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Christmas Special: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{Page should be category}}
[[File:He Man She Ra.jpg|link=He-Man and the Masters of the Universe|frame|Eternia celebrates the birth of Christ [[An Asskicking Christmas|with senseless violence]]!]]
A mostly American subgenre—special television shows, often one-shots, created with a winter or holiday theme for broadcast during the month of December.
Perhaps the best-known '''Christmas Specials''' are the animated ones (including the stop-motion animations produced primarily by [[Rankin/Bass Productions|Rankin/Bass]]) from the 1960s through the 1970s that rerun annually. Far more numerous, though, are the various celebrity specials, which usually take the form of a low-key holiday-themed [[Variety Show]]. Usually the latter are rather forgettable by virtue of their one-off nature, but sometimes they can generate moments that survive decades. A case in point would be the [[Bing Crosby]]-[[David Bowie]] duet of "The Little Drummer Boy", which has taken on a life of its own above and beyond the
Compare [[Christmas Episode]] ([[Separated by a Common Language|generally known as Christmas Specials]] [[A Very British Christmas|in the UK]]) and [[Halloween Special]]. If the holiday celebrated in the special only looks like Christmas but is renamed to match the setting, it's a [[You Mean "Xmas"]].
[[The Wiki Rule]] applies to Christmas specials; see [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page here].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
* Disney put out ''From All of Us to All of You'' on its weekly show in 1958 - [[Clip Show|some new cartoon footage linking excerpts from their classic animated films and old shorts]], and preview clips from their new features. After a few decades it faded away from American tv, but continues to be a very big draw in the UK and Scandinavia.
* ''[[Mr. Magoo]]'s [[Yet Another Christmas Carol|Christmas Carol]]'' (1962) was the [[Ur Example|first animated one of these]] to be produced expressly for television.
* ''[[Dinner for One]]'' (1963, usually associated with New Year's Eve)
* ''[[Rudolph the Red-
** ''[[Rudolph the Red-
* ''[[A Charlie Brown Christmas]]'' (1965; directly references the religious basis of Christmas when Linus, in a spotlight no less, quotes the Christmas story from one of the gospels)
** There are actually four ''[[Peanuts]]'' Christmas specials. Obviously, ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' easily overshadows the other three, which consist of ''It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown'' (1992), ''Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales'' (2002), and ''I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown'' (2003). ''Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales'' was created specifically to pad out an hour timeslot for ''A Charlie Brown Christmas'' so that it wouldn't have to be [[Edited for Syndication]].
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* ''[[Frosty the Snowman]]'' (1969)
* ''[[The Night the Animals Talked]]'' (1970; another rare Nativity-themed show)
* ''[[Santa Claus is Comin'
* ''[[The Year Without a Santa Claus]]'' (1974, animated; 2006, live action)
* ''[['
* ''[[A Cosmic Christmas]]'' (1977) (Canadian-produced and featuring aliens searching for the meaning of Christmas)
* ''[[Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey|Nestor the Long Eared Christmas Donkey]]'' (1977)
* ''[[Emmet Otter's
* The oh so infamous ''[[The Star Wars Holiday Special]]'' (1978)
* ''John Denver And The Muppets: A Christmas Together'' (1979)<ref>Probably better known for the album than the special but still ...</ref>
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* ''[[Inspector Gadget]] [[Saving Christmas|Saves Christmas]]'' (1991)
* ''Father Christmas'' (1991)
* ''[[A Wish for Wings That Work]]'' (1991) -- The only animated ''[[Bloom County]]'' production, to boot.
* ''[[Nick
* ''[[The Town Santa Forgot]]'' (1993)
* ''The [[Reduced Shakespeare Company]] Christmas'' (radio, 1995)
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* ''The True Meaning of Christmas Specials'' (2002) with David Foley of [[Kids in The Hall]] (and [[News Radio]]) fame.
* ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'' (2002)
* ''[[Caillou
* The TV adaptation of [[Terry Pratchett
* [[Doctor Steel
* [[LeapFrog (animation)|
* ''[[Christmas Is Here Again]]'' (2007)
* ''[[The Colbert Report|A Colbert Christmas]]: The Greatest Gift Of All''. Contains both [[As the Good Book Says...|actual religious issues]], and [[Everything's Worse with Bears|killer bears]]. (2008)
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* ''[[Charlie and Lola]]'' had an episode with the siblings visiting the elves and saving Christmas.
* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' "A Very Venture Christmas" - introduced the Krampus to much of America.
* ''The Adventures Of [[The League of STEAM]]'' [[Christmas Episode|episode]], "The Fright Before Christmas".
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Show Genres]]▼
[[Category:Stock Aesops]]▼
[[Category:Christmas Tropes]]
[[Category:Index]]
[[Category:
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