Once upon a time, TV Christmas specials were all about Hope
(that'd be Bob) and were headlined by classic Christmas crooners like Perry
Como, Andy Williams and Bing Crosby. Back in the heyday of holiday-themed
variety shows, comedian Bob Hope was known for bringing holiday cheer to U.S
troops, while Perry Como traveled the world to tape his annual Christmas
special. (Christmas in the Holy Land? Check!)
Throughout the 1960s and '70s, Mr. Christmas himself, Andy
Williams, hosted his happy holiday specials, while Judy Garland's 1963
Christmas classic featured her famous duet of "The Christmas Song"
with Mel Tormé. ("Reindeer" became "rainbows" in the
"Wizard of Oz" star's version of the song.)
See a clip from Andy Williams' 1965 Christmas special:
Speaking of duets, who can forget Bing Crosby's final Christmas
celebration in 1977, which featured his iconic duet of "The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth" with rocker
David Bowie?
Fast forward 40 years and everyone from Michael Bublé to Kelly
Clarkson have Christmas-themed variety specials on tap. But can they capture
the magic of Christmases past?
In 2012, Blake Shelton's "Not So Family Christmas" was
downright dark -- and we're not talking in an Ebenezer Scrooge kind of way. A
spoof of the Claymation-style of classic Christmas specials (think Rankin/Bass'
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Santa Claus Is Comin' to
Town") had Shelton and guest star Larry the Cable Guy on a hunting trip in
the North Pole that culminated with the killing of beloved Christmas characters
Rudolph and his pal Hermey the Elf.
See a clip from Shelton's "Not So Family Christmas":
Another sketch had
Shelton scaring the Christmas out of kids with a reading of "'Twas the
Night Before Christmas." In his version of the tale, "Mama and Papa
have been partying for three days straight," and the oldest Sugarplum kid
is taking care of the fam because she's afraid Child Protective Services will
take them away.
In an interview last year, Kelly Clarkson, who was a guest star on the edgy
special, said she enjoyed the R-rated humor: "This is gonna be totally
'Family Guy,' like, 'South Park' fun, like 'SNL' and I can't wait for people to
see it," she said. "I love that I'm a part of it because I loved this
kind of humor … it's funny to me."
OK, we'll take crude Christmas humor, but do we really need a
Kardashian Christmas? E! thinks so. The recent "Keeping Up With the
Kardashian" Christmas special featured old home videos of the reality TV
family as well as the unveiling of their bizarre annual Christmas card. (The
pic features all of the female family members but no Lamar, Scott, or Kanye.
And even more puzzling, family patriarch Bruce Jenner is encased in glass.)
To add to the family festivities, Bruce and Kris Jenner had a
fireside chat about how their split won't affect their family Christmases
(heartwarming, eh?), while Kourtney Kardashian got into a tiff with
photographer David LaChapelle over having her kids in the family photo. (Talk
about a Grinch -- LaChapelle said his set wasn't kiddie proof.)
If Christmas with the Kardashians isn't "konfusing"
enough for you, there's always Robot Chicken's "Born Again Virgin
Christmas Special" and the "NTSF:SD:SUV::" offering, titled
"Wreck the Malls" (Adult Swim, Dec. 16). Of course, viewing these
specials may land you on Santa's naughty list. The press release for
"Wreck the Malls" describes "murderous Santas, the gift of
corpses, and verbal slights to all other religions," while Robot Chicken
vows to "take down Christmas once again."
Future Christmas classics or a round of coal for these shows'
creators? Santa's checking his list now.
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