Favorite Christmas Episodes (1 Viewer)

[younger1968]

I watched the christmas special from S1, episode 13 from All in the Family the other night on dvd. Archie's comment was funny when he said "who the heck has heard of London, Ontario?" I am from London, Ontario as such that line by Archie on London always makes me laugh!

 

[Professor Echo]

Time for my annual reminder for Gary to remember the Goncours!

 

[Gary OS]

Time for my annual reminder for Gary to remember the Goncours!

Yep, I'll pull that one out for viewing soon.


Gary "that episode definitely fit my personal situation the first year I watched it" O.

 

[Mark Collins]

I forgot the one very Dickens like Christmas episode from season 3 Downton Abbey.

 

[Jack P]

Added these to the "watched" list for 2014!

-The Love Boat S1
-Bonanza S3 (first time I'd ever seen it)
-The Big Valley S1
-The Odd Couple S1
-The Doris Day Show S4 (I'd had this but never realized there was a Christmas show though its a pretty lame one, giving us an example of a dated style of a 1960s sitcom in 1971)

In the specials category

-Rich Little Christmas Carol (1978)
-Christmas In Washington (1983)

 

[LeoA]

I also don't care for that episode of The Doris Day Show.

But it does have a good Christmas episode with 'A Two Family Christmas' from season 2. Then there's 'It's Christmas Time in the City' from season 3. That one isn't a favorite, but Doris Day singing Silver Bells at the end is nice.

 

[HugeBensonFan]

My all time favorite Christmas episode is from season four of Benson. It's titled, 'Mary and her Lambs.' One of the best versions of O' Holy Night sung by Robert Guillaume, gets me every time. The episode is very good, has caroling and at the end has a holiday greeting from the cast members out of character. Always gets me in the spirit and reminds me of when I was young lol.

 

[Carabimero]

I keep telling myself that the lone Christmas episode from season 1 of The Andy Griffith Show doesn't justify buying the Blu-ray set. So far I am holding out and remain satisfied with my DVDs.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I just saw Magnum PUI season 4 "Operation:Silent Night" It was a pretty good episode

 

[Gary OS]

Watched the Christmas ep from Julia. It was pretty good. Then watched one of my family's required yearly viewing - the 1st season MTM Christmas episode. I always enjoy it.


Gary "hard to believe Christmas is only 2 weeks away already" O.

 

[bryan4999]

I was at a friend's house last night and we watched two Christmas episodes from "Grace Under Fire" that he recorded on VHS back in the day. I enjoyed them both very much. In the first one, Grace's mother-in-law gives Grace's very young son a full size bow and arrow, and gives her daughter a black "mammy" doll. The expression of horror on Grace's face is priceless. In the second one we watched, Grace's father-in-law dies suddenly, and the family finds out about a secret he had been keeping. That one gave me a lump in my throat. I know "Grace Under Fire" had been announced for a DVD release at one time, but it never happened, or maybe it did come out but was pulled very quickly.

 

[Jack P]

Latest one watched. "The Six Million Dollar Man" S4 which has become one of my favorite ones because its "Christmas Carol" retelling works for the series and manages to come off as fresh. It also retains the right level of the old-school "true meaning of Christmas" undercurrent to elevate it above how we'd see the subject done in the years to pass, which to me proves how most of 70s TV still has a sufficient amount of carryover from the good old days that's less apparent once you get into the 80s and beyond.

 

[Gary OS]

For me the 70's TV Christmas episodes can be feast or famine. Some good and some really bad, so I don't think that decade has the roll-over feeling that 50's and 60's TV had when it came to Yultide offerings. But I agree that the Six Million Dollar Man episode was done well enough to harken back to the previous decades in terms of spirit and presentation.


Gary "glad folks are enjoying some Holiday cheer this season via good TV episodes" O.

 

[Jack P]

True, there are some bad 70s ones. While there are a lot of episode of AITF I can laugh uproariously at, all of the Christmas episodes they did rank as the worst ones to me personally of the entire series.

Spacing a lot of these episodes out over the last ten days and leaving room for other stuff as we get closer to Christmas is going to let me take a breather today from Christmas episodes because the sad passing of Mary Ann Mobley has put me in the mood to do a marathon of guest shots of hers (Mission: Impossible, Man From UNCLE etc.).

 

[Mark Collins]

Christmas cannot be only two weeks away. I guess I better spend more time watching. I have the Flintstones the Family 1976 and movies and more shows Bewitched this year since I bought the show which I have watched one already.

Gosh time is flying.

Hey I like many of the shows mentioned but do not have time to indicate It. Sorry members.

 

[Jack P]

After my two day tribute to Mary Ann Mobley I resumed the Christmas episodes and programs this evening.

Adam 12-S1
Adam 12-S7
SWAT-S2 (this was one I was unaware of before. Nothing special just a formula episode that happens to take place at Christmas)
Medic-S1 (on the heels of the "Batman" DVD release its worth looking at this to see a different kind of performance from Stafford Repp)

And finally the 1994 PBS special "Bah Humbug!" about "Christmas Carol" featuring a dramatic reading by Martin Sheen and James Earl Jones.

 

[Jack P]

A treasured rare item of mine is an old off-air recording of the obscure 1980 TV-movie "A Christmas Without Snow" with Michael Learned and John Houseman. The story of a San Francisco church choir and its members in the weeks leading to Christmas and a performance of Handel's "Messiah" manages to be positive without being foolishly sentimental. Houseman basically plays another variant of his Professor Kingsfield character as the choir director, but I have seen many choir directors just like him, so there was a part of it that hit home!

The film has disappeared over the last couple decades like many TV-movies of this era. I'm glad I got it in a 1985 airing in the early VCR days for me.

 

[Regulus]

A treasured rare item of mine is an old off-air recording of the obscure 1980 TV-movie "A Christmas Without Snow" with Michael Learned and John Houseman. The story of a San Francisco church choir and its members in the weeks leading to Christmas and a performance of Handel's "Messiah" manages to be positive without being foolishly sentimental. Houseman basically plays another variant of his Professor Kingsfield character as the choir director, but I have seen many choir directors just like him, so there was a part of it that hit home!

The film has disappeared over the last couple decades like many TV-movies of this era. I'm glad I got it in a 1985 airing in the early VCR days for me.

The Big River (http://amazon.com) has this movie for less than four bux!

 

[Jack P]

Watched yesterday and today:

Perry Como Christmas Specials, 1984 and 1986. The latter was his last ever network TV special.
Christmas In Connecticut (1945) (along with the "Star In The Night" short film)
Miracle On 34th Street (1947)

Two cartoon versions of "Christmas Carol." First the 1983 Disney short "Mickey's Christmas Carol" on the Walt Disney Treasures set, and then the 1971 Chuck Jones produced, Richard Williams directed Oscar winner with Alastair Sim doing the voice of Scrooge. It's short but has some eerily effective animation and only-time ever visual depictions of some parts of the Dickens story.

Taxi-S1
Gunsmoke-S1

Probably going to do all three Loretta Young ones next. I bypassed the first one last year as I recall.

 

[davidmatychuk]

"Star In The Night" is fantastic.