies-but-goodies.

WRECK of the week: Katy Perry’s Grammy Nominations

Katy Perry’s catastrophic album, “Teenage Dream,” is now Grammy-nominated as one of the five best albums of the year. Too bad Perry’s four Grammy nominations aren’t just one bad dream; it’s a cold reality and a slap in the face to the deserving artists who went without Grammy nominations, including the Swell Season and Brandi Carlile, among several other deserving acts.

Perry’s nominated album features some stunning lyrics on songs like “Firework” and “Peacock.” Perry asks if “you ever feel like a paper bag” on the first tune. She sings “Come on, baby, let me see what you’re hiding underneath” and goes on to repeat “Peacock” several times in a row on the latter song. Words of inspiration, folks.

The Grammys did get it right in many instances (nominating Cee-Lo’s epic “Fuck You” in Record and Song of the Year; recognizing folk singer Ray LaMontagne in Song of the Year; and remembering Robyn’s masterpiece “Dancing on My Own” in Dance Recording), but Perry’s nods show ignorance on the Academy’s part in actually finding the best in music from last year. Two hit singles don’t make an album worthy of the high honor.

Fine, fresh, fierce, Perry is not.