A poster on the online Home Theatre Forum for DVD TV Shows (You can link to that site HERE.) opened a thread in which we were asked to list our “Favorite Christmas TV Episodes on DVD”. I thought this was a wonderful topic, and contributed a list of my own admittedly unusual favorites.
In keeping with “the spirit”… that is the spirit of the holidays AND the spirit of never throwing anything away, when you can use it more than once, I post my Christmas TV Episode on DVD List (…with the DVD set in which you’ll find the episode) here for your enjoyment.
We begin with my favorite of all…
THE FLINTSTONES: “Christmas Flintstone”. (The Flintstones: The Complete Fifth Season) Yes, as longtime friend – and friend of this Blog – Chris Barat pointed out, The Flintstones COULDN’T POSSIBLY celebrate Christmas, but who are we to question the genius of Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, circa 1964. Years later, we could question PLENTY – but in ’64 there was no one better at the cartoon biz.
This is the “Fred Saves Christmas” (…long before every fictional character and their fictional brother began saving Christmas) episode from The Original Series – not to be confused with anything that may have come later.
LOST IN SPACE: “The Toymaker”. (Lost in Space Season Two, Volume Two) Explicitly mentions Christmas – and occurs at Christmas time. This charming tale of the Robinsons trapped in a fourth-dimensional toymaker’s shop manages to conjure up the feeling of the season, without directly dealing with the holiday itself.
LAND OF THE GIANTS: “The Night of Thrombeldinbar”. (Land of the Giants: The Complete Series). This is not a Christmas story… but SHOULD BE. It would seem to be how the holiday is celebrated on the Giants World. If you ever thought that GIANTS’ “Alexander Fitzhugh” and Lost in Space’s “Doctor Zachary Smith” were completely interchangeable, this episode will nicely illustrate the difference between the two!
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. “The Jingle Bells Affair”. (The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Season Three – of the Complete Series Set). Even a hard line Communist dictator can succumb to the holiday spirit, under the right circumstances. Some very nice footage of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade circa mid-sixties – complete with vintage character balloons.
JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED: “Comfort and Joy” (Justice League Volume Two). Three separate tales of Green Lantern and Hawkgirl, Superman and Martian Manhunter, and Flash and The Ultra-Humanite. The latter two being the most effective as Christmas tales. As a near-lifelong DC Comics fan, this has become a Neo-Christmas-Classic for me!
Of course, I like The Grinch, A Charlie Brown Christmas, Rudolph, Frosty and the rest… and you’ve GOT to admire them for their staying power over the decades, but those can be on anybody’s list. A list like this says “ME”, about as well as anything could… wouldn’t you say? How many other folks would ever associate LAND OF THE GIANTS with Christmas? …Yes, even I’M starting to worry about me now!
…Hope you all get the DVDs you want this season – including a few of these!
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