1980 Dance Fever Christmas Special

1980 Dance Fever Christmas Special starring Deney Terrio - a great big hunk of holiday cheese. Robert Blake was one of the judges but somehow everyone lived. Nellie Oleson (Alison Arngrim) from Little House on the Prairie was guest DJ.

 

Amos & Andy Christmas Show

One of my favorite Christmas shows is by far the most controversial.

The 1952 Amos 'n' Andy Christmas episode was one of TV's first holiday themed broadcasts - based on a script that had been performed yearly for more than a decade on network radio's most popular program.

This moving holiday tradition began in 1940 with a 15-minute episode that centered around Amos sitting by his daughter's bedside and explaining the Lord's Prayer to her. It was a powerful and touching moment, perfectly capturing that simpler, religiously inspired Christmas spirit that prevailed decades ago.

Nearly half the nation tuned in to those annual holiday broadcasts.

CONTROVERSY

On the radio, caucasions Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll gave voice to Kingfish, Amos and Andrew H. Brown. Deserved or not, Amos 'n' Andy was roundly criticized for being racist in nature. While it can easily be argued that the radio version was offensive - the whole idea of white guys portraying black guys was problematic right there. But it did provide much needed work to African-Americans who appeared in the supporting roles, in the 1940s there were very few blacks employed on network radio..

Here's the second of the yearly holiday broadcasts from the radio days:

The TV program was a different matter; a superb, all-African-American cast helped to mitigate the program's inherent ridicule factor. The problem was there was no balance, no serious shows on TV starring blacks to counter this broad sitcom.

The best Amos 'n' Andy radio scripts from years past were adapted to TV with few significant changes beginning in 1951; these were original stories penned by the guys who went on to write and produce such seminal television shows as Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, Andy Griffith Show and other classics.

The Christmas tradition was carried over from radio to television; the script remained virtually unchanged, right down to Andy playing Santa. (That's right - one of the first glimpses of Santa Claus that Americans got from their television sets and he was black.)



Freeman F. Gosden, Jr., the son of one of the creators, recalled in an interview those long-ago Christmas radio shows."It is probably safe to conclude that more people heard Amos' description of the Lord's Prayer than that of anyone else in the world. There is no question that he felt this was his proudest lifetime achievement. We would go to the studio and watch the show from the client's booth. Then Dad would bring the recording home and after dinner play it over and over again until midnight, with tears in his eyes."

 READ ALL ABOUT AMOS & ANDY

Perry Como 1969 Christmas Special

 After years of The Hollywood Palace Christmas episodes hosted by Bing Crosby it was Perry Como who had the honor on the December 20, 1969 broadcast.

The crooner opens with a medley that includes I'll Be Home For the Holidays and Love in a Home from Li'l Abner. Is the group behind him The New Christy Minstrels? I believe so...



In this beautiful segment Como croons my favorite carols, those about the birth of Jesus like The First Noel and Hark the Herald Angels Sing.


Watch LOTS more TV Christmas Specials in the
TVparty! Retro-Holiday Explosion!

1950s Bing Crosby Christmas Shows

1961 was the year Bing started his annual TV Christmas hours but he had been hosting holiday celebrations on radio for decades.

Here's Bing's 1950 Christmas show on CBS, this was in the waning days of radio entertainment. Guests are his drunken wife Dixie Lee and their kids, a tradition he carried over to TV - but with a different family. At least these kids had talent.

This is a musical trip through the traditional Christmas carols performed with large choruses in the more heavy-handed orchestral style that was prevalent in the 1930s and 1940s.



Bing's 1954 Christmas celebration starts out with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Note the lighter touch in the arrangements compared with just a few years earlier but it's still a very low key event, maudlin even.


 Here's a bright, much more fun 1961 Bing Crosby CBS radio special broadcast on Christmas Eve 1961 wherein Der Bingle sings his holiday hits for the folks at home and the troops overseas. This wonderful almost-hour will surely fill you with the spirit of the holiday with exuberant, brassy arrangements of your favorite carols performed in the more 'modern' style that took hold in the 1960s and died out in the mid-1970s.

Jo Stafford is a guest, she's one of the greatest (and most unusual) singers of the era. Also along are Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. No Crosby Christmas special would be complete without Bing's wife, in this case Katherine.

Watch LOTS more TV Christmas Specials in the

TVparty! Retro-Holiday Explosion!

1960's Bing Crosby Christmas Specials

Bing Crosby was more closely associated with Christmas than any other Hollywood star. Having recorded the seminal versions of so many Holiday carols his yearly Christmas hours were a tradition in most American homes with a TV set - right up until his posthumously broadcast 1977 special with David Bowie.

In 1965 Bing hosted The Hollywood Palace with Fred Waring and his orchestra along with the cast of Hogan's Heroes (huh?). This closing segment starts out with a jazzy Schlitz commercial; then what was a (painful) regular feature on these programs where Crosby's kids perform - despite there being no evidence of talent on their part or any desire to be there at all. Crosby performs his signature tune here, White Christmas.



As frequent host of The Hollywood Palace Der Bingle was a natural to host the Christmas Eve broadcast in 1966 - in color!



Here's the 1967 Hollywood Palace starring Bing with more classic Christmas melodies, this time with the King Family, another musical collection of relatives that were popular back in the day. You'll also see the original commercials!



In 1968 Bing Crosby was host to the Lennon Sisters, another musical family that 1960s audiences embraced. Want to hear a wonderful version of Der Bingle's 'White Christmas'? It's here in this medley of Bing's most beloved Christmas tunes. Glen Campbell and Crosby's family also appeared on this show, a chance to once again show off his talentless kids. Those Crosby boys were lousy singers!



 Watch more TV Christmas Specials in the TVparty! Retro-Holiday Explosion!

Remarkable 1960s Live Shari Lewis Christmas Specials

In the early sixties Shari Lewis and her troupe produced some wonderful musical Christmas shows, broadcast live! Fortunately they were preserved on film and we can enjoy them today, I discovered them on DVD.

Particularly entertaining are the 1960 and 1961 productions. Shari's singing is melodic and lovely, the perfect pitch for the holidays. The tunes, a mix of original and classic carols, are delightful and instantly hum-able. The hostess has a way of making each melody her own with a sparkling presence lighting up the tiny black and white screens across New York.

Shari's ability to bring her many puppet personas to life is amazing to behold, jumping effortlessly from one character to another in rapid succession. She even sings in three distinct voices and makes it believable. What a remarkable entertainer.

In the 1960 half-hour holiday program Shari and her friend Jump Pup the dancing canine (actually Jackie Warner in a dog suit) trim the Christmas tree with jolly musical accompaniment before joining Lamb Chop, Hush Puppy and Charlie Horse on a shopping trip. When Lamb Chop and Charlie join Shari for 'Jingle Bells' it's pure magic.

In the 1961 celebration Shari and her pals prepare to go caroling but Charlie hasn't caught the Christmas spirit. Tony Award nominee Ronald Radd as Mr. Goodfellow joins Shari to perform a thoroughly delightful original tune, 'How Can I Be A Santa Claus?' - it's a real showstopper, a tune I'm going to want to hear every Christmastime from now on.

Produced on a tiny 1960's daytime TV budget meant everything was dependent on Shari's ability to bring her fanciful characterizations to life... and she more than rises to the task, glittering like a monochromatic jewel atop the tree.

These shows aren't on You Tube but they and another 1963 Christmas broadcast are available on DVD.

Here is a much later Christmas Special featuring Shari Lewis and her pals...



 More CHRISTMAS PAST at TVparty!

Timelapse : Behind The Scenes at The Price Is Right

(Not Drew Carey but the first Male model on TPIR)

Drew Carey shared a behind-the-scenes montage showing what happens backstage while the technicians and stagehands make for a seamless television experience.