There are plenty of great Christmas specials on TV every year. I could take the easy route and recommend How The Grinch Stole Christmas or Rudolph, The Red-Nosed Reindeer but, let’s be honest, that would be taking the easy way out and my selections thus far have been off the beaten path. So for today’s Christmas recommendation I have a double feature of two great TV specials of the past. First, from 1997:
South Park: Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo
The creators of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, have an amazing ability to break down the world in order to expose the hilarity of the mundane. Nothing is sacred in the world of South Park: Religion is as mocked as atheism. Pseudo-intellectualism is on par with willful ignorance. In the first South Park Christmas special, “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo,” Matt and Trey take on the de-Christmasification of the Christmas season.
Listen to one of the songs, "It's Hard To Be A Jew On Christmas."
One of the four main characters in South Park, Kyle, is Jewish and when his mother finds out he has been recruited for a recreation of the Nativity in his elementary school, she goes on a crusade to eliminate anything Christian in the school. The town takes up her cause, destroying anything offensive. The resulting mess may be devoid of offense, but it is also devoid of any sense of soul.
The message is that the celebration of one person’s culture is not inherently insulting to another. Because I say Merry Christmas, I am not intending offense to those who celebrate Hanukkah.
Did I mention a brilliant subplot about a magical piece of fecal matter who embodies the spirit of Christmas? Parker and Stone manage to mix absurd humor with a poignant story to present a modern Christmas tale that is an homage to the classic Peanuts special I talked about yesterday and a tale that works perfectly on its own.
It’s adult content, to be sure, but so lovingly presented that even sensitive viewers will forgive its offenses. There have been many great South Park episodes--and holiday entries--since this episode debuted in 1997 but it is hard to beat the original. If you have never given it a try, click here to see the episode in its entirety.
Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas
“The Chipmunk Song” was a novelty record recorded in 1958 by Ross Bagdasarian, about three precocious chipmunks who are asking for a variety of toys for Christmas. The goofy voices coupled with fun songs made the group a minor hit in the late 50s and early 60s.
In 1981, Chuck Jones (one of the masterminds behind Looney Tunes) teamed up with the Bagdasarian estate to create a TV special that wrote a story around the 20-year-old song and served as an excuse to feature a host of classic Christmas tunes. The plot features a sick boy who serves as an inspiration to the materialistic Alvin: Alvin gives the boy his harmonica to help him feel better. When the group is invited to sing at Carnegie Hall, Alvin engages in some trademarked hijinks to raise money to replace his harmonica before his father, Dave, finds out.
By today’s standards, the simplistic story and obvious morality of A Chipmunk Christmas seem dated, but the special holds a place in my heart nonetheless. In fact, when I wrote about the special in 2005 for the 25th Anniversary DVD release, I pointed out how nostalgia helps us to forgive flaws. A Chipmunk Christmas certainly benefits from fond childhood memories but is a very good piece of entertainment for families today.
