# Holiday specials **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195 "2009-10-18T02:43:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/1 "2009-10-18T02:43:49Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=536245), and this quote: > [@It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-the-great-pumpkin-charlie-brown/514090/9): > > Also, I like the fact that: > > 1. The kids trick-or-treat after dark, without parental supervision… unlike now, where it’s a timed activity during dusk, and all parents are within arms length of their eggshell children with massive flashlights “just in case” it gets dark. > 2. The kids actually have costumes on; > 3. At the halloween party, they actually bob for apples (does anyone do this anymore?) > 4. Linus and Sally can sit in a pumpkin patch all night by themselves without worrying that they will get kidnapped and/or molested, and their parents don’t get reported to CPS. Yep. When I was a kid I trick-or-treated after dark. Trick-or-treat while it’s still light? Perish the thought! And walking 1.2 miles to school in my costume for the (after dark, of course) Halloween carnival. _It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown_ was, for me, the kick-off to the Holiday Season. Thanksgiving. I was getting a little old for holiday specials when _A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving_ came out. I do remember, very vaguely, _The Mouse On The Mayflower_. Seems to me that _Winnie The Pooh And The Blustery Day_ was shown around that time. Christmas. That was the Holiday Special Bonanza. _How The Grinch Stole Christmas_, _A Charlie Brown Christmas_, _Frosty the Snowman_, _The Little Drummer Boy_, _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_, _The Year Without Santa Claus_, _Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town_… And they all seemed to be sponsored by Burlington. I still remember the animated ‘weaving’ (blue and red on a white background, IIRC) and the percussion-heavy music that went with it. I couldn’t really relate to those, as San Diego isn’t known for its snow. But I watched them every year. Even _The Little Drummer Boy_, whose bizarre lower lip I always found disturbing. The Holidays have little meaning for me now. But I’ll probably watch these fondly-remembered touchstones if I know when they’re on. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2009, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/2 "2009-10-18T12:00:46Z")
I am a huge fan and both watch them when they are on and post here to let others know (I’ve caught crap about that few times, but I’m still going to do it. ) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/3 "2009-10-19T04:10:36Z")
We used to trick-or-treat two nights, the 30th and the 31st. And of course, after dark, with costumes and no parents. We lived in a new suburb with a lot of parallel streets, and we went up and down all the streets, to every single house, both nights. Wound up with four huge shopping bags full of candy every year. This was before all the holiday specials. All I remember was _Amahl and the Night Visitors._ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/4 "2009-10-19T04:37:52Z")
I take perverse enjoyment of the _[Star Wars Holiday Special](http://www.starwarsholidayspecial.com/)_, but mostly because it is one of the few things that clearly causes great pain to George Lucas. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/5 "2009-10-19T04:42:04Z")
I couldn’t stomach it. But if it causes George Lucas pain, I might give it another try. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/6 "2009-10-19T13:03:57Z")
Tell me that [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPhhu7e0bE) didn’t get you pretty excited when you were a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/7 "2009-10-19T14:34:20Z")
Don’t let 'em give you any crap, Khadaji. I for one appreciate the heads-ups. And it isn’t really the holidays until I’ve seen the [Norelco Santa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrronrsG018) gliding over the snow! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/8 "2009-10-19T14:40:08Z")
> [@interface2x](#): > > Tell me that [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLPhhu7e0bE) didn’t get you pretty excited when you were a kid. Can you find the Burlington spot? 🙂 > [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > And it isn’t really the holidays until I’ve seen the [Norelco Santa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrronrsG018) gliding over the snow! Thanks for that. I always conflate that commercial with the Bank Americard one, which I think aired around the same time. I don’t remember the words (same music), but it went something like this: _Shirtss and socks Toys and blocks Bank Americard!_ (The first two lines I made up, but ISTR a mention of socks.) ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/9 "2009-10-19T14:50:57Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Don’t let 'em give you any crap, Khadaji. I for one appreciate the heads-ups. > > And it isn’t really the holidays until I’ve seen the [Norelco Santa](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrronrsG018) gliding over the snow! 🙂 yes, that was always one of the markers that Christmas was near! ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/10 "2009-10-19T15:10:33Z")
Remember that scary-ass Garfield Halloween special? Gave me the creeps as a young one, it did. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/11 "2009-10-19T15:21:59Z")
I loved those holiday specials as a kid. In addition to the Norelco Santa, the Peanuts gang was always selling the Dolly Madison treats. “Zap my Zinger and I’ll punch your lights out!” It seemed to me about a decade or so ago, the networks quit showing the specials, but as of the last few years they’re showing them again. New ones are being made as well, there was the Shrek special last year and last night I just saw an ad for Aliens Vs. Monsters Halloween special. Heck yeah, I’m going to see that one. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holiday-specials/514195/12 "2009-10-19T15:23:43Z")
When shows hit syndication in the US do they play the specials in the correct place in the season or hold them until the “correct” time of year? I ask as in the UK and Sweden (the two countries I have lived in) you get quite used to the lieks of a Halloween special screening in April.