Christmas on Television

By Diane Werts

Christmas just isn't Christmas without Christmas on TV. Whether it's the made-for-television specials of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman, a M*A*S*H* Christmas in Korea, Kramer playing Santa on Seinfeld, or the annual holiday disaster on The Simpsons or South Park, television's many representations of this beloved holiday have become as essential a part of our holiday season as lights, gifts, or mistletoe. In this entertaining chronicle of television and the Christmas season, former Television Critics Association President Diane Werts weaves discussion of the many programs that have appeared during the holiday season throughout the years with interviews with writers, producers, and stars. Not only are readers given a chance to re-live their favorite holiday moments on TV, but also to gain illuminating cultural insights into the increasingly strong bond that unites these two American traditions.

Diane Werts's book is the first to cover the entire history of the depiction of Christmas on television, and includes a discussion of programs that celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and the winter solstice. An introductory overview helps readers to understand the basis on which television's success with the holidays is based, and chronological chapters go on to consider the many different ways in which the season has been celebrated in variety shows, sitcoms, specials, and dramas of the past six decades.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0275983315
• ISBN13: 9780275983314
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Praeger
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 1.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

A Must-Have TV Reference Book

Christmas on Television is the ultimate stocking-stuffer for anyone who loves television. Just about every TV series has celebrated the holidays in its own special way, giving us some of the most memorable, touching, and truly surreal moments in television history. In this book Diane Werts covers holiday celebrations from almost every show, from the obscure (Something So Right and Martial Law) to the cultish (The Man from UNCLE and Xena Warrior Princess), and from classics (I Love Lucy and Twilight Zone) to recent popular hits (The West Wing and Everybody Love Raymond). Her thorough, engaging, and surprisingly touching examination of yuletide television makes for fascinating reading that reveals the surprisingly deep and emotional connection that exists between viewers and the television characters they invite into their homes--especially during the holidays

Good overview for the subject

Ms. Werts does an excellent job in taking scholarly research to new levels as she investigates how the medium of television has treated the most commercialized and well-loved holiday season of the year. The text focuses on the basic history and various trends of the Christmas specials and episodes for the past forty some years of the genre. Segments include: the variety specials, the animated classics, the "anti-sentimental" specials, the mixed faith episodes, Dickens and A Christmas Carol, etc. There's some great commentary on the classic Jack Benny-Mel Blanc seasonal skits that started on the radio and was eventually transplanted to television as Jack nearly drives a salesclerk (Mel) mad with constantly changing how he wants his Chistmas present wrapped. From such humble beginnings, Ms. Werts moves unto the black and white period of the fifties (Father Knows Best) to the golden age of the sixties (Rudolph, Charlie Brown, Grinch, etc). As the book evolves into the eighties, brief mentions are made of such episodes as the Nanny Christmas Special and the PeeWee Herman one. Included is a pretty good summary of the infamous Bundy Christmas in "Married With Children" which may rank up there as one of the first "anti-Christmas" shows. I may even give the "Hebrew Hammer" a try, since its aroused my curiosity. How can it not? With a Jewish super hero trying to stop Santa's evil son from corrupting the holiday. This closes the chapter, which examines the recent multicultural trend where couples of mixed faiths try to juggle a Christian celebration with a non-Christian faith such as Kwanzaa and Hannakah. The text moves fast, and helps to refresh the holiday fan of all the different specials and episodes that we have seen over the years. -- Ms. Werts knows her Christmas specials. An enjoyable read. Some caveats: At forty dollars, the book would do better in a paperback edition at about twenty. There's enough material for a volume 2, even a chapter on forgotten tv specials such as The Great Santa Clause Caper with Art Carney. The Christmas episodes of "Get Smart," and "The Six Million Dollar Man" were omitted. Ok. I'm being a bit of a stinker here, expecting her to include everything. Lasty, it's a shame that Ms. Werts fails to recognize the genius that is the Star Wars Holiday Special from 1978. A sure fire classic that the author puts in the "worst" section. Sincerely, JThree carolyn@dia.net

Pop culture scholarship at its distinguished best

Diane Werts' "Christmas on Television" is astonishingly well written, remarkably thorough, and utterly invaluable as a basis for future scholarship in this area. Every paragraph reads like the progeny of intense and loving research, yet the text flows and entertains in the manner of a first-rate episode of, say, "M*A*S*H." If the average pop culture survey were a tenth as good as this, mass-media scholarship would be sitting pretty. Such is hardly the case, but maybe if we're especially good, Santa will bring us more works of this quality.

WHAT MEMORIES THIS BRINGS BACK!

The first thing that struck me about Christmas on Television is that there was another person out there who has as much fondness for old holiday episodes of TV shows as I do. Each year I find myself watching Christmas episodes of TV shows that I do not even watch regularly. This wonderful book from Praeger Publishers and written by Diane Werts is the Holy Grail for fans of holiday themed TV. I don't know if she mentions every Christmas episode of every TV show but I bet she comes pretty darn close. Werts begins with a look at early shows such as Ozzie & Harriet and Father Knows Best, and early specials like the 1953 Liberace Holiday show where he is joined on the set by members of his family...which would become a common theme in many future specials. Rather than just go chronologically through the years Werts takes a different tack, instead looking at these shows through the many different themes that were used over and over through the years such as shopping, decorating, feasting, being away from, or coming home for the holidays. Werts sites an unending supply of examples for the various themes such as the Partridge Family bus breaking down in a ghost town on Christmas Eve in a 1971 show or Tim Taylor being stuck in an airport during a storm in a 1995 holiday episode of Home Improvement. The theme of a working Christmas was explored in a 1970 Mary Tyler Moore show when Mary finds herself alone in the newsroom until the rest of the cast show up to bring the Christmas party to her. One of my favorite themes is the one where Santa is proven to be real. In a 1964 Christmas episode of Bewitched, Samantha takes a little boy (played by Billy Mumy) all the way to the North Pole to prove to him that Santa is real. The same year also gave us the Flintsones show where Fred helped out an ailing Santa by delivering gifts but forgets his own family's presents. The desire for an old fashioned Christmas and lamenting commercialization has been a common theme from the days of A Charlie Brown Christmas right through the 2003 Christmas episode of Bernie Mac. And Dickens' A Christmas Carol has played out numerous times over the decades on shows like The Odd Couple, Sanford & Son, and The Simpsons. Thank God for TV land who runs blocks of these old Christmas shows every year! Of course what would Christmas on TV be without mentioning the great, and regrettably now missing variety shows. Bob Hope did his first Christmas show on NBC in 1950 and continued for over forty years. His most famous shows were those he spent entertaining our armed forces throughout the Korean, Viet Nam, and first Gulf Wars. His 1970 and 1971 specials from Viet Nam are still ranked among Neilsen's Top 30 shows of all-time. Besides Bob there were so many other great variety shows...who can forget the annual Bing Crosby and Andy Williams shows, or even the Muppets. Werts also takes a look at the great animated shows like Frosty the Snowman, How the Grinch Stole Christmas,

A book for the ages!!!

This is a book that will be fun for both the casual television fan and the television historian. I found it informative and entertaining. There are no two stronger cultural icons in America than Christmas and television and the author did an extraordinary job weaving the two together.