Christmas in July 2019: Kevin Bowman

Christmas in July 2019: Kevin Bowman

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?



The honest answer is the Dana Carvey/Jon Lovitz/Phil Hartman/Jan Hooks sketch with the alternate ending to It's a Wonderful Life.  Every time I see It’s a Wonderful Life, afterward I go online and watch the alternate ending.  Capra let Mr. Potter get away with stealing that money.  SNL doesn’t.   But Joanna already picked that one, so, I’ll pick: The Killer Trees from a December 1976 episode with Candace Bergen as host, from SNL’s golden age.  “We’ve got to crack it.  There’s a lot of little kids who thought they were gonna get a bicycle, gonna wind up with a pierced thorax!”  I’ll mention that there are a number of holiday musical performances from SNL that aren’t really sketches that are particularly memorable to me:  The Roches singing the Hallelujah Chorus and the Rex Smith/Linda Ronstadt cast of Pirates of Penzance singing “O Come Emmanuel," "The First Noel," and "Joy to the World."  These performances really stick in my head for some reason.




(Sorry about the green!)


2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?



I probably most look forward to watching the classic animated specials (Rankin Bass, Charlie Brown, the Grinch, Mr. Magoo) that I fell in love with when I was a kid.  (A case of arrested development, no doubt)  And certain classic movies (Bishop’s Wife, Alastair Sim’s Christmas Carol, Miracle on 34th St.)   



3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)



Scrooge, the Leslie Bricusse musical, with Albert Finney.  Such a wonderful songs.  I heard the Mormon Tabernacle Choir cover “A Christmas Carol,” the opening number, once.  It is majestic.   I have the LP, but some weird legal problem prevented the soundtrack from being rereleased on CD, making the music harder to come by than it should be.

I also think that the Jule Styne/Bob Merrill score for Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol is incomparable. 

Finally, someone should cover Doug Goodwin’s wonderful songs from A Pink Christmas.  They should be holiday classics.


4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?



The Twelve Gifts by Australian animation company “Air Programs International.”  This one aired in syndication for a few years when I was a kid.  It was one of my favorites and has largely disappeared.  And, of course, A Mac Davis Special: Christmas Odyssey 2010.  Please review that one ASAP and then send me a copy.




5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?


Certainly, I agree with Joanna that the stunning success of Hallmark’s and Lifetime’s Christmas movies has led to the complete domination of romance movies in terms of what Christmas Entertainment is produced nowadays, and not just on those networks.  I confess that I miss the more slice-of-life Christmas movies that were produced (in much smaller quantity) in the 60-‘s 70’s and 80’s.    I also miss the Hallmark Hall of Fame, which is usually now just the biggest budget, best cast, romance movie of the year.    The list of HHoF holiday classics is pretty long.  They should bring them all back.  (1998’s Saint Maybe was extraordinarily good.)   That said, as a Christmas entertainment fan, I think one has to learn to accept cliché and not judge too harshly.  I don’t really mind most of these movies, and some of them are pretty enjoyable. 

I think I would like to see more Christmas entertainment that is intended for mainstream audiences but which doesn’t shy away from spirituality and the notion of Christmas as a religious holiday.  This has always been a touchy area for television, but it was there (Little Drummer Boy, Charlie Brown, Amahl, Best Christmas Pageant Ever, etc.)  It seems like that has been lost, except, to some extent, on explicitly religious venues. 

One good change is in the availability of English television Christmas entertainment that was previously all but inaccessible to Americans.  With Netflix, BBC America, Acorn, BritBox. There is lots of good stuff that was not regularly available before.  Nativity! has become a  particular family favorite.    

Christmas in July 2019: Dana

2011 with Michael Bublé and Jimmy Fallon.

Christmas in July 2019: Dana


1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?


Michael Bublé’s Christmas duets – A skit on his new fake album, with him singing with everyone from Sting to Justin Bieber. Bublé’s reaction to the insanity going on around him is really funny.


https://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/michael-buble-a-holly-jolly-christmas/2751855

2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

All of it!
- I am fanatical about Christmas episodes from retro shows, anything from the ‘50s through the ‘80s – Ozzie & Harriet, Mary Tyler Moore, The Facts of Life and everything in between. If I don’t have them on DVD, I start recording them in July when I see them pop up and save them for December. I know… I need to get a life!

- I also can’t wait for the variety specials. I love it when a channel still airs some of the older ones, like Andy Williams.
- Anything Rankin-Bass from the early ‘70s is also high on my list. Those make me feel like a kid again.
- And I look forward to watching The Christmas List with Mimi Rogers every year without fail. It’s a silly movie, but I love it; and it’s become a tradition for me.



3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)


Andy Williams and The King Family are favorites. I have the soundtracks for those specials. But I have to say it’s the Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack that is played most often in my house. I love every song.




4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?


Maybe Monk. There were three or four Christmas episodes. I don’t think you have reviews on those, but I may have missed them.



5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?


There’s a trend for every Christmas movie to be built around a romance. That’s fine sometimes, but a little variety would be nice. I’m at the point where I hardly watch those anymore. TNT had a couple of Christmas mysteries a few years back; that was a nice change of pace.
Another trend is for Christmas animation to be cutting edge. I prefer the shows from the ‘60s and ‘70s. There aren’t a lot of original, current shows with the kind of humor and sweetness those had – like Frosty, Rudolph, Charlie Brown, The Grinch. The trend now is to move away from sentimentality, and I miss that.

Christmas in July 2019: Sean Sotka

Christmas in July 2019: Sean Sotka - (e_xander) MyMerryChristmas.com

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?

I never really watched a whole lot of SNL during the holidays, but from what I've seen through TV specials replaying certain skits, I'd have to say the one that stands out to me is the Schweddy Balls skit with Ana Gasteyer, Molly Shannon and Alec Baldwin as Pete Schweddy.  I'm not sure how they made it through the skit without cracking up and the dead-pan delivery by Alec adds the the hilarity for me.




2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

I'm more of a movies and animation person, although I don't mind some specials that either go through the history of Christmas and traditions of Christmas and specials that show what Christmas is like elsewhere in the world.  I like the nostalgic shows that bring me back to my youth at Christmas.

3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)

I like Andy Williams, Bing Crosby and the Osmond family holiday programs.  Andy and Bing especially have that feel of Christmas for me with their music.


4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?

I don't know how to answer this one.  I'm not much of a review reader.  I love the coverage you have of all thing Christmas on Television.  I've also enjoyed reading your CIJ questionnaires, which is what inspired me to respond myself.


5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend? 

I've notice more pastel colors coming out. I'm more of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas colors, red, green, silver, gold and blue. I don't mind LED lights, mainly because I really like to decorate a lot and it saves money on electricity.  However, I still have a soft spot for the incandescent C9 lights.

Christmas in July 2019: Sleepy Kitty Paws

Christmas in July 2019: Sleepy Kitty Paws of https://sleepykittypaws.tumblr.com (twitter @SleepyKittyPaw)

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?

This is an easy one, because while I adore Jon Lovitz's original Hanukkah Harry skit, "The Night Hanukkah Harry Saved Christmas," my all-time favorite is now actually one from last season with Matt Damon and Cecily Strong as harried parents reliving Christmas morning, called "Best Christmas Ever." I don't think a sketch has ever quite captured the anxiety, stress and chaos that is Christmas with children, as well as the inevitable fondness of memory, quite so clearly. Plus, it's absolutely hilarious.




2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

Well, as a dedicated Christmas viewer, I watch it all, but have to say the animated specials and my holiday movie favorites are what most make it "feel" like Christmas in our household. I've shared before that we do a sort of televised advent calendar, watching a special or holiday series episode every night between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. It's just not Christmas until Prep and Landing, Rudolph, Frosty, The Grinch and Charlie Brown grace our screen. Viewing Love, Actually is an annual "Thanksgiving Eve" tradition, just as is watching Polar Express, the first movie my eldest ever sat through and now a whole-family fave, on Christmas Eve before bed.

While I'm not as fond of Hallmark's ever more homogenized version of the formula, I've still got more than a slight soft-spot for cheesy, made-for-TV Christmas movies, which I start watching long before we carve the turkey. Basically, from the first week in November, straight through New Year's, the bulk of our family viewing—be it movies, TV series or specials—is holiday themed. It's one of my very favorite things about the season.

3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)

I already mentioned what a tradition Love, Actually is in our household—I've probably seen it close to 30+ times at this point—and even though the soundtrack isn't exclusively holiday-themed, every song on it now reminds me of the Christmas season. The feelings all these tunes evoke, from joy to melancholy, really encompasses the range of emotion a typical holiday season includes.

The opening title song from Mavis Staples from Christmas Vacation is also something that can make it instantly feel like the holidays for me. Just those few opening musical bars, and, "It's that time, Christmas time is here, Everybody knows there's not a better time of year," sum up what the holiday means to me.

And, while it's not a full soundtrack by any means, the James Corden-sung The Greatest Gift, from the 2016 Sainsbury's Ad (LINK: https://youtu.be/bq5SGSCZe4E, has become one of our family's all-time favorite Christmas songs. We all sing along and my kids will run into the room when they hear it start to play. Family dance parties to this tune are some of my favorite Christmas memories.

We actually have a whole cache of commercials, mostly British, that we watch every season, as if they were specials. UK retailer John Lewis is especially known for their multi-minute masterpieces, all wonderfully set to music. One of my favorites is 2014's Monty the Penguin (LINK: https://youtu.be/RSxOjBIjyhI).

Another can't miss commercial that makes a non-Christmas song feel oh-so-holiday is Cineplex's 2016 Lily and the Snowman (LINK: https://youtu.be/ZC9vB5AUU2M), a heartbreaking, yet ultimately uplifting, short film, more than a commercial. It provokes more emotion in 3 minutes than most 2 hour-long movies, and the music—Follow You, Follow Me by Adaline—is an absolutely integral part of that.


4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?

Not sure I have a definitive answer here, but maybe take time to dive into some of the aughts and 2010s content? It really was a banner time for made-for-TV holiday fare, with great specials like Prep and Landing, Phineas and Ferb's Christmas Vacation, How Murray Saved Christmas, Olive the Other Reindeer, Robbie the Reindeer and The Happy Elf, to name just a few. As well as the heyday, in my mind, of the made-for-TV cable Christmas movie. Every one of my favorite in the genre has been made since 2001, including Holiday Switch (Lifetime), Holiday in Handcuffs (ABC Family), Three Days (USA) and A Family Thanksgiving (Hallmark), among others. (See a full list of my holiday favorites, here: https://sleepykittypaws.tumblr.com/post/132091660499/top-25-made-for-tv-holiday-movies)


5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?

A few friends and I have always loved sweet and silly, and oh-so-cheaply-produced, made-for-TV Christmas movies, and as they grew ever more ubiquitous (and similarly titled), I started keeping lists, so we'd know which ones were new, and what we've already seen. In 2015, I started putting that list online, so it was easier for all of us to readily access. At that time, the number of new movies per season had already escalated to what we felt was an overwhelming 20-30 total per year. How naive we were.

Last year, there were 85 original, made-for-TV movies airing across cable, Netflix and Hulu, and that number doesn't include other VOD options or myriad of other new, non-movie holiday programming out there. This year, I think the 100-movie threshold will be crossed, with more than 40 coming from the Hallmark channels alone. (And, if not in 2019, then in 2020 for sure.)

And the definitive lesson I have learned from this is…There absolutely CAN be too much of a good thing. I find Hallmark's increasingly identical offerings more and more rote and joyless, despite their pop culture popularity; with scripts so similar and utterly stripped of life and spark that not even the most charming of actors can rescue them from saccharine sameness. I'm not looking for hardcore or dark in my holiday viewing material—quite the contrary—and little makes me happier than a sweet, silly Christmas rom-com, but I think Hallmark's factory farming approach to holiday movies has made them a bit of a slog, with only rare glimpses of the fun and frothy dose of holiday spirit I used to tune into them for.

So far, Lifetime and Netflix are doing a great job creating cute Christmas content, with a little more diversity of story (and cast), that I still truly enjoy viewing, but I fear, as goes Hallmark, the made-for-TV holiday movie behemoth, so goes the rest of the field. Fingers crossed I'm wrong, as I'd hate to lose something that, it may sound crazy, but has been so much a part of my Christmas joy over so very many years.

Christmas in July 2019: Skyler Harvey

Christmas in July 2019: Skyler Harvey

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?

I LOVED Chanukah Harry and the old one for sanitary lap protectors with John Belushi as a very drunk Santa and Loraine Neuman as the lap sitter.




2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

If I had to pick it would be the old Rankin & Bass specials from my childhood.


3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)

Gotta be "White Christmas"


 


4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?

The Family Guy Christmas Show


5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?

It seems to me that the animation and writing in the old children's Christmas specials was so much better than the modern day stuff. I much prefer the older specials.

Christmas in July 2019: Drew Flowers

Christmas in July 2019: Drew Flowers, ChristmasMoviesandMusic

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?

This one was actually a spoof commercial promoting a Christmas album called "Dysfunctional Family Christmas."  I thought Phil Hartman and Dana Carvey were hilarious with their songs.


2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

I think each category has a level of excitement for all Christmas fans but the specials are always a unique feel. Specials like Christmas at Rockefeller Center, Christmas in Washington DC, Christmas at Disney to name a few are always great to catch each year.

3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)

Definite tough one here because there are so many to chose from. I think the soundtrack to Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer is always a terrific listen that will bring you back to your childhood each time you listen to it. The same goes for A Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.

4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?

There was a CBS special aired in 1987 called A Hobo's Christmas starring Gerald McRaney and Barnard Hughes. I believe it was a one and done Christmas special but I remember it well. Would love to read a review on this one!


5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?

There have been a few but the first one that comes to mind is the marathons. I remember being a kid and A Christmas Story was on randomly the month of December, a few airings on TBS, some on TCM, Some on TNT.  Suddenly it became a 24 hour marathon on TBS and not aired the rest of the month. I know for me Christmas Eve is a busy day/ night and its tough to sit down and enjoy this classic during that 24 hour period. Also, the new movies have become "sappy" and overly romantic which is a Hallmark staple. I am happy to see people want to watch Christmas movies and it still is a
strong market but how about a few more "funny" Christmas movies.

Christmas in July 2019: Cathie Kahle

Christmas in July 2019: Cathie Kahle, member of Christmas Movies & Music

1. What is your favorite Saturday Night Live Christmas/Hanukkah/New Year's sketch?

I’ve rarely watched SNL, so I have no favorite...sorry...



***Joanna says "I hope Cathie doesn't mind if I make a suggestion"*****


2. Do you most look forward to watching holiday episodes from series? Specials? Movies? Animation? or, all of it?

All of it!! I do a search for Christmas on my DVR throughout the year, looking for things I haven’t seen before.

3. What's your favorite soundtrack from a holiday program? (it doesn't have to have been officially released as an album--just what program features your favorite collection of music?)

This is hard, because there are so many, but I’ll have to say anything from Bing Crosby, especially White Christmas.

4. What one program are you patiently (or impatiently) waiting for me to review on this blog?

Caillou’s Holiday. You may have done it, and I just missed it, but I love it!


5. What change in Christmas entertainment have you noticed over the years? Do you like the trend?

The trend that I overall don’t like is Country sounding like Pop. I’ve noticed that Country Music is coming back to its roots, and I’m very happy about it. Country is its own genre. Not a part of the pop charts. And that applies to Christmas Country too!