NAMES IN THE NEWS : Christmas Special for Rogers

Kenny Rogers says that working together with his son, Kenny Jr., on the NBC special “Christmas in America” has made the two of them closer than they’ve been in years. In the show, to air Dec. 13, Kenny Sr. plays a career-minded father who grows apart from his son, played by Kenny Jr.

The elder Rogers says the scenario is more than a little reminiscent of his real-life relationship with his son, whom he did not see for six years after his divorce from the boy’s mother. “While we were filming, Kenny Jr. told me, ‘You were always gone, Dad. We needed you, but you weren’t there. You couldn’t schedule us into your life,’ ” Kenny Sr. told the National Enquirer. Now, things are better. Says the elder Rogers: “It’s not even Christmas yet, but I’ve received the best present a father could ever hope for: my son.”