Canadians, and most Americans near the Great White Border, can watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on CBC next monday, the 23rd.
The times vary by city. Unfortunately, I live near Windsor, which is apparently the only city in Canada which won’t play it. 
This is an encore showing, and the first one was last night.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on tonight, at 7:00 for me. YMMV.
Why do misfit toys need a fire? On Christmas Eve? They have a fire that night every year to show themselves that they are not yet so full of dispair that they are compelled to jump into it. It’s a celebration of sorts.
Now, every time I see that doll, I’ll think “Maryanne”!
Are you saying it’s like racking up debt going to grad school in hopes of eventually getting tenure? Damn, that’s dark.
Doubt it, since they went to the trouble to air it again last Saturday (the 14th) along with Frosty and some stupid 90’s Frosty “sequel” about a bunch of anti-snow bigots.
If they have to pair something with Frosty, why not the real sequel where Mrs. Frosty gets made? Without seeing that it makes no sense when Frosty shows up with a wife and kids in Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July.
Also, count me among those who whenever Clarice shows up can’t help but say “Hello, Clarice…” Used to really annoy my sister (which only made me do it more) even though she liked all that Hannibal stuff way more than I do.
My replacement question is why wasn’t this information available when I specifically went looking for it back in early December.
I dunno, it’s usually pretty hard to find out good TV scheduling info much more than a week, maybe two, in advance.
I think it’s more tied in to “Rudolph is the launch of the Christmas season” combined with Thanksgiving coming the very latest it could come, shortening the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Maybe they reran it because so many people missed it, what with it airing before Thanksgiving.
Despair, or disrepair?
I just watched the DVD for the first time this year. The eight pieces of pottery first appear in the original elf workshop scene. The room also has a box of what looks to be boards used for raw material and some tools hanging on the wall. Additionally, there is a three drawer stand, a trunk, and something that I’m guessing is a waste paper basket. The elf workroom has various papers carelessly tacked or taped on the wall (presumably work schedules, instructions, or other job-related paraphernalia) but not much in the way of decoration.
Santa’s castle as a whole is lacking in ornamental embellishment. The throne room where the elf song is performed (which is the very same room where everyone gathers around the tree and loads the sleigh at the end of the program) has a large fireplace but nothing in the way of decoration other then some rather drab designs on the door and a few flags near the ceiling. The ceiling flags indeed may only be part of the surprisingly sparse quantity of Santa’s Castle Christmas decorations, because I don’t think we see the flags at all in the scene where the elves perform their April song for Santa. I can’t tell if the alphabet wall that appears in the end scene is part of the throne room (the fourth wall) or if the action has somehow moved into another adjacent room. In any case, the alphabet wall must surely be a tutorial wall for young elves and not meant solely as room enhancement. For a large important castle this place is quite lacking in portraits, tapestry etc.
What I’m getting at by all this is that the pottery is unlikely to be decoration and is most probably utilitarian. Perhaps the various pottery contains nails, or pens or other supplies. On the other hand, the pottery fails to move at all between when we first see it in December and the next time we see it in April of the following year. That indicates decoration. But wait! In the final scene at the end of the show when the elves are busy with last minute Christmas preparation, it looks as though that vase-covered shelf is now empty. The pottery has vanished. So if it was decoration, where and why did the pottery disappear?
Maybe Mrs. Claus took your interior-design critique to heart and finally got around to redecorating.
I think that implies it’s supplies, that is used during some toy construction but not others. They probably plan so they’re doing tasks that go well together. Maybe the pots are filled with some noxious paint, so only use it on special days when everybody’s wearing a mask.
That still doesn’t explain why the containers sat untouched for at least the three and a half months (from the period just before Christmas the year prior to the big snowstorm all the way to Hermie’s departure the following April), but then these same containers appear to be gone (OK I admit you can’t see the entire shelf, but it is obvious from the partial shot that it is not completely filled with pottery) just prior to the big climatic present run.
One more time, for the record: it’s “Hermey.”
Fair enough. But for what it’s worth I’d recommend he change the spelling to “Hermie” before opening his dentist’s office. “Hermie” is, in my opinion, a much more professional spelling of that name. He might want to even go with “Herman.”
No one has a shop with supplies stored in vases!
Nah, they usually run it more than once, and it’s not like they would have had anything better scheduled on a saturday a week and a half before Christmas.
I guess they do things differently at the North Poe.
Also, one of the items of pottery is a pitcher. While perhaps they might have supplies in vases, I can’t think of anything we might consider as a “supply” that could safely be stored in an open pitcher. The elves don’t have any water glasses (the show predates water bottles) or such, so I don’t think the pitcher contains any kind of liquid refreshment for consumption by thirsty elves. Alcohol? Let’s not go there.
Another possibility is that the vases contain something that is part of elf culture that we, as mere humans, would not understand. The whole Rudolph special is very unclear about an elf’s lifestyle other than that he/she willingly submits to toil for Santa. Where do the elves even live? The castle itself looks big enough for housing the worker-elves, but if Santa’s lead reindeer Donder is forced to live in a doorless cave instead of a nice stable, then there is no real reason to believe the elves have it much better. Do the elves sleep? Do the elves eat? Could the pottery be some cryptic clue to that mysterious lifestyle?
Perhaps the pottery contains a magic pixie dust that enables the couple of dozen or so elves we see the ability to produce the massive quantity of toys required each year. Or maybe the elves actually live in the pottery like a genie in its bottle.
Like so much of this* Rudolph* special, there are more questions than answers.
We know from the special that elves are not bothered by snow and cold. So maybe they do live in caves.
But then, who makes their clothes?
And why do some elves affect glasses?
Perhaps the castle is dimensionaly transendent?
Where does Mrs. Claus get the food to “fatten up” Santa?
Maybe some nearby Eskimo villages are vassal-states of the People’s Republic of Santa, and offer food, clothing and prescription eyewear as tribute.
Just to update, since I know everyone reading this thread is wondering “What’s going to happen with ZenBeam? Did CBC Windsor let him down? Will he ever see Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer this year? Or ever again? How can I enjoy Christmas with all the suspense?”
Yes, CBC Windsor let me down, and showed some stupid magic program. But my wife had heard me complaining for the past few weeks, and I found it in my stocking this Christmas morning. It was a Christmas miracle.
So Merry Christmas, everyone! 