Herald and Review from Decatur, Illinois • Page 40

2 PREVIEW NOVEMBER 17-23, 2001 CHANNEL CONVERSION CHART Thanksgiving Day parade still going strong after 75 years and Cable Channel Descriptions io By JACQUELINE CUTLER TVData Features Syndicate Ask different people about their favorite New Year or Labor Day traditions and expect a range of answers. However, ask most Americans about their favorite Thanksgiving traditions, and the answers likely will include family, football and the parade. Though the 75th Anniversary Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will air at 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 22, preparation began last year.

NBC is the network home of the parade, but other stations air feeds of the festivities. Precisely a month before some 50 million viewers tune in, a squadron of sculptors, painters and carpenters ply their trades in a former Tootsie Roll factory in Hoboken, N.J., just across the Hudson River from Manhattan. They refer to pictures as they painstakingly ensure the accurate re-creation of the tiniest details, such as the right number of eyelashes on a dragon. Presiding over blueprints, models, power tools and everything else in this cavernous space is John T. Piper, Macy's vice president of annual events.

The parade will follow its usual route in Manhattan, starting at 77th Street and Central Park West, winding around Columbus Circle, and continuing down Broadway to Herald Square, home of Macy's flagship store. According to Piper, there was never any consideration given to canceling the parade because of the terrorist attacks. "Thanksgiving is a uniquely American holiday," he says. "And we celebrate the good things in our life our freedom, our family. And, we will remind everyone we have joy in our lives, and we have reason to give thanks each and every day.

And, Santa Claus is coming again." As are Today Show hosts Katie Comic and Matt Lauer and weatherman Al Roker. Expect the anticipated 2.5 million people along the parade route to burst into cheers during special tributes such as The Statue of Liberty float, decorated with the bands from around the country. The casts from Broadway's 42nd Street and Mamma Mia are scheduled to perform, as are Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes. Celebrities scheduled to appear include Billy Gilman, Charlotte Church, Boyz II Men and Tony Bennett. The parade had to be canceled from 1942 through '44 because of wartime rationing of helium and rubber, which were needed to make the balloons, Hall says.

Technological advances have changed how they are made today. Long before the balloons float down Broadway, models of them are crafted. In Piper's office, models of Tinkerbell, Barney and dozens of other balloons dangle from the ceiling, giving the otherwise dingy workspace the aura of Santa's workshop. Adding to this festive atmosphere is the sight of busy workers applying bright paints and other finishing touches to floats. As huge as the balloons look on TV some require 52 handlers they are even more imposing in person.

Percy the Penguin, which is being filled with cool air to make sure it hasn't sprung a leak, stands 24 feet high. "A pinhole can make enough helium escape to deflate that chamber," Piper says. Earlier, Big Bird was being tested. The balloon, which features feet that are roughly the size of three adults, originally debuted in 1988. It received a makeover this year that included the addition of a red scarf adorned with green musical notes.

Other new balloons depict Cheeseasaurus Rex, Curious George, Jimmy Neutron, Pikachu, a hippopotamus and stars. The sheer volume of each balloon is staggering. Consider this as Curious George leads the oth-' er balloons down Broadway: This monkey is 46 feet long and 30 feet wide He weighs 433 pounds and stands 57 feet tall. (King Kong, eat your heart out!) And 11,600 cubic feet of helium are needed to inflate the balloon, which is tethered to 50 handling lines. Counting all parade personnel, about 7,000 people will march down Broadway, regardless of weather.

Hall aims to keep the parade's traditional focus. "It continues to be about kids," Hall says. "Even in a year like this, it is about kids. It is about entertainment, fun, vitality and culture. And that's really what I am trying to do, continue that tradition.

As things change in the world, this parade will reflect it is about fun and Snoopy has appeared in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade as an aviator, astronaut, ice skater, jester and usher of the millennium. Snoopy will have a 75th anniversary noisemaker. The parade airs at 9 a.m. Thursday on NBC flags of the 50 states. And expect tears to flow when New York police officers and firefighters carry banners featuring the flag and silhouettes of the World Trade Center's twin towers.

Behind those marching will be a float with representatives from the police and fire departments, emergency medical services, the port authority and city hall. "This parade has gone on, and will go on, regardless of what is going on in the world," Robin Hall, producer and director of the parade, says. "It is an important symbol of continuity for the United States and an important symbol of Thanksgiving. It is more important this year than it has been in a long time." To pay tribute to the parade's history, there will be a float featuring four balloons from past parades: Santa (1939), the dachshund (1949), the turkey (1954) and a dragon (1960). For the first time, a student will cut the ribbon that signals the start of the parade.

The student, nominated by a teacher or clergy, was selected last month by people voting online. And there will be clowns jumping out of cars, dance and music groups, and 12 marching KTVI FOX St Louis I 1 02 WTWO NBC Terre Haute 02 WCIA CBS Champaign 3 3 3 49 03 KMOV CBS St Lout 04 KSDK NBC St Louis 05 13 WTHI CBS Terre Haute 10 t3 KPLR WB St Louis 11 t3 WILL PBS Urbana 8 8 12 12 CO WAND ABC Decatur 7 7 7 17 17 E3 WHCH ABC Peoria 19 E3 WICS NBC Springfield 10 10 11 20 20 E3 WBUI WBPAX Decatur 6 11 8 23 B3 WEEK NBC Peoria 25 IB WMBD CBS Peoria 31 ED WBAK FOX Terre Haute 36 CB WYZZ FOX Btoomington 24 B) WEIU PBS Charleston 13 na WRSP FOX Springfield 5 13 4 55 22 Arts and Entertainment 31 31 22 39 AMC American Movie Classics 41 16 37 35 AN! Animal Planet 28 25 29 BET Black Entertainment TV 39 57 CSPAN House of Representatives 4 5 na CMTV Country Music Television 69 44 15 na CNBC Cable News Business Channel 32 74 CNN Cable News Network 23 24 17 5 42 COM Comedy Central 50 64 77 COURT Court Television 72 40 na CSPAN2 Senate Coverage 20 33 na PIS Disney Channel 51 21 28 10 53 DISC The Discovery Channel 14 18 24 4 37 Entertainment TV 71 41 na EDUACC Educational Access 5 na ESPN Entertainment Sports Programming 25 30 14 6 34 ESPN2 Entertainment Sports Programming 2 70 15 na FAM Fox Family Channel 29 17 29 47 FNC Fox News Channel 48 19 na FOOD Food Network 22 78 FSC Fox Sports Chicago 24 37 16 59 FSMW Fox Sports Midwest 38 99 56 FX fX 17 36 33 89 GAC Great American Country 28 na Home Garden 49 23 67 HDLN Headline News 18 na HIST History Channel 32 46 na HLTH Health Network 36 na HSN Home Shopping Network 19 35 9 na INSP Inspirational Television 39 na LIF Lifetime 35 23 30 16 46 LOVE Love Stories 55 na MRKTPL Marketplace 12,16,47 na MSN MSNBC 33 83 MTV Music Television 44 26 43 48 MYST Mystery Channel 58 na NICK Nickelodeon 26 20 26 14 38 ODY Odyssey 30 81 OLN Outdoor Life Network 63 na PLEX Movie Plex 18 84 OVC Home Shopping 46 na SCIFI Science Fiction 19 32 na SPEEDV Speed Vision 62 na TBN Trinity Broadcasting 22 38 na TBS Turner Broadcasting 11 6 35 8 43 TCM Turner Classic Movies 60 na TLC The Learning Channel 45 21 51 TNN The National Network 27 14 45 7 49 TNT Turner Network 21 25 36 2 52 TOON Cartoon Network 73 61 na T0OND Toon Disney 38 na TVLAND TV Land 27 na TWC The Weather Channel 43 20 18 na USA USA Network 42 29 31 3 44 VH1 Video Hits One 37 27 42 62 WGN WGN Satellite 9 9 34 9 55 TRUE True Stories 57 na TVGUIDE TV Guide Channel 2 2 Ri WEAT Weather Scan 34 34 6 na ACT Action 56 na ENC Encore 54 15 54 92 HBO Home Box Office 74 4 68 11 33 HB02 Home Box Office 2 69 13 na HB03 Home Box Office 3 70 na MAX Cinemax 55 2 72 12 45 PLAY Playboy 77 na SHOW Showtime 53 71 41 SH0W2 Showtime 2 na STARZ Stan: 52 53 80 STARZ2 Stag 2 na TMC The Movie Channel 98 73 na VC1 Viewer's Choice 1 74 18 na VC4 Viewer's Choice 4 75 na VC5 Viewer's Choice 5 I 76 Ina 0 645 W. Pershing Road (next to Perkins) I 877-6466 ipuy I With This Ad Excludes Sale Price Items Expires 11-31-2001 I VI I.