Writer's Block: Two words: Charlie Brown
Nov. 24th, 2010 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I think about this from time to time because as a kid with no cable growing up (1970s), we had about 3 channels and no way to record the shows. We had set times to be in front of the TV and we rarely left our seats during commercial breaks (we didn't have a remote till about the 1980s). Holiday TV shows always usher in a homey feeling that sets the holiday spirit in motion.
The TV shows that tolled the seasons - especially the fall and the holidays - were of course, Charlie Brown specials (It's The Great Pumpkin CB and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), but also (and not necessarily in this order) for Thanksgiving in particular were:
Around Thanksgiving:
- Various Celebrity Specials
- The Wizard of Oz
- Gone with the Wind
- It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
For Christmas, I frequently watched:
- Merry Christmas Charlie Brown
- The Grinch that Stole Christmas
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Jack Frost
- Oliver Twist
Once in a while, I'd watch:
- Miracle on 34th Street
- It's a Wonderful Life
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Frosty the Snowman
- The Little Drummer Boy
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
- Frosty's Winter Wonderland
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Also in the 70s, I remember seeing:
- The Bob Hope Christmas Special
- The Bing Crosby White Christmas Special
- Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas with David Bowie
A couple of years ago, we did a swivel search / wish list on our Tivo for holiday specials. We recorded a few shows we'd never seen that were albeit well-done, but VERY strange. They both kind of left us with a cold feeling, not the warm, toasty feeling of normal holiday shows.
- The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
- The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
With that same swivel search, we happened to record "A Very Barry Christmas", which is really cute. It's a story about an Australian, Barry, down on his luck in the outback. And he has friends, Nigel, a cantankerous crocodile with a fear of rejection, Lilly, a former boxing kangaroo, Walter the platypus, and a narcoleptic koala named Simon, all who really do love Barry. Barry ends up trading places with Santa for the season until Santa gets back to health in the outback. It's really fun.
I think about this from time to time because as a kid with no cable growing up (1970s), we had about 3 channels and no way to record the shows. We had set times to be in front of the TV and we rarely left our seats during commercial breaks (we didn't have a remote till about the 1980s). Holiday TV shows always usher in a homey feeling that sets the holiday spirit in motion.
The TV shows that tolled the seasons - especially the fall and the holidays - were of course, Charlie Brown specials (It's The Great Pumpkin CB and A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving), but also (and not necessarily in this order) for Thanksgiving in particular were:
Around Thanksgiving:
- Various Celebrity Specials
- The Wizard of Oz
- Gone with the Wind
- It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
- A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
For Christmas, I frequently watched:
- Merry Christmas Charlie Brown
- The Grinch that Stole Christmas
- Here Comes Santa Claus
- Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer
- The Year Without a Santa Claus
- Jack Frost
- Oliver Twist
Once in a while, I'd watch:
- Miracle on 34th Street
- It's a Wonderful Life
- 'Twas the Night Before Christmas
- Frosty the Snowman
- The Little Drummer Boy
- The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
- Frosty's Winter Wonderland
- Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Also in the 70s, I remember seeing:
- The Bob Hope Christmas Special
- The Bing Crosby White Christmas Special
- Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas with David Bowie
A couple of years ago, we did a swivel search / wish list on our Tivo for holiday specials. We recorded a few shows we'd never seen that were albeit well-done, but VERY strange. They both kind of left us with a cold feeling, not the warm, toasty feeling of normal holiday shows.
- The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold
- The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus
- Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
With that same swivel search, we happened to record "A Very Barry Christmas", which is really cute. It's a story about an Australian, Barry, down on his luck in the outback. And he has friends, Nigel, a cantankerous crocodile with a fear of rejection, Lilly, a former boxing kangaroo, Walter the platypus, and a narcoleptic koala named Simon, all who really do love Barry. Barry ends up trading places with Santa for the season until Santa gets back to health in the outback. It's really fun.
