# Do other cultures make cheesy Rankin-Bass style TV shows for their holidays? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 17, 2013, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544 "2013-12-17T10:48:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/1 "2013-12-17T10:48:57Z")
Have the Turks made anything as silly as “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year”? Has Bollywood come up with anything to match the Heat Miser and Snow Miser musical numbers? Has some enterprising neopagan posted anything on YouTube? I used to think that the French were too refined and intellectual to do anything of this sort. However, after seeing some of Jean Rollin’s and Just Jaeckin’s films, I am no longer so naïve. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/2 "2013-12-17T10:56:29Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Has Bollywood come up with anything to match… . regardless of holiday season, or not…isn’t pretty much every single film every made in Bollywood cheesy? I don’t understand a word of Hindi, and I know virtually nothing about Indian culture…but when I got stuck with a roommate watching Bollywood all the time, I never had any trouble understanding the plots. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/3 "2013-12-17T12:42:06Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > I don’t understand a word of Hindi, and I know virtually nothing about Indian culture…but when I got stuck with a roommate watching Bollywood all the time, I never had any trouble understanding the plots. That’s because there’s only ever one plot, used over and over again: Romeo and Juliet. The only perennial Christmas themed entertainment I know of outside of the US is the British [animation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubeVUnGQOIk) of _The Snowman_, from the book by Raymond Briggs. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/4 "2013-12-17T13:08:28Z")
In the UK, major TV drama and comedy series often make a ‘Christmas special’. This sometimes revolves around a Christmas theme, and is sometimes completely unrelated, but merely a ‘one-off’. These specials are screened on or around Christmas day, which is a major TV day. So, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey etc will bring out a Christmas special. It’s a big event here, and is preceded by numerous ads from the channels concerned promoting these shows in the lead up to Christmas. [Here, for example, is the BBC One Christmas promo.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSozo7x0UM) These are not, however, cheesy Christmas musical events as the OP describes, though no doubt we’ve had them at various times in the past, and general entertainment shows will drag out the tinsel. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/5 "2013-12-17T13:30:02Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That’s because there’s only ever one plot, used over and over again: Romeo and Juliet. > > The only perennial Christmas themed entertainment I know of outside of the US is the British [animation](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubeVUnGQOIk) of _The Snowman_, from the book by Raymond Briggs. And The Great Escape. Not Christmas without The Great Escape. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/6 "2013-12-17T13:46:01Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > In the UK, major TV drama and comedy series often make a ‘Christmas special’. This sometimes revolves around a Christmas theme, and is sometimes completely unrelated, but merely a ‘one-off’. These specials are screened on or around Christmas day, which is a major TV day. So, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey etc will bring out a Christmas special. It’s a big event here, and is preceded by numerous ads from the channels concerned promoting these shows in the lead up to Christmas. Never Mind The Buzzcocks had theirs last night. > [@](#): > > [Here, for example, is the BBC One Christmas promo.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSozo7x0UM) That looks dull. > [@](#): > > These are not, however, cheesy Christmas musical events as the OP describes, though no doubt we’ve had them at various times in the past, and general entertainment shows will drag out the tinsel. Morecombe and Wise? ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/7 "2013-12-17T14:10:12Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > Morecombe and Wise? Ooh yes, although we don’t really do those big shiny floor entertainment shows any more, do we? Now it’s just all X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing (the origin of Dancing with the Stars and its other imitators). Although I did catch myself watching the Royal Variety Performance the other day, shudder. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2013, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/8 "2013-12-17T14:34:58Z")
> [@blindboyard](#): > > And The Great Escape. Not Christmas without The Great Escape. What about Bond, James Bond? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/9 "2013-12-18T03:27:10Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > In the UK, major TV drama and comedy series often make a ‘Christmas special’. This sometimes revolves around a Christmas theme, and is sometimes completely unrelated, but merely a ‘one-off’. These specials are screened on or around Christmas day, which is a major TV day. So, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey etc will bring out a Christmas special. It’s a big event here, and is preceded by numerous ads from the channels concerned promoting these shows in the lead up to Christmas. > > [Here, for example, is the BBC One Christmas promo.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veSozo7x0UM) > > These are not, however, cheesy Christmas musical events as the OP describes, though no doubt we’ve had them at various times in the past, and general entertainment shows will drag out the tinsel. Similar to the UK shows you mention, shows on the USA and Syfy cable channels in the US (both are owned by NBC) sometimes do this as well. Psych, Dead Zone, Eureka, I know for sure have done it, probably more. Generally it’s either between seasons for the shows, or even between halfs of seasons, but often not lined up to really fit in with the shows ongoing seasons which typically don’t leave any room in continuity for a Christmas to have fit between episodes ending one season (or half season) and starting the next. These generally DON’T air on Christmas day though, which is NOT a major TV day here, other than maybe football. :rolleyes: So usually they run somewhere in the first two weeks of December. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2013, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-other-cultures-make-cheesy-rankin-bass-style-tv-shows-for-their-holidays/676544/10 "2013-12-18T13:01:38Z")
There’s almost never football on Christmas Day. There’s often several NBA games however.