TBS does it every year. Or at least the last 2 or 3 years.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the movie. I’ve seen it at least a hundred times and could see it a hundred more and never grow tired of it…but seriously, why the need to show it for a 24 hour block, one right after the other, on Christmas Eve? I can see showing it 3 times in a row…or 5…or hell, even for however many times would fit into a TWELVE hour block, but 24? Come on…
Even 24 hours one time, I can understand. But TBS has been doing this for at least the past 2 years (I’m sure of. Not so sure how many before that).
What gives? Is anyone really going to sit down and watch it for 24 hours?
I realize the point may be to catch bits and peices of it here and there while one is busy all of Christmas Eve, but I think that 24 straight hours is overdoing it a bit.
Then again, what do I know?
However, I wonder if the idea is to run the movie all day long, this movie which is the very quintessence of Christmas, so that no matter who you are, where you are, or how busy you are - at some point in your Christmas Eve, you will be able to sit down and watch the entire movie. With hot cocoa or cider and cookies, to boot. That way, no one anywhere will miss it. Ever.
As with just about everything on TV, it’s on for 24 hours because they crunched some figures and figured they could make a profit from airing it for 24 hours. People must seriously love that movie. How many other movies could run for 24 hours (not to mention how many times it’s shown in the preceding weeks) and still make a profit?
I have a part-time job at a video rental. We’re just starting to get people requesting Christmas movies. Several people have already requested “A Christmas Story.” (Fools that we are, we don’t even have a copy.) In contrast, only one person so far has asked for “It’s a Wonderful Life” – surely that’s a sign of something. No one’s asked for “Miracle on 34th Street,” “Holiday Inn,” or “The Bells of St. Marys.”
Christmas Story works well as TV fare because it requires virtually no editing for broadcast. Despite the Old Man’s alleged poetry with profanity (and Ralph’s outburst when confronting the bully), the rough dialogue is little more than a cartoonish “rassa-FRASSA-rassa-badda!” and “Oh, fffffffffudge!” It’s a movie that can appeal to adults yet even the bluest of bluenoses can’t object to it being shown to children, in contrast to Die Hard (“Yippie-ki-yay, Mr. Falcon!”) which has to be mangled to make it TV-presentable.
In a similar vein is the Justice League Unlimited cartoon, with some content that approaches the border of adult but never quite crosses it.
Personally, I’d be fine with a 24-hour Bad Santa marathon, uncut.
Show multiple 2-hour movies, like normal. Christmas themed, of course.
Show a single movie repeatedly.
If you assume that most people are not going to watch more than one movie on Christmas, you want them to see your best movie. Option 2 is the best way to ensure that.
Nothing to add except to say they’ve been doing this since before my son was born. He’s eight now. And quite frankly I’ve gotten used to the idea that TBS will be doing their “Chritsmas Story” marathon.
Anastasaeon explaination is pretty much spot on for me.
The reason could be same way people will loop the same Christmas CD repeatedly just as holiday background. TBS doesn’t expect anyone to just sit down and watch it.
could also be that by putting the movie on continuous loop, he can get by with minimal staffing during that 24 hour period and not have to pay triple time to too many employees
but i agree with those who say a different movie wouldhave been a better choice. Hell, I’d even settled for the :eek: colorized “It’s A Wonderful Life” instead
I think the decision makes a lot of sense. Nobody watches a great deal of TV on Christmas; if they do, chances are they don’t have the time or opportunity to figure out when something’s on and make a hole in their schedule to watch it. So, knowing that, why not schedule something that most everybody likes (or at least doesn’t dislike), and put it on continuously so there’s no need at all to wonder if you’re missing it or to put off doing something else you need to do?
Every now and then, I’ll have a spare 10 or 20 minutes on Xmas Eve or Xmas Day, where I’m not wrapping gifts/cooking/cleaning/grooming/whatever. At such an interval, I might well tune into A Christmas Story. “OK, the Santa scene in the department store. Yeah, I’ll hang with this for a few minutes.”
Last year FX played a 24-hour marathon of Jingle All the Way. Personally, I prefer A Christmas Story. I always watch at least one of the airings and with it running all day I don’t have to make an appointment to see it, I can just tune in at the closest start time to when I feel like watching it. And because it’s so episodic you can start watching it in the middle and it’s still funny and makes sense. How many people watch a lot of TV on Christmas anyway? If they played a bunch of different movies/shows they’d have to pay more licensing fees and that might be money down the drain.
I love it that they do that, and will be upset when they stop. I just like knowing it’s on, even when I’m not watching it, because it’s just so crazy. Plus, I’ve spent a number of Christmas Eves falling asleep with the marathon on in the background, and waking up the next morning with some random part of the movie on again. It’s fun! And if you want to watch the movie sometime during the day, by golly you’ll have your chance!
Is the argument that it’s stupid to run the same thing for 24 hours in a row, or that it’s stupid to run A Christmas Story 24 hours in a row.
Actually, it’s a great idea to run the same thing for 24 hours in a row. Tell your advertisers
“Look, we know no one watches much TV on Christmas Eve. So we’re going to make you a deal. Buy our Christmas Eve package and you get one commercial every time we run the movie around the clock, for only X% more than if you bought one ad during prime time.”
And why A Christmas Story? Because it’s achived a comfort level where a viewer can turn it on for 10 minutes at a time, six times throughout the day, and keep continuity with it.
And with TiVo/DVR who the hell needs 24 hours of any movie?
Actually, that’s probably not that far off. They probably figured “lets send everyone home for X-Mas. What movie can we just run all day and thus require a minimal staff?”
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