Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift (1990)

It's Christmas at Shining Time Station! Stacy Jones is busy helping passengers, Schemer tries to win the role of Santa's helper for the Indian Valley Gala Holiday Pageant, Mr. Conductor tells the kids a story about Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends and helps them deal with a bratty kid, while a kind old passenger, Mr. Nicholas, arrives and brightens the holiday for everybody.

Date of release
1990-12-19
TMDB
4.5 / 10 (4)
Runtime
57m
Genres
TV Movie, Family, Fantasy
Director
Gregory Lehane

Casting

Interesting facts

Shining Time Station is a children's television series jointly created by British television producer Britt Allcroft and American television producer Rick Siggelkow. The series was produced by Quality Family Entertainment, in association with Catalyst Entertainment in seasons 2 and 3, for New York City's PBS station WNET/Thirteen New York, and was originally taped in New York City during its first season and in Toronto during the rest of its run. It incorporated sequences from the British television show Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends, which was in turn based on the books of The Railway Series written by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry.

Background

After the success of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends in the United Kingdom, Britt Allcroft and her production company teamed up with PBS station WNET in New York City to produce and distribute the sitcom-esque Shining Time Station, every episode of which would include a couple of episodes of Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends. The series starred Ringo Starr, George Carlin, Didi Conn, Brian O'Connor, and the Flexitoon Puppets.

Shining Time Station received critical acclaim. In a review for Entertainment Weekly, Ken Tucker states that, compared to the faster paced Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, "'Shining Time Station' wants to slow things down. It's an old-fashioned show that creates a gentle, lulling atmosphere to convince children that life is fun and that trains are the way to travel." It was a ratings success as well.

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