Holiday Specials on Television

Recently, muh honey and I sat down to watch the classic Christmas special -- Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

While, I can see why it has been such a beloved Christmas special over the years, I cannot understand why it really seems to be THE Christmas special over time. We learn an important lesson and the Misfit Toys are great but really now... wasn't the special where Rudolph chases Baby New Year much better?

Here are my three suggestions for three Christmas specials that far exceed the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer special... in reverse order.

3. A Charlie Brown Christmas -- I don't wanna say much about this special, but you all know this special and the image of Charlie Brown with the crappy Christmas tree still chokes me. Poor bastard.

2. Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas -- A Henson production is supposed to be top notch and entertain all the kiddies ... right? Well not with Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. This little special wasn't seen by many but thankfully I have it on DVD so I can watch it whenever I want to. It involves Emmet who lives alone with his mother and they are a poor pair of otters. The meaning of true sacrifice and love is shown in this special as they each sell something very important to themselves in order to afford a gift for the other. The rub is that they are selling items that the other one is buying something else to enhance. It is so sweet and there are two reasons that make it totally worth it. FUZZY OTTERS!!!! and FUZZY OTTERS PLAYING THE JUG PIPE AND WASH BOARDS!!! AWWWWWWWW!!!!

1. The Year Without a Santa Claus -- The animated magic of Rankin and Bass that brought you Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer has also brought you The Year Without a Santa Claus. This is the story of the year that Santa decided that he wanted to take a year off. Long story short, the possibly drug induced fantasy episode takes us into the realms of the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser -- Mother Nature's sons. They MAKE this special. My absolute favorite parts of the special are when they are "introduced" to Rudolph and his two dopey elf travel companions. They sing a fun song that can be heard at http://www.northpolesantaclaus.com/heat_miser.htm The song is one thing, but they also have little mini-versions of them dancing next to them. This is a MUST watch. Look for it in your local listings... or come over to muh house and we will watch the DVD.

You got any better ideas?