# Your Christmas Favorite **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 1999, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314 "1999-12-13T21:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drollman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f04885/32.png) [@drollman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drollman)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/1 "1999-12-13T21:00:00Z")
I was going to put this on the MPSIMS Board, but, since I need serious replies, it’s posted here. The TV station I work for is doing a poll for the 5 best and 5 worst Christmas movies ever. I invite the TM to partake: First here are a couple thought starters: A Christmas Story; A Christmas Carol (Pick a version from Alistar Sim to the Muppets); JIngle All The Way; Miracle on 34th Street; Scrooged; Christmas Vacation, White Christmas…(Need I go on?) Secondly: If there is a “Christmas episode” of a TV show you loved/hated, feel free to add it to your list. (Short critiques also welcome) Thirdly: Names of contributors will not be used in any way. And finally: If it’s past 5pm Eastern on Thursday, December 16th, don’t bother. The voting will be closed. The TM is just one slice of society partaking in the census. Thanking you in advance: The Drollman 😉 * * * With God as my witness, I thought turkey’s could fly. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/2 "1999-12-13T21:06:00Z")
lessee, in no particular order [ul][li]It’s a Wonderful Life[/li][li]A Christmas Story[/li][li]The Santa Clause[/li][li]How the Grinch Stole Christmas[/li]Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Timothy\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Timothy\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Timothy_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 1999, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/3 "1999-12-13T23:47:00Z")
As an atheist who hasn’t celebrated Christmas for 32 years, my favourite Christmas shows are: - The night-time test pattern - Snow on empty channels - The TV with the power off However, before you call me all kinds of names (“heartless”, “spoil-sport”, “Scrooge”, “doody-head” etc.), I should mention that I was brought up (here in Canada) to listen to the “Queen’s Message” every year, and even though I haven’t lived at home since 1974, I try not to miss it. It’s not that she has anything earth-shattering to say, but somehow I find her yearly message comforting. And no, I’m not a monarchist. I just admire her quiet dignity. * * * Are you educated, erudite and maybe a bit eccentric? Please help us test a [new web game](http://www.pyroto.com)! ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/4 "1999-12-14T00:09:00Z")
Most hated is “It’s a wonderful life”. I’ve seen 3 of 4 stations playing it at the same time. Second most hated “Yes Virgina, there is a Santa Claus”. Favorite “Muppets Christmas Carol” Second favorite “A Christmas Story”. Good: The Grinch That Stole Christmas All the annimated Christmas shows for the children to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Diamond](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@Diamond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diamond)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/5 "1999-12-14T00:10:00Z")
I particularly liked “WKRP in Cincinnatti”'s version of the Christmas Carol. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/6 "1999-12-14T01:17:00Z")
Five best: 1. Miracle on 34th Street (original) 2. A Christmas Story 3. A Christmas Carol (Alistar Sim) 4. “So-Called Angel” – Christmas episode of My So-Called Life 5. How the Grinch Stole Christmas Five Worst: 1. Miracle on 34th Street (David Hartman version) 2. Frosty the Snowman 3. White Christmas 4. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause 5. Any TV episode that’s a version of either A Christmas Carol or It’s a Wonderful Life (especially a comedy show). * * * “East is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does.” – Marx Read “Sundials” in the new issue of Aboriginal Science Fiction. [www.sff.net/people/rothman](http://www.sff.net/people/rothman) ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/7 "1999-12-14T02:24:00Z")
Good: -Miracle on 34th Street (original) -Santa Claus is Coming to Town -The Year Without a Santa Claus -first part of Santa Claus: the Movie -the parts of “A Christmas Story” that I have seen (I always end up missing the beginning or the end, or big chunks of the middle) -The Christmas episode of Family Ties is the only “A Christmas Carol” ripoff I can stand, so if they have to show one of those, use that one. -Also, the Touched By An Angel Christmas episode, but that’s entirely due to the guest star so it doesn’t really count… Bad: -It’s A Wonderful Life -last part of Santa Claus: the Movie -the new Frosty the Snowman with (I think) John Goodman as Frosty’s voice -Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July Very bad: -I second the Christmas Carol/Wonderful Life ripoff Christmas episodes of TV shows. -Also, any Christmas episode of a TV show in which an adult (generally cynical bah-humbug type) mysteriously gets the toy that he/she wanted so badly that he/she stopped believing in Santa Claus when it wasn’t received. ---
**Author:** ![VegForLife](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/9de0a6/32.png) [@VegForLife](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VegForLife)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/8 "1999-12-14T02:34:00Z")
I’d have to vote for “The Grinch” as the best. The worst hasn’t been mentioned yet. I can’t recall the exact title, but it came out in the '60s. It was something like, “Santa Claus Saves The Martians.” I think MST3000 did an episode on it. Rich ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/9 "1999-12-14T03:01:00Z")
“A Very Bundy Christmas” (Married With Children) and The Simpsons Christmas where they got their dog, Santa’s Litttle Helper are my two favorites. Also anything with the Muppets. I hate “Frosty the Snowman” and anything connected with it. I hate the remade version of “Christmas in Connecticut” with Dyan Cannon. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/10 "1999-12-14T03:27:00Z")
The Mr. Magoo version of “The Christmas Carol” (Tiny Tim chimes in with “with razzleberry dressing” every now and then). For those under 30, who have no clue what I’m talking about, Jim Backus (Thirstan Howell III on Gilligan’s Island) did the voice in a cartoon series called Mr. Magoo. The Mr. Magoo character then plays Ebeneezer in a particularly light-hearted not-too-scary for kids adaptation of this classic. Get thee to a video store, Amazon, or B&N, and see this! * * * Sue from El Paso Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/11 "1999-12-14T04:03:00Z")
No one’s going to vote for Santa Claus vs the Martians?? * * * I once lost my corkscrew and had to live on food and water for several days (W.C. Fields) ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/12 "1999-12-14T04:10:00Z")
Oops, sorry VegForLife, you got there first. I got it wrong too actual title **Santa Claus conquers the Martians** (1964) [http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058548](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0058548) starring Pia Zadora!! ---
**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 14, 1999, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/13 "1999-12-14T04:16:00Z")
I have one just as bad as Pia Zadora’s debut “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” “Santa Claus” 1959 I think it’s a Mexican film, and it shows an ongoing battle of wills (good will/ill will) between Santa Claus and the Devil. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/14 "1999-12-14T08:10:00Z")
The Best: 1. The Mother of all Christmas Specials: _Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown_. (NB: The title is a play on the original radio script of _It’s a Wonderful Life_ entitled, _Merry Christmas, George Bailey_. The South Park version is _Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson_.) 2. _The Nightmare Before Christmas_ (A Tim Burton movie.) 3. _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ 4. This year’s televised _Nutcracker Suite_ 5. _Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer_ As for the bad, well, anything which secularizes the religious aspect of the holiday, such as _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_ – which purports to explain the origin of Santa with no mention of Saint Nicholas!! And that’s all I could think of, so, I did a search of upcoming Christmas shows to jog my memory a bit further. I was surprised over how many I’ve never seen. I was even more surprised to see how awful they sounded. Here’s the worst of the bunch: From the files of ripping off Dickens, or, _It ain’t great literature unless it’s performed by Bamm-Bamm_: > [@](#): > > FOX Family Channel: An All Dogs Christmas Carol (1998) (90 min) G Animated. Divine intervention is needed when a bulldog with a bad attitude makes plans to ruin the Christmas holiday. > > WTBS (IND) Flintstones Christmas Carol: Fred assumes the character of Scrooge and Bamm-Bamm plays Tiny Tim in this animated retelling of the Charles Dickens story > > Cartoon Network Jetsons’ Christmas Carol: With Christmas on the way, Mr. Spacely forces George to work even harder. And ripping off Capra, or, _After seeing these, you’d wish you’d never been born_: > [@](#): > > Richie Rich’s Christmas Wish (1998) (120 min) NR At Christmastime, Richie is whisked away by a weird machine after he foolishly wishes he had never been born. > > Cartoon Network: It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas: A frustrated Buster Bunny is visited by an angel who shows him what Acme Acres would be like without him. Based on the Steven Spielberg cartoon. And let’s not forget to rip of _Groundhog Day_ > [@](#): > > FOX Family Channel: Christmas Every Day (1996) (120 min) A youngster learns the true meaning of Christmas when he is forced to relive the holiday over and over again. And what is Christmas without conspicuous consumption and excess? or, _Are you sure this is about the lowly birth of a child in swaddling clothes_ > [@](#): > > Television Food Network: Two Fat Ladies Christmas: Swedish red cabbage, Christmas pudding ice-cream bombe, roast goose with stuffing. > > Two Fat Ladies Carribean Christmas: A Christmas feast for a Jamaican polo team includes pumpkin soup, rice and peas, whole jerk pig and rum punch. > > Home & Garden TV: Christmas Castles: Celebrating the holidays at some of the United States’ finest mansions and estates. And then there’s the very special specials where our hero meets Santa, or, _It ain’t Christmas unless I save it!_ > [@](#): > > FOX Family Channel: Benji’s Very Own Christmas Story: Benji, Cindy and Patsy travel to Switzerland and meet the real Kriss Kringle. > > Cartoon Network: Christmas Comes to Pac-Land: Pac-Man and his family help Santa with his sleigh trouble on Christmas Eve. > > Cartoon Network: Christmas Flintstone Fred fills in for Santa Claus on the big night. _We’ve gotta have a Christmas show…_ > [@](#): > > _Even if we’re pathetic…_ > > WNBC 4 Jesse TV-PG “The Christmas Party” Jesse’s (Christina Applegate) tree-trimming party falls flat; Carrie (Jennifer Milmore) resents Dr. Danny’s (Kevin Rahm) remark about Jesse. > _Even if we’re usually and studiously non-religious…_ > > Brady Bunch “The Voice of Christmas” Carol loses her voice from too much choir practice and fears she may not be able to sing in the Christmas service. > > WNYW 5 (FOX) Monkees: “The Christmas Show” A cynical boy refuses to enjoy the Christmas season. > _Even if we’re a dead boy…_ > > Cartoon Network: Casper’s First Christmas: The friendly ghost and his cartoon friends celebrate the yuletide season. > _Even if we’re aliens with TV in our stomachs…_ > > WNJT 52 (PBS) Teletubbies TV-Y “Making Christmas Cards” Some children make Christmas cards; the Teletubbies tickle Noo-Noo’s throat after she accidently cleans up their presents. > _Even a magical teen-aged airhead can accidently undo 2000 years of history and the Act of God which saves humanity…_ > > WPVI 6 (ABC) Sabrina, the Teenage Witch TV-G “Christmas Amnesia” Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) accidentally erases Christmas from the world’s memory and has only 24 hours to restore it. > _Even if we ain’t got no talent…_ > > FOX Family Channel: Mary-Kate and Ashley’s Christmas Party: Mary-Kate and Ashley celebrate the Christmas season on the slopes of Vail,Colo. And the shows that seem to just complicate the myths, or, _Ummm… what’s your point?_ > [@](#): > > FOX Family Channel: The Christmas Path (1999) (120 min) Santa Claus sends the Christmas angel Balthazar to aid a desperate 12-year-old boy who has lost his faith. > > FOX Family Channel: Leprechaun’s Christmas Gold: Art Carney, portraying the oldest member of the Killakilarey leprechaun clan, tells a tale of a young cabin boy who discovers Christmas on an enchanted island. > > Disney: Bluetoes, the Christmas Elf TV-G One of Santa’s elves gets his toes frozen during an act of selflessness. Then there’s the Christmas special for the statement of the obvious, or, _A-duh_ > [@](#): > > Home & Garden TV: Natural Christmas: Using natural objects such as pine cones, driftwood and boughs as holiday decorations. But fear not, I bring you tidings of great joy: There may be a couple of specials worth watching: > [@](#): > > The History Channel Classroom TV-G Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas – The history of Christmas is told with rare film and home movies of celebrations from around the world and includes the evolution of Santa Claus. > > Discovery: Science of Christmas TV-G: Scientists answer long-standing questions about Christmas, including how Santa Claus delivers presents to 842 million homes in one night. All is calm. ---
**Author:** ![ATOM\_MAN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea666f/32.png) [@ATOM\_MAN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ATOM_MAN)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 1999, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-christmas-favorite/5314/15 "1999-12-14T13:22:00Z")
Does anyone remember that movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” It was the Worst…of all time The best I’d say would be “Merry Christmas Charlie Brown”