Screen | TV gets us in Christmas spirit
At what point does it become too much?
The cultural trappings of the holiday season have gotten so ubiquitous, and so pervasive for such a long stretch of time — the season used to start on Thanksgiving, but now begins creeping into our consciousness after Halloween — that, in the interest of not getting burned out on the stuff, we now have to carefully watch our exposure to it.
I don't know precisely when it happened, but I seem to have reached my permanent fill on Christmas music a few years ago. Even after a year's respite, the sound of Andy Williams crooning about parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow can nearly send me into convulsions.
And yet, I enjoy playing Christmas carols on the piano all year long. Maybe that's because they're so easy to play, although I still don't know why "The Christmas Song" has to be in the key of A flat.
I'm not here today to trash anyone's traditions associated with this time of year. That would make me no better than the crowd that starts hyperventilating whenever a business or other entity opts to celebrate the "holidays" instead of Christmas. Some people celebrate Christmas and some don't. Live and let live.
For the record though, this column is strictly about Christmas traditions by design, so save your politically correct sniping for someone else.
When it comes to wretched excess, it's hard to beat ABC Family's 25 straight days of Christmas-themed movies. Think of it, more than three weeks of titles like "The Year Without a Santa Claus," "Desperately Seeking Santa," "Santa Baby" and "Santa Baby 2."
Some people like it, but when I watch that heart-warming, life-affirming, values-laden stuff I feel like I'm being lectured at. Fortunately, there's plenty of other Christmas programming that speaks to me — the classic cartoons and movies that, provided we don't overdose on them the way we do "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree," welcome us like an old blanket.
As for the cartoons, "A Charlie Brown Christmas" feels like an idealized childhood to me, while "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" reminds me of my own childhood, and those years spent watching this same, old show, one of the few things in the world that hasn't changed over the intervening decades.
Earlier this year, I watched a remastered, high-definition version of "Rudolph" and its sharpness was disconcerting, much as the bulbous, three-dimensional head of Charlie Brown was in this fall's "The Peanuts Movie." I don’t like technology messing with my memories.
Of the Christmas movies, "It's a Wonderful Life" is a superbly told story that deserves to be watched any time of year. "Miracle on 34th Street" never held my attention too terribly much, except for Maureen O'Hara (who recently died at the age of 95), yet "White Christmas," despite its utterly conventional storyline, is probably my favorite Christmas movie, simply for its entertainment value. There's a lot to love in that film.
When I was a child, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" appealed to me because its Seussian animation felt so much edgier than it does today, although the story is really quite conventional and always was.
I just finished carefully watching the 1983 picture "A Christmas Story" for the first time in well over a decade, and will have more to say about that experience here in a few weeks.
Hollywood producers are forever trying to start a new Christmas tradition with this new movie or that new TV show, and they generally fail, not because the efforts are lame (although they often are), but because we all have our own cherished programs already.
I find that if I take them off the shelf and sit down and enjoy them, not every Christmas season but maybe just every few years or so, they don't lose their appeal, but remain fresh. And that's important.
Chances are the structure of your Christmas celebrations has changed consistently throughout your lifetime, as family members and friends came and went and you moved from one place to another. Holding on to the few constants in that fast-moving river of change is a most worthy endeavor.
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Twitter: @ToddHillMNJ
Christmas TV programs
Some of this holiday season's highlights; check local listings for encore airings:
"It's Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown," 8 p.m. Monday, ABC. A celebration of the 50th anniversary of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" with performances by Kristen Chenoweth, Sarah McLachlan and Boyz II Men, followed at 9 p.m. by the digitally remastered 1965 animated special.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," 8 p.m. Tuesday, CBS. The 1964 special in which Rudolph and buddies Hermey the Elf, Yukon Cornelius and the Misfit Toys rescue Christmas, with narrator Burl Ives' dulcet tones an added bonus.
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas," 9 p.m. Wednesday, NBC. The Dr. Seuss tale of a hostile hermit who threatens Whoville's joy is narrated by Boris Karloff, who also voices the dastardly Grinch in the 1966 program.
"CMA Country Christmas," 9 p.m. Thursday, ABC. Kelsea Ballerini, Jewel, Charles Kelley, Martina McBride, David Nail, Pentatonix, LeAnn Rimes and Darius Rucker join the musical celebration, with Jennifer Nettles as the host and the Grand Ole Opry House as the setting.
"A Very Murray Christmas," Friday, Dec. 4, Netflix. Bill Murray tips his hat to the holiday and classic variety shows with help from buddies including Michael Cera, George Clooney, Miley Cyrus, Amy Poehler, Chris Rock and, as director, Sofia Coppola.
"It's a Wonderful Life," 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, NBC. Filmmaker Frank Capra's holiday fable starring James Stewart and Donna Reed has been reminding audiences about what's important in life since 1946.
"Taraji and Terrence's White Hot Holidays," 9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 9, Fox. "Empire" stars Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard host a music and variety special including performances of holiday songs by Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Jamie Foxx and others.
"Miracle on 34th Street," 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, AMC. Santa Claus goes to court and a little girl stands by his story in the 1947 movie starring Edmund Gwen, Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood as the young believer in St. Nick.
"White Christmas," 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 10, AMC. Bing Crosby croons the title song and Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen add to the festivities at a struggling Vermont inn in need of help.
"A Christmas Story," 8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 24, TBS. A boy and a longed-for BB gun make for holiday cheer in writer Jean Shepherd's wry 1983 tale that stars Peter Billingsley, Melinda Dillon and Darren McGavin.
