Braddy's Favorite (Unconventional) Christmas Specials

When I was a kid, I always got super excited for Christmas time because of all the STUFF that got shown on TV. Every day, there were at least a half-dozen Christmas specials I tried to make time for. You probably know the list - classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Raindeer, Santa Clause is Coming to Town, A Year Without a Santa Clause, and a bunch of other "not quite as good as Claymation" shows.

As an adult... I don't like 'em.

That's not to say I don't like any of the classic Christmas specials - I quite enjoy White Christmas and, despite its (many) failings, the musical adaptation of Scrooge manages to bring a tear to my eye. Most of the standard Christmas fair, though, leaves me feeling a bit unfulfilled, like a kid who didn't get his Red Rider BB Gun on Christmas morning.

Thankfully, with the plethora of Christmas specials out there, there's always something, perhaps just off the beaten path, that helps me to get in that Christmas spirit. Maybe there's something wrong with me, I dunno, but I think I like some of these better... even if they have almost nothing to do with the true meaning of Christmas.

Here are my favorite "B side" holiday specials.

"Donald's Snow Fight"

Really, this is more of a "winter" special than a true "Christmas" special, but that doesn't make it any less awesome. Donald and his nephews get in an ever escalating snow fight, starting with the usual snowballs, and ending with mousetraps, ice missles, and... um... fire arrows? It's a lot of fun, and, like a lot of the classic Disney shorts, it holds up well.

Doctor Who, "A Christmas Carol"

The Doctor takes on the role of the Ghosts of Christmas in an attempt to change the heart of a miserly old man. There's a lot of time travel, space ships, and the usual Doctor goofiness. Oh, and there's also some absolutely lovely Christmas music. Really, I think this is quite heartwarming.

The Office, "Christmas Party"

No, seriously - I kinda tear up at this episode of The Office. The awkward comedy is still present ("YAANKEEE Swap!"), but there's a lot of genuine Christmasy spirit here - especially in the Jim/Pam story arc. The Office did a few Christmas specials, but I think the first one got it best.

Hellboy, "A Christmas Underground"

There's a fun little redemption plot that runs through this story, where a woman is actually saved from eternal torment because of a gift from her mother. The same old woman also mistakes Hellboy for Santa Clause, though. That's pretty funny.

Detective Comics #826, "Slayride"

One of my favorite Joker stories ever, and a surprisingly excellent story for Robin, as well (who's not as lame as everyone says he is). The Joker kidnaps Robin, ties him up with Christmas lights, and then drives around town running people over. Robin manages to escape by starting up a conversation about the Marx Brothers.

You know, because Christmas.

What? You expected EVERYTHING to be all "Peace on Earth" and stuff? Man, if you want that, maybe you should, like, read your Bible or someth... Oh, wait.

The Three Season Theory

I haven't deemed it necessary to get cable hookup or anything like that in my apartment, so I don't really watch a whole lot of TV. Generally, everything I watch I pick up on DVD, usually borrowed from the library or pilfered from friends. Even so, I've built up a small but significant collection of DVDs.

So I've got this working theory on the quality of television shows: a series is good for only about three years. The first season shows a bit of promise - a hint of the series's true brilliance. The second season, the show hits its stride, cranking out quality episode after quality episode. By the third season, you can usually tell the writing staff has run out of ideas, as the plots get a bit more ludicrous, a bit more far-fetched. The writing and acting is usually GOOD still, but, by season four, things get so whacked out that the series might as well be over.

I've got three (of my personal favorite shows) which I cite when looking at this hypothesis:


The Office

Now, the first time I ever saw an episode of The Office (Season 2's "Sexual Harrassment"), I didn't care for what I saw. That said, after I went back and gave it another try, I found I absolutely LOVED it.

My favorite part of watching The Office was seeing the Jim/Pam/Roy triangle (or the Jim/Karen/Pam/Roy rectangle). By the time Season 3 concluded, that story arc had more or less resolved itself. Once Season 4 rolled around, it became clear that the Jim/Pam story had little room to grow. Meanwhile, Michael Scott's eccentricities had gone almost Tex Avery in their levels of cartoonishness. I decided to move one.

In short, this series is TOO long.

(For the record, I haven't seen a single episode of The Office since Season Five's Superbowl episode, and I don't really miss the show)


Pushing Daisies

Basically, I'm of the opinion that Pushing Daisies is the best thing to have ever appeared on television until someone gets the Rapture on camera. The characters were well-written and charismatic, the stories cute and engaging, and... *sigh*... the series unpopular enough to get cancelled after two seasons.

Really, though, a third season would have been perfect. All those little dangling plot threads that never got resolved could easily be wrapped up in another 12 episodes or so. The world would have been SO much better for it.

I guess we'll just have to wait for the comic book to come out to get any amount of resolution. But, in any case, this series is TOO short.


Arrested Development

Okay, now, in my opinion, Arrested Development ended at exactly the right time.

I understand that puts me in the minority with the Fox executives and... um, nope, that's probably it. Still, I don't know that I would have enjoyed a fourth season of Arrested Development nearly as much as I did the first three.

While the series continued to put out quality episodes right up to the very end, I got the vibe that the writers were really starting to tread water. The characters had all immersed themselves so completely in their neuroses that they were starting to come off as... almost completely unnatural (like an emotional "uncanny valley"). The plots were still great but verging on the unbelievably silly. Finally, those delightful in-jokes which make the series so good were getting to be... a little thick.

What we got, in the end, was about three years of top-notch comedy with no dangling plot threads to drive fanboys nuts. I imagine a fourth year would have been GOOD, but I don't see it being nearly as great as what we've already got. So, yeah, this series is... well, you know by now.

I'm sure there are exceptions to the "Three Season Theory" (Seinfeld and MASH are the most regularly cited), but, for now, I'm standing by this little rule of thumb.