The gift of holiday television
Some people look forward to all of the college football bowl
games on and around New Year’s Day and some people can’t wait for
the return of
”
American Idol
”
in January; but for me, the weeks leading up to Christmas is the
most wonderful time of the year.
As much as I like modern comedies like
”
The Office
”
and
”
30 Rock,
”
the nostalgia of the holiday TV classics are what really make
the season special
– well, and all that family get-together stuff, too.
The gift of holiday television
Some people look forward to all of the college football bowl games on and around New Year’s Day and some people can’t wait for the return of “American Idol” in January; but for me, the weeks leading up to Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.
As much as I like modern comedies like “The Office” and “30 Rock,” the nostalgia of the holiday TV classics are what really make the season special – well, and all that family get-together stuff, too.
After a stressful gift shopping trip to Target with my sons, where we stare at each other and wonder why women’s clothes are sized by incomprehensible numbers and men’s clothes are a simple small, large or extra-large, we return to the solitude of home, where holiday classics await on the DVR.
The holiday season doesn’t start until we watch Linus camping out all night in a pumpkin patch waiting for The Great Pumpkin to arrive. It’s good, clean fun with a message – that there apparently are no parents in Charlie Brown’s world and poor Chuck puts up with a lot of teasing from his so-called friends.
The stop-motion shows of the late 60s and early 70s, like “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer,” are timeless staples that get me in the holiday spirit. As a child, it was must-see TV, particularly because there was no cable or satellite or DVRs or even VCRs back then. You either saw the show on the day it was broadcast or you waited until next year.
I’ve watched the Rudolph show close to 40 times now, and even though I know exactly what’s going to happen and I’ve memorized most of the words through osmosis, I still look forward to Yukon Cornelius battling the Abominable Snowman and turning him to the good side – after Hermie the wanna-be dentist/elf removes the creature’s teeth. I even like when Mrs. Claus tells Santa to “Eat papa, eat” because he’s gotten too skinny.
The reason I like these shows, a psychologist would probably tell me, is that they remind me of my childhood – a simpler time before mortgages and jobs and deadlines. But these are happy times as well. Having a mortgage means I have a house. Having a job means I’m doing something I love.
Having deadlines means I get to be a writer.
We all become nostalgic as we get older. That nostalgia becomes even richer and sweeter when we can share some of our childhood joy with our children.
Though my teenagers probably won’t admit it to their friends, they look forward to our family’s holiday TV traditions. They’ll watch “Frosty the Snowman,” “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas” and “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” with Mom and Dad, which Mom and Dad appreciate.
They also stridently avoid the knock-offs that Dad hum-bugs, like “Rudolph & Frosty’s Christmas in July,” in which the red-nosed reindeer and his snowy friend “are called in to rescue a struggling circus at a special July 4th benefit.”
Are you kidding?
And there’s no chance we’re watching “Holiday in Handcuffs,” starring Mario Lopez of “Saved by the Bell” fame.
“It’s a Wonderful Life,” the 1946 classic starring Jimmy Stewart, is still my favorite. The final scene, when the whole town rallies around George Bailey when he’s in trouble as George embraces his family, still gets me choked up. When he realizes that he wants to live and he exclaims “I don’t care what happens to me! Get me back to my wife and kids!” it gets me.
Later, George reads the inscription in a book from Clarence the guardian angel: “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.” That’s good stuff. Way more impactful than Mario Lopez being kidnapped by Melissa Joan Hart because she needs to have a date when she goes home for Christmas.
On Christmas morning, after all the TV watching leading up to Christmas, the TV will play a loop of the televised yule log – yes, we recorded that on our DVR. We won’t be sitting in front of the tube, though, because there are gifts to open, food to eat and memories to be shared.
This morning, with my wife and kids and parents and grandparents and sister and niece and brother-in-law all gathered around the tree, listening to the Christmas music coming from the television, I – not George Bailey – am the richest man in town.
Merry Christmas!
Adam Breen writes a blog at http://thebreenblog.blogspot.com. He teaches newspaper and yearbook classes at San Benito High School and is a reporter for The Pinnacle. He is former editor of the Free Lance.
