About Christmas TV History

About the book The Christmas TV Companion

The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials & Outrageous Oddities is a non-fiction guide to unusual, overlooked and often bizarre Christmas-themed television episodes, specials and film releases. Drawing on genres and themes such as science fiction, the macabre, off-center animation, extraordinary musical performances and dark sentiments, the book compiles Christmas installments along with summaries and commentary. The book also offers a practical application. There are nine Make Your Own Marathon suggestions for readers to enhance their holiday viewing. These include additional cult TV listings, and a marathon of specials from the past that deserve a second chance at a wider audience.

Loaded with pop culture references and author Joanna Wilson’s humorous insights, The Christmas TV Companion is sure to please pop aficionados and TV junkies of all stripes. The book’s remarkable depth of content covers the far-out gems of yesterday, as well as the irreverent and cutting edge Christmas material of today, from Arthur C. Clarke to South Park, and from Ed Sullivan to Squidbillies.

Check out the publisher’s website:
https://www.1701press.com/



Testimonials for The Christmas TV Companion


“From my appearance as a child actor on Dragnet to A Very Brady Christmas to my more recent musical performance on The Wiggles, this book contains an amazing wealth of Christmas TV splendor.”

—Barry Williams, Actor, Author and Performer


“Fans of my animated shorts will love this book! With The Christmas TV Companion as your guide, you’re bound to have the most demented Yuletide Season ever!”

—Corky Quakenbush, Animator of The Reinfather, Raging Rudolph and A Pack of Gifts Now


“I thought I’d seen just about every Christmas-themed television show out there. I was wrong. Joanna Wilson’s Christmas TV Companion has sent me searching for all kinds of obscure oddments of which I had never heard and now can’t wait to watch. In an engagingly amusing way, this book points out how versatile television has been in embracing, celebrating, satirizing, and abusing this single holiday.”

Robert Thompson, Director, Bleier Center of Television & Popular Culture, Syracuse University


“A fun and fast read, The Christmas TV Companion is a good recap of Christmas television over the years. It’s clear the author boasts a real passion for the topic, and has researched it thoroughly.”

—John Kenneth Muir, author of Horror Films of the 1970s and The Rock & Roll Film Encyclopedia


“Joanna’s my kind of gal, drooling over offbeat holiday happenings on everything from Hogfather to Mystery Science Theater 3000, with side trips past lunacy like the Solid Gold dancers.”

—Diane Werts, author of Christmas on Television and blogger for TV Worth Watching.com


“Like William Burroughs says in Junky's Christmas, ‘I ain't got nobody, so what's Christmas to me,’—unless I have my copy of The Christmas TV Companion!”

—Nick Donkin, Director, Junky's Christmas


The Christmas TV Companion is witty, breezy and fresh; it’s written in an intimate style that is instantly likeable. I can’t recommend this book highly enough but be warned—it will put you in the Christmas spirit!”

—Billy Ingram, TV Party.com