Countdown to Christmas: Christmas with the Lone Ranger (1956)

 Here's a holiday episode from The Lone Ranger, from the color era. We'll see you guys on Friday.

Musical Interlude: Driving Home For Christmas (1988)

 Nearly 10 years after he charted with "Fool If You Think It's Over", Chris Rea returned with "Driving Home For Christmas".

Earlier tonight, we learned that Chris has passed away at 74. Rest in peace.

Countdown to Christmas: Red Christmas (Medic, 1954)

 From season 1 of Medic:

A young woman's vision is endangered after an accident involving a drunk driver. Future stars Robert Bray (later of Lassie) and Stafford Repp (later of General Hospital & Batman) are the guest stars, as Richard Boone narrates.

Series creator James Moser wrote "Red Christmas":

Countdown to Christmas: Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (2025)

 Today's generation at Troy High isn't content with just going to class, oh, no!

Prior to the start of the first period earlier this week, the choir and select orchestra gathered in the lobby of the old barn to do "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town". Check it!

This was two weeks after the annual winter concert. I'll bet these kids are also bringing Christmas cheer across the city during off-hours. If not, that's next on the agenda.

Didn't have this back in the day when I was a student there, but, like, I think the older generations can appreciate it.

Countdown to Christmas: All I Want For Christmas (The Jeffersons, 1980)

 From season 7 of The Jeffersons:

George (Sherman Hemsley) is playing Santa, and gets a wish from an orphan (Meeno Peluce, ex-The Bad News Bears) who wants parents.......! Kaleena Kiff, later of Love, Sidney, also guests.

Edit, 3/28/26: Have to change the video. We have an excerpt, since the full episode was removed.

No rating.

Countdown to Christmas: Where Are You Christmas? (2025)

 25 years ago, Taylor Momsen played Cindy Lou Who opposite Jim Carrey in the live-action adaptation of "How The Grinch Stole Christmas". "Where Are You Christmas?" was recorded for the movie by Faith Hill, co-written by Mariah Carey, who'd actually recorded it herself, but couldn't release it due to legal issues surrounding ex-husband Tommy Mottola of Sony.

Momsen (ex-Gossip Girl) revisits her "Grinch" days, as her band, The Pretty Reckless, covers "Where Are You Christmas?", which merited an appearance last week on Jimmy Kimmel Live, but this is the official video.

YouTube Theatre: Christmas with Bob Hope (1969)

 In January 1969, NBC broadcast a belated Christmas special that chronicled Bob Hope's tour of Asia a few weeks earlier. Guests include Ann-Margret and Rosey Grier (Daniel Boone).

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas with Carol Burnett (1968)

 From season 2:

Opera singers Eileen Farrell & Marilyn Horne are the showcase guests, performing in musical skits with Carol. Also, Carol plays a mousy reporter interviewing a Hugh Hefner parody (Lyle Waggoner), who suddenly morphs into.......well, that would be telling!

To explain away Bernie Kopell (Get Smart, That Girl) appearing during the show-closing Christmas medley, he'd taped a skit that was edited out of the show for time constraints, and was used two months later, but he was part of the chorus at the end of the night.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas Time is (Coming Around Again)(2018)

 The Mavericks released the holiday CD, "Hey! Merry Christmas!" in 2018. From this album, we present the bouncy "Christmas Time Is (Coming Around Again)".

In memory of singer-guitarist Raul Malo, who passed away on Monday due to cancer complications. Rest in peace.

Countdown to Christmas: The Stockings Were Hung (The Shadow, 1939)

 Here's a holiday episode of The Shadow from 1939, and, yeah, it's been waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long since we checked in on radio's Dark Avenger.

Orson Welles stars in "The Stockings Were Hung". Disregard the fact that the thumbnail the YouTuber chose represents The Jack Benny Program.

Countdown to Christmas: I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas (1953)

 Gayla Peevey was just 10 when she released "I Want a Hippopotamus For Christmas", which landed her on The Ed Sullivan Show..........

72 years later, it still gets played every December.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas 2025 (Insight, 1977)

 Science fiction? On Insight? Yep.

This week's Insight Sundays entry is a warped vision of what was then the future, as envisioned by writer John McGreevey in 1977. Producer John Meredyth Lucas is no stranger to science fiction, having written several episodes of Star Trek during its run (1966-9).

McGreevey's script is inspired by the works of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and the movie, "Network", which came out a year earlier. Starring Elinor Donohue (ex-Father Knows Best, The Andy Griffith Show), Sam Groom (Another World, Police Surgeon), James Cromwell, Allan Lurie, & Sparky Marcus, in one of his first roles.

Insight Sundays returns after Christmas.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas with Judy Garland & family (1963)

 Judy Garland invited viewers into her home in December 1963 for her Christmas show. Judy is joined by her three children, daughters Liza Minelli (17 at the time) & Lorna Luft, and son Joe Luft. Jack Jones & Mel Torme are among the guests.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas Story (The Danny Thomas Show, 1963)

 From season 11 of The Danny Thomas Show, formerly Make Room For Daddy:

Danny is concerned that his family has forgotten what Christmas really means, so he sets out to remind them in this tune-filled half hour. Bernard Fox is the lone guest star.

Countdown to Christmas: The Christmas Story (Daniel Boone, 1965)

 From season 2 of Daniel Boone:

Daniel (Fess Parker) takes in a Native American couple expecting the birth of their first child. As Mingo (Ed Ames) points out, the couple also helped end a dispute between their warring tribes. 

Jay Silverheels (ex-The Lone Ranger) appears as a representative of one of the tribes sent to retrieve the mother-to-be. In the midst of a blizzard.

Watch for the climax, which suggests some divine intervention........

Keep an eye open for this one come Christmas Eve.....!

Rating: A.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas with Jackie Gleason & The Honeymooners (1966)

 Jackie Gleason's 1966 Christmas show features a show-length Honeymooners episode, in which Ralph (Gleason) & Ed Norton (Art Carney) take up gigs as a sidewalk Santa and his Helper to make some extra money, but run afoul of a shady type (Robert Strauss) taking advantage of them.....

The open & close were edited off this print, so we won't hear from announcer Johnny Olson.

Aside from a stint on Bewitched, Strauss seemed to be typecast as gangster-types, something he didn't deserve.

No rating. Just a public service.

Countdown to Christmas: Gabrielle (Bonanza, 1961)

 Yes, it's Thanksgiving Day, but today, we're also starting our annual Countdown to Christmas.

First up is a holiday entry from Bonanza, circa 1961. Hoss & Little Joe (Dan Blocker & Michael Landon) find a blind orphan (Diane Mountford) alone in the wilderness after her parents' deaths. She wants to find her grandfather, and that becomes a problem.........

Here's "Gabrielle":

Kevin Hagen would reunite with Michael Landon years later with a recurring role on Little House on The Prairie as the town doctor. In between, Hagen also recurred on Land of The Giants.

Happy Thanksgiving. We'll see you tomorrow.

Countdown to Christmas: Riu Riu Chiu (1967)

 From season 2 of The Monkees:

The guys go a capella for a reading of the Spanish song, "Riu Riu Chiu" (the official title), at the end of their Christmas episode.

Merry Christmas, and Feliz Navidad to out Spanish readers. We'll see you on Thursday.

Countdown to Christmas: Andy Williams' last NBC Christmas show (1970)

 Andy Williams had fallen victim to the networks' "rural purge" in the 1970-1 season, with his show cancelled before the season was over, replaced by Emergency!.

The final Christmas show of his 1969-71 run is, as per normal, a family affair, with three generations of the Williams family, including Andy's then-wife, singer-actress Claudine Longet, appearing with Charlie Callas, John Astin (ex-The Addams Family), and Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo). Astin & Keeshan figure into a lengthy fantasy sequence narrated by Longet.

Mind the bar on the left side of the screen, placed there by the poster to block a time stamp.

Rating: B.

Countdown to Christmas: Christmas with Bob Hope (1985)

 It was a tradition for decades at NBC, with Bob Hope hosting a Christmas special, and staying as contemporary as possible.

Take, for example, this 1985 entry. Bob is joined by William "The Refrigerator" Perry, then a rookie with the eventual Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears, Emmanuel Lewis (Webster), Barbara Eden, Brooke Shields, and the AP All-American football team, featuring a few future NFL stars, including Bo Jackson.

This show comes complete with commercials, including Joan Collins (Dynasty) shilling for Canada Dry. John Harlan is our announcer, while Danny Dark leads us in.

The Miami Vice parody was silly. All that was missing, since his then-entourage was there, was Michael Jackson. Bob sang "Silver Bells" for every Christmas show, and here, Eden gets the honors to sing with him.

Rating: A.