11 December 2020

Christmastime Shows We Love For All the Wrong Reasons


Today I'm participating again in the 2020 Virtual Advent Tour over at sprite's blog, and I thought I'd share some Christmastime viewing that are favorites of ours, even if for all the wrong reasons.

Now keep in mind that we LOVE holiday and Christmas shows at our house, and of course watch the "standard" ones such as "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "It's a Wonderful Life," and so on and on.  But there are also those we have come across over the years that are just too good to not watch pretty regularly, not necessarily because they are well-done, but for other reasons.

First up:  "The Spirit of Christmas," with the Mabel Beaton Marionettes - a must-see every single year:


This one is a killer classic - each of us suspects we saw it as a child.  Besides the non-stellar quality of the production (which I'm guessing was not even that stellar when it had been originally broadcast), the marionettes are ... worrisome.  And hilarious.  And ... well, you decide.

Any/all of the big entertainers Christmas specials.  Recently, we watched this particular one from the old Dean Martin show:


Of course, we both watched these with our parents back when they were originally broadcast, but even if not every year, we do go back fairly often to watch them.  When we were kids, there were a lot of variety shows on, and all of them had Christmas specials, with extra guest stars, and they were ... OK?  This is a good example - A-listers (Bob Hope) and others - Dennis Weaver (WTF is he doing there, and WHY is he [attempting] to sing??).  Then of course at the end, the cavalcade of stars helping Dino announce childrens' hospitals that would be receiving toys from charitable organizations.  One of my nieces e-mailed us and said, "WHO in the heck *are* these people?" which makes it even funnier to us!  Plus, let's just say that there's a lot of things that would never ever pass muster today.

And one of our all-time favorites, "Beyond Tomorrow," which we came across one late night on television and just could not stop watching because, well, it's just plain awful in all the best ways and old cornball movie can be.


Oh my.  We even used to have a VHS of this one!

Now, I'm not promising that you will appreciate however much time of your life will be used up should you decide to check out any/all of these, but surely you have some of your own that are your favorites?  

I do have to say, they just don't make 'em like they used to ... 😊

12 comments:

sprite said...

Decorating the tree is on my agenda for this weekend, and I think I just found what I'll have playing in the background!

Araignee said...

I was just listening to the Arne and Carlos Christmas knitting podcast and they were saying that in Sweden everyone watches Donald Duck's Christmas Special on Christmas Eve. Interesting.
My must-sees have changed over the years. I haven't seen It's a Wonderful Life in years. I prefer The Man Who Came to Dinner and Christmas in Connecticut over the more sentimental movies anymore. I want snappy dialogue and a laugh. I do confess I am a total Love Actually junkie. I cry at the 9/11 airport intro every time.

KSD said...

Dean Martin was so blasted cute. . .

Ellen D. said...

Oh my those old shows are such a hoot! I don't have a traditional Christmas show that I watch annually. But I do remember that my kids loved the He-man Christmas show when his enemy, Skeletor, becomes kind for Christmas and helps some lost children! Oh, and "The Christmas Toy" was another favorite of theirs. The old Christmas toys come to life when humans are not around and are waiting for the new Christmas toy to join them.
I am ready for Christmas but I am not sure who will be coming this year since COVID is still raging. My daughter-in-law who is a doctor will let us know what is safe...

Dee said...

How drunk WAS Dean Martin during those shows????? ROFL

Wanderingcatstudio said...

When it comes to "classics" I will always love the original Miracle on 34th street. And A Christmas Carol with Alistair Sim.

Nance said...

I've never seen any of these! I have to say, that Marionette Santa looks like he's having a seizure or spasm in his sleigh. Terrifying. And any kid watching the beginning of the Nativity story would be scared--the horror-movie voice, the thunder and lightning--what a joyous Christmas Story...!?

My kids used to like Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas.

Jo Kay said...

I've only heard of Spirit of Christmas (well, at least it sounds familiar), but haven't watched either of the three. Sometimes an awful thing is most entertaining, though, so maybe I should give the last one a try.

kathy b said...

I know our parents loved them, but they all seemed like they were always liquored up and smoking. Still they had their fan base!

I like to watch the sitcom reruns of Holiday shows. There is a funny funny Everybody loves Raymond , Christmas show. Debra kisses Ray tenderly and then he yells, no, "You've activated the launch Pad" justas Robert, Marie and Rays father walk in.

I love the Schists creek Christmas show. We finished that series tonight and I was in tears. I will miss those amazing Characters.

AsKatKnits said...

I love these... and how did I not know about any but Dean Martin? I also loved the Bing Crosby Holiday specials... and Firestone Christmas Albums!

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

I think we will watch these tonight. Thanks for sharing these quirky old shows.

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

Update: We watched Beyond Tomorrow and the marionette show last night. Quite outside our usual fare. Thanks for the heads up. Quite an experience.