In the ’80s, there were heated competitions to determine which of the three network-tied stations would place the right bid and make the right concessions to earn the right to televise the annual Mummers Parade, a Philadelphia New Year’s tradition since 1901. The winner would supply wall-to-wall coverage of the fancy, comic, and string band divisions, usually after meeting with representatives from each group and negotiating most headily with the string band group. The Mummers were in charge, and demands of the divisions and the overall Mummers Association were met. After that, planning and production were lavish as television programmers worked hard to match the opulence of the parade itself, especially the string band division. I remember both standing on Broad Street in any weather that arose to see the Mummers go by and working for Channel 10 in years when it secured Mummers air rights. Time and the proliferation of television outlets changed the game. With more to choose from at any time, including 10 or more hours of New Year’s Day, the audience for the Mummers, though healthy, was diffused rather than focused on a main local event. In the same period, and even a little before it, negotiations became more tense as the Mummers wanted more for the privilege of televising them. By the turn of this century, again if not before, television stations could not rely on the viewership of the three-station era, and costs went up. The Mummers moved to Channel 17, still an advantageous place to land. The relationship between WPHL-TV and the Mummers lasted a while, but it faded. It looked at one point as if the Mummers would have no TV home or one that was less obvious than one of three original commercial stations or Channel 17, already a long-established independent. No fear. Early in this decade, Wilmington’s WDPN-TV, affiliated with MeTV, took a chance on the Mummers. The parlay paid off, and a three-year contract followed, on that ends with this year’s January march and is expected to be renewed. Another MeTV outlet, WFMZ-TV, Channel 69 in Allentown, joined in the fun, extending coverage of the parade to the Lehigh Valley and beyond. A major sponsor, Live! Casino and Hotel, entered the mix, and the Mummers found a new home, one the viewer may have had to hunt to find but that seems secure for this time. So, don’t hunt. Know that you can all four of the five Mummers divisions on MeTV, Wilmington and Allentown, in a broadcast that begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Day. The announcers for the march are Larry Mendte and Dawn Stensland with color commentary coming from Dave Grzybowksi, Megan McFarland, Mark Montanaro and Sam Regalbuto, the president of the string band division, who I believe was instrumental in keeping the Mummers on accessible air and who knows his Mummer history and lore as well as anyone. Grzybowski and McFarland certainly do. So does Montanaro, a well-known Mummers historian and Mummers Museum curator who is the perfect person to explain the differences between wenches and comics and fancy division vs. fancy brigades. Mendte and Stensland are excellent interviewers and, I’m sure, duly versed on their subject. The only one missing is Steve Highsmith, who was host of Mummers coverage in the Channel 17 days and also has deep knowledge of Mummers tradition. MeTV’s coverage of the 2026 Mummers Parade, extended by streaming on Firestick, Roku and Apple TV, will show four of the divisions in turn. It will start with the lone fancy division, move on to the wenches, now its own entity, proceed to the comic troops, and end with the stars of the show, the string bands. The fifth division, fancy brigades, don’t look in any releases on websites I’ve seen, to be included in television. Because of the damage weather can do to their finery, the Fancy Brigades do not march on Market Street, around City Hall, then south down Broad Street to Washington Avenue like the other divisions. It stages its own two shows, one in the morning, one in the evening, as a ticketed event in the Pennsylvania Convention Center at 12th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia. On MeTV, Mendte and Stensland, who are husband and wife, will introduce the different clubs and bands while Regalbuto comments in general, McFarland provides background for the comic, wenches, and fancy division, and Grzybowski lend his expertise to the string band coverage. The 2026 Mummers Parade is the 126th consecutive annual New Year’s march. The first parades while less organized affairs, beginning in 1901 with celebrants, often drunk, riding up Broad Street, from Snyder Avenue to City Hall, on horseback shooting pistols with live ammunition in the air. Divisions and and costuming, raunchy for wenches and comics, elaborate for string bands and fancy clubs evolved over time and have been the staples for most parades throughout the decades. Today, and for a while, the string bands are of professional caliber, their shows including musical themes and dances, and among the top entertainment any city has to offer. The fancy division and brigades continue to dazzle with the creativity of their designs. The wenches and comic divisions are loved or disdained according to taste, but they are part of the tradition that began with those New Years shooters, and create their own havoc parade after parade. Marx brothers films are comedic masterpieces and will run wall to wall on Dec. 31 on Turner Classic Movies. (COURTESY PHOTO) Turner Classic Movies is place to be Turner Classic Movies is giving viewers good reason to stay tuned to it and it alone throughout the extended New Year’s weekend, Dec. 31 to Jan. 3. On Dec. 31, from dawn till dusk, is a nonstop festival of Marx Brothers movies. There is not much I fear, but one major worry is the brilliance and wit of movies verging on 100-year anniversaries will remain unknown because of younger generations’ general disinterest in history or culture distant of its time. I don’t want the Marx Brothers, whose zaniness, anarchic humor, and comic genius spread between three of five brothers who start in vaudeville but go on to make some of the most hilarious and entertaining films in movie history, to fade from memory or sight. I remember when a niece of mine, now age 42, was studying the 1930s in elementary school. Each child had to choose some aspect of the decade to study, and she chose entertainment. Naturally, she began her research with me, whose entire youth was spent watching movies and reading classic literature, with baseball to round me. I provided a list of major entertainers. The only two she recognized were the little girls on the list, Shirley Temple and Judy Garland. I immediately called my sister and told her I was coming over with Marx Brothers videos. Her children, whether they cared to or not, were not to be deprived of knowing these gems. Turner Classic Movies is more than providing a sampling. It’s showing pretty much everything a Marx Brothers aficionado could want. The roster is 5:30 a.m. “Room Service” (1938); 7 a.m. “At the Circus” (1939); 8:30 a.m. “A Day at the Races” (1937); 10:30 a.m., my favorite, “A Night at the Opera” (1935), look for Kitty Carlisle among the singers); 12:30 p.m. “The Cocoanuts” (1929)”; 2:15 p.m. “Animal Crackers” (1930); 4 p.m. “Monkey Business” (1931); 5:30 p.m. “Horse Feathers” (1932); and 6:15 p.m. “Duck Soup” (1933). If you don’t have time or appetite for the entire skein, treat yourself to a primer of “A Day at the Races,” “A Night at the Opera” and “Duck Soup.” On Jan. 1, TCM turns from my favorite movie comedians — Groucho is the only Marx whose philosophy I regard seriously — to a series of comic mysteries I adore, those under the brand of “The Thin Man.” Nick and Nora Charles are more than detectives. They are sophisticated socialites who enjoy the fun life in 1930s Manhattan has to offer. Nick would rather drink and see a show than sleuth. Nora is more grounded, but has her predilection for a good time over something as serious as a scandal in a family or a murder. Asta is their dog. “The Thin Man” series takes over Turner Classic Movies on Jan. 1. (COURTESY PHOTO) In my teens, I wanted to be one of the Charleses, gin and all. Look at William Powell as Nick and Myrna Loy as Nora and tell me you can’t see why. My name even begins with an “N.” See for yourself. The entire “Thin Man” canon runs from morning to evening New Year’s Day, starting with “The Thin Man” (1934) at 9:15 a.m.; followed by “After the Thin Man” (1936) at 11 a.m.; “Another Thin Man” (1939) at 1 p.m.; “Shadow of The Thin Man” (1941) at 2:45 p.m.; “The Thin Man Goes Home” (1944) at 4:30 p.m.; and “Song of The Thin Man” (1947) at 6:15 p.m. Again, if time is an issue, take the morning to watch the first three in the set. By then, the string bands will be on MeTV. On Jan. 2, five movies required for film literacy and three for lasting appreciation of Bette Davis pepper TCM’s schedule. At 6 a.m., Davis appears in “Of Human Bondage” (1934), the movie that paved her road to stardom. Davis was so riveting, appearing opposite Leslie Howard in this film rendition of W. Somerset Maugham’s 1915 novel, she came in second in the Oscar competition for Best Actress even though she was not nominated. Oscars allowed write-ins, and only Claudette Colbert in Frank Capra’s “It Happened One Night” received more votes than our Bette. Davis’ later glory can be seen in two movies screening later on Jan. 2: “Now Voyager” (1942) at 12:30 p.m. and “The Letter” (1940) at 4:15 p.m. Rounding out the day is Joan Crawford’s most important movie, “Mildred Pierce” (1945) at 6 p.m. and Orson Welles’ monumental classic, “Citizen Kane” (1941) at 8 p.m. Jan. 3 continues the riches at its earliest stroke, midnight, with Meryl Streep’s intelligent and heartbreaking performance in the film version of William Styron’s “Sophie’s Choice” (1982). Following later that day is another heartbreaker, “Penny Serenade” (1941) with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne at 6 a.m.; a witty swashbuckler, The Adventure of Robin Hood” (1934) with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland at 3:15 p.m.; and Tony Richardson’s wonderful capture of Joseph Fielding’s “Tom Jones” (1963) with Albert Finney, Hugh Griffith and Edith Evans at 5:45 p.m. Watch the lot, and you’ll earn a virtual degree in movie classics! Although this major film star does not appear in any of the mentioned movies, it is important to note that French actress and sex symbol Brigitte Bardot, who made her mark in Roger Vadim’s “And God Created Woman” (1956) and earned acclaim in Henri-George Clouzot’s “The Truth” (1960), died Dec. 28 in St. Tropez, France, at age 91. Philly TV market jobs As 2026 begins, the biggest questions in the Philadelphia television market is who replaces the retired longtime general manager of Channel 6, Bernie Prazenica, and who replaces the retired Jim Donovan at the weekday morning anchor desk at Channel 3. The decisions, each of which is expected to made shortly, fall in the hands of three people. Chad Matthews, the president of ABC-TV’s owned television stations will select Prazenica’s successor. CBS 3 general manager Kelly Frank and news director, Kathy Gerrow, will name who sits opposite remaining anchor Janelle Burrell from 4 to 7 a.m. newscasts. I’m guessing both of the awaited appointees will come from outside of the market. Both stations have internal candidates who can fill the vacant roles, but promotions from within are usually announced sooner than replacements that look as if they involve searches. Prazenica’s departure, coming at the end of 2025, means only Channel 29’s Dennis Bianchi has significant tenure as a local general manager. Channel 3’s Frank arrived in 2022, Channel 17’s Lloyd Bucher in 2024, and Channel 10’s Joel Davis in 2025. Frank also oversees Channel 57. Channel 3 saw three news anchors leave its fold in 2025. Before Donovan departed on Dec. 18, weekend evening anchor Aziza Shuler left for WCBS-TV, New York, and weekend morning anchor Howard Monroe left for the same post at the Fox 59 (WXIN-TV)/CBS 4 (WTTX-TV) duopoly in Indianapolis. The absence left by another major figure, Tracy Davidson, who left Channel 10 to pursue a parallel calling as a motivational speaker, life coach, and adviser to people whose lives are not moving in the direction those people would like, was filled quickly by Lena Tillett, who arrives at the NBC outlet on Jan. 12, joining Jacqueline London at 5 p.m. and Fred Shropshire at 7 p.m. Tillett arrives from WRAL-TV in Raleigh, N.C., the same station from which general manager Joel Davis came to Channel 10. Looks as if Davis knew who he wanted in his fold when an opportunity to move Tillett with him to Philadelphia arose. Happy new year The happiest of new years!!! May 2026 bring to each of you all the best you desire from it. ...read more read less