Do you realize we barely scratched the surface on 1990s Christmas entertainments? Of course, if you'd like to read about more Christmas episodes, specials and movies from the 1990s, you can pick up a copy of my book Tis the Season TV. You can also stay close to this blog where I'll definitely be covering more of our favorite Christmas TV moments from the 1990s and more. Thanks again to all my guest bloggers throughout the month of July! I think this was a lot of fun :) We end Christmas in July today on a strong note, remembering the cult teen drama My So-Called Life. This episode will air tomorrow, Monday August 1, at 11 pm (EST) on the Sundance Channel.
A teenaged Claire Danes as Angela Chase
I certainly remember watching this show when it first aired in 1994-95. Even though I was no longer a teenager, it was a drama with enough emotional sophistication to hold an adult's attention. My favorite character has always been the wild child, Rayanne. And, I still can't help feel a little weak in the knees whenever I see Jared Leto on screen. Leto played Jordan Catalano, the object of Angela's desire (sigh).
This short-lived cult show casts a long shadow
In the 1994 episode entitled 'So-Called Angels,' the drama continues: Rickie is abused at home, misses school and needs a place to stay. Jordan helps him find shelter with other runaways and homeless kids in an abandoned warehouse. Angela meets a homeless but talented girl and compassionately gives her the new pair of leather boots she got for Christmas. Later this ‘angel’ helps Mrs. Chase find Angela after she’s gone missing. Meanwhile, Brian Crackow is wrapped up in his own drama. Feeling alone at the holiday, Brian telephones the teen hotline that Sharon and Rayanne are manning.
Juliana Hatfield in 'So-Called Angels'
One of the more memorable elements to this Christmas episode is that the otherwordly homeless girl that touches Angela's life is played by indie rocker Juliana Hatfield. Hatfield was a member of the 1980s indie band Blake Babies and then in the 1990s she had her own successful solo career. I actually saw the Blake Babies in a bar during college just before they broke up. Never could I have imagined back then that I would one day be writing about Hatfield's appearance on a TV show on a blog!
a clip of Juliana Hatfield as the angel
One of the Juliana Hatfield Three's biggest hits was 'My Sister,' released in 1993
If you'd like to watch this episode, you can click this link at Youtube. The entire episode is available on my Youtube channel TistheSeasonTV in my 1990s playlist. It is also available on DVD and is currently streaming on Netflix.
Thanks to everyone for participating in the giveaway. The winner has been notified and the prize will be sent to him soon. I wish I had a prize for eveyone.
Our Christmas in July party continues with the 1995 New Year's holiday episode of Absolutely Fabulous entitled 'Happy New Year.'
Starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley as Eddy and Patsy
Eddy and her gal pal, Patsy, have exciting plans to attend an exclusive New Year’s Eve party but Patsy’s sister Jackie arrives unexpectedly. Patsy is eager to see her international jet-setting sister but Eddy doesn’t want to miss the party.
Jacks and her sister Patsy
It seems Eddy is a bit jealous of the attention and admiration Patsy lavishes on her sister she calls Jacks. Will Eddy be able to ring in the New Year with her best friend--or will Jacks and Patsy hit the hot clubs and leave Eddy behind? Could there be anything worse for Eddy than being forced to spend New Year's Eve with her boring mother, her uptight daughter Saffy and her annoying ex-husband Justin and his life partner Oliver?
Patsy's sister Jackie is played by actress Kate O'Mara. I remember her from her role on the 1980s prime time soap, Dynasty, playing the wicked Alexis' sister Caress. We can see O'Mara as Patsy's sister once again in the 2003 Christmas episode of Ab Fab entitled 'Cold Turkey.'
My favorite quote from this episode: Eddy to her daughter Saffy: “My New Year’s resolution, sweetie? Have more fun!”
I just love every episode of this British series. It mocks the two superficial, drunk and drugged out lead characters, Eddy and Patsy, and their excesses. But you can't help falling in love with them as well. Patsy is my favorite character and I love it when she and Saffy interact. If you've seen the series, you'll know the two women do not get along.
If I remember correctly, Ab Fab originally began airing in the United States on Comedy Central. Now it can be seen on Logo. Of course, it is also available for viewing on DVD. You can watch this episode below, or on Youtube.
Today I'd like our Christmas in July celebration to include a Chanukah episode from the 1990s TV series Weinerville that aired on Nickelodeon. Are you aware that TeenNick has been airing 1990s Nickelodeon shows after midnight on week days? So far on the schedule has been All That, Kenan & Kel, Clarissa Explains It All, and Doug. I'm hoping they eventually re-air Fifteen, the teen soap opera. I was soooo addicted to that in the early 1990s. Who remembers a *very young* Ryan Reynolds as Billy from that show? or Laura Harris as Ashley? Okay maybe it's just me. How many people remember the puppet show Weinerville?
Very recently, I was only able to view this 1995 installment because of the generosity from the WeinervilleChanukah Special producer, Harvey Gold. Many, many thanks to him for sharing this, from his own personal collection, so that I could write about it. And many thanks to his wife Dolli for making it happen.
A little explanation: I write about Chanukah and include it in my encyclopedia and on this blog because there is often a great deal of cross-over on television's holiday episodes, specials and movies. Though the origins behind the holidays of Christmas and Chanukah are quite different, their celebrations have many similarities including families coming together, honoring traditions and it being an inspiring, hopeful time of year.
The Weinerville Chanukah Special (1995)
Dotty on the phone
While Dotty is busy organizing this year’s Chanukah party at the Weinerville Ski Lodge, another drama is unfolding. The space aliens, Sinrek and Nivek, also known as the Potato Heads, have crash landed their space craft at the ski lodge. Their space craft has run out of oil while they are on the run from the evil space villain Antidorkus. The evil Antidorkus and his crew want to eliminate the freedoms of the Potato Heads and make them just like themselves: evil.
Evil Antidorkus want to ruin your Chanukah!
Puppets Boney and Socko take the Potato Heads, who look just like giant potato latkas, to the local grocery store to get more oil and then they seek wisdom from an elder on the mountain, Gonsah K’nocker. K’nocker sees many similarities between the Jews in the story of Chanukah and the Potato Heads. Meanwhile, Antidorkus arrives at the ski lodge--will he ruin the Chanukah party?
Sinrek and Nivek have run out of oil!
This loud and silly, slapstick puppet show lends itself well to a memorable holiday special. This story includes two Chanukah-inspired songs: “The Hammer Came Down” about Judah Macabee, sung by Gonsah K’nocker, and ‘Menorah, Menorah’ sung by the house band, Cocktail Frank and his Weinies.
K'nocker is played by former 1970s glam rocker, David Johansen
Gonsah K'nocker is played hilariously by Buster Poindexter, also known as David Johansen to any New York Dolls fans. You may also recognize him from his role as the taxi driving Ghost of Christmas Past in the 1988 movie Scrooged. Other special guests in this episode include: former SNL cast member, Laura Kightlinger, as the applesauce woman in the grocery store; professional wrestler, Diesel, as himself; former SNL cast member, Denny Dillon; and 1990s Nickelodeon Double Dare host, Marc Summers.
Boney and Laura Kightlinger in the grocery store. I remember Kightlinger as Sheila the nurse on 'Will & Grace' too.
I had so much fun giving away a load of stuff two weeks ago, I thought I'd do one more giveaway before we end July. So here it is: 6 DVDs, an autographed copy of my encyclopedia and a drinking glass from The Christmas Story House & Museum in Cleveland, OH. There will be ONE winner for the entire package. This giveaway is limited to valid entries with shipments made to the U.S. and Canada only.
More details on what you can win:
An author signed print copy of Tis the Season TV: the Encyclopedia of Christmas-themed Episodes, Specials and Made-for-TV Movies from 2010. This book contains almost 800 pages covering several thousand entries and summaries about your favorite Christmas entertainments.
And, six brand new factory-sealed DVDs, including:
~~2003's TV movie The Hebrew Hammer starring Adam Goldberg, Peter Coyote and Andy Dick. This Comedy Central movie's hero, Mordechai Jefferson Carver, must save Hanukkah from an evil heir to Santa Claus. This spoof of the 1970s blaxploitation film character Shaft is a comedy unlike any other.
~~1969's The Littlest Angel, a Hallmark Hall of Fame classic starring Johnny Whitaker, Fred Gwynne, Tony Randall, Connie Stevens, Cab Calloway and E.G. Marshall. This is a musical adaptation of the popular childen's book written by Charles Tazewell.
~~1979's Jack Frost, the animated classic produced and directed by Rankin/Bass. Voice actors include: Buddy Hackett and Robert Morse. Morse, of course, has more recently appeared on the hit TV show 'Mad Men.'
~~1978's The Little Christmas Burro. This animated special narrated by Lorne Greene was originally released under the title 'The Little Brown Burro.'
~~1970's Santa and the Three Bears. This hour long animated special includes voice work by Hal Smith and Jean Vander Pyl.
~~Christmas Classics 2 which includes the shorts: 1947's 'A Present for Santa,' 1949's 'A Christmas Dream' with animation by Karel Zeman, a segment with the Vienna Boys' Choir singing 'Silent Night,' the 1950s short with images of mechanized window displays in 'Christmas Fairy Tale,' the 1933 Van Beuren Studio cartoon 'Christmas Night' featuring the character The Little King, and 1951's live-action 'Santa and the Fairy Snow Queen' by Sid Davis.
To enter this giveaway:
--if you are a blogger, link this giveaway in a post on your blog. Then comment below providing the url of the linked post.
--if you follow on Facebook, share this giveaway post on your wall. Then comment at the FB group for 'Christmas TV History BLOG' that you have shared it.
--if you follow on Twitter, re-tweet the giveaway announcement.
You have from now until noon (EST) on Saturday, July 30th to enter. Each person can enter up to three times (Blog, FB and twitter). I will pick a random winner Saturday from the valid entries. Good luck! Merry Christmas in July!
I just read an article about how this fall's network line-up of new shows contains several sitcoms still trying to recapture the formula for success defined by Friends. I'm glad Amy wanted to write about one of the holiday episodes from this classic 1990s sitcom. Most people remember the episode in which Ross dresses as a giant armadillo in an attempt to inspire his young son to celebrate Hanukkah. That scene is from the episode 'The One with the Holiday Armadillo' from 2000. But do you remember the episode below? I sure do. Our guest blogger today is Amy Stewart, a fan of Christmas TV. She also keeps a blog about knitting,www.iheartknitting.com. Check it out. Thanks again to Amy for sharing her thoughts about this episode today.
Friends ran from 1994-2004
Friends will always hold a special place in my heart. I think that’s true for many people out there, but it is extra-true for me. Friends began in 1994. The first episode aired during one of my first weeks at college. I watched Rachel leave her family, her home, her security and forge on with a new life. I felt that I was doing the same. The show became a weekly routine for me, and became a big part of my life.
Though the Thanksgiving episodes of Friends got more publicity, my favorite holiday episode has to be 'The One With The Routine,' which aired in December of 1999.
It's Christmas time on Friends
The episode involved the entire gang, but centered mostly around Monica and Ross’s love for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. The two have the opportunity to go to a taping of the show, but find that it’s more difficult to get on camera than it seems. When they arrive at the studio, they accost a less-than-enthusiastic stage hand with their enthusiasm for the show, and get on his bad side from the start.
Siblings Monica and Ross at the taping for Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
Through the episode, Monica and Ross determine that they’ll have a better chance of getting on screen if they can just get on the platform. Ross suggests that they perform ‘The Routine,’ a dance number the brother and sister performed in Middle School. Ross encourages Monica by reminding her that ‘The Routine’ won first place in the Brother/Sister category.
The two perform ‘The Routine’ with gusto and dorkiness, a quality that I loved about Monica throughout the series.
The Gellers busting a move
They do impress the bitchy stage hand, but not in the way that they had hoped. In the end, he encourages them to dance ‘The Routine’ on the platforms, so that it can go to the bloopers reel. You can watch ‘The Routine’ at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVqmTZJrRik.
Phoebe, Chandler and Rachel
An episode of Friends wouldn’t be complete without the rest of the gang, and they are all in this episode too. Rachel, Phoebe, and Chandler have decided to hunt down their Christmas presents from Monica while she is away at the taping. They search through both apartments and even go so far as to search Central Perk. When they do find the presents, reason prevails and they decide not to discover what Monica has gotten them. Before they get a chance to put the presents back, though, Monica comes home and catches them in the act. She ends up ruining the surprise anyway.
Super model Elle Macpherson as Joey's love interest, Janine
Joey is off trying to win the heart of his new roommate, Janine, played by Elle Macpherson.
He devises a plan to kiss her at midnight, but since they are taping the show early, midnight never really comes while at the studio. His plan to woo her works, though, and the credits roll with the two kissing while Auld Land Syne plays in the background.
"Should old acquaintance be forgot--and never brought to mind?" We will always remember our 'Friends.'
This is the second piece written by Dominic from 1701 Press. He had so much fun writing about The Adventures of Pete & Pete at the beginning of July that he wrote another one. Check out his first piece here. Today is also the birthday of one of our past guest bloggers, John. He wrote passionately about the Christmas episode of Living Single. Check out John's guest post here. Happy Birthday Wishes to John! And, it's a merry Christmas in July as we continue with our marathon of guest bloggers writing about 1990s Christmas entertainments. Double thanks to Dominic! Of course, this popular movie is available for viewing on DVD. But many of us are excitedly awaiting its Blu-ray 3D release on August 30th.
Jack Skellington in Christmas Town
Even in this age of theatrical 3D wonders and lush computer animated spectacles, the look of 1993’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is extraordinary. For me, the movie’s strength is great character design. Some characters look like carefully crafted dolls, others like beautiful tin toys, and still others like tactile clay figures--yet they all share the same wacky-goth aesthetic sensibility.
Gorgeous detail of the fish accordion
Because the movie is stop motion animation, everything moves fluidly, organically, and wonderfully without any of the occasional stiffness that still afflicts even the best computer animated stuff. Nightmare is also filled with rich details, from the furrowed Starry Night pattern of the earth in Halloween Town, to the accordion made from a dead fish played by one of the street musicians.
Oogie fluoresces under blacklight
My favorite scene is when Santa is being tormented by Oogie Boogie. Everything glows magnificently under a blacklight like a cheap carnival house of horrors. It’s a nice visual analogue to Halloween Town: scary, a little silly, but not mean-spirited. Except that Oogie Boogie, being the villain of the story, is sort of mean. No matter. We know he’s not going to win, even though he’s rife with loaded dice, stacked decks, and rigged one-arm bandits. Oogie is revealed to be nothing more than a sack filled with wriggling bugs. Gross, but not really threatening.
Jack enters an open door to Christmas
Except for the musical numbers, a few of which drag slightly, Nightmare is also told with a pretty good economy of storytelling. Not all of the musical performances are slow--just a couple. And of course, several are excellent--my favorite being "What's This?" Jack's awestruck song during his discovery of Christmas Town. But back to the gist of the story: the ‘king’ of one land (Halloween Town) longs for something undefinable which he stumbles upon in another (Christmas Town). How does he get there? Well, there’s a magic door in a tree on the edge of the forest. The residents of Halloween Town are scary, but not mean, so Jack the Pumpkin King stages a friendly takeover of Christmas Town. What happens when Halloween Town tries to share its version of Christmas with the world is essentially the story of Nightmare. Add a romance for Jack (i.e., maybe what he’s looking for in Christmas Town has been right here under the hole where his nose used to be all along), and the sort-of mean villain, Oogie Boogie, for a little dramatic tension, and Nightmare succeeds where so many movies fall short. Merry Christmas Santa, Happy Halloween Jack Skellington.
Today's guest bloggers are RigbyMel and J.A. Morris who write the blogHoliday Film Reviews. Please check it out. I met them when I was on book tour last November in Richmond, Virginia. Richmond is an awesome town! This is also our first Christmas in July guest posting written by two people. I think that makes it twice as fun :) Thanks again to RigbyMel and J.A. Morris for participating. This episode is available for viewing on DVD and Netflix. You also may want to check your local library.
This quirky prime time drama ran from 1990-1995.
Seoul Mates – Of Ravens And Talking Dogs
Northern Exposure “Seoul Mates”
This episode from season 3 of the series first aired on December 16th, 1991. It begins with Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow) observing the town of Cicely's preparations for Christmas. Since he was brought up in a strict Jewish family, Fleischman was never allowed to have a Christmas tree and decides to seize the opportunity and have one of his own for the very first time. Trouble is, he doesn't quite know what to do with it once he's got it and he seeks advice from Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner) and various other townspeople about it.
The cast from Northern Exposure--how many do you remember? l to r: Ed, Marilyn, Maggie, Chris, Joel, Maurice, Shelley and Holling.
Maggie is dreading going home to Michigan to spend time with her family, only to be surprised and a bit confused to learn that her parents have decided to skip the family holiday in favor of a trip to the Caribbean.
Meanwhile, Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin) learns that he has a long-lost son – Duk Won (James Song) who shows up on his doorstep just in time for the holidays. It turns out that Maurice's time as a Marine in Korea also has given him a son and a whole family (as mom and grandmother) also come along for the ride. Maurice has always wanted a son, but is upset by the fact that the son he has is not white. After several missteps, Maurice gets into the spirit of the holidays and makes an effort to get to know his family and Maurice learns to appreciate his son for who he is.
Maurice with his new family
The town barkeep, Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum) is concerned about his wife Shelley (Cynthia Geary) who is pining after her traditional, Catholic Christmas. Holling sets out to fulfill Shelley's Christmas wish appropriating the local Unitarian Church, decorating it in a High Mass fashion with candles and a Nativity and singing “Ave Maria” for her. (Awww!)
Raven ornament
In the multicultural 90s spirit of the show, we learn about the Alaskan native tradition of the Raven, which parallels the Nativity story. The tale is first told to Fleischman by Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles) and then reprised as a “Raven Pageant” towards the end of the episode. Here is a YouTube clip of the pageant:
Chris Stevens (John Corbett), the local radio host acts in his usual role as philosopher/Greek chorus for the show and gives us some great thoughts on ravens - including a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem - and later shares a childhood Christmas memory that also has to do with talking animals. This last bit of philosophizing is one of our favorite bits from the whole episode – here's the clip:
RigbyMel says:
Although I watched Northern Exposure quite regularly, this episode somehow escaped my attention until very recently. (My only excuse is that I was in high school at the time and exams were probably eating my brain in mid-December 1991.) I watched this episode for the first time this past holiday season largely because of a chance encounter with the lovely Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History fame. Joanna was visiting Richmond to promote her Christmas books and she had stopped at my place of business, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. It was a rainy day and we got to chatting and lo, Christmas TV and movies came up! Joanna asked if I was aware that Poe's “The Raven” was referenced in this particular Northern Exposure episode and I had to say that I wasn't but would definitely check it out. Needless to say, the disc with the episode went into the Netflix queue pretty much as soon as I got home from work and I am very grateful for the recommendation. I loved the multicultural aspects of the show and the fact that the residents of Cicely all get along in spite of their differences. The raven aspects of the show made it all the more fun and Chris's “my Christmas wish for you – may your dog talk” speech gave me warm fuzzies (especially as our doggie was cuddled up with JAMorris and myself on the sofa as we watched that scene). I rather suspect that this episode is now required annual holiday viewing in our household.
RigbyMel's rating:
4 candy canes (and for the record, 4 is our highest rating)
J.A.Morris says:
Unlike RigbyMel, I remember watching this when it was new. But I only remembered the part that focused on Maurice and Duk Won until Joanna recommended the episode. Northern Exposure was one of my favorite series of the 90s, there was a time when I wished I could live in a place like Cicely, even when I knew it was an idealized community. Having gotten reacquainted with episode, it's inspired us to re-watch the series. “Seoul Mates” is one of the best episodes of the series and has become one of my favorite Christmas episodes.
