Christmastime is here, as the song from a certain TV perennial goes. And since lord knows you’ve seen the Peanuts gang dance to that jazzy piano music enough, the elves at Modern Tonic have pulled together a few vintage (and one new) alternatives to help summon the holiday spirit.
Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special
The most twisted host in the history of Saturday-morning TV puts on a Yuletide bash, with mucho song-and-dance and a guest list running the celebrity gamut, from k.d. lang and Grace Jones to Oprah and Charo. Coochie-coochie!
The Judy Garland Christmas Show
The voice behind “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” joins her daughters for a primetime holiday special in 1963. Could you ask for anything more? Okay, so – what if she invited Mel Torme and Jack Jones, too? Sold!
Sonny & Cher: The Christmas Collection
Shields & Yarnell = OMFG.
Captain & Tennille: The Christmas Show
The Captain and his canary play host as Tom “Mr. Cunningham” Bosley and Don “Mr. Furley” Knotts suck your brain through a pop-culture wormhole: The Pointers Sisters serve up a jazz-hot Count Basie medley and the Captain embarks on a solo voyage with a passage from the Nutcracker Suite.
A Shari Lewis Christmas
The world’s most famous sock-puppeteer puts the old back in old-school. But our hats go off to her for showing us that fists aren’t just for fighting.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas
The misanthropic foursome of this brilliantly funny TV series in their first Christmas special. It has all the raunchy humor, foul language and provocative mayhem you'd expect. Besides, what other holiday special gives us Danny DeVito running around naked in the middle of a Christmas party?
