Best Christmas specials: Heat Miser! Ralphie!
Posted: Monday, December 08, 2008 6:00 AM by Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Filed Under:
TV
Now that I have a daughter, I'm starting to look at TV Christmas specials with a fresh eye. Yes, I've seen "A Charlie Brown Christmas" more times than Lucy has pulled away the football, but it'll be brand new to Kelly. She's too young for TV at the moment, but I'm already thinking about how much fun it will be to introduce her to the best of the holiday.
Since I haven't tuned in to the more modern specials, my faves are all from my own childhood, and thankfully, are still being shown today. What do the kids watch today? "A Hannah Montana, Jonas Brothers and High School Musical Christmas?" I'll pass.
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Oh Charlie Brown, you're still a classic.
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'A Charlie Brown Christmas'
I'm a "Peanuts" fan from way back (I once toured Charles Schulz's last Minnesota house for a story I was writing), and this special has to be at the top of my list. From the spindly tree to the lessons about commercialism to Linus reciting from the Gospel of Luke, it's a classic. I sometimes think the bratty kids on reality shows -- from the "Bridezillas" to the "My Super Sweet 16" brats -- were never exposed to such simple values somehow, and our world is the worse for it. You can check it out tonight, Dec. 8, at 8 pm on ABC. (Rerun Dec. 16, 8 p.m., ABC.)
Heat Miser and Snow Miser
Charlie Brown is the classic, but Heat Miser and Snow Miser are the secret faves of a lot of people. Right now I'm humming the Heat Miser song -- you know the one -- "I'm Mister Green Christmas, I'm Mister Sun..." The two half-brothers (they have the same mom, Mother Nature) first came to stardom in 1974's "A Year Without a Santa Claus," a title I always confuse with another favorite, "The House Without a Christmas Tree." Anyway, the Miser boys' original show is airing Dec. 11 on ABC Family -- and now they have their own show, "A Miser Brothers' Christmas," which ABC Family will show Dec. 13.
'Rudolph'
If "Year Without a Santa Claus" is synonymous with Heat Miser to me, then "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" is synonymous with "Island of Misfit Toys," one of the coolest concepts introduced in a holiday special ever. As a kid, my response to "no child wants to play with a Charlie-in-the-Box" was always "I would!" I had a soft spot in my heart for misfits -- what kid hasn't felt like a misfit a hundred times over by the time he or she reaches third grade? OK, maybe Tom Brady hadn't, but he's the exception. (Sadly, this aired last week, and I can't find a rerun listed.)
'A Christmas Story'
You'd think "A Christmas Story" would be played out by now, with all the 24 hour marathon play it gets. But it's a tribute to the enormous talent of the author, the late Jean Shepherd, (please, please check out his books and radio shows if you haven't already) that it somehow stays fresh and funny and irresistible. And the lines are as quotable as Monty Python. "I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle!""You'll shoot your eye out, kid!" "Fra-gee-lay. That must be Italian!" "Ovaltine? A crummy commercial?" This year is the film's 25th anniversary, and there was a convention in Cleveland, with tours of the house used in the movie. And I have to admit that I bought my mother the night-light version of the famous leg lamp for Christmas. (Turns out she really wanted the full-size one. Moms!) Anyway, the marathon starts at 7 pm Christmas Eve on TBS and runs for 24 hours. "BUMPUSES!"
Share your thoughts on your favorite specials and Christmas movies (The Grinch? Muppets? "It's a Wonderful Life" Emmet Otter?) in the comments.
