Come Dec. 1, the holiday season is in full swing. Itโs time to put up your trees, break out the dreidels and basically sit and stew until you have the time to relax with family and friends while visions of sugarplums dance in your heads.
What exactly is a sugarplum and why is it Christmas-related? I have no idea. But one thing I do know is that with the holiday season comes holiday themed television and movies.
Most people donโt realize is that youโre not limited to Frosty the Snowman and Itโs a Wonderful Life for your viewing pleasure. While both are (and should be) staples of the December break, there are plenty of alternate options that you can use to reach your โcheer quotaโ for the month.
A Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation and Miracle on 34th Street will be on every television channel this month, but there are a number of other films that donโt necessarily spring to mind that you should also give a shot.
On the romantic-comedy front, Serendipity is a staple for me. In spite of itโs cheesiness and predictability, you have to love itโs snow-filled, New York centric romance.
Then of course you have Love Actually, one of the greatest rom-coms ever made and conveniently centred around Christmas. While You Were Sleeping also really works as a wonderful end before the New Year.
We canโt forget the much less-cheery movies as well. Bill Murrayโs Scrooged is a hilariously dark take on the standard Christmas Carol story. Then of course you have Die Hard, which, contrary to popular belief, is a holiday movie.
But for as many films as we can name, there are twice as many holiday-centric TV specials you should make some time for.
I would be remised if I didnโt start by recommending all the claymation goodness youโll need over the break with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
What December would be complete without indulging in Hermey the dentist-elf and one of the greatest named characters of all time: Yukon Cornelius? Then of course you have a few other standards like A Charlie Brown Christmas, the original animated How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Disneyโs take on Dickensโs tale, Mickeyโs Christmas Carol.
But, there are a ton of individual episodes from some of your favourite shows that you should take the time to seek out this year too. 30 Rock has consistently taken part in holiday-themed shows, but the standout would be season twoโs โLudachristmas.โ Then, there would be the very bold, but nonetheless stellar claymation effort from Community, โAbedโs Uncontrollable Christmas.โ Seeing Seรฑor Chang as a snowman should be all the convincing you need to find this one.
Friends really prided itself on its Thanksgiving-themed episodes, but did produce one wholly memorable Christmas/Hanukkah story with โThe One With the Holiday Armadillo.โ And then of course there is Frank Costanzaโs โFestivus for the rest-of-usโ from Seinfeldโs โThe Strike.โ
A staple from my childhood that is a little harder to find, but still worth the holiday cheer, would be Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. Big Bird learned about Santa, Ernie and Bert sold their own things to buy the perfect gift for the other โ itโs some heartwarming television.
Also, shockingly heartwarming is the series finale of Ricky Gervaisโs Extras. The hour-and-a-half-long special episode, from a show that brought to the surface the brutal awkward humour of โcelebrity,โ really wrapped up the series on a lovingly, fuzzy note that revolved around Christmas.
There are still an abundance of other episodes that can be mentioned, but the column space doesnโt allow for any more details. Just off the cuff, other specials you might want to make some time for are: โWakkoโs Wishโ from Animaniacs, โThe Christmas Showโ from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, โMr. Hankey, the Christmas Pooโ from South Park, โChristmukkahโ from The OC and, if youโre super desperate for holiday fare, YouTube the Star Wars Christmas Special. You might regret the latter one, but at least itโs hilariously awful.
So once youโre finally finished exams and have the opportunity to grab a nice gingerbread lattรฉ, you now have some holiday fodder to fill your TV down time with. And letโs face it; thereโs really nothing better
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