# What was that TV special? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 14, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985 "2012-12-14T01:36:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/1 "2012-12-14T01:36:37Z")
Not much to go on, but you’ve come through for me before with much less: It was a single episode TV special. CBC, I believe, but it might have been CTV. It ran every Christmas (or was it Thanksgiving?). It was a puppet-based movie - kind of like Fraggle Rock, but I’m pretty sure had nothing to do with the Muppets. The story was about a poor family of (rat? mouse?) that didn’t have enough money for the Christmas (Thanksgiving?) turkey. So they wanted to enter a talent contest. The dilemma is their act required a bass. They didn’t have one. They’d have to poke a hole in the family wash tub to fashion a wash tub bass. This would wreck some catastrophe on the family (mom didn’t approve?). Young rat did it anyways. To make matters worse, the song they were going to perform (I think the title was “Barbecue”??) was performed by an act that took the stage earlier. This was a bummer. In the end, all worked out (or at least it must’ve, being CBC and all). This has been bugging me for years. This yuletide I want to [del]torture[/del] entertain my kids with this unforgettable classic. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/2 "2012-12-14T01:38:29Z")
> [@Nature\_s\_Call](#): > > This has been bugging me for years. This yuletide I want to [del]torture[/del] entertain my kids with this unforgettable classic. Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas? ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/3 "2012-12-14T01:39:47Z")
How the hell did you do that? Two-minutes flat! Thank you! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/4 "2012-12-14T01:57:27Z")
Shucks, just knowing those kids will be [del]tortured[/del] entertained is thanks enough. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/5 "2012-12-14T02:13:09Z")
It was, incidentally, a Jim Henson production, though it didn’t have the regular Muppets cast. ---
**Author:** ![BuzzSaw101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a3d4f5/32.png) [@BuzzSaw101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuzzSaw101)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/6 "2012-12-14T02:24:03Z")
I wanted the Riverbottom Nightmare Band to play at my wedding, but they would have raised too much hell 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-that-tv-special/643985/7 "2012-12-14T05:38:45Z")
If you have Netflix, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas is an instant viewing title.