• Get involved.
    We want your input!
    Apply for Membership and join the conversations about everything related to broadcasting.

    After we receive your registration, a moderator will review it. After your registration is approved, you will be permitted to post.
    If you use a disposable or false email address, your registration will be rejected.

    After your membership is approved, please take a minute to tell us a little bit about yourself.
    https://www.radiodiscussions.com/forums/introduce-yourself.1088/

    Thanks in advance and have fun!
    RadioDiscussions Administrators

Holiday TV Specials

Markxxx

Markxxx

Tonight Thanksgiving Day "A Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" will be broadcast.

Now why Charlie Brown didn't tell "Peppermint" Patty to go to hell me, I will never know...

But anyway, I thought it might be interesting to discuss some of your favourite and LEAST favourite Christmas shows.

Coming as a child of the early 70s I love the Rankin Bass Specials. Especially The Year Without A Santa Claus with Shirley Booth, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and of course A Charlie Brown Christmas.

To me, no one tells the true meaning of Christmas quite like Linus<P ID="signature">______________
Once I figured out the meaning of life....Then I forgot to write it down.</P>
 
I just love A Charlie Brown Christmas. That show never gets old in my opinion. The one good thing about this show is not only Charlie Brown is fed up with the commercialism of Christmas, but finding the real meaning. As for Linus explaining it better based out of the Bible in the book of Luke, he tells it like it is. In fact if I remember correctly, it was December 9, 1965 when it made its debut on CBS and now 40 years later endes up on ABC.

A few other Christmas specials thsat I watched as a kid:

All of the Rankin/Bass specials
How The Grinch Stole Christmas

And here some rarities that hasn't been broadcasted in years:
Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus (aired on ABC in the 70s and was produced by the same people who did most of the Charlie Brown specials)
Rudolph's Shiny New Year

The least favorites are the specials that feature pop artists. To me they sound and look really fake to me. I would rather watch Bing Crosby's specials on DVD than to hear some 20-something performer do it. Take the Jessica Simpson/Nick Lachey (sp) special for example. Not really feeling it.
<P ID="signature">______________
To MRS Ventures: You killed two legendary AMs and operating them illegaly. Prepare to be hit with fines and then find out as to gives a damn.</P>
 
I always liked the special "Amahl & The Night Visitors" by Gian-Carlo Menotti. It was a classic tale told in a modern musical style. There have been many versions of it broadcast...claymation, cartoon and actors-on-film/video. The music is outstanding: "Little Drummer Boy" came from it.

nlc000574.jpg
 
>
>
>
>
> And here some rarities that hasn't been broadcasted in
> years:
> Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus (aired on ABC in the
> 70s and was produced by the same people who did most of the
> Charlie Brown specials)
> Rudolph's Shiny New Year

Rudolph's Shiny New Year may turn up on the ABC Family
channel. As they say, check your local listings.
>
> The least favorites are the specials that feature pop
> artists. To me they sound and look really fake to me. I
> would rather watch Bing Crosby's specials on DVD than to
> hear some 20-something performer do it. Take the Jessica
> Simpson/Nick Lachey (sp) special for example. Not really
> feeling it.
>

I like Charlie Brown and the Grinch, too, but it doesn't
seem like Christmas without Bing Crosby, Andy Williams,
Perry Como, and other singers in that vein. You're right.
The younger singers seem fake; the older singers, whom I
watched when I was a kid, seemed to have a genuine Christmas
spirit. But I wonder if doing a homey Christmas special
goes against the image of most rock stars?

One other note: the scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas where
Linus recites the Bible story from Luke almost didn't make
it to the air. CBS didn't want it, thought it too blatantly
religious. Charles Schulz, a deeply religious man, demanded
it be kept in or he wouldn't allow CBS to air the special.
Schulz, of course, won the battle; that scene is the one
I think everyone remembers most, and it's about the only
time (outside of services from Rome or Washington Cathedral)
that commercial broadcast television reminds us of what
Christmas is REALLY all about.
 
> >
> >
> >
> > Yes Virginia, There Is A Santa Claus (aired on ABC in the
> > 70s and was produced by the same people who did most of
> the
> > Charlie Brown specials)
> > Rudolph's Shiny New Year
>
> >> I like Charlie Brown and
>
the Grinch, too, but it doesn't
> seem like Christmas without Bing Crosby, Andy Williams,
> Perry Como, and other singers in that vein. You're right.
> The younger singers seem fake; the older singers, whom I
> watched when I was a kid, seemed to have a genuine Christmas
>
> spirit. But I wonder if doing a homey Christmas special
> goes against the image of most rock stars?
>
> One other note: the scene in A Charlie Brown Christmas where
>
> Linus recites the Bible story from Luke almost didn't make
> it to the air. CBS didn't want it, thought it too blatantly
>
> religious. Charles Schulz, a deeply religious man, demanded
>
> it be kept in or he wouldn't allow CBS to air the special.
> Schulz, of course, won the battle; that scene is the one
> I think everyone remembers most, and it's about the only
> time (outside of services from Rome or Washington Cathedral)
>
> that commercial broadcast television reminds us of what
> Christmas is REALLY all about.


True bpatrick. PBS in our area last year ran "A Tennessee Ernie Ford Christmas". This was woven together from 6 holiday episodes he did during the run of his "Ford Show" On NBC from 1956-61. Guests included Jay North, Lee Aaker and Songstress Kate Smith..He made it a point to read from the second chapter of Luke..Not sure he did this every Christmas but you could sense his enjoyment, and that of his musical group, the Top Twenty throughout these episodes..That Ernie meant what he sang about..As an aside, as he began the nighttime series Ernie closed nearly every show with a Hymn or a song of faith. Advertisers were leery of "religious music" on Prime time TV and wanted him to not sing these songs but Ernie held firm..It ended up being the most popular part of the show and resulted in his bringing out an Album "Hymns" that stayed on the Billboard Album charts for 277 weeks, opening up another career as a Gospel, as well as a country singer..below is a short Biography of Mr. Ford.

http://ernieford.com/Bio.htm
 
Wasn't "Amahl and the Night Visitors" actually commissioned for NBC Television in 1951??
 
> But anyway, I thought it might be interesting to discuss
> some of your favourite and LEAST favourite Christmas shows.
>
My favorite Christmas shows are "Mr. Magoo's A Christmas Carol" (classic Jim Bacus but played seriously, for the most part) and the ancient marionette Christmas special that was sponsored by "the Telephone Company" that included the story of the birth of Jesus and "Twas the Night Before Christmas." Guess I'm showing my age!<P ID="signature">______________
"Radio is like musical chairs. When the music stops, I sit down and say something."</P>
 
> Wasn't "Amahl and the Night Visitors" actually commissioned
> for NBC Television in 1951??
>

Nice call, Joseph; here's the scoop":
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amahl and the Night Visitors was written by the Italian composer Gian Carlo Menotti who as a young boy became lame. The doctors had no cure for him. He was taken to be blessed at the holy Sanctuary of Sacro Monte and thereafter, miraculously, the young Menotti was cured of lameness.

In 1951 when NBC commissioned the 40 year old Menotti to write a Christmas opera he could not come up with a subject. He despaired until one day, while strolling through the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, he chanced upon and was inspired by the famous painting “The Adoration of the Magi.” The idea of the Night Visitors was born and in less than two months Menotti finished the score. He wrote into it some of the magical sounds he remembered from his youth during St. Nicholas's festive visits to his mountain village in Italy where he was born.

Only an hour in length the one act opera “Amahl” with its beautiful score and touching libretto (the opera is sung in English) is appealing to all ages and musical backgrounds. It was written specifically for young imaginations which can easily relate to a child with a head full of dreams. It remains an inspiring story of how faith, charity, unselfish love and good deeds can work miracles.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"...Emily, Emily, Michael, Bartholomew...how are your children and how are the sheep?"...from "Amahl & The Night Visitors"
 
> > Wasn't "Amahl and the Night Visitors" actually
> commissioned
> > for NBC Television in 1951??
=====================================================================

If memory serves me, it was a "Hallmark Hall of Fame" production.

While I've asked this before, maybe someone can finally answer my question about "Amahl".

The origianl production was done live and also videotaped as well I believe,
as I recall seeing it more than once.

We've never seen the "original" HHOF presentation again, which leads me to ask:

An "urban legend" I heard somewhere was that some network exec wanted to see it during the summer so an engineer rigged it up for him to view the program.

While being shown, it was also erasing.

That's why it's never been seen again.

Anyone know anything more about this?

I recall Joseph saying that that didn't seem possible.

Now, after giving the matter a bit of thought, I'm guessing that possibly it has not been shown(if it still exists) because it's in black & white.

Any thoughts people?


<P ID="signature">______________
"What's That?" "French Horns!"

</P>
 
Re: "Amahl And The Night Visitors"

The first telecast was live on Christmas Eve 1951 and was in fact, as noted, the first "Hallmark Hall Of Fame". The sponsorship was sold so late that Hallmark, realizing that it was too late for people to go out and buy it's Christmas cards, used it's commercial spots to feature Sarah Churchill thanking people for buying Hallmark cards and wishing viewers a Merry Christmas.

That was a little more than three months after the transcontinental landline (microwave/coaxial-cable) network was completed. If "Amahl" was seen live throughout the whole network, no kinescope was made. But if it were seen in prime-time on the East Coast and also in prime-time on the West Coast, a kinescope recording was made for playback three or so hours later in California.

Even if a kinescope was made, it may have been destroyed or gotten lost. In the early 1970's, NBC would up destroying many kinescopes (and recycling many two-inch videotapes), so the original "Amahl", if preserved as a kinescope, might have been destroyed nearly 35 years ago.

NBC did have an in-house opera company during ther 1950's and 1960's. I don't think it was around in 1951; perhaps "Amahl"'s success led to NBC forming it (I suspect Texaco was the sponsor). "Amahl" was probably staged live (and eventually in color) several times during that period. I thought that sometime in the early 1960's (1963??), it was taped in color and shown each Christmastime over the next few years. I also thought that there was a taped-in-color version made in the mid-1970's (1976, the year of NBC's 50th anniversary??) that was shown once, maybe twice.

Hopefully for 2006, NBC will restage "Amahl" in a spectacular big-budget production in HDTV that will be vastly superior to any previous version and be rebroadcast every year after that for decades to come. Just as long as they don't cast Jessica Simpson as Amahl's mother (actually, Sarah Brightman would probably be ideal for that part--she's one of the best operatic singers in the world today).
 
Re: "Amahl And The Night Visitors"

> Hopefully for 2006, NBC will restage "Amahl" in a
> spectacular big-budget production in HDTV that will be
> vastly superior to any previous version and be rebroadcast
> every year after that for decades to come. Just as long as
> they don't cast Jessica Simpson as Amahl's mother (actually,
> Sarah Brightman would probably be ideal for that part--she's
> one of the best operatic singers in the world today).
>
Do you think NBC (or any network) would do anything as high-brow in prime-time? How long was it since a commercial network presented an opera or musical (other than a theatrical movie)?
 
> Tonight Thanksgiving Day "A Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving"
> will be broadcast.
>
> Now why Charlie Brown didn't tell "Peppermint" Patty to go
> to hell me, I will never know...
>
> But anyway, I thought it might be interesting to discuss
> some of your favourite and LEAST favourite Christmas shows.
>
> Coming as a child of the early 70s I love the Rankin Bass
> Specials. Especially The Year Without A Santa Claus with
> Shirley Booth, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and of course
> A Charlie Brown Christmas.
>
> To me, no one tells the true meaning of Christmas quite like
> Linus
>
If a station in your area shows it (it's also on DVD), you
might like to check out "A Classic Christmas," a collection
of cartoons made by Fleischer/Famous Studios in the 1930s
and '40s. The piece de resistance is the original animated
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," which Max Fleischer made
for a small Detroit company called Jam Happy in 1948.
These cartoons were staples on television in the 1950s and
'60s, but apparently are now in the public domain. The
artwork is not the greatest on any of them, and today's kids
may find them a bit too cute, but those of us old enough to
have seen them in theaters or television years ago will come
away feeling pretty good. The other cartoons are:

Jack Frost (1934)
Christmas Comes But Once A Year (1936)
Hector's Hectic Life (1948)
Snow Foolin' (1949), which features a singalong
to "Jingle Bells"
 
Status
This thread has been closed due to inactivity. You can create a new thread to discuss this topic.


Back
Top Bottom