It feels like I spent 2019 submerged in research and writing, but I did accept several invitations to talk about Christmas episodes, specials and movies. While I shared these podcasts, radio shows, and interviews on social media throughout the year, here they are again listed with links for your convenience. Thank you for checking them out.
Early in the year, I spoke with Rachel on the Hallmarkies Podcast about a variety of holiday programs. Listen to that installment HERE.
I joined Kat and Pam in a conversation about Beverly Hills 90210's fifth season holiday episode "Christmas Comes Each Time This Year" from 1994. Check out this installment of the The Blaze with Lizzie and Kat podcast HERE.
Brian Earl of the Christmas Past podcast invited me to discuss my own Christmas TV History podcast series. Listen to it HERE.
I joined Dan on the Rockin' All Week With You podcast talking about Happy Days. We discuss the s2e6 episode "Guess Who's Coming to Christmas" from 1974. This is a good one! Listen to it HERE.
One of my favorite annual traditions is joining Johnny and Helen Holmes on Radio Once More for a conversation about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies. I've been doing this every December since 2013! This live program has since been uploaded online, and you can listen HERE.
While I'm not a health professional, I talked with a reporter from the Kansas City Star discussing whether Christmas TV movies are good for your mental health. Read that whole article HERE.
Old Man Freakboy invited me to create a bumper for his Christmas music show (12/15/2019) on the radio program Hey Kids Get Off My Lawn. I briefly discuss holiday music and The Brady Bunch. It is now available to listen to online HERE.
At Christmas Con 2019, I met and talked with a journalist from Vox. Her piece ended up one of the most thoughtful pieces written on Christmas TV movies I've ever read. (I would think that even if I wasn't mentioned in it). The Christmas TV movie industry is really crazy right now--the money involved, the devoted fan base, the sheer number of new movies generated every year. WHO ARE WE as a culture to embrace these stories in this way? I love these conversations. And I love that Emily Todd VanDerWerff takes this conversation seriously. Read the article HERE.
I was also interviewed for a local public radio station WKSU to talk about what makes a Christmas movie. I directly address whether or not Die Hard is a Christmas movie. You can listen to it online, or read the transcript HERE.
Remember when viewers became upset last year with the portrayal of Jewish characters in a couple of new holiday TV movies? Hallmark Channel received additional backlash against their pulling TV commercials with a same-sex kiss. Rewire talked to me about the importance of inclusion and viewers seeing themselves in holiday movies. Would Hallmark ever make a TV movie dedicated solely to Hanukkah? I don't know. But I'd like to see more diversity of characters in terms of people of color, faiths, and same sex relationships. I'm looking forward to seeing improvements in the future. Here's the full article.
Waldon and Patricia from a live radio program on Yesterday USA invited me for a conversation last July about Christmas TV programs and movies that featured popular radio stars. I'm sorry I don't have a link for that great conversation. However, Waldon and Patricia invited me back on their show in December, and we discussed the movie It's a Wonderful Life and its TV adaptations, and the movie Miracle on 34th Street and its TV adaptations. You can listen to this conversation HERE.
I ended the year, as I have for the past several years, in a fun conversation with Amanda, Dan and Nate from the Made for TV Mayhem Podcast. This year's Episode 50 sees us discussing the Dupont Show's 1960 Christmas episode "A Silent Panic," starring Harpo Marx and Ernest Truex. Give it a listen HERE.
You know I released my own five-part podcast last year entitled Christmas TV History, right? It's one thing to collect data for an encyclopedia and it's another to make sense of that history--which is what I attempt to do in my podcast. The five episodes include an introduction, one about Christmas animation, Christmas TV movies, Christmas variety, and TV adaptations of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Here's more about that and where to listen HERE.
Joanna Wilson is a TV researcher and book author specializing in Christmas entertainment. More about the TV programs mentioned on this website can be found in her book "Tis the Season TV: the Encyclopedia of Christmas-themed Episodes, Specials, and Made-for-TV Movies." Her latest book "Triple Dog Dare: Watching--& Surviving--the 24-Hour Marathon of A Christmas Story" was released in 2016. She is currently updating and expanding the encyclopedia for a 2020 release. Her books can be found at the publisher's website: 1701 press.com
*Support this website and its research by purchasing the books at 1701 press.com
thanks
ReplyDelete