You know, it just doesn’t feel like the holiday season for me until I get a chance to sit back and watch the Hilton Family Holiday Skating and Gymnastics Spectacular. I’m not making this one up, it was in the television listings today and I really felt like it was an early Christmas present. I mean, what could possibly be included in a Hilton Family Gymnastics Routine? Somehow I have a feeling that I’ll never look at a pommel horse the same way again.
I’m a little weird when it comes to holiday television. Growing up I think I watched every single special imaginable. The Peanuts gang was easily my favorite, especially given the tendency of everyone comparing me to Linus growing up. Couldn’t go wrong with the Rudolf specials, which had killer stop motion animation and a plot line that still infects my everyday life. (One of the best lines in my novel is when the female lead turns to Brian and goes (in response to his drinking buddies) “Those aren’t friends! They’re rejects from the island of misfit toys!”)
I even remember the California Raisin special, which wasn’t as bizarre as the Star Wars Life Day spectacular but man was it freaky for a ten year old. First off, I was never quite sure how the Raisins qualified as being the lead for a holiday special. Spuds McKenzie never got the chance and his would have been a lot cooler. But this was another stop motion extravaganza that included hosts (one of whom I remember was a dinosaur) who in the modern era would probably have its own show on Bravo. Yeah, it was an alternative Christmas featuring raisins. And people think the seventies were weird.
Probably my favorite of the lesser known shows was “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (man I hope I have this title right). It’s the one that featured the family of mice where the smart mouse with glasses ended up inadvertently ruining Christmas and the dad (who was the guy from the Adams Family) had to do everything to save the day. It was simple and sweet and fun and always seemed to air during that last week when the anticipation was at its height.
(Incredibly, I’ve never seen It’s a Wonderful Life. Just was never something we watched in my family and as an adult I never have seen a need to catch it.)
I’m not sure why these memories of television specials stay with us for so long. It’s not as if they are the epitome of drama or even children’s entertainment. They probably just serve two simple purposes and they serve them very well. (Three, if you want to get cynical and include advertisements for toys). For kids, they help to build up the anticipation for the big day while teaching them that caring about other people is a good thing. But for adults they are that momentary respite from our real life. For thirty minutes we can return to being the kid lying on the living room floor watching the Grinch sneak around and laughing at the little dog. It’s a return to a time when there really were no worries other than hoping that the calendar would move quickly to the big day. After a certain age you can’t get back to that feeling of being carefree. There is always job or school or a relationship to worry about. But all you need to do is see Charlie Brown and his sad looking tree and for one moment, all you have to do is watch and smile.
Merry Christmas everyone. And there better be a fire truck with my name on it under the tree…
The five random CD’s for the week
1) The Shins “Chutes Too Narrow”
2) The Tragically Hip “Live Between Us”
3) The Be Good Tanyas “Chinatown”
4) The Subdudes “Live at Last”
5) Laura Minor “Salesman’s Girl”
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