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Christmas Special: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Punisher.jpg|link=The Punisher|frame|He knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake!]]
A mostly American subgenre -- special television shows, often one-shots, created with a winter or holiday theme for broadcast during the month of December. Most prominently feature [[Santa Claus]] and his associated mythology, as they try to preserve political correctness. Some try to elucidate us on the [[True Meaning of Christmas]].
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 1970s-vintage Crosby special from which it sprang.
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* ''[[Dinner for One]]'' (1963, usually associated with New Year's Eve)
* ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer|Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer]]'' (1964)
** ''[[Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer|Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer]]: [[The Movie]]'' (1998). It's mostly unrelated though.
* ''[[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]].
* ''[[How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (animation)|How the Grinch Stole Christmas]]'' (1966)
* ''[[The Little Drummer Boy]]'' (1968; one of the rare specials which focused on the Nativity)
* ''[[Frosty the Snowman]]'' (1969)
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* The ''[[Barney and Friends|Barney]]'' franchise has four Christmas specials: ''Waiting for Santa'' (1990), ''Barney's Night Before Christmas'' (1999), ''Barney's Christmas Star'' (2002), and ''[[Clip Show|A Very Merry Christmas]]'' (2011).
* ''[[Inspector Gadget]] [[Saving Christmas|Saves Christmas]]'' (1991)
* ''Father Christmas'' (1991)
* ''[[A Wish for Wings That Work]]'' (1991)
* ''[[Nick and Noel]]'' (1993)
* ''[[The Town Santa Forgot]]'' (1993)
* ''The [[Reduced Shakespeare Company]] Christmas'' (radio, 1995)
* ''[[Spot the Dog|Spot's Magical Christmas]]'' (1995)
* ''[[Bear in the Big Blue House]]'': ''A Berry Bear Christmas'' (1999)
* ''[[Olive the Other Reindeer]]'' (1999)
* ''[[Robbie the Reindeer]] in Hooves of Fire'' (1999)
* ''[[Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer]]'' (2000)
* ''[[South Park]]'' started out as one of those, ''Christmas In South Park''. (2000)
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* [[Franklin]]: ''Franklin's Magic Christmas'' (2001).
* ''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|Cailou's]] Holiday Movie'' (2003)
* The TV adaptation of [[Terry Pratchett|Terry Pratchett's]] ''[[Discworld/Hogfather|Hogfather]]'' (2006)
* [[Doctor Steel|Doctor Steel's]] ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVfSJPKA0VM Dr. Steel Christmas Special]'' (2007) and ''[http://www.toysoldiersunite.com/media/mp3/adrsteelchristmasmp3.mp3 A Dr. Steel Christmas]'' (2009).
* [[
* ''[[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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* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]] Holiday Special'' (2010). Given the setting is ancient China, the producers use the Winter Festival instead for the occasion, which also makes the special applicable from American Thanksgiving to New Years in the future.
* ''Hoops & Yoyo Ruin Christmas'' (2011)
* "'Elf on the Shelf'' (2011)
* ''[[Bitchin' Kitchen]]'' (2011)
* ''[[Charlie and Lola]]'' had an episode with the siblings visiting the elves and saving Christmas.
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