About Christmas TV History

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Upcoming History Channel TV Special



My specialized knowledge of Christmas on TV has opened many doors for me. Last week I was in Los Angeles being interviewed for an upcoming TV special for the History Channel. I got to sit before cameras and talk about everybody's favorite Christmas TV specials and programs, as well as the history of Christmas programming on television. I talked about Bing Crosby's annual Christmas shows--including 1977's "Merry Olde Christmas" with special guest star David Bowie. I also talked about The Star Wars Holiday Special from 1977, Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special from 1988 and the first Hallmark Hall of Fame production, 1951's Amahl and the Night Visitors--the very first opera written specifically for television. I even gave a bit of commentary about the animated classics including The Grinch, A Charlie Brown Christmas and the Rankin/Bass classics Rudolph, Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, Frosty the Snowman and The Year Without a Santa Claus. I really talked about more than this but these are the highlights. I went on and on for over an hour--they eventually had to shut me off!

I have no idea how much of what I said (if any, really) will be included in the final program. I believe the result is an update of the documentary program, The History of Christmas. But it is quite an honor to be given this opportunity to share my passion and commentary for Christmas TV. And, if my portion of the interview ends up on the editing room floor, at least I had a fantastic adventure and new experiences in Los Angeles. Now I just have to sit and wait for seven months to watch the finished documentary to see what clips of my interview they will use. Did I mention that I'm not good with the waiting? The funnest part of this experience is that my name may have to be included in one of my own summaries that I write about Christmas programs! I feel like I'm John Malkovich sliding down the head of John Malkovich in Being John Malkovich. yay!!


4 comments:

  1. Cool! I hope you are in the final product!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay, this is so super cool. Of course you had to know somewhere along the line that your special and super duper in-depth knowledge of Christmas had to lead to great things. You are the expert we all consult on such matters. I know you'll let us all know when the special will air as well.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am so proud of you. Congrats!!! I'm sure you'll be all over the final version!

    ReplyDelete