Jean Shepherd

Ralphie, a nine-year-old boy in 1940s Indiana, dreams of receiving a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas but encounters resistance at every turn when he makes his wish known.

"Shepherd has a fine eye for absurdity, for the madness and idiocy in all of us." --Best Sellers.

In October 1964, as the British Invasion of pop music came into its own, Playboy Magazine assigned Jean Shepherd to travel with, and interview, the Beatles on their tour of the United Kingdom. Shepherd also took advantage of his assignment to further travel the UK on his own, exploring from Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands to London with a portable recorder to record material for use on his own syndicated radio program. The result is a fascinating...

Presents radio programs, digitally remastered and restored, containing all the classic elements of Jean Shepherd's work, combining humor, story telling, kazoo playing, and general musings on everyday life and the nature of man.

Ralphie is a 9-year-old who wants only one thing for Christmas - an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model BB rifle with a compass in the stock. Between his parents, his teacher, and even Santa Claus all Ralphie hears is "No, you'll shoot your eye out." By this time, Ralphie has had enough of that. When Scut Farkus, the schoolyard bully and his sidekick Grover Dill start in on Ralphie while he's on his way home from school that day,...

In these digitally remastered classic radio programs, Jean Shepherd muses on the impact of dirty glasses, shopping for cars with the old man, flyswatters, growing up with the White Sox, and the great divide between Southside and Northside baseball fans.

Commentators from various fields offer reflections on painter and illustrator Norman Rockwell.

Ralphie is all grown up in this sequel to the annual holiday favorite in which he must deal with Christmas and all that comes with it, this time as a dad. Peter Billingsley returns to the role that has made kids of all ages anticipate Christmas morning like no other.