News

CBS is getting in the Christmas spirit early with John Christmas, a telefilm starring Peter Falk and Valerie Bertinelli. The project hails from the creative team of CBS' highly rated 2001 telefilm A Town Without Christmas, which also starred Falk. In John Christmas, Falk will reprise his role from Town of the angel Max. The project centers on a fireman who suddenly leaves his native Chicago after saving many lives in a school inferno. Twenty years later, a local newspaper runs a photograph of the hero, dubbing him "John Christmas", and offers a reward for information on his whereabouts. Finding the fireman becomes a personal quest for a newspaper photographer who was among those saved in the fire. Also determined to track him down is a woman (Bertinelli) who thinks the anonymous hero is her brother who disappeared 20 years earlier. In their endeavors, all three get help from Max. Andy Wolk is set to direct the movie from a script by Michael J. Murray. Daniel H. Blatt is executive producing, with Michael Mahoney, Ken Gross and Murray serving as producers. Falk most recently reprised his role as Lt. Columbo in ABC's Columbo Likes the Nightlife. Bertinelli most recently co-starred on CBS' series Touched by an Angel.