Regarding my angst over missing the sole showing of Charlie Brown Christmas a few weeks ago, Learned Foot kicks this season of giving off in style:
Even though you missed A Charlie Brown Christmas, they have this wonderful new technology known as DVD. You can borrow my kids' copy if you like.
Giving away your kids possessions' without their consent probably violates the spirit of the Season to some degree, but it's the thought that counts and I'll take what I can get. One problem, I don't actually own a DVD player. You don't want to be an early adopter with every new-fangled technological whiz bang that comes down the chute. (Yes, I got burned by the beta version of the this a few years back.) So, before investing my hard earned dollars, I'm going to take a wait and see attitude on this whole "DVD" thing and make sure it's here to stay.
Strangely, although I don't own a DVD player, I do own 4 DVDs: King Kong (the most recent remake), Dumb & Dumber, The Clerks Cartoon compilation (personally autographed by Kevin Smith), and Presidential Bloopers (personally sat on by Gerald Ford). I have one hell of a movie marathon awaiting me once the technology is proven.
Would I add a viewing of a A Charlie Brown Christmas to this list? Not sure about that. I don't have a problem watching the classics over and over and over and over. When I was in Jr. High I taped an ABC Night at the Movies presentation of "Patton" on my parents Betamax and literally watched it every afternoon after school for three straight months. I didn't necessarily want to. In fact, near the end of this streak, it really started to seem like a bad idea. But each day before retiring to the den for a relaxing five hours of television, I asked myself "If Patton were being shown on regular TV right now - would I watch it?" The answer, in those primitive pre-cable days the answer was invariably "YES"!
But there is a problem with having access to Charlie Brown Christmas on such a convenient, casual basis. And not just the specter of me having to watch it every day for the next three months. Because it is not just a classic, it's a Christmas classic. And like the holiday itself, the anticipation and singularity of the day is what makes it work.
Kim from Hayward, CA writes in with a good description of what I mean:
Thanks so much for putting together the holiday specials post on Fraters Libertas!
My children will never know what it was like to watch the TV Guide in anticipation of Charlie Brown, Rudolf, and the Grinch. By the time they came along we had them all on VHS. But oh man, as a kid it was heaven to anticipate those shows, to sit down with hot chocolate and feast in the fact that the ONLY time we would ever see them for the year was that one night.
I only caught Charlie Brown by accident the other night and you would have thought I was nine-years-old again. I told my husband the only thing missing were the commercials for Dolly Madison cupcakes!I think I'm the only person on earth who cries at the end of Charlie Brown.
Kim has another recommendation for a show I did not put on my recommended list:
Did you ever see the Pee Wee Herman Christmas Special? Don't fall over - it is really funny. I know Paul Reubens is weird, but this really is a fun show. Pee Wee's Christmas list is so long that Santa has no toys for anyone else in the world so Pee Wee has to learn to be less selfish. And he keeps getting "fruitcake" from everyone as a gift. Everyone - even a tiny one from the dinosaurs in the wall. At the end of the special, he builds an addition to the playhouse with all the bricks for fruitcake! It is one of the wierdest things you will ever see, and obviously made before Paul Reubens became the poster boy for NOT going to adult theaters, but it has become one of my favorites. I'd like to know what you think of it, if you have ever seen it.
Anyway, as one who rarely watches TV anymore, I certainly appreciate the listing. And I will never, ever watch Christmas Story again without thinking of it as 24 hours of Hugh Hewitt! : D That's okay, I like Hugh. Somebody has to. Have a great Christmas!
Kim Hayward, California
Merry Christmas to you Kim. Given his sordid background, with the arrests, rumors, and allegations, I'm not sure I'd want to invite that particular performer into my house during the Christmas season.
Pee Wee Herman on the other hand sounds like he might have an entertaining program. I've never seen it. But it's got a tough time slot this year, 1 AM on December 25 on the Cartoon Network. Skipping Midnight Mass to watch it is not a likely prospect.
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