Gapers Block has ceased publication.
Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
✶ Thank you for your readership and contributions. ✶
TODAY
Thursday, April 25
Fuel
Naz / December 17, 2003 12:04 PM
Peanuts!
Joseph J. Finn / December 17, 2003 12:19 PM
Crap, I had managed to forget Emmet. Thanks a lot...
As for me, I'm sticking with the Grinch. Hands down.
Ian / December 17, 2003 12:22 PM
Anything Rankin/Bass
Ali / December 17, 2003 12:29 PM
The only special I get excited for is "A Very Brady Christmas."
shechemist / December 17, 2003 1:05 PM
what video with values leaves out of the review are the scenes where roman solders whip animals, nester and nester's mom getting kicked out of the barn, and nester waking up with frozen dead mother curled up around him, among other misadventures.
but all that doesn't matter cuz in the end, nester carries mary, and is there when baby jesus is born.
is it any wonder than no one remembers this very special christmas special?
Ramsin / December 17, 2003 1:15 PM
Oh, come on. It's a Wonderful Life! That scene where Jimmy Stewart is holding Donna Reed's face in his hands...oh man, intense. It still gets me.
miss ellen / December 17, 2003 1:16 PM
i remember nester; hadn't thought about that one in awhile....
hands down, my choice is:
a chipmunk christmas
i LOVED the chipmunks; i think the xmas special debuted in 1981, but as far as i know, they don't air this one anymore.
bummer.
suzanne / December 17, 2003 1:41 PM
charlie brown christmas but i just watch it to see snoopy, really. i heart me some snoopy.
Craig / December 17, 2003 1:41 PM
A second on It's a Wonderful Life-- I love that movie, although every time I watch it I still get pissed off at that moron Uncle Billy!
amyc / December 17, 2003 1:42 PM
Oh, god. I had managed to block out Nester. We watched that in school, and I cried and cried. And now I'm reliving the trauma, and must take to my bed. Thanks, shechemist!
I'm a big ol' Scrooge-ass Grinch re: christmas, but "It's a Wonderful Life" gets me every time. And you're right about that scene, Ramsin -- when they're sharing the phone, and he's surreptitiously smelling her hair, then he grabs her and swears he's never coming back...it's charged, man.
Benjy / December 17, 2003 1:54 PM
Gosh, it's so hard to choose from all the great Hannukah specials...
A lex, x, x / December 17, 2003 2:00 PM
Hands down Snoopy -- especially the scene where all the Peanuts are cutting a rug and dancing their little hearts out before rehearsal.
Second favorite "The Year Without a Santa Claus" featuring the kick-ass Heat Miser.
shechemist / December 17, 2003 2:08 PM
Oh, god. I had managed to block out Nester. We watched that in school, and I cried and cried. And now I'm reliving the trauma, and must take to my bed. Thanks, shechemist!
you are welcome maam! I was thinking you needed a copy for x-mass but it was sold out. *grin*
I cried and cried too. it is an awful show.
I love A Christmas Story. the lamp! the dad! the taste of soap! the noises a piggy makes!
stephen / December 17, 2003 2:25 PM
Whoa, nice mention of Emmit, that was a really well done bit. Muppets playing washboards is always a plus. I have to agree on the Year Without A Santa Claus mention too, the Heat Miser song is fuggen great:
"I'm Mister Green Christmas
I'm Mister Sun
I'm Mister Heat Blister
I'm Mister Hundred and One
They call me Heat Miser,
What ever I touch
Starts to melt in my clutch
I'm too much!"
No mentions of that wacky Rudolph jittery stop-motion animation? I remember that one really freaking me out when I was a kid..now when I look at it, it looks like everyone's on crystal meth or something..hmm.
april / December 17, 2003 2:32 PM
The Year Without A Santa Clause, of course! How can you NOT love the Snow and Heat Miser?
Jenn / December 17, 2003 2:43 PM
I love me some Grinch. I also love the Little Drummer Boy. I love the scene when all of the animals are dancing up on their hind legs. Classic!
Alice / December 17, 2003 2:47 PM
I can't explain my love for this program, but my favorite holiday special is A Muppet Family Christmas which aired in 1987.
"Careful of the icy patch!"
Pete / December 18, 2003 8:32 AM
"The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." Classic story, classic artwork. Though I must admit I still get misty-eyed during "It's A Wonderful Life" when George is running down the middle of the street shouting "Merry Christmas!" to everyone he sees--the sheer joy of that scene more than compensates for the sappy "Auld Lang Syne" scene that closes the film.
daruma / December 18, 2003 2:02 PM
Without a doubt, Heat Miser kicks holiday ass!! No contest.
Jake / December 18, 2003 4:16 PM
What's the one with the Land of Misfit Toys? Is that Rudolph? I love that.
I'd love to see Emmett Otter again... I can still remember the greatest song I'd ever heard at that point in my life: "The grass don't grow where we walk...or stand...the River Bottom Nightmare Band!"
tony / December 18, 2003 11:17 PM
Definitely "A Charlie Brown Christmas." (I have a soft spot for Peanuts. In fact, I just bought myself a Peanuts calendar for 2004. Mmmm.) I also like the Garfield Christmas special, the Rudolph special, and the Frosty the Snowman one.
Brenda / December 19, 2003 2:36 PM
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians always warms the cockles of my heart.
Okay, maybe "warms" is too strong a word.
LD / December 21, 2003 12:52 AM
Mine is actually an Easter special...of the claymation kind. Something about decorating eggs through all the holidays throughout the year. I think Dick Van Dyke did one of the voices??
Jeff / December 22, 2003 11:07 AM
Good call on Emmett Otter, Andrew.
How about "Jack Frost"? Anyone remember that one? It was a Rankin-Bass special. Jack Frost takes human form as a tailor named "Jack Snip" and falls in love. The story is narrated by the groundhog day groundhog.
I always liked that one.
christian / December 22, 2003 2:23 PM
"Olive, The Other Reindeer" or "Rudolph and the Island of Misfit Toys" or anything thats goofy looking.
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Andrew / December 17, 2003 12:01 PM
Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas, hands down. It ran on HBO in the early '80s.