Christmas TV History

Tuesday, July 19, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: Roseanne (1992)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #19 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Darlene and David are watching "It's a Wonderful Life" at his house.

Today's discussion is on the episode "It's No Place Like Home for the Holidays" from the sitcom Roseanne. In this fifth season story, Christmas Eve delivers a snow storm that prevents the Conner family from being home to watch the movie It’s A Wonderful Life on TV together. Becky and Mark are snowed-in out of town. Roseanne and her sister Jackie are stuck at the restaurant with their mother Beverly and grandmother Nana Mary.

Roseanne, Jackie, Beverly, and Nana Mary are watching "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Lunch Box restaurant.

Dan is at home with his son DJ, awkwardly entertaining family friend Nancy and her new girlfriend Marla. And, Darlene is forced to stay at her boyfriend David’s house where she witnesses the Healy family’s dysfunction firsthand. Although everyone is miserable, the family members bond with those they are with, while watching the emotional 1946 Christmas movie.

Marla, Nancy, DJ, and Dan are stuck alone at the Conner house.

One of the highlights in this episode is how Roseanne and Jackie “decorate” Nana Mary after she falls asleep in a chair. They wrap her in Christmas lights and place a star upon her head!

Under the closing credits, viewers can see a sleeping Nana Mary "decorated" for Christmas.

The cast includes Roseanne Barr as Roseanne Conner, John Goodman as Dan Conner, Laurie Metcalf as Jackie, Sara Gilbert as Darlene, Michael Fishman as DJ, Johnny Galecki as David Healy, Estelle Parsons as Beverly, Shelley Winters as Nana Mary, Sandra Bernhart as Nancy, Morgan Fairchild as Marla, and Sally Kirkland as Barbara Healy.

It's a Wonderful Life--always on in the background.

While this episode's story in NOT an adaptation of the 1946 holiday movie, it does center around the Conner family's experiences of watching It's a Wonderful Life--their annual Christmas tradition. In most of the scenes, viewers can hear the movie playing on television in the background, while the characters are talking to each other. It's a Wonderful Life is the glue that holds the whole episode together.

Merry Christmas in July!

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 an upcoming 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

Monday, July 18, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: Providence (1999)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #18 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Today's discussion is on the 2nd season Christmas episode "Home for the Holidays" from the family drama Providence. In this episode's story Sydney wants to create a traditional holiday for the family just like the ones her mother used to organize, but no one seems willing to cooperate. Her sister Joanie is distracted trying to include her baby’s irresponsible father into her holiday plans, brother Robbie is busy making money selling the hottest toy of the holiday season, and their father Jim is going to a neighbor’s holiday party.

Don't stand on a ladder while decorating the Christmas tree alone!

While watching the movie It's a Wonderful Life on TV, Syd attempts to decorate the Christmas tree alone and she questions why she ever moved back home to Providence in the first place. After she falls and hits her head, Syd finds her wish come true, courtesy of her guardian angel mother. Sydney awakens to live out her own version of It’s a Wonderful Life seeing what the Hansens’ lives would have been like if she hadn’t helped them through the hard times.

Syd learns that if she hadn't come home to Providence, she would be married to her former boyfriend Jerry and still living an unsatisfying superficial life as a plastic surgeon in California. In Providence, the medical clinic wouldn't offer the quality affordable care that she has worked hard to bring to the neighborhood--instead it would be a managed care facility. Her father Jim would have retired early and sold the family home. Joanie wouldn't be running the Barkery (doggie treats bakery), and Robbie would be in jail for attempting to sell stolen toys at Christmas. Syd finally comes to see how she is needed by her family and the community in Providence.

Syd's mother's ghost also serves as her guardian angel in this adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life.

This story opens with Syd dreaming of her mother Lynda “directing” a Hanson family traditional Christmas as if it was a film production.

The cast includes Melina Kanakaredes as Dr. Sydney Hansen, Paula Cale as Joanie, Seth Peterson as Robbie, Concetta Tomei as Lynda, Mike Farrell as Jim, and Patrick Fabian as Syd’s ex-boyfriend Jerry.

Wouldn't it be great if this series was fully released on DVD or available on a streaming platform? Syd's ex-boyfriend Jerry is played by Patrick Fabian--who is currently starring as Howard in the series Better Call Saul. More adaptations of It's a Wonderful Life coming up. Please feel free to leave comments below.

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: A Dream of Christmas (2016)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #17 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Today's discussion is on the Christmas TV movie A Dream of Christmas which made its debut on Dec. 3, 2016 on the Hallmark Channel. In this feature-length story, Penny is feeling frustrated when she considers how changed her life would be if she had made different decisions. When she slips on the ladder placing the angel on top of the Christmas tree, Penny awakens to find her wish come true--she’s not married and she has a more senior position at the advertising company where she works. As a single woman with a better career, Penny re-evaluates her life, in this story inspired by the 1946 holiday movie It's a Wonderful Life.

The cast includes Nikki DeLoach as Penny Atwell, Andrew Walker as Stuart Fischer, and Cindy Williams as the angel Jayne.

A Dream of Christmas fulfills the romance formula of Hallmark Christmas movies while also paying homage to the narrative structure of It's a Wonderful Life by giving a character a glance at an alternate life guided by a guardian angel.

Are you familiar with this 2016 Hallmark movie? Have you seen this one before? Please feel free to leave comments below.

Saturday, July 16, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: Quantum Leap (1992)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #16 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Scott Bakula plays the time traveling Sam and Dean Stockwell is the hologram companion Al.

Today's discussion is on the 4th season episode "It's a Wonderful Leap" from the hit sci-fi/fantasy series Quantum Leap starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell. This episode's story is not set at Christmas and it's not a Christmas story either. Instead, it's about a guardian angel. This may be the TV program most loosely associated with It's a Wonderful Life in the Christmas in July marathon, however this episode's story clearly draws upon the 1946 holiday movie for inspiration. Let's take a closer look.

Sam finds himself in the body of cab driver Max Greenman and he accidentally hits a woman claiming to be a guardian angel!

In this episode, Sam leaps back to May 10th, 1958, where he finds himself in the body of Max Greenman, a taxi cab driver trying to earn a precious taxi medallion to run his own cab company. Driving his cab, Sam/Max meets a woman named Angela when he accidentally runs her over! When Sam pulls her out from under the cab, she is completely unharmed and explains that she is a guardian angel. Sam is hesitant to believe that Angela is an actual guardian angel but when she reveals she can see and talk with Al too--Sam comes to believe that they are both on the same mission. Sam and Angela are both looking to protect the cab driver Max from an armed robber who may take his life.

Sam is skeptical that Angela is an actual guardian angel but he acknowledges his own time travel situation also defies reason!

Liz Torres is a delight as the guardian angel Angela.

Angela the guardian angel is played by the great character actor Liz Torres. Here, Angela is a Puerto Rican New Yorker from the 1920s who used to be a professional singer. She's charming and knowledgeable, making it difficult for Sam to doubt her when she says she's a guardian angel. Adding another layer of meaning to her character, Angela sings the Gershwin tune "Someone to Watch Over Me" while keeping Sam/Max and his father Lenny company.

Although this fourth season episode does not take place at Christmas, the episode's title references the movie It's a Wonderful Life, it centers on a guardian angel character, and Angela even talks about the guardian angel Clarence from It's a Wonderful Life movie.

The cast includes Scott Bakula as Dr. Sam Beckett, Dean Stockwell as Al, Liz Torres as Angela, and Jerry Adler as Max’s father Lenny.

A reboot of Quantum Leap is going to start airing on NBC in the fall of 2022--will you be watching? Merry Christmas in July!

Friday, July 15, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: The O.C. (2006)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #15 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Earlier this month, I discussed an episode adapted from It's a Wonderful Life from the teen drama series Beverly Hills, 90210. Here's that essay again. The teen drama The O.C. also created an adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life--in the series' fourth season. Let's look at it closer.

Taylor is played by actor Autumn Reeser, and the character Ryan by Ben McKenzie.

In this episode, Ryan and his girlfriend Taylor are arguing while hanging Chrismukkah lights on the roof when they both fall from the ladder and sustain head injuries serious enough to place both into comas. "Chrismukkah" is the Cohen family holiday started by Seth, a combination of Christmas and Hanukkah traditions--the result of being raised by a Jewish father and a Protestant mother. Chrismukkah, of course, is celebrated in the first three season of The O.C. in the episodes "The Best Chrismukkah Ever" in 2003, "The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn’t" in 2004, and "The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-vahkkah" in 2005.

Back to the season 4 episode. Family and friends surround Ryan and Taylor in the hospital while they go through a dream-like experience of a parallel world as if they were never born! In a loose, Southern California-style adaptation of the 1946 movie It’s A Wonderful Life, life looks different for the Cohen family, as Sandy is mayor and married to Julie. Julie is sleeping with Che, Summer was about to marry Che, and Kirsten is married to Jimmy. Marissa is still dead but she died much earlier.

Ryan and Taylor work to fix the problems of their friends and family made by their absence. Taylor confronts her own brutal mother and Ryan tries to save the broken relationships, hoping to right the wrongs. Ryan and Taylor also need to pull themselves out of this alternate Orange County universe where nobody knows or recognizes them. In his coma-fever dream, Ryan resolves his guilt for blaming himself for Marissa’s death and comes to appreciate that his efforts had actually extended her life.

This supernatural experience allows Ryan to let go of the past, say goodbye to Marissa, and move forward with his feelings for Taylor in the present. Recognize actor Autumn Reeser who plays Taylor? In more recent years, she's become a regular leading lady in Hallmark holiday movies in Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade (2012), A Bramble House Christmas (2017), Christmas Under the Stars (2019) and A Glenbrooke Christmas (2020).

The cast includes Ben McKenzie as Ryan, Adam Brody as Seth, Peter Gallagher as Sandy Cohen, Kelly Rowan as Kirsten Cohen, Rachel Bilson as Summer, Melinda Clarke as Julie Cooper, Autumn Reeser as Taylor Townsend, Chris Pratt as Ché, Tate Donovan as Jimmy Cooper, and Willa Holland as Caitlin.

I'm endlessly entertained by the creative ways TV writers draw upon the classic story in It's a Wonderful Life to find ways to express something new. Feel free to add a comment below. We're about half through Christmas in July--lots more references to Frank Capra's 1946 movie coming up.

Thursday, July 14, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: Mork & Mindy (1979)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #14 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Today's discussion is on the first season episode "It's A Wonderful Mork" from the sitcom Mork & Mindy. I first wrote about this episode on the website in 2012. It's worth discussing again for It's a Wonderful Summer marathon.

Mork inadvertently chases away customers seeking music lessons.

Although this episode didn’t originally air at holiday time, this story is inspired by the 1946 holiday movie It’s a Wonderful Life. In this story, the alien Mork unintentionally ruins Mindy’s job opportunity, grandmother Cora's music teaching gig, and Mindy's father’s dating relationship.

Without much sensitivity, Mork reveals to Margaret what Mindy's father Fred had said about her--and she takes offense. Recognize Margaret? That's Linda Henning--Betty Jo Bradley from "Petticoat Junction."

Feeling like he's unneeded and useless, Mork goes to his alien boss Orson with his regrets and is offered a solution. Mork can be "reversified" with the aid of Orkan technology to see what his friends’ lives would be like if he had never arrived on Earth.

"Mork Calling Orson, come in Orson."

Without being seen nor heard, Mork observes that Mindy would have a husband but she would be unhappily married to a compulsive gambler. Mindy would be gainfully employed, but all her money would be spent on her husband Cliff's gambling debts and she wouldn't be free to pursue her own passion for a career in journalism. Mork also observes that Mindy's father and her grandmother would also be unhappy as Mork has brought a great deal of support, encouragement, and joy into their lives.

Mindy's unsupportive husband Cliff is played by actor Sam Freed, a TV veteran I remember best as Bob Barsky--Allie's eventual husband on "Kate & Allie."

Although this isn't a Christmas-themed episode, it is filled with the spirit that we love to feel at holiday time--a spirit of reflection, love, and appreciation for our family and friends. This episode also serves as a reminder that those sentiments are appropriate all year round as well.

After Mork learns that his influence has improved the lives of his loved ones, he asks Orson to return him to his present circumstance and proudly proclaims "It IS a wonderful life!" Very sweet, indeed.

Do you have a favorite sitcom adaptation of It's a Wonderful Life? There are quite a few--and I'll be discussing several more before this July marathon is over. Please feel free to leave comments below.

Wednesday, July 13, 2022

Christmas in July 2022: The Magic School Bus (1996)

Merry Christmas in July! It is Day #13 of the month-long celebration of Christmas entertainment. As announced before, each day this month I will be sharing brief reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a IT'S A WONDERFUL SUMMER attitude. Yes--this month I'm sharing brief essays about TV adaptations of the 1946 movie "It's a Wonderful Life" along with TV programs with significant references to the movie. Just a little something different and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (the updated and expanded 2nd edition being released soon).

Ms. Frizzle takes the children on adventures to learn about the world through science.

Today's discussion is on the 1996 episode "Holiday Special" from the animated series The Magic School Bus. In this episode, Wanda’s plans to see the Nutcracker ballet performance are disrupted by Arnold’s recycling program, so she angrily doubts the purpose of recycling. Ms. Frizzle takes the School Bus on a magical journey through a new world where recycling doesn’t exist. The children clearly see the difference between their city and the one without recycling: no trees, more garbage, and all the new things they currently have that are made from recycled goods.

This episode's story features holiday decorations and holiday songs in honor of Hanukkah and Christmas.

Lily Tomlin voices Ms. Frizzle (left) and Dolly Parton voices Murph, the recycling plant supervisor (right). Too bad Jane Fonda was included in this episode!

The children sing a song about recycling to the tune of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” Ms. Frizzle and Murph take the lead singing a song about recycling to the tune of “Jingle Bells.” The children sing again about recycling to the tune of "Here We Come A-Caroling," and Murph takes the lead in another song about recycling performed to the tune of “The Dreidel Song.”

This is a clever retelling of It’s a Wonderful Life but instead of Wanda questioning her own life, she questions the purpose of recycling. The angel here is Murph who shows the kids what their lives would be like without recycling.

The voice cast includes Lily Tomlin as Ms. Frizzle, Lisa Yamanaka as Wanda Li, Danny Tamberelli as Arnold, and Dolly Parton as Murph.

When this animated episode made its debut, it aired with a half-hour live action segment featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the making of The Magic School Bus series with the voice cast.

#DVDdress

About Christmas TV History