'CLAUS' AND EFFECT WHOOPI GOLDBERG TAKES THE REINS TO PLAY SANTA IN A NEW TNT MOVIE.

Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer

``Call Me Claus,'' a new TNT production premiering at 8 p.m. Sunday, is a melted concoction of elements from more familiar Christmas stories, including ``Miracle on 34th Street'' and ``A Christmas Carol,'' with the unexpected twist of an outspoken, rather Grinchy black woman donning that trademark red hat.

Whoopi Goldberg, one of its executive producers, stars as Lucy Cullins, a perpetually grumpy, workaholic producer at a cable television shopping network. She is seeking the ideal Santa figure to hawk wares on the air through gift season. Amid a steady stream of lame applicants comes Nick (Nigel Hawthorne), who wasn't seeking the job. Lucy hires him, unaware of just how perfect he is for the assignment.

It seems Nick's 200-year term as Santa Claus is up at midnight on Christmas, and it's up to him to designate a successor.

Lucy doesn't recall it, but she sat on this same Nick's lap as a kid in the 1960s, and emitted a magical aura that told him she was among the very few qualified for his job. Unfortunately, that was about the same time that a terrible reality quashed her Christmas spirit for years to come.

Seeking comfort

Goldberg said she hopes that, in the wake of Sept. 11, viewers are less cynical and more open to a feel-good holiday film about forgiveness, redemption and the pleasure of giving.

``The message probably seems a lot stronger now because we're more receptive to it since the 11th,'' she said. ``But it is all about the cynicism, you know? The idea that no magical things can possibly happen.

``I don't believe that,'' she said. ``I believe magic can happen. And if adults sort of lose track of the wonder of the holidays, whatever it is you celebrate, then, of course, the children just sort of become consumers.''

Garth Brooks, who brought the project to Goldberg and is one of its executive producers, said he never doubted that Whoopi could weave a serious message into a seasonal comedy.

``She handles topics every day that are razor sharp and intense, but she somehow handles them in a very laughable way,'' he said. ``People drop their defenses but still pay attention to what she has to say. That's very hard to do, but it seems to come easy for her.''

Goldberg, 52, has fond memories of her own childhood Christmases in the New York projects, where she was known as Caryn Johnson. She looks back on her mother's dedication to preparing the turkey, putting it in the oven on Christmas Eve and basting it through the night; watching Alastair Sim's ``A Christmas Carol''; and newsman Walter Cronkite talking about a Christmas cease-fire in Vietnam that would mean world peace for one night.

``And the yule logs used to be a huge tradition on Channel 11 in New York, where it was just a picture of a log on television. Like you had a fireplace in the projects,'' Goldberg said.

Now she's one of the entertainment industry's busiest producers - she has ``Hollywood Squares'' in syndication, ``Strong Medicine'' on Lifetime, a couple of other TV shows in development, and she's backing a Broadway production for next year of the musical ``Thoroughly Modern Millie.'' But she still finds time to do it up big every December for her grandchildren's pleasure as well as her own.

The Christmas spirit

She makes footprints with a boot from the fireplace to the table where Santa's treats have been left out, and back to the fireplace. She leads the little ones around looking for Claus clues, her own wide-eyed zeal stirring theirs.

``I'm out of control with the holidays. I've got five menorahs, 18 Christmas trees. It's crazy,'' she said. ``But for them, when they've grown up, hopefully this will be a season that they look back and say, 'My grandmother was crazy. She made it so much fun.' ''

Goldberg said that, for many people, Christmas and a belief in miracles are little more than a ``big old chore, a big old bother'' because they are so immersed in reality.

``I think part of what we need, just for ourselves, is one little corner of the imagination that says, 'Anything is possible,' '' she said. ``In the darkest days of our world, people did have some faith in something.

``I find that we've sort of lost a lot of faith, and, you know, for kids I want it to be magic,'' Goldberg said. ``That's why I wanted to do this, because I thought, well, if somebody's going to be Santa Claus, hell, let it be me. I can't be Harry Potter.''

``CALL ME CLAUS'' What: Movie about a grumpy TV producer who is tapped by St. Nick himself to be the next Santa Claus.

The stars: Whoopi Goldberg, Nigel Hawthorne, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Victor Garber, Taylor Negron.

Where: TNT.

When: 8 p.m. Sunday. Repeats throughout the month.

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Photo:

Nigel Hawthorne plays a lame-duck Santa trying to pass the job to a new recruit, played by Whoopi Goldberg, in ``Call Me Claus,'' at 8 p.m. Sunday on TNT.