ABC7's got 'Soul', Rufus Wainwright tries opera

ABC7's got 'Soul'

WLS Channel 7 debuts a new series of specials focusing on Chicago's black community with "Heart & Soul" at 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec, 19. The premiere looks at violinist Lee England Jr., who has taken his conventionally classical instrument into soul music. ... Having trouble getting a holiday gift for an Oprah Winfrey fanatic? Try the Oprah Store, 37 N. Carpenter St., Chicago. It's stocked with everything from Oprah souvenirs to clothes she's worn on the show in "Oprah's Closet." For those reluctant to brave the holiday shopping traffic downtown, visit theoprahstore.com.

'Prima' Rufus

The Sundance Channel studies singer-songwriter Rufus Wainwright as he tries his hand at opera in the special "Prima Donna" at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 21. At 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 23, Sundance's "Spectacle: Elvis Costello With..." welcomes Levon Helm, Nick Lowe, Richard Thompson and Allen Toussaint.

Xmas Eve chestnuts

Cable TBS begins its annual 24-hour marathon of "A Christmas Story" at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 24. Yet its sibling station Turner Classic Movies tries to get its own holiday tradition going by reviving "Remember the Night," a lost 1940 classic starring Barbara Stanwyck as a shoplifter who spends Christmas with the attorney prosecuting her, played by Fred MacMurray. The crackling script is by Preston Sturges. It's at 7 p.m. as well.

'Kong' kabong

Between the original "King Kong" and Peter Jackson's recent remake there was another, deservedly lost '70s version. Like much from the Me Decade, it's ridiculously overblown, and the mechanical Kong is a major disappointment, but it does have one thing to recommend it: a young Jessica Lange in the Fay Wray role. It's at 11 p.m. today on AMC.