Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

The handmade charm of Sesame Street in the 1970s is on full display in Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. The sets and the acting might be a little rough around the edges, but the special is still endearing despite these flaws. The main storyline involves Big Bird trying to figure out just how Santa Claus manages to get down people's chimneys to deliver presents on Christmas. There's also a section where Ernie and Bert essentially re-enact the Gift of the Magi. And there's a fun series of segments where Cookie Monster tries to write a letter to Santa, only to get hungry and devour the various things he was using to write his letter. But perhaps best of all, there's no Elmo.

Rating: Christmas Cookies%

(Image from Amazon)

12 More Days of Christmas Specials: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

I managed to get in my annual viewing of my favorite Christmas Special with some friends last night, that special being A Muppet Family Christmas of course, so I thought I'd follow it up with some more of Jim Henson's Christmassy goodness. I'd heard of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas before, but I'm not sure if I'd ever actually seen it. The special tells the story of Emmet Otter and his widowed mother, two down on their luck otters trying to make ends meet. A local talent contest promising big time prize money offers them a chance to finally have a proper Christmas, but in order to enter they'll have to put their last few meager possessions in hock. They'll also have to compete with the likes of the Riverbottom Nightmare Band, a rock group made up of degenerates who sound an awful lot like Deep Purple. I was convinced that the special was going to be a serious downer, but it thankfully steers clear of cliche endings and overly maudlin moments.

Rating: 73%

(Image from muppetcentral.com)

12 Days of Christmas Specials - #12: A Muppet Family Christmas

A Muppet Family Christmas is my absolute favorite Christmas special, it just isn't Christmas for me unless I watch it at least once. There's been maybe one or two years in the last twenty three that I wasn't able to watch A Muppet Family Christmas and those were horrible times which need not be mentioned again. In the special, the Muppet gang decides to head down to Fozzy's mother's farmhouse for Christmas. The Muppets are eventually joined by the Sesame Street gang and the Fraggles. There's lots of singing and laughing and holiday cheer, it's god-damned beautiful. Merry Christmas y'all.

Rating: And a Partridge in a Pear Tree%

(Image from trustedopinion.com)