Christmas TV History

Sunday, July 4, 2021

Christmas in July 2021: My World And Welcome To It

The short-lived sitcom My World and Welcome To It

Happy 4th of July! It's Day #4 of Christmas in July. All month long I'll be celebrating Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a FUN IN THE SUN attitude. Expect a run of Christmas in July stories, tropical yuletides, and island themes. 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 later this year).

The past three days I've shared brief discussions about Christmas programs made in the Southern Hemisphere where Christmas is celebrated in the summer. Because of the 4th of July holiday, today I'm sharing a yuletide story that centers on an American flag!

The short-lived series was inspired by the work of James Thurber, and lead character John Monroe had a wild imagination that was depicted with brief animated segments within the live action, comedy framework.

In the 1969 episode "Rally Round the Flag," cartoonist John Monroe is told by his wife to buy their daughter Lydia a Christmas present this year. Putting it off until late Christmas Eve, John finds himself unable to find the doll Lydia has asked for. So John buys the only other thing he can find: an American flag! Although Lydia is surprised by her gift, she pretends to like it, and the family proudly displays the flag on the front of their home. Unfortunately, the unusual Christmas display shocks the neighbors and raises suspicions in the local veterans group.

The cast includes William Windom as John Monroe, Joan Hotchkis as wife Ellen, and Lisa Gerritson as Lydia.

Thanks for reading along. Stop in again tomorrow and please have a happy and safe 4th of July holiday!

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 2021 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

Saturday, July 3, 2021

Christmas in July 2021: The Monster's Christmas (1981)

It's Day #3 of Christmas in July. All month long I'll be celebrating Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a FUN IN THE SUN attitude. Expect a run of Christmas in July stories, tropical yuletides, and island themes. 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 later this year).

For the last couple days, I've been looking at Christmas stories from the Southern Hemisphere. The December holiday down under takes place during the summer. 1981's The Monster's Christmas was made for New Zealand TV and was shot there featuring a landscape that is uniquely New Zealand.

The Monster's Christmas (1981)

This is a one hour long, live-action TV special with imaginative, almost psychedelic characters and costumes, shot on location in Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland. It is a New Zealand park with rare, geologic features making the setting seem all the more visually otherworldly. In the story, a little girl reads a book on Christmas Eve about monsters losing their voices due to an evil witch’s spell. Upon meeting one of these voiceless monsters, the little girl is filled with compassion and sets out on a long journey to help recover the monsters’ voices to allow them to once again sing Christmas carols which they love to do. Actor Lucy McGrath plays the little girl. It is directed by Yvonne Mackay.

This is just as bonkers and outrageous as it sounds. This TV program was originally made for children’s television in New Zealand, aired in the United States on Showtime, and is now easily found on DVD.

Shot at Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland--these geologic features are a sight!

The same creative team made 1982's Nearly No Christmas, another live action, holiday special for New Zealand television. It's a story about Santa Claus who needs money so badly that he takes a job working as Father Christmas at a department store over the holidays. The depiction of Santa's workshop includes penguins, furthering the idea that Santa's home is actually the South Pole instead of the North Pole!? Only in a Down Under Christmas.

Thanks for reading along. Stop in again tomorrow because I've got a special Christmas episode to discuss for the 4th of July!

Friday, July 2, 2021

Christmas in July 2021: Bluey

Bluey (2018-present)

It's Day #2 of Christmas in July. All month long I'll be celebrating Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a FUN IN THE SUN attitude. Expect a run of Christmas in July stories, tropical yuletides, and island themes. 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 later this year).

For the next couple days, I'll be looking at Christmas stories from the Southern Hemisphere. The December holiday down under takes place during the summer. In 2020, the ADORABLE children's animated series Bluey released the holiday segment "Christmas Swim." This Australian-made series that airs on Disney Jr. draws upon the seasonal opportunity to spend Christmas day in the pool.

The above video isn't the series installment, but instead just a taste of the episode's animation.

In "Christmas Swim," the family opens gifts on Christmas morning together. Next, they all decide to go swimming in the pool in the backyard. Bluey’s new doll Bartleby endures some rough play.

This Australian cartoon depicts its dog family enjoying an appropriate holiday activity of swimming since Christmas takes place during the summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

In 2019, the series produced another holiday segment "Veranda Santa" with the youngsters anticipating Santa Claus' arrival through the veranda since their home doesn't include a chimney. If you've seen this children's series, you know how charming and warm it is. Do you have other Southern Hemisphere yuletide stories? Feel free to leave a comment below. More tomorrow.

Thanks for reading along. Stop in again tomorrow and each day this month to discover another Christmas in July episode, special or movie.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Christmas in July 2021: Bush Christmas

Merry Christmas in July! Today begins 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 FUN IN THE SUN attitude. Expect a run of Christmas in July stories, tropical yuletides, and island themes. 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 later this year).

For the next couple days, let's look at Christmas stories from the Southern Hemisphere. The December holiday down under takes place during the summer. 1947's Bush Christmas is an Australian-made, theatrical release movie that reflects that seasonal difference to those expecting a wintry tale.

In Bush Christmas, a group of children and their native-Australian friend Neza spend Christmas break tracking thieves that stole the horses from their family’s ranch. Across the breath-taking wilderness landscape and the New South Wales mountains, the children play a cat-and-mouse game with the thieves until the police can come and arrest the wrong-doers. There’s a limited amount of Christmas content but in the end the children enjoy their favorite holiday meal and wear their paper crowns. The story is a Western-style adventure for children.

This Australian-made children’s movie was produced on behalf of J. Arthur Rank’s Children’s Cinema Club. It is also known under the title Christmas in the Outback. The cast includes Chips Rafferty as Long Bill, John Fernside as Jim, and Stan Tolshurst as Blue Kennedy. It is directed by Ralph Smart.

The movie is easy to find. For more than a decade, it aired on TCM (Turner Classic Movies) each holiday season and it can be found on DVD as well. Like most other movies, it comes and goes on different streaming services.

Bush Christmas (1983)

The Australian story was re-made in 1983 and once again released into theaters. Here, the Thompson family ranch is struggling financially and their mortgage is due on the first of the year. After the local Christmas dance, two thieves named Bill and Sly steal three of the Thompsons’ horses. Knowing their father is away tending to the cattle, young Helen and John Thompson, their cousin Michael from England, and their Aboriginal friend Malanpuy set off to follow the horse thieves. The children are determined to retrieve their stolen, prized horse Prince, the fastest horse in the community, in order to enter him in the New Year’s day race. The cash prize for the race will allow the Thompson family to pay off the mortgage and save the ranch. But first they must catch the thieves who have Prince!

The children’s adventure into the bush following the two horse thieves is more than they counted on. The youngsters encounter rugged conditions of steep mountains, stormy weather, wild animals, and they spend Christmas day on their own still following the thieves. The children eventually catch up to the thieves and raid their camp but the horses all run off. The young ones end up trapped in a well at an abandoned farm house, requiring a daring rescue. Although the thieves are not brought to justice, the children are glad to have Prince returned and entered in the race. After all this activity, the children question whether Prince will be able to win the race and save the family ranch on New Year’s day.

Some viewers may find this remake is even more adventurous and exciting than the original 1947 film. Perhaps even more entertaining is that it is a very early role for a teen-aged Nicole Kidman, years before her Academy Award-winning Hollywood film career. This once hard-to-find movie was released on VHS under the title Prince and the Great Race, but has since been released on DVD under the title Bush Christmas. It is currently available on Amazon Prime Video.

The cast includes John Ewart as the horse thief Bill, John Howard as the horse thief Sly, Mark Spain as young John, James Wingrove as cousin Michael, Peter Sumner as father Ben Thompson, Nicole Kidman as Helen, and Manalpuy as Manalpuy. The movie is directed by Henri Safran.

Thanks for reading along. Stop in again tomorrow and each day this month to discover another Christmas in July episode, special or movie.

Friday, June 18, 2021

Christmas in July 2021: ANNOUNCEMENT

Happy Summer! The annual Christmas in July party I host each year on this blog is happening again soon. If you've been around awhile, you may remember that the summer time party is a little different each year. I try to do something special in July because we all get very busy in December and it's fun to have a get-together when we aren't in the midst of the holiday season. This is the 7th year we've come together to do this--THANK YOU for joining in again!

I'm going to do Christmas in July a little different this year--we're all doing everything a little different these days, aren't we? I'm setting aside the format of having everyone send in responses to a mini-questionnaire. Perhaps I'll return to that format in the future. This year, I'll be sharing brief, daily reminisces about Christmas TV episodes, specials, and movies with a FUN IN THE SUN attitude. Yup--think: Christmas in July, tropical yuletides, and island themes. Just a little something different for Christmas in July, and a way for me to show off the diversity of holiday stories I've collected in the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV.

To participate, all you have to do is follow along. I'll be sharing a different Fun in the Sun TV program or movie everyday. Feel free to follow along daily or weekly. Maybe you're the type to check back on July 31st to see them all after the end of the party. It is all good! However you want to follow, I appreciate you. Everyone is welcome. I'll also be sharing the daily content through social media: on the Facebook page Christmas TV History and on twitter: @TistheSeasonTV.

The fun starts on July 1st and will continue through the last day of the month. Think you know what I'm going to talk about this July? You might--but I'm certain there will be some surprises too. I can't wait for July to begin!

Yes, I mentioned the encyclopedia Tis the Season TV above. The newly expanded and updated edition of the book is coming in November. I'll even debut the new book cover art during our Christmas in July. I can't wait for everyone to see the new book. More coming about that soon. See you in July!

Thursday, December 10, 2020

Christmas TV Variety: List of Favorites

Variety specials and episodes are some of the most popular Christmas programs each year on television. Every year new variety Christmas programs are made. 2020 will see the debut of a new CMA Country Christmas concert on ABC, Christmas in Rockefeller Center concert on NBC, another Mormon Tabernacle Choir performance on PBS, Dolly Parton's A Holly Dolly Christmas on CBS, Mariah Carey's Magical Christmas Special on Apple TV, Carrie Underwood's My Gift: A Christmas Special on HBO Max, Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas with Vanessa Williams on PBS, The Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular on NBC, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas: The Musical on NBC, High School Musical: The Musical: The Holiday Special on Disney+, Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood's Garth and Trisha Live: A Holiday Concert on CBS, and The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration on ABC. This is not a complete list but just the highlights! And, this long list is just the NEW variety programs this year--there are MORE airing and streaming that made their debuts in previous years too. Whew! How many of these are you planning on watching?

I'll certainly be watching them all and adding their details to what will be the updated, expanded encyclopedia Tis the Season TV (scheduled to be released in 2021). But some of my favorite variety programs are ones from the past. Here's a quick list--with links--of discussions of some of my favorites from decades past.

The 1957 Christmas episode of The Frank Sinatra Show features special guest Bing Crosby. This episode has also become known by the title Happy Holidays from Bing and Frank. The two biggest pop singers of the 20th century entertain with Christmas songs and charm like no one else. Click HERE to read more about it.

The 1968 Christmas episode of The Dean Martin Show is another of the swinging good times captured for the cameras. This installment includes special guests actor Dennis Weaver, comedian Bob Newhart, and actor Dom DeLuise. There are a couple young visitors to the set that have also gone on to have their own long careers in Hollywood. Can you recognize them? Click HERE to read more about this episode.

Judy Garland had a Christmas episode of her short-lived variety series too. The 1963 installment features the singer and her three children: Lorna, Joe and Liza. She also welcomes singer Jack Jones and the series' music director Mel Tormé. Judy's struggles during the making of this series have been well documented but even when she's not at her best, she's still better than everyone else! Check out the song list and descriptions of performances by clicking HERE.

When Andy Williams died in 2012, I wrote up a description of the best of those 1960s Andy Williams Show Christmas episodes. The overview continues to be THE most popular post on my website. Maybe soon I'll write up a single Christmas episode, perhaps the 1965 or the 1966 one. Got a favorite? Let me know. Click HERE to see the overview again.

Let us not forget Perry Como! Click HERE to see my discussion on the 1978 Christmas TV special Perry Como's Early American Christmas filmed in historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Perry had been on TV at Christmas for thirty years at this point, and his annual Christmas specials in the second half of the 1970s through the 1980s saw him visiting exotic locations and landmarks around the globe. What American would join Perry in this historic location? John Wayne of course. And yes, Wayne sings.

Who can forget the 1960 Christmas episode of The Shirley Temple Show and their staging of the musical "Babes in Toyland?" The singing-and-dancing extravaganza features an amazing cast with young Angela Cartwright and Michel Petit, alongside show biz masters Jonathan Winters, Carl Ballantine, Joe Besser, and Jerry Colonna. An adult Shirley Temple introduces the story--accompanied by her own young children. And, Temple stars in the story too, donning ugly make-up to play the role of Floretta the gypsy witch. Click HERE to read more of my discussion.

And my favorite--a discussion on the 1956 TV musical The Stingiest Man in Town. The musical originally aired as an episode of The Alcoa Hour. A kinoscope turned up after decades of fans assuming any record of the lavish production had been lost forever. Basil Rathbone appears as a singing Ebenezer Scrooge, with Vic Dame as a young Ebenezer and opera star Patricia Munsel as his fiancé Belle. There is so much goodness in this original musical, it absolutely deserves the accolades given upon its original release. Read more about it by clicking HERE.

Kurt (Chris Colfer) and Blaine (Darren Criss) welcome TV viewers into the "home," just like Judy Garland does.

Younger TV viewers have laid their claim to the cultural history of Christmas variety as well. The 2011 Christmas installment "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" of the TV series Glee created a shot-by-shot remake of numerous key scenes from the 1963 Christmas episode of The Judy Garland Show. Taking it one step further, the show's characters acknowledge the dreadful 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special too. Christmas TV fans are frequently blown away by this pop culture holiday spectacle. Click HERE to read more about it.

Here's a little taste of Christmas variety from the website's archives to remind you about the history of the holidays on television. Let me know what you think. Please feel free to leave comments below.

Monday, November 16, 2020

Where to Watch Christmas TV Programs (2020)

It's the most wonderful time of the year, isn't it? The Christmas TV movies have already begun airing, Christmas music is playing on local radio stations, the days are growing shorter, and the air outside is crisp.

The viewing options for Christmas movies and specials during November and December each year can get overwhelming. Last year, I counted almost 400 new Christmas and New Year's TV programs and movies released. Let me help you with the details of where to find the best holiday programming for 2020. This is not an exhaustive list and new information is still forthcoming. I've noticed that the long lists of premieres show that the pandemic has not forced most networks to cut back on Christmas programs for 2020. That's good for all of us.

Christmas TV Movies:

For many Christmas TV movie fans, the Hallmark Channel is the network schedule to check first. In 2020, Hallmark will be debuting 23 new Christmas TV movies, alongside many classics from their archives. If you didn't already know, the movie marathon has already begun--Hallmark started Friday, October 24th--and continues all day and all night through the end of December. They typically debut their new holiday movies on Saturday and Sunday nights. HERE is link to a checklist of Hallmark's Christmas TV movie premieres. The daily schedule of their holiday movies can be found on their website HERE.

Hallmark's sister channel--Hallmark Movies and Mysteries (HMM)--also airs new Christmas TV movies and older classics. In fact, the older holiday movies they broadcast are pulled from a deeper archive so this is the place to see some of your older Hallmark Christmas TV movie favorites. HMM will debut 17 new Christmas titles in 2020. Between Hallmark and HMM, this company will premiere 40 new movies this holiday season. Whew! Have you already started watching them? HMM is also making their debuts on Saturday and Sunday nights. Click HERE for the checklist of HMM Christmas movie debuts. And, just like the Hallmark Channel, HMM has already begun their holiday programming--which will continue through the end of the holidays. Click HERE for the link to the daily HMM Christmas movie schedule.

Lifetime is debuting 34 new Christmas TV movies in 2020 as well. I know, right? Those new movies will be airing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. Click HERE for more info about each of those. Lifetime is all-in on the Christmas TV movies this year just like they were last year. They also started airing a 24/7 marathon of their new movies and Christmas classics from their archives. You don't want to miss out. I'm looking forward to their new movie "Christmas Ever After" which debuts on Dec. 6th. This movie features Tony-winner Ali Stroker who first impressed me on the TV series The Glee Project. Click HERE for the daily schedule of Lifetime Christmas movies. [Please note: the initial release of information in October about Lifetime's Christmas movies was for 30 movies. They have since added 4 more movies to the schedule, to air the third week of December.]

Freeform is a major source of Disney-owned holiday movies and programming every year. But I didn't need to tell you that, right? We're all familiar with their marathons of Christmas movies and family-friendly entertainment. They have a November schedule with holiday programming, and Freeform's 25 Days of Christmas programming marathon which begins Dec. 1st. Click HERE for the full December marathon schedule.

(Click on image to enlarge)

In 2020, AMC is once again branding themselves "Best Christmas Ever" network. They continue to invest in airing a tremendous amount of Christmas movies and holiday programming beginning Nov. 16th. Here is where you'll be able to view most of the Rankin/Bass classic animation (other networks have Rankin/Bass titles too but a limited number of them). For a schedule of all the Christmas movies and animation coming on AMC and AMC+, click here.

UP TV Network will also debut 8 new family-friendly Christmas TV movies, as well as showing older favorites too. For a list of their new Christmas movies, click HERE. For UP TV's 2020 Christmas programming movie schedule, click HERE.

ION Television's schedule is filled with holiday movies too. They are already airing holiday movies from their archives but will debut four new ones starting Nov. 29th. Look for the movie premieres on Saturday and Sunday nights. Click HERE for their website and a complete schedule.

OWN has three new TV movies this year: A Christmas for Mary debuting Dec. 8th, Cooking Up Christmas on Dec.15th, and First Christmas on Dec. 22nd.

TV One usually debuts a Christmas TV movie each year featuring African-American characters in the lead as well. This year's new movie is Christmas Dilemma premiering Sunday, Dec. 6th. Here's more info on their website. Look to BET to premiere Christmas TV movies with African-American actors in lead roles as well. They too have yet to release more information for this year.

And of course, Netflix is debuting more than a dozen new Christmas movies and series episodes on their streaming service too. Several of those movies have already premiered, including the popular Holidate starring Emma Roberts, Operation: Christmas Drop, the musical Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey, and more. So many Christmas movies, so little time, right?

Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship judges and host.

Netflix features several Christmas series including Sugar Rush: Christmas season 2, Great British Baking Show: Holidays season 3, and Holiday Home Makeover with Mr. Christmas. But did you know that the Food Network also includes several Christmas series? Sunday nights and Monday nights the Food Network rolls out Holiday Baking Championship, Holiday Wars, Christmas Cookie Challenge, and The Big Bake Holiday. Check their listings for even more holiday series' episodes and specials.

Hulu has a wonderful feature that the other streaming platforms haven't figured out yet: you can search for 'Christmas' and they'll provide not just Christmas movies, but Christmas episodes buried inside the seasons of sitcoms and dramas they have. YES! That's a great use of a search option. Hulu this year also is airing 2019's popular indie film Last Christmas with Emilia Clarke, and starting Nov. 25th, they will have 2020's Happiest Season with Kristen Stewart.

Disney+ is debuting Lego Star Wars Holiday Special starting Nov. 17th. This new program is drawing the attention of quite a few fans who love the Lego animated movies and those who fan over the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special too. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Classic Christmas Specials and Episodes:

Me TV is rolling out their retro programming's Christmas programs on Sunday early evening marathons throughout the holiday season. HERE's the schedule of episodes for the Sunday marathons. Look at all those Thanksgiving episodes too! I see Dec. 6th they're airing the 1988 TV movie A Very Brady Christmas, and early morning on Dec 24th, they are airing the 1970 movie musical Scrooge. Mark your calendars now.

FETV is airing Christmas episodes of their classic sitcoms and dramas too. I'm excited to see Father Knows Best: Home for Christmas--the 1977 reunion TV movie airing too. More on their website about their holiday programming here. And Antenna TV, another retro programming network, usually airs a Christmas Eve and Christmas Day marathon of holiday episodes from their current classic TV line-up. I hope they repeat that tradition this year.

I'm sad to see Get TV cut back on their usually extravagant schedule of holiday programming. I'll post more about their schedule when I know more.

Major Networks:

Of course, the major networks have their holiday programming as well. NBC has an all new animated TV special: Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special. (Yes--the minions from your favorite animated Despicable Me movie franchise). It debuts Friday, Nov. 27th. The annual Christmas in Rockefeller Center live concert and tree lighting ceremony always airs the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving (Dec. 2nd this year). They haven't announced yet about the live concert or any potential guests yet. But the concert is followed by Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes. NBC is also airing Dr. Seuss' The Grinch Musical starring Matthew Morrison from a London stage production. It airs Dec. 9th. The Saturday Night Live clip show of everyone's favorite Christmas sketches will air Dec. 16th. And, the original 1946 movie It's a Wonderful Life is airing again on Dec. 24th.

ABC is happily airing the Rankin/Bass animated Santa Claus is Comin' to Town in honor of it's 50th anniversary. Watch that 1970 classic on Nov. 27th. On Thanksgiving night, ABC is airing the animated specials Olaf's Frozen Adventure, and Toy Story That Time Forgot. You don't want to miss those. And once again ABC is airing the variety special CMA Country Christmas. This year's concert features host Trisha Yearwood. It airs Monday, Nov. 30th at 9pm(ET). Also on Nov. 30th is The Disney Holiday Singalong--the third in their very popular singalong TV specials.

CBS is airing many animated classics. On Friday, Nov. 27th they are airing Frosty the Snowman and Frosty Returns. On Saturday, Nov. 28th, CBS is running two Robbie the Reindeer animated stories, and The Story of Santa Claus. On Tuesday, Dec. 1st is Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. And on Dec 6th is an all-new Dolly Parton Christmas special A Holly Dolly Christmas. So much good stuff coming.

Note: Broadcast TV networks are NOT airing A Charlie Brown Christmas this year--you'll only be able to see it on TV streaming on Apple+ this year. Good thing you own the DVDs, right?

UPDATE: PBS has picked up A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving to air Nov. 22, and A Charlie Brown Christmas to air on Dec. 13th. Check your local lists and local PBS networks for time.

Stay close to my social media links for more announcements about fantastic holiday programming. If you'd like reminders of the new Christmas TV movie debuts and other exciting holiday TV programming, don't forget to follow my Facebook page Tis The Season TV and/or my tweets at @TisTheSeasonTV.

Where on the metaphorical television dial do you watch your favorite Christmas movies and specials? Feel free to share in the comments below.

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About Christmas TV History