# Favorite Holiday TV Specials **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 2, 1999, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887 "1999-12-02T15:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/1 "1999-12-02T15:26:00Z")
Of course, virtually all of us love the classics, like Rudolph, the Grinch, and the Peanuts specials. Feel free to bring those up if you like, but what I’m really talking about are the “lost” specials–the ones you never see on TV anymore. For example, one of my all time faves is “The Year Without a Santa Claus”, featuring the unforgettable characters, Snow-Miser and Heat-Miser (“I’m Mr. Green Christmas, I’m Mr. Sun!..”). Santa decides to skip out on Christmas, and a couple of elves go out looking for him. Don’t limit it to Christmas either, I can think of a lot of old holiday specials that don’t get shown anymore (Whatever happened to, “It’s the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown!”? I haven’t seen that on network TV in years.) Which ones do ya’ll remember? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/2 "1999-12-02T16:09:00Z")
Boris Karloff and Dr. Seuss. Who can beat that tandem? “The Grinch Who Stole Christmas” hands down. By the by, Jim Carey is doing a “live” version for next Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/3 "1999-12-03T06:04:00Z")
For me, no question, can’t miss special every year is Charlie Brown. My brother, however, spends much of December singing “I’m Mr. Heat Miser…” Fred Astair is the narrator for the Year Without a Santa Clause is he not? The Christmas specials I haven’t seen in years, but liked when I was a kid are The Little Drummer Boy, The Littlest Angel (a real tearjerker as I recall), and Ahmal and the Night Visitors. Do they still run Frosty the Snowman? * * * The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits. –Einstein ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/4 "1999-12-03T06:06:00Z")
My wife told me that was on tonight (or possibly next Thursday). She said she saw ads for it during the Rudolph show last night. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/5 "1999-12-03T06:07:00Z")
Should have been more specific; I was talking about the “Heat miser” Christmas special. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/6 "1999-12-03T06:11:00Z")
And I should have answered the OP… “Rudolph’s Shiny New Year” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/7 "1999-12-03T06:20:00Z")
There was an excellent one last year.I only caught the end of it. It was something like The Snowman versus…? and it was computer animated. Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/8 "1999-12-02T21:13:00Z")
_A Claymation Christmas_. I loved that show, but it only survived a few seasons. What happened? Am I the only one with a warped sense of humor? * * * The overwhelming majority of people have more than the average (mean) number of legs. – E. Grebenik ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/9 "1999-12-02T23:01:00Z")
Hey Doctor Jackson, no you’re not the only one. I enjoyed that one myself. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/10 "1999-12-02T23:03:00Z")
I’m with ya on the “Miser” brothers. I also remember a Xmas program from years ago that’s no longer shown. It was called “J.T.,” about a black kid in some projects who wants to keep a cat that he has found. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/11 "1999-12-02T23:10:00Z")
Hands down, _The Year Without a Santa Claus_ is one of the best, most underrated Christmas shows out there. I went for over 10 years without watching it, and every Christmas, I would look for it on TV, and never saw it. I kept asking people about it: “Hey, why dodn’t they show that one anymore, you know, the Heat Miser one?” People thought I was nuts. None of my friends remembered it. Then I saw it, I think two years ago, on the Fox Family channel. I was yelling at my husband and pointing at the TV, shouting with glee “This is it! This is the one! Look! ‘He’s Mr. Heat Miser…’” Okay, so I like Christmas TV a little too much. 🙂 The Rankin/Bass stuff rocks, though! All time greatest Christmas special ever, though, is (in my perfectly correct opinion) _How the Grinch Stole Christmas._ I will brook no argument on this one. The sky is blue, grass is green, and _HTGSC_ is the best. I particularly enjoy the TNT version, with Phil Hartman as host. ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/12 "1999-12-02T23:51:00Z")
Ironically enough, as ZenBeam mentioned, just after I posted this I saw an ad for “The Year Without a Santa Claus” after all these years :D. I thought it said tomorrow (Friday) night, one of the two nights, anyway, on CBS. Yankee Blue, Yeah, I remember The Little Drummer Boy, that’s another one I haven’t seen in a long time! I think they do still show Frosty every year. I love all the Rankin/Bass puppet ones I can remember, there’s a few Easter ones they used to show that I haven’t seen on TV in a long time, like “Easter Bunny is Comin’ to Town!” (with Gadzooks the Bear) and another of my favorites “Here Comes Peter Cottontail”, where our hero is in some kind of easter egg contest (don’t remember the details) with an evil mechanical bunny. Mr. Cottontail loses his eggs (or something like that) and has to get on a time machine, going through the different holidays, to retrieve them. Remember those? ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/13 "1999-12-03T00:01:00Z")
I just switched on the Fox Family channel, and there’s one on now that I’ve never seen–_The Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold._ It’s a Rankin/Bass show, so I’m watching it. And _The Year Without a Santa Claus_ is on tonight! Yippee! ---
**Author:** ![lovelee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@lovelee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lovelee)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/14 "1999-12-03T00:32:00Z")
“A Wish for Wings that Work” - starring Opus and Bill the Cat. Do they still show it? I don’t get cable any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/15 "1999-12-03T03:27:00Z")
I was wrong–it wasn’t TYWASC that was on tonight. It was _Santa Claus is Coming to Town,_ another perennial favorite. _Jack Frost_ was on right after. that one is kinda neat, too. The voice of the Cossack King in _Jack Frost_ is the same as the Burgermeister Meisterburger from SCICTT (I get tired of typing & italicizing everything). Is Maury Laws the guy that did those voices? And is there a name for that particular type of puppet animation that Rankin/Bass did? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/16 "1999-12-03T05:35:00Z")
First of all the Grinch didn’t steal Christmas. Ted Turner did. Give us the Grinch back to Free TV. Peanuts have the best special. No one tells the true meaning of Christmas quite like Linus. The Year Without a Santa Claus is the most underrated. The best Chicago Christmas Special is a short called HardRock Cocoa and Joe. Next to that is Suzy Snowflake. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/17 "1999-12-03T12:58:00Z")
It’s a tie between “Rudolph” and “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Rudolph, with that pinched nose voice, still makes me cry. And the scene where Schroder is playing the piano and the characters are dancing around is a hoot. I could watch Snoopy dance all night! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/18 "1999-12-03T13:31:00Z")
Cristi wrote [/QUOTE] I was wrong–it wasn’t TYWASC that was on tonight. It was Santa Claus is Coming to Town, another perennial favorite. [/QUOTE] ## This is weird. I watched YWASC last (Thursday) night. On Channel 62, Detroit (CBS). Was SCiCtT on some other channel, or are different CBS statins showing them in different order. What channel did you see SCiCtT on, Cristi? _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/19 "1999-12-03T13:32:00Z")
And I gotta figure out why those QUOTES don’t work right sometimes! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 1999, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887/20 "1999-12-03T13:33:00Z")
Oh, and as to the OP (finally) I like the Grinch the best. One of the worst has to be the Frosty the Snowman SEQUEL. Yuck. * * * _It is too clear, and so it is hard to see._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-holiday-tv-specials/11887.md?page=2)