Countdown to Christmas: Twas The Night Before Christmas (1977)

 Here's an ABC holiday special that hasn't seen broadcast since its only airing in 1977.

It seems that, aside from Hollywood Squares on NBC, Paul Lynde had a contract with ABC, and the network had set up a series of specials to fill out the contract after The New Temperatures Rising had been cancelled. In 1977, after his lone Halloween special, Lynde headlined an all-star cast for a live-action adaptation of Twas The Night Before Christmas, with a cast populated with old friends like Martha Raye, Alice Ghostley, Anne Meara, Foster Brooks, George Gobel, Howard Morris, and, for the present-day generation of the period, Anson Williams (Happy Days).

Lynde hadn't done much drama since a couple of guest turns on Burke's Law (1963-5),  and was eager for a chance to do some serious acting. The critics, unfortunately, weren't kind.

Mind the video and audio quality.

The ratings were so bad, apparently, that ABC took this out of its holiday roster, and never showed it again.

No rating. Just a public service.