Christmas TV Specials
By: Crystal Lynn Cox |
Monday December 15, 2008 |
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Happy Holiday watching! |
| American’s have always loved their holidays, and probably none more than Christmas. This is obvious by the incredible number of Christmas specials that air on almost every television station from Thanksgiving morning until Christmas night ever year. But what is so “special” about a Christmas special? These episodes come in many different packages, and usually with a title that is a cheesy rendition of some other Christmas film or story. In the earlier days of television, Christmas specials were a lot more recognizable. The traditional Christmas special showed the starring family sitting around their fully-laden dinner table or their brightly decorated Christmas tree. The Christmas episodes were often hopeful and contained some pleasant holiday message. This is true of several shows, such as The Beverly Hillbillies which had 4 Christmas specials, Bonanza which had 2, and Happy Days which had 5. The Dick Van Dyke Show tried to steer away from the traditional episode in the late sixties when they made their "The Allan Brady show Presents." (For those who don’t know, the Allan Brady Show is the variety show that Dick Van Dyke’s character wrote for in the series.) The shows only Christmas special was conducted like a variety show, featuring the usual cast. Some modern television series adhere to the traditional Christmas special, as seen in the shows According to Jim, That 70s Show, Boy Meets World, Everybody Loves Raymond, George Lopez and 7th Heaven, while other shows (usually those not centered on families) have trouble making the traditional Christmas special. ER, for example, has run a Christmas special almost every season it has aired, but its specials are rarely about chestnuts roasting and family gatherings. The show sticks with its regular style, only adding the cheesy Christmas title and an allusion to the holiday in the episode. This is true of several shows of this kind, such as Boston Legal, Chuck, and Diagnosis Murder. While many sitcoms air Christmas episodes in their early seasons, most have only a few in their entire course as a show. Some shows, such as According to Jim and ER, surprisingly have Christmas specials for most of their seasons, while other shows, such as The Cosby Show and Desperate Housewives, have none at all. The popular seventies sitcom, The Brady Bunch, had aired a few Christmas episodes in its time, but their most popular Christmas special of all time was their 1988 Reunion Christmas movie. It still airs every Christmas season. While the definition of “a Christmas special” may vary from television show to television show, and even network to network, there are specials out there for any way Americans may want to celebrate the holiday. Christmas specials range from musical performances by popular artists to satirical representations of popular Christmas classics, from extra-long episodes that bear Christmas names or decorate the set with a Christmas tree to full blown Christmas extravaganzas, there’s something for everyone. A Random Fact: The Munsters, which ironically never had a Halloween episode, it did air a Christmas episode called “The Munsters’ Scary Little Christmas.” Christmas Specials This Year: 12/15 “Worst Week” 9:30 p.m. EST on CBS “The Big Bang Theory” 8 p.m. EST on CBS “Chuck” 8 p.m. EST on NBC 12/16 “According to Jim” 9 p.m. EST on ABC “NCIS” 8 p.m. EST on CBS Also, throughout the next 2 weeks, Nickelodeon is playing reruns of Christmas episodes from popular past sitcoms like “Home Improvement.” |
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