Christmas Specials and Cartoons

I updated the video on the Andy Williams Show post to a much better one.  I think you'll like it.

Before we get started, I'd just like to thank my international visitors for coming to this site.  I hope it gives a glimpse of how we celebrate Christmas in America and we would love to hear how you celebrate in your perspective countries.

Happy Days is as a part of American culture as apple pie and the Christmas episode from 1974 is a great one.  In the early days of Fonzie's relationship with the Cunningham family, they are just beginning to get to know the Fonz.  It's Christmas Eve and Mr. C and Richie have had car trouble with the DeSoto.  Fonzie fixes the problem for free as a Christmas present.  It is then that Howard and Richie realize that Fonzie will be all alone for Christmas.

Here is a shortened version of that episode, Enjoy!

This is one of my favorites.  The Andy Griffith show with Andy Griffith and Don Knotts.  In this episode, Ben Weaver has a local man hauled in for moonshining.  After Andy, Barney and the gang bring Christmas into the jailhouse for the family, Ben begins to long for Christmas himself and does whatever he can to get thrown in jail so he can participate in the Christmas he knew long ago.

Here is part  of that show

After Jack Benny left radio he moved right into the new medium of television.  The Jack Benny Show ran from October of 1950 to September of 1964.  Here is a clip from the Christmas show featuring Mel Blanc in one of Jack's greatest holiday bits.

Enjoy!

One thing we all looked forward to every year was the Christmas episode of our favorite TV shows.  From my childhood, it was everything from M*A*S*H to Diff'rent Strokes.  When you watch these now, Christmas wasn't callous or considered "cheesy" but was given the treatment it deserved.

Below is a mini-sode of The Jeffersons.  I'll be posting different Christmas episodes from time to time in the future.  Enjoy!

Originally called the Santa Claus Lane parade, The Hollywood Christmas parade takes place on the weekend after Thanksgiving in Hollywood, California.  The parade began in 1928 as a way to boost shopping during the holiday season and was created by the chamber of commerce.

In 1946, Gene Autry rode his horse down the parade route and was so inspired by all of the children yelling "Here comes Santa Claus" that it inspired him to write the now famous song.

By 1978, the parade was broadcast in KTLA-TV and had attracted many celebrities.  In 2004, NBC tried to present it as a primetime special which proved disastrous.   By 2008, the chamber of commerce cancelled showing the parade on all Tribune owned stations (such as WGN in Chicago) due to losses of $100,000.

The parade also ended up being cancelled and a new parade called the Hollywood Santa Parade was initiated.

It was announced that  MyNetworkTV would telecast the 2009 parade.  It's a shame that the original parade had come to this.

Here is a promo for the 1987 parade that featured Jimmy Stewart as the Grand Marshall.

I love Christmas commercials.  More than specials or movies they are a window into Christmas past like nothing else.  They bring to mind memories long forgotten of a time gone by. The Norelco commercials are no different and here is I believe the original.

*Below it are two more, one made in the 1970's and the other from 1994.

I hope you enjoy it!

Born Pierino Ronald Como in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Perry Como is a well-loved Italian-American crooner with a string of hits in the 40's and 50's.

Perry joined a list of crooners who became synonymous with Christmas such as Bing Crosby and Andy Williams.  In a way, Perry and Andy share a sort of commonality in that they both discovered musical acts and had them on their show.  In Perry's case, he very much liked Richard and Karen Carpenter.  In fact, on their album "Christmas Portrait", Richard and Karen did a version of "Christ is Born", a staple of Perry's christmas carols.

Perry's last special was taped in Ireland in 1994 and titled "Perry Como's Irish Christmas".

Here is a sample of Perry singing "It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas"

Enjoy!