Television: Dec. 20, 1968

• Share

Thursday, December 19

THE LITTLE DRUMMER BOY (NBC, 7:30-8 p.m.).* An animated musical, based on the popular Christmas song, featuring the voices of Greer Garson, Jose Ferrer and the Vienna Choir Boys.

THURSDAY NIGHT MOVIE (CBS, 9-11 p.m.). Guns at Batasi (1964), a tart, topical drama about a military coup in Africa, starring Richard Attenborough as a starched relic of the Kipling era, hopelessly out of touch with the age of Kenyatta.

Friday, December 20

THE NUTCRACKER (CBS, 7:30-8:30 p.m.). The New York City Ballet, with Edward Villella, Melissa Hayden and Patricia McBride in the Tchaikovsky classic. Repeat.

Saturday, December 21

APOLLO 8 LUNAR SPACE MISSION. ABC, CBS and NBC begin network coverage at 7 a.m. (takeoff: 7:51 a.m.) of the space shot that is scheduled to send three astronauts around the moon. Reportage will continue with bulletins and spectacular space telecasts until splashdown Friday morning, Dec. 27.

THE BANANA SPLITS ADVENTURE HOUR (NBC, 10:30-11:30 a.m.). Johnny Carson narrates a production of E. B. White's Stuart Little. Repeat.

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE MOVIES (NBC, 9-11:30 p.m.). White Christmas (1954). Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, and Rosemary Clooney in Irving Berlin's holiday favorite.

Sunday, December 22

L'ENFANCE DU CHRIST (CBS, 10-11 a.m.). Hector Berlioz's oratorio, performed by Giorgio Tozzi, Charles Anthony, Helen Vanni, Sherrill Milnes and Asa Berberian, assisted by the John Butler Dance Theater and the Camerata Singers. Repeat.

DR. SEUSS'S "HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS" (CBS, 7-7:30 p.m.). Boris Karloff narrates the children's story about the parsimonious, crotchety Grinch who tried to steal Christmas. Repeat.

Tuesday, December 24

THE RED SKELTON HOUR (CBS, 8:30-9:30 p.m.). Senator Everett Dirksen reads "A Visit from St. Nicholas" and narrates an original story by Skelton about a soldier at Valley Forge.

THE WORLD OF CHRISTMAS (NBC, 7:30-8:30 p.m.). Victor Borge plays host to 400 boys and girls representing 20 nationalities singing Christmas songs from around the world.

SAGA OF WESTERN MAN (ABC, 7:30-8:30 p.m.). Christ Is Born. The story of the Wandering Jew, from the time of Abraham to the birth of Christ. John Secondari and John Huston narrate.

Check local listings for dates and times of these NET programs:

NET PLAYHOUSE. An Evening's Journey to Conway, Massachusetts. A historical drama by Archibald MacLeish commemorating the bicentennial of his New Eng land home town. Repeat.

THE PLAY OF DANIEL (Dec. 25, 8:30-9:45 p.m.). NET's Christmas special with the New York Pro Musica.

THEATER

On Broadway

PROMISES, PROMISES is a Neil Simon musical to remember other musicals by: slick, amiable and derivative. With a plot line borrowed from the Wilder-Diamond film The Apartment and a structure copied from How to Succeed in Business With out Really Trying, the show is not so much viewed as deja vu'd. While Jerry Orbach will probably light up Broadway from this show onwards, his performance is not equal to his acting in Scuba Duba.