Parker Family Saga

Parker Family Saga
Official film series home video release artwork
Based onIn God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash
by Jean Shepherd
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
(under Turner Entertainment)
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
(under Amazon MGM Studios)
PBS
Disney Platform Distribution
Release date
1966–2022
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Parker Family Saga (also known as the Jean Shepherd's Parker Family Saga franchise,[1] the Ralph Parker franchise, or colloquially the A Christmas Story franchise),[2][3] is a collection of American family-comedies based upon the stories of author Jean Shepherd. The stories originated on Shepherd's radio programs and in his books before being adapted into a stage play, two theatrical films, four made-for-TV films, one straight-to-home video film, one unaired pilot episode for a planned television series, one musical adaptation, one live television adaptation of that musical[4] and one made-for-streaming film.[5][6][7]

All of the productions in the saga center around Ralphie Parker, a child in the 1930s and 1940s in suburban Indiana, and his friends and family. Ralphie Parker was loosely based upon Shepherd's childhood. For the rest of his life, Shepherd was the first-person narrator for all productions involving the character. Shepherd publicly claimed that all of his work was entirely fictional, but the names of his own friends and family are in his books.[8]

  1. ^ "JEAN SHEPHERD'S PARKER FAMILY SAGA - 9 DVD - 7 FILMS - 4 DOCUMENTARIES - DVD & DVD-R" – via Amazon.
  2. ^ "A Christmas Story (1983) | ScreenRant". screenrant.com. February 5, 2023.
  3. ^ "A Christmas Story Franchise". Behind The Voice Actors.
  4. ^ "Movie Sequels".
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1970s_THR was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference 1970s_Variety was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (August 24, 2022). "HBO Max Dates Four Holiday Movies Including Sequel 'A Christmas Story Christmas'". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation.
  8. ^ "Vast File of Dynamic Trivia". Flicklives.com. Retrieved September 25, 2016.