Holiday Film Reviews

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown

2011-12-31T12:29:00.039-05:00

Premiered January 1, 1986

Charlie Brown(Chad Allen) and Linus (Jeremy Miller) are looking forward to Christmas vacation, but they're disappointed when their teacher assigns them to read War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy over the break, and write a book report about it. Charlie Brown feels that his vacation is ruined.

Peppermint Patty (Kristie Baker) invites Chuck to a New Year's Party and tells him it's a "boy invites girl" party. She says this is his chance to invite "the girl of your dreams," meaning herself. Charlie Brown tells her he can't do anything over vacation until he reads the book. Lucy (Melissa Guzzi) and Sally (Elizabeth Lyn Fraser) are also invited. Lucy enrolls them all in a dance class to prepare for the party. Charlie Brown also declines this, but he shows up to the dance studio, reading War And Peace on the side.

Charlie Brown eventually decides to attend the party, and invites Heather, better known as "that little red-haired girl" to the party, much to Peppermint Patty's disappointment. He slips an invitation through Heather's mail slot, getting his hand stuck in the process.

On the night of December 30, Heather still hasn't responded to Charlie Brown's invitation, which makes him sad. And he still hasn't finished War And Peace.
New Year's Eve arrives, Charlie Brown attends Peppermint Patty's party. He brings his book along and sneaks out to the front porch to read it. Charlie Brown waits there, hoping Heather will show up.

Will Charlie Brown finish his book review of War And Peace before the end of Christmas break? Will Heather show up to the party? Will Lucy get "dog germs" from Snoopy at the party? You'll have to watch and see!

J.A. Morris says:

I'll say upfront that I'm a huge fan of Peanuts. I own books of the comic strips and dvds of most Charlie Brown specials. But I hadn't seen nor heard of Happy New Year, Charlie Brown until 3 years ago. It's a good special, if not quite as good as the classic Peanuts specials of the 60s and 70s. Charlie Brown simply wants to enjoy himself on vacation and at the party, but things that are (mostly) beyond his control keep getting in the way. But we do get two rare scenes where Chuck gets to actually smile and seems to have a good time. And much of the story feels like it was taken straight from the comic strips.

Hardcore fans of Snoopy may be a bit disappointed, as he doesn't have a big role here. But we do get a classic confrontation between him and Lucy (spoiler alert:Snoopy gets the best of her). The voice actors do a pretty good job too.

I have two problems with this special: A teacher would never assign War And Peace to be reviewed over Christmas vacation. And I'm also not sure what age group Chuck and friends are supposed to be in this special. Elementary school? Middle school? How many kids of those age groups are assigned to read Tolstoy?

Beyond that, it's a fun special. There aren't many New Year specials, but this has become one I've watched every year since I learned about it.

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown can be found as a bonus feature on the dvd of I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown and it's also currently streaming on Hulu.

My rating:

3 champagne flutes

RigbyMel says:

Like J.A. Morris, this special was new to me until three years ago. It's quite a cute special, but I am mildly disappointed that Snoopy and Woodstock didn't have more to do in it.

Still, it's fun to see the Peanuts gang learning the foxtrot during the dance lesson scene and playing musical chairs at the New Year's Eve party. (Musical chairs seems much more of an age-appropriate activity than reading War and Peace over Christmas vacation for the Peanuts kids.) I find it interesting that Linus is in the same class as Charlie Brown yet he doesn't seem concerned about the hefty reading assignment at all (in fact, Linus seems to know a lot about Tolstoy and his wife already). Maybe he's a fast reader or has already read the book?

There are a lot of fun little side bits that feel episodic in a comic strip like fashion, my favorite is a sequence where Linus, Lucy and their little brother Rerun are blowing up balloons for the party. Rerun's balloons turn out in a very unique fashion.

As J.A. Morris says, this is an enjoyable special but not quite in the same league as many of the earlier Peanuts specials. That being said, it is good fun and well worth adding to one's regular holiday viewing!

RigbyMel's rating:

3 champagne flutes (or should they be sparkling cider flutes since the Peanuts kids are underage?)

Happy Days-"Guess Who's Coming To Christmas"

2011-12-24T11:19:00.003-05:00

First aired December 17, 1974

We open with Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) telling Richie (Ron Howard) and Joanie (Erin Moran) that they will celebrate Christmas Eve together with only family members invited. They ask if it’s okay to have a friend or two over, Howard says no.

The Cunninghams are putting up Christmas decorations, including a (creepy looking) robotic Santa in their front yard. The Santabot isn’t working properly and keeps hitting Richie in the head, they’re upset that the Santabot won’t be working on Christmas Eve.

Richie's older brother Chuck (Randolph Roberts) has returned home for Christmas. Chuck is trying to put lights on the tree, but like the Santabot, the lights aren't working.

Richie meets up with Ralph & Potsie (Donny Most and Anson Williams, respectively) at Arnolds. Fonzie (Henry Winkler) shows up with gifts for everyone. Potsie has nothing to give the Fonze, but invites him to spend Christmas Eve with his family. Fonzie declines and says he's spending Christmas with his cousin in Waukesha. He tells of all the presents and elaborate dinner plans await him in Waukesha. Richie & the gang are a little skeptical about Fonzie's Holiday plans.

At Howard’s hardware store, the company Christmas party is ending, so he and Richie close up and plan to drive home. But their car breaks down, so Richie calls Fonzie to ask if he can fix it. Fonzie tows the car to his garage and repairs it, delaying his “bus” to Waukesha, so Howard offers him a ride as payment for the repair. He declines and says goodnight to the Cunninghams. As they're about to leave, Richie realizes he forgot to give Fonzie his Christmas present. He opens the door sees and Fonzie opening a can of food; it’s obvious he’s not going anywhere and will be spending Christmas alone. Fonzie doesn’t notice Richie, so he walks back to the car, not wanting to hurt Fonzie's pride.

Howard and Richie return home to trim their tree with their family. Marion (Marion Ross) has popped popcorn for stringing. Unfortunately the lights aren’t working. Chuck tries to fix the lights again, they still don't work, but everyone is satisfied with the tree. Richie is feeling bad for Fonzie, so he and Howard go visit him to give him the present. Richie also wants to ask Fonzie to join the Cunningham family Holiday celebration. Can they convince Fonzie to spend Christmas with them, or will his own pride and stubbornness force him to spend Christmas alone?

J.A. Morris says:

When I was kid growing up in the 70s, I was a big fan of Happy days, but I've found the series hasn't aged well since then. But "Guess Who's Coming To Christmas" is a very good Christmas episode. It shows that spending Christmas alone is a painful prospect for anyone, including people as cool as Fonzie. And I can relate to Richie and Howard here, sometimes it's difficult to offer help to a friend or family member without offending them.

One thing that makes this an interesting episode is Fonzie's voice. Henry Winkler hadn't perfected it yet, so his voice is a bit higher-pitched than the one we knew and loved.

Fans of TV trivia will be interested to know this was the last appearance of Chuck Cunningham on Happy Days. The character was never mentioned again and eventually written out of existence. Because of this, there's a TV Trope known as Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.

This episode can be found on the "Happy Days-The Complete Second Season" dvd set, and also streams on Hulu.

My rating:

3 Candy Canes

A follow-up about "I Wish It Was Christmas Today"

2011-12-23T15:16:00.009-05:00

A week or two ago, I posted a brief history of the song "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" from Saturday Night Live. Near the end of the piece, I wrote this:

"But we may get another performance on SNL. This week's (December 17,2011) host will be none other than Jimmy Fallon. Will we get cameos by Sanz, Morgan and Kattan? Will "the band" back together for one more Christmas performance? I certainly hope so!"

Well, maybe Jimmy Fallon reads this blog (just kidding), because we got a brand new performance of the song and a reunion of the "band"! Here's the 2011 edition of "I Wish It Was Christmas Today":

So perhaps there's still hope that one day, we'll turn on an All-Christmas radio station and hear this song right after Bing Crosby and Mariah Carey!

Harry And The Potters At The Yule Ball 2008

2011-12-18T12:27:00.005-05:00

Recorded December 21, 2008, released December 2009.

Harry and The Potters are the world's first "Wizard Rock" band, made up of two brothers, Joe (vocals,keyboard, tenor saxophone, glockenspiel and theremin) and Paul DeGeorge (vocals, guitar, baritone saxophone and melodica). They formed in 2002 and have been playing songs about Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Voldemort and co. ever since. On stage, Joe and Paul both perform as "Harry Potter," with older brother Paul playing an older version of Harry and younger brother Joe as a younger incarnation of the boy wizard. The Potters have used their concerts as a way to promote literacy and often perform at libraries or book stores. Every year around the Holidays, they've played Yule Balls, inspired by the event featured in the book (and film) Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire.

At The Yule Ball 2008 captures the Potters' performance from the 4th annual Yule Ball held at the Middle East club in Cambridge, MA. They come on stage in Santa hats and open up with "We Wish You A Merry Christmas", then segue into their original song "Yule Ball." In addition to their usual repertoire of songs about all things Potter ("Save Ginny Weasley", "Dumbledore", "I'm A Wizard"), the Potters also perform several original Christmas songs including "Xmas Rulez, Voldmort Droolz," "Christmas Shopping for Dobby," "Xmas at Hogwarts" and a (mostly-spoken word) story-song called "How Hagrid Saved Christmas." During the encore, they lead the audience in a singalong of classic seasonal songs like Rudolph and Frosty.

The Brothers DeGeorge are backed by Brad Mehlenbacher on drums, and several fans are invited on stage to play clarinet, flute and saxophone. "Santa Claus" himself shows up to play lead guitar on a few songs.

J.A. Morris says:
I was fortunate enough to attend a Yule Ball in Washington, DC this past December. It was one of the most enjoyable concerts I've been to in a long time! The De Georges are great entertainers who obviously love what they do on stage. They took turns singing lead and usually harmonized nicely on the choruses. They also acted as MCs of the Ball, introducing other Wizard Rock bands. If you're a fan of Harry Potter books and movies, I strongly recommend you get to a Yule Ball next year. You will not be disappointed.

At The Yule Ball can't compare to attending a Yule Ball in person, but it's the next best thing. It's a fun concert movie, we watched it while we put up Christmas decorations in our living room. I mentioned that Mr. Claus himself shows up to play lead guitar on a few songs. Watching "Santa" shred is always cool. I especially liked the original Christmas songs the Potters performed here. Christmas plays an important role in the Harry Potter series, these songs feel very true to both the spirit of the Holidays and J.K. Rowling's stories.

When I rate films & movies here, I don't usually add caveats, but:
At The Yule Ball is only available for purchase at the official store of Harry And The Potters and is not available via Netflix, Hulu, etc. So it's not as easy to watch as most of what we review here. If you're unfamiliar with their music, you can sample some of it here.

Having said that, it's highly recommended if you're a fan of Harry Potter, Christmas or both!

My rating:

4 candy canes.

RigbyMel says:

I agree with J.A. Morris generally about Harry and the Potters and about the At The Yule Ball DVD in particular. I really like the homemade with love ethos and positive energy that is evident in the Potters' perfomances. J.K. Rowling should be pleased to have people riffing on her work like this! Highly recommended! I also recommend checking out a Yule Ball live and in person for yourself if you can manage it - our trip to the 2011 Yule Ball in D.C. was tons of fun!

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes

2011 Yule Ball Poster

Glee - "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"

2011-12-13T22:29:00.025-05:00

Aired December 13, 2011

In this episode the members of the New Direction glee club are celebrating the holidays just after Sectionals are over. The show opens with Mercedes (Amber Riley) singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" with the other members of the club joining in.

Mercedes singing "All I Want For Christmas Is You"

After the opening number, we learn that Finn (Cory Monteith) is having trouble finding a Christmas present for Rachel (Lea Michelle). Rachel gives him an expensive and long list full of "bling" and tells Finn he can just get her five things off of it. Finn is hit with the realization that, “Holy crap, I'm dating Kim Kardashian.”

Finn and Rachel sharing a Christmas moment by the lockers

We cut to a scene where Coach Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) is talking to Kurt (Chris Colfer), Artie (Kevin McHale) and Blaine (Darren Criss) in her office. Sue is being uncharacteristically magnanimous, saying she forgives the New Directions for past misunderstandings (mostly of her own creation) and wants them to sing at a homeless shelter. Sue has been looking for ways to keep busy since her sister died and says that her plans to shoot reindeer with Sarah Palin fell through.

Irish exchange student Rory (Damian McGinty) will be spending Christmas away from his family for the first time. He sings "Blue Christmas" as a tribute to them. Sam (Chord Overstreet), who is also away from his family, is sympathetic and offers to be Rory's Christmas sponsor and show him how Americans celebrate the holiday.

Meanwhile, glee club sponsor teacher, Will Schuster (Matthew Morrison) has an exciting proposition for the group - their very own television Christmas special with Artie as director. (The local tv affiliate has lost the rights to the "Christmas Yule Log" video and needs to fill time.) Artie agrees to direct as long as he can film in black and white and include a Star Wars tie-in - which was inspired by the Force (apparently) infiltrating Artie's dreams. We get a great cameo from Chewbacca when the scene shows us what was going on in Artie's head.

Chewbacca and the cast of Glee - what a Wookiee!

Unfortunately, the planned tv special is scheduled for the same time as the planned visit to the homeless shelter, but everyone is so excited about being on television that they don't think it through.

Artie auditions people's song ideas for the special including Rachel covering Joni Mitchell's "River." He deems it too depressing. Rachel counters that "Joni Mitchell isn't depressing, she's emotional!" but Artie is unmoved. His vision for the show sounds like a corny old school Christmas special with Kurt and Blaine receiving guests at their "ski chalet" and random friends dropping by to perform various musical numbers. We see lots of these in the show including Kurt and Blaine's rendition of "Let It Snow", Britney and the Cheerios doing a cover of the Waitresses' "Christmas Wrapping" and Rachel and Mercedes duetting on "My Favorite Things."

As per usual, we get to see disagreements between members of the Glee club in this episode. Will Finn find the right present for Rachel? Will the Glee club help bring Christmas cheer to the homeless or will dreams of local tv stardom get in the way? "Yule" (haha) have to watch this episode of Glee and see for yourself!

Haul out the holly (and tinsel) ...

RigbyMel says:

This is the second Christmas episode for Glee and it is ... ok. Not great, but ok. I enjoyed the fun references to old-style Christmas variety specials of yore, right down to the deliberately goofy overacting and stilted segues into songs - it kind of reminded me of a less funny Colbert Christmas. The songs were mostly well-chosen (with one exception that I'll get to momentarily). I find it irritating that the producers of the show choose to use and abuse auto-tune on EVERY SONG especially on people like Amber Riley and Lea Michelle who have fine singing voices and DON'T need to be electronically tweaked onto the right pitch - this is a general complaint I have about the series.

I also don't like the fact that we have yet another instance of women being portrayed as crazy or greedy on the show in the subplot about Rachel wanting "bling" from Finn for the holidays. (SPOILER ALERT: Rachel eventually sees the error of her ways in this ep. However, I have doubts that the lesson learned will carry forward much in future episodes of the show.)

Which brings me to another lesson we're supposed to take away from the show - yes, being kind to people and thinking of others at the holidays is a GREAT message to be putting out there and it cannot be repeated often enough. BUT the use of the ultimate "white-guilt" song "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is condescending at best, and perhaps a bit insulting at worst. I have never been a fan of this song whether in a Bob Geldof, Glee or any other context and I find the song's treatment of the subject - hunger/homelessness - to be smug and heavy-handed. ("Thank God it's them instead of you" - REALLY?)

Complaints aside though, if you are a fan of Glee and/or Christmas there are definitely things to enjoy in this episode - I cannot call it a "classic" though.

My rating:
Two and a half candy canes

J.A. Morris says:

We're in general agreement on "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," including our feelings about "Do They Know It's Christmas." A decent episode, but not one I see myself watching annually. I thought Amber Riley did a better job at hitting the high notes than Mariah Carey does on "All I Want For Christmas Is You." The episode features an original song called "Extraordinary Merry Christmas," which is okay, but won't make you forget "White Christmas" or "Rudolph."

I also appreciated the episode's references to A Charlie Brown Christmas (such as Rory's reading at the end) and The Star Wars Holiday Special .

In last year's Christmas episode (which we have yet to review), we learned that Britney (Heather Morris) still believed in Santa Claus. It would've been nice to know if she still believes, but the writers seem to have forgotten about that plot line (as they often do).

As a fan of the classic Holiday variety shows RigbyMel mentioned, I'll admit that the "chalet" scenes brought a smile to my face. Chris Colfer and Darren Criss did a nice job here with the singing and dancing.

My rating:
Two and a half candy canes

One of my favorite modern Christmas songs:SNL's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today"

2011-12-13T19:35:00.002-05:00

"All I know is that Santa's sleigh
Is makin it's way to the U.S.A.
I wish it was Christmas today"

In a recent post, I talked about Saturday Night Live's history of original songs about Thanksgiving. SNL has also given us one of my favorite modern Christmas songs.

On December 9, 2000, this simple title card appeared on screen :

Several cast members then appeared on a stage with fake snow falling in the background.
The song features Horatio Sanz on guitar and lead vocals, Jimmy Fallon on keyboard and back-up vocals, Chris Kattan holding the keyboard and dancing, and Tracy Morgan dancing. Sanz and Fallon also wrote the song.

Here's the first ever performance of "I Wish It Was Christmas Today":

It's a very happy, up-tempo number, Sanz's vocals give the song a very charming child-like quality. "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" went over so well that it was brought back for an encore performance on December 16 that year (I haven't been able to find a clip of that performance yet).

The song returned in December 1, 2001. As you'll hear from the crowd reaction, this song had already become a fan favorite.

On December 14, 2002, Sanz and company upped the ante. They busted out of a giant gift box and performed the song in costumes that represented popular toys given at Christmas that year.

If you're keeping score, that's Sanz as a teddy bear, Fallon as Harry Potter, Kattan as a soldier and Morgan as Chicken Dance Elmo.

The song was not performed in 2003, perhaps due to the departure of Kattan and Morgan.

On December 18, 2004, Sanz came on stage, guitar in hand and called out for Fallon, Kattan and Morgan to join him. They didn't, because they'd already quit the show. Sanz was a bit dejected, until Kermit the Frog showed up and offered to help sing "I Wish It Was Christmas Today". They were joined by Kermit's Muppet friends, Fozzie, Gonzo and Animal for a truly memorable performance.

The song wasn't performed the next year, which also happened to be Sanz's last season on SNL. It seemed that "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" would soon be forgotten.

And it was , until Julian Casablancas (lead singer of The Strokes) recorded a rock version of the song in 2009 that featured electric guitars, drums, etc. Here's Casablancas's version:

Finally, we got a special performance of "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on December 21, 2009. Sanz and Fallon sang the first verse of the song. Suddenly the camera panned over to the center of the stage to Casablancas, backed by hip-hop legends The Roots (who also serve as the Late Night house band). Sanz and Fallon eventually join Casablancas, it's a great once-in-a lifetime performance, nicely punched up by the Roots' brass section.

I Wish It Was Christmas Today from denisedahlin on Vimeo.

I'm a little disappointed to say that I've never heard this song play in any store or on any "All-Christmas" radio stations during the Holiday season. "I Wish It Was Christmas Today" should be hailed as a modern Christmas classic. I can even imagine Bing Crosby, Darlene Love or Rankin-Bass characters singing the song!

But we may get another performance on SNL. This week's (December 17,2011) host will be none other than Jimmy Fallon. Will we get cameos by Sanz, Morgan and Kattan? Will "the band" back together for one more Christmas performance? I certainly hope so!

And after typing this up, I do, indeed wish it was Christmas today!

J.A.

Northern Exposure - "Seoul Mates"

2011-12-07T22:28:00.021-05:00

This quirky prime time drama ran from 1990 to 1995

This review first appeared as a guest post on Joanna Wilson's fabulous Christmas TV Companion blog which we love and you should definitely check out!

Of Ravens and Talking Dogs ...

This episode from season 3 of the series first aired on December 16th, 1991. It begins with Dr. Joel Fleischman (Rob Morrow) observing the town of Cicely's preparations for Christmas. Since he was brought up in a strict Jewish family, Fleischman was never allowed to have a Christmas tree and decides to seize the opportunity and have one of his own for the very first time. Trouble is, he doesn't quite know what to do with it once he's got it and he seeks advice from Maggie O'Connell (Janine Turner) and various other townspeople about it.

The cast from Northern Exposure - l to r Ed, Marilyn, Maggie, Chris, Joel, Maurice, Shelley and Holling

Maggie is dreading going home to Michigan to spend time with her family, only to be surprised and a bit confused to learn that her parents have decided to skip the family holiday in favor of a trip to the Caribbean.

Meanwhile, Maurice Minnifield (Barry Corbin) learns that he has a long-lost son – Duk Won (James Song) who shows up on his doorstep just in time for the holidays. It turns out that Maurice's time as a Marine in Korea also has given him a son and a whole family (as mom and grandmother) also come along for the ride. Maurice has always wanted a son, but is upset by the fact that the son he has is not white. After several missteps, Maurice gets into the spirit of the holidays and makes an effort to get to know his family and Maurice learns to appreciate his son for who he is.

Maurice with his new family

The town barkeep, Holling Vincoeur (John Cullum) is concerned about his wife Shelley (Cynthia Geary) who is pining after her traditional, Catholic Christmas. Holling sets out to fulfill Shelley's Christmas wish appropriating the local Unitarian Church, decorating it in a High Mass fashion with candles and a Nativity and singing “Ave Maria” for her. (Awww!)

Raven ornament

In the multicultural 90s spirit of the show, we learn about the Alaskan native tradition of the Raven, which parallels the Nativity story. The tale is first told to Fleischman by Marilyn Whirlwind (Elaine Miles) and then reprised as a “Raven Pageant” towards the end of the episode. Here is a YouTube clip of the pageant:

Chris Stevens (John Corbett), the local radio host acts in his usual role as philosopher/Greek chorus for the show and gives us some great thoughts on ravens - including a reference to Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem - and later shares a childhood Christmas memory that also has to do with talking animals. This last bit of philosophizing is one of our favorite bits from the whole episode – here's the clip:

RigbyMel says:

Although I watched Northern Exposure quite regularly, this episode somehow escaped my attention until very recently. (My only excuse is that I was in high school at the time and exams were probably eating my brain in mid-December 1991.) I watched this episode for the first time this past holiday season largely because of a chance encounter with the lovely Joanna Wilson of Christmas TV History fame. Joanna was visiting Richmond to promote her Christmas books and she had stopped at my place of business, the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. It was a rainy day and we got to chatting and lo, Christmas TV and movies came up! Joanna asked if I was aware that Poe's “The Raven” was referenced in this particular Northern Exposure episode and I had to say that I wasn't but would definitely check it out. Needless to say, the disc with the episode went into the Netflix queue pretty much as soon as I got home from work and I am very grateful for the recommendation. I loved the multicultural aspects of the show and the fact that the residents of Cicely all get along in spite of their differences. The raven aspects of the show made it all the more fun and Chris's “my Christmas wish for you – may your dog talk” speech gave me warm fuzzies (especially as our doggie was cuddled up with JAMorris and myself on the sofa as we watched that scene). I rather suspect that this episode is now required annual holiday viewing in our household.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes

J.A.Morris says:
Unlike RigbyMel, I remember watching this when it was new. But I only remembered the part that focused on Maurice and Duk Won until Joanna recommended the episode. Northern Exposure was one of my favorite series of the 90s, there was a time when I wished I could live in a place like Cicely, even when I knew it was an idealized community. Having gotten reacquainted with episode, it's inspired us to re-watch the series. “Seoul Mates” is one of the best episodes of the series and has become one of my favorite Christmas episodes.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes

Saturday Night Live's Tradition Of Thanksgiving Songs

2011-11-24T10:50:00.004-05:00

Hi again everyone,
We're big fans of Saturday Night Live, especially of the show's classic eras.

SNL has never had a "Thanksgiving episode", but the show has featured quite a few Thanksgiving-themed musical numbers over the years.

In 1976, host Paul Simon opened the show by singing "Still Crazy After All These Years"...in a turkey costume:

Sorry I couldn't find any video of this online. Simon stops in the middle of the performance and calls it "one of the most humiliating experiences of my life!"

Perhaps the most famous Thanksgiving song in the show's history was performed on November 21, 1992. Adam Sandler introduced "The Thanksgiving Song", a new song he'd written about eating turkey. It also contains a plethora 90s pop culture references that have nothing to do with Thanksgiving:

A year later (November 20,1993 to be exact), Sandler did an excellent impression of Bruce Springsteen performing a Thanksgiving song.
Here's a Springsteen Thanksgiving:

In 1996, we got a sketch featuring multiple singers auditioning new Thanksgiving songs for a grant from the National Endowment of the Arts. This sketch includes the debut of Cinder Calhoun, played by Ana Gasteyer. "Cinder" would become a recurring character on the show for several years. Tim Meadows also stands out in this sketch performing a sultry, soulful and innuendo-filled Thanksgiving ballad.
Watch "Thanksgiving Song Auditions" here:

And speaking of Cinder Calhoun, she showed up the next year on Weekend Update to perform another Thanksgiving song. The song condemns the killing of turkeys on Thanksgiving and compares Butterball to Hitler and Stalin! She was joined by musical guest Sarah McLachlan on "Basted In Blood:
Here it is, from 11/22/97:

And just last year, current cast member Jay Pharoh appeared on Weekend Update and wondered what a Thanksgiving rap written by Jay-Z or Biggie Smalls would sound like. Pharoh proceeded to rap about Thanksgiving and it's trappings, from November 20, 2010:

So maybe if you're musically inclined, you'll find yourself leading your family in a singalong of one of these songs tonight after you've finished all the pumpkin pie. Okay, that probably won't happen (considering some of these songs contain outdated references George Wendt and Darryl Strawberry), but these songs are still lots of fun.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

J.A. Morris and Rigbymel

The Bob Newhart Show-"An American Family"

2011-11-21T11:15:00.010-05:00

Premiered November 23, 1974

Bob Hartley (Bob Newhart) and his wife Emily (Suzanne Pleshette) are preparing for Thanksgiving. Bob's parents Martha and Herb (Martha Scott and Barnard Hughes) are spending Thanksgiving with them for the first time in five years. Martha is a control freak and has strict ideas about how a turkey should be prepared, what pies should be served, how table seating should be arranged, etc. Bob's sister Ellen (Pat Finley) and her fiance Howard (Bill Daily) will also be there. Howard is very nervous about meeting Ellen's parents for the first time. Bob's office mate Jerry (Peter Bonerz) and his receptionist Carol (Marcia Wallace) will also be joining them for Thanksgiving dinner, so there will be eight dinner guests all together.

Emily's parents, Junior and Aggie Harrison (John Randolph and Ann Rutherford) show up unannounced, they've flown in with a 35-pound turkey and intend to celebrate the holiday with Bob and Emily. Martha doesn't like this, as she has planned to cook a turkey. Plus she and Junior have never gotten along, they start sniping at each other immediately. So the Hartleys will now have ten guests at Thanksgiving dinner, Jerry agrees to bring extra chairs. Bob and Emily agree to try to keep the peace between Martha and Junior.

On Thanksgiving Day,Junior and Martha make up flimsy excuses so they can skip dinner and avoid each other. Emily invites her parents for dessert, and Bob does the same, as a way of forcing them to act like adults. Can Martha and Junior finish their pie without ruining Thanksgiving?

J.A. Morris says:

This is a great Thanksgiving episode because most of us can relate to the plot. I've been in holiday scenarios where I had to keep peace between relatives for one reason or another. Bob and Emily were often the sanest characters on the show, this time the "crazies" they have to deal with are their own parents.

I hadn't watched The Bob Newhart show in years, but it's still a very funny series. It featured a great ensemble cast, every character had at least two laugh lines in "An American Family". Barnard Hughes (one of the best character actors of his era) stands out as Herb. He gets to deliver a great speech about families uniting around what they have in common during holiday gatherings.

This episode can be found on the third season dvd set of The Bob Newhart Show and is currently streaming on Hulu.

My rating:
3 and a half pumpkin pies

Cheers-"Thanksgiving Orphans"

2011-11-16T15:53:00.006-05:00

Premiered November 27, 1986

Woody: "This is my first Thanksgiving away from home...unless you count last year."

Diane: "What could be more enjoyable than opening your heart this holiday season?"

Carla: "Opening yours with a can opener?"

It's the week of Thanksgiving, but Woody is already putting up Christmas decorations, including a paper Rudolph he made. Sam says it seems like Christmas comes earlier every year. Frasier rants about the unhealthy messages for children inherent in the "Rudolph", he says the song "gives them a horribly distorted view of reality."

The gang is talking about their Thanksgiving plans: Sam has a date for the holiday (this episode takes place when Sam and Diane's relationship was "on again,off again" and they were often playing mind games); Norm says he’s(unhappily) spending it with his wife Vera and her mother; Diane is attending a recreation of the original Plymouth Thanksgiving feast at the home her literature professor.

Carla, Woody, Cliff & Frasier have no plans and it looks like they’ll be alone. Diane suggests Carla host Thanksgiving for all those who have no family nearby. Carla says yes, but insists it will be a pot-luck dinner. She invites Sam and his date, Norm offers to bring a turkey and says he’ll talk Vera into joining the gang at Carla’s house too.

One by one, everyone arrives at Carla’s house and they sit down to watch football & the Macy's parade. Norm brings a turkey that hasn’t been cooked yet, and also mentions that he and Vera had “the worst fight of our marriage” about their Thanksgiving plans. Sam shows up without his date, his plans have fallen through too.

Diane also shows up unexpectedly, Carla initially slams the door (literally) in her face. Diane’s professor only invited her so she could serve food, she is broken and humiliated. Norm’s turkey is still being cooked while they watch football, much to Diane’s dismay.

Hours pass, the turkey (dubbed “Birdzilla” by Carla) is still not ready. While waiting, Diane suggests everyone get up and tell what they’re thankful for.

After the “thankfuls” are over, the turkey is STILL not done, so they decide to eat the side dishes. Carla keeps ribbing Norm about the lack of turkey, Norm responds by throwing peas at her, then everyone joins in and we have a classic TV food fight!

J A Morris says:

‘Cheers’ is a show I literally grew up watching. The first episode premiered when I was 11 years old, I was 21 when the series finale aired in 1993. But this is the first episode I’d seen in a decade and it’s one of the best. The Cheers workers & customers always acted as a support system for one another, so why not spend Thanksgiving together? Frasier points out that families are "not necessarily limited to blood relations." And like most “families”, there were always certain characters that were disliked by others, but in the end, they still come together to celebrate Thanksgiving...and have one of the greatest food fights in TV history!

After dinner, the gang is toasting absent friends and family members. Sam proposes a toast to Coach, the Cheers bartender who died the previous year. I always appreciate it when long-running shows mention departed characters. Since the actor who played Coach, Nicholoas Colasanto died in real life, this moment was especially poignant.

This is also an interesting ‘Cheers’ episode because the bulk of the action takes place outside the bar.

"Thanksgiving Orphans" makes for great seasonal viewing. It's available for streaming if you're a Netflix subscriber and is also available on the "Cheers:Complete Fifth Season" dvd set.

My rating:

4 pumpkin pies

RigbyMel says:

"Thanksgiving Orphans" is not a Cheers episode that I recall watching when it first aired, but even though I have come to it late, I have to say that this episode is a classic one. The food fight alone makes it worthwhile, but Diane in pilgrim garb and the battle to cook Birdzilla the turkey are also wonderful moments.

This episode reminds me of the time I spent in the UK rounding up random British friends to celebrate the US holiday. (I spent 3 Thanksgivings across the pond.) I had much better luck with the cooking aspects of the holiday, thanks in part to a little forward planning and overseas phone calls to my very patient mother. (I wound up making sweet potato pie rather than pumpkin pie as sweet potatoes were more readily available in Britain.) I was very glad to have kind friends in Britain who were willing to help me celebrate, not unlike the way that the characters from Cheers banded together to help each other enjoy the holiday (although, my friends and I didn't have a food fight!). So I find that this episode of Thanksgiving orphan-hood resonates with me in a very personal way.

Overall this is a great episode of a great series and one not to be missed.

RigbyMel's rating:

4 pumpkin pies

Tower Heist

2011-11-14T21:37:00.027-05:00

Released November 4, 2011

Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the building manager of the Tower, a high rise apartment in New York's Columbus Circle. (New Yorkers may recognize the building as the actual Trump Tower.) Josh is friendly with tycoon and Tower penthouse resident Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). The Tower's staff consists of a large and multi-ethnic crew including: Lester (Stephen Henderson), the doorman, Charlie the concierge (Casey Affleck), Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), a hotel maid, and Enrique (Michael Pena), a new elevator operator.

We also briefly meet a few other wealthy residents of the Tower all of whom have idiosyncratic and exacting expectations of the staff.

Josh's boss, Mr. Simon (Judd Hirsch) tells him to take care of an eviction that needs to take place discreetly. The evictee is Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), a Wall Street trader who has lost everything in the recent stock market crash. Josh doesn't have the heart to toss Fitzhugh out on the street and finds a way to delay the eviction.

The next day, Arthur Shaw gets arrested by the FBI for running a Bernie Madoff-like Ponzi scheme. As it turns out, Josh had given all the staff pension funds to Shaw for investments, so the entire staff is now without retirement money.

Josh realizes that Shaw is hiding missing funds in his penthouse without the knowledge of the FBI investigators. He tries to confront Shaw, with disastrous results, and gets himself (as well as Charlie and Enrique) fired. In disgust, and with a view towards making use of insider knowledge of the Tower's daily routines, Josh devises a Robin Hood-esque scheme to try and get the pension money back. He enlists the aid of Charlie and Enrique as well as Mr. Fitzhugh - they make an unlikely team. Josh also brings in an outsider -- Slide (Eddie Murphy), a fast talking small time con artist from Queens -- to supply the criminal knowledge that he and his colleagues blatantly lack.

Our band of miscreants chooses Thanksgiving Day to pull off their master plan due to the complicating factor of the Macy's Parade passing right by the Tower, thereby making police intervention much more difficult. Will our unlikely heroes pull off the heist and give Shaw his comeuppance? Or will they wind up in prison while Shaw goes free? Will they all get entanlged in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon? Watch and find out!

RigbyMel says:

As is typical in this sort of caper film, nothing quite goes according to plan, which is part of the fun. The prominent role of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade makes this a memorable holiday film. Although I tend to find Ben Stiller a bit bland as the lead in moviess, his character is likeable enough. That being said, the performances by the supporting cast are what makes this film "pop." Eddie Murphy's Slide is hilarious and reminiscent of some of his earlier work from the 1980s. Sadly, I feel Slide is a bit under-used in terms of the overall plot. Gabourey Sidibe's safe-cracking Jamaican maid, Odessa is also a great addition to the cast. It is nice to see
Sidibe displaying her comedic abilities.
There are a few plot holes one could drive a 1963 Ferrari through if you think about them too hard, but this movie is about light-hearted caper-tastic fun rather than tight plotting. It is worth a look, but may not be one for annual November viewing.

My rating:
2 1/2 pumpkin pies

J.A. Morris says:
We're in general agreement about this movie, and the work of the actors. I'll add that Alan Alda is great as White Collar criminal Arthur Shaw. But the real star of this movie is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it's a "character" just as much as any of the human characters in "Tower Heist". And this movie is a reminder that the parade is just as uniquely (North) American as Thanksgiving Day itself.
My rating:

Jem And The Holograms-"Trick Or Techrat"

2011-11-03T22:47:00.054-04:00

Premiered October 30,1987

Jem and her band mates are hanging out Starlight House(the home for foster girls Jem operates) watching a scary vampire movie. Suddenly, two girls run in wearing Halloween masks, scaring everyone.

Most of them laugh it off, Terry (one of the girls who is in foster care) is more scared than anyone else, in fact she is terrified and takes a few minutes to calm down after realizing the "monsters" are just kids like her.

The Holograms' manager Rio shows up late at night and takes them for a ride to an old opera house. He tells them it is being threatened with demolition, but could be saved if the Holograms play a benefit concert.

They meet Frederick Vincent, the nice but eccentric owner of the opera house. Vincent is grateful for the Holograms offer to help the opera house, their benefit concert will be held on Halloween Eve.

Frederick Vincent greets the Holograms in a Dracula costume!

Later, Jem and the residents of Starlight House start preparing for Halloween.

Terry is carving a pumpkin when she is suddenly scared again by a Halloween mask. This causes her to accidentally smash her pumpkin.

She cries and declares "I hate Halloween". Jem consoles her, saying that it can be fun to be scared at Halloween, since it's all just pretend.

Terri gets scared by a mask

Terry accompanies the Holograms to the opera house. She gets scared once again when she sees the venue's address is 1313.

Elsewhere, the Misfits (a rival band and the Holograms' arch nemesis) are angry and jealous when they learn that the Holograms are holding a benefit concert. The Misfits' leader Pizzazz decides to stage their own concert billed as "The Misfits Present:Midnight Madness".

The Misfits,L-R:Jetta,Pizzazz,Roxy

Their manager Eric sends them to real estate mogul Terrence Landau. Landau says he'll finance the Misfits concert. He wants the opera house to close because it gets in the way of his "beautiful skyline". Landau will by the site of the opera house when it closes, then he plans to demolishes.

Pizzaz and Terrence Landau plot the destruction of the opera house

The Holograms are rehearsing for the concert. Their choreographer Danse is onstage, when suddenly a giant jack o'lantern falls on her. She survives, but Terry is convinced the opera house is haunted. Vincent agrees with Terry and says the concert must be cancelled.

The Misfits call the local building inspector to the opera house, they tell him it's in violation of safety codes. During the inspection, an arm reaches out from a cabinet, frightening the Misfits. They're also convinced the venue us haunted.

A black cat (it turns out to be Vincent's cat, named Phantom!) runs past Terry, she gets scared again. Right after that, a chandelier falls from the ceiling. It nearly lands on Terry, but Jem saves her.

The night of the concert finally arrives. Jem & the Holograms are dressed in Halloween costumes, the Misfits have set up a tent across from the opera house to stage their show.
In the Holograms dressing room, a talking skeleton appears in the mirror and says if they take the stage, it will be their last concert. The skeleton disappears, then the mirror cracks. Jem is angry and sick of all these strange happenings, and she doesn't think the Misfits are capable creating these horrors.
Vincent tells them they must leave. Jem is perplexed and wonders why Vincent wants them to leave, since they're trying to save the opera house.
The opera house starts shaking, the lights start flickering and evil laughter can be heard throughout the building. Terry freaks out and says "it's the ghost", then runs away, she falls through a trap-door and disappears.

Frederick Vincent,Terri(in a Raggedy Ann costume) and Phantom the Cat run from the bad guys!

Will Jem and the Holograms survive the haunted opera house? Even if they do, can they save the opera house from demolition? Will Terry survive long enough to overcome her chronic fear of everything?

J.A. Morris says:
I've never watched a full episode of Jem and the Holograms until now, but I remember when it was on the TV in the 1980s. "Trick Or Techrat" succeeds in creating a nice seasonal atmosphere, with lots of jack o'lanterns and black cats popping up throughout. And there's just something inherently funny about 80s cartoon glam rockers wearing Halloween costumes!. But it's not something I see myself watching every year, nor do I see myself watching other episodes of Jem. If you watched it as a kid, this episode might be a nice nostalgia trip to watch around Halloween.

My rating:
2 jack o'lanterns

The Simpsons-"The Simpsons Halloween Special II"(A.K.A. "Treehouse Of Horror II")

2011-11-01T13:38:00.002-04:00

Premiered October 31, 1991

Dammit, Smithers, this isn't rocket science, it's brain surgery!

- Mr. Burns

I wish for a turkey sandwich on rye bread with lettuce and mustard. And... and I don't want any zombie turkeys, I don't want to turn into a turkey myself, and I don't want any other weird surprises, you got it?
-Homer Simpson

We open with a special "warning" from Marge Simpson that the Halloween episode isn't suitable for younger viewers.

Marge (dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein), Bart (an executioner), Lisa (a totem pole) and Maggie (a witch) have come home after night of trick or treating. Marge says they can have only one piece of candy, because eating candy late at night causes bad dreams. The kids (and Homer) ignore her, all the candy is gobbled up in seconds.

We get a series of vignettes, each representing one of their nightmares:

Lisa dreams that her family is vacationing in Marrakesh, Morocco, where Homer approaches a street vendor. He sees a monkey's paw and wants to buy it. The paw will grant its owner four wishes. The vendor cautions him, saying it will bring misfortune to the Simpsons.

Homer ignores the warning and buys the paw, they bring it home and they all take turns making wishes:Maggie wishes for a new pacifier and gets it. Bart wants wealth and fame for the Simpsons, the wish is granted. Suddenly, they have cash appearing all over the house and the Simpsons are best selling recording artists. They're given VIP treatment wherever they go, but many citizens of Springfield quickly get tired of hearing about the Simpsons. Lisa wishes for world peace and gets it. Soon, all nations are working together and all weapons are destroyed. This lack of weapons is noticed by Kang and Kodos, two aliens who are monitoring Earth. They decide that the lack of weapons makes Earth the perfect planet to conquer! The monkey's paw has doomed the world! But Homer has one more wish. Will he use it to save the world or waste it on something selfish?

In Bart's dream, a Rod Serling-esque narrator tells of an omnipotent being who rules Springfield and the world. The being turns out to be Bart Simpson! Bart can read their minds and everyone is forced to cater to his every whim, especially Marge and Homer. His parents finally tire of Bart's oppression and Homer tries to kill him. Before he can do so, Bart
transforms Homer into a jack-in-the-box. Marge decides Bart has gone too far and takes him to Psychiatrist Marvin Monroe. Dr. Monroe says the root of Bart's evil is Homer's failure to bond with his son. Can Homer be a better father as a jack-in-the-box than he was as a human being?

In Homer's dream,he's caught sleeping on the job. His boss Mr. Burns directs his toady Smithers to fire Homer immediately. Burns thinks Homer can be replaced with a robot he's been (secretly) constructing. But he needs a brain to place inside the robot body.
Desperate for work, Homer gets a job as a grave digger. After hours of digging, he falls asleep in the grave.

Burns and Smithers are out grave robbing and mistake Homer for a corpse. When they notice he isn't dead, Smithers bludgeons him to death with a hammer. They cut open Homer's head and place his brain inside the robot.

But Burns' plan backfires, the robot still retains all of Homer's bad habits, like laziness and an obsession with donuts. His robot is a failure, Burns decides to return the brain to Homer (who isn't dead) and kicks the robot...which has disastrous consequences!

J.A. Morris says:
In case anyone who reads this hasn't seen "The Simpsons Halloween Special II", I I didn't want to spoil the endings of any of the nightmares.
For two decades running, the Simpsons Halloween episodes have been highlights of the Fall TV season. Some of the best episodes of the series have been Halloween shows, this one is no exception. It's filled with nice homages to classic horror and scifi. Bart's nightmare is a parody of a "Twilight Zone" episode, as is Lisa's wish that all wars come to an end. Mr. Burns' screams "it's alive" when his robot moves, an obvious (but fun) reference to Universal's "Frankenstein" movie.
The fame and fortune followed by a public turning on the Simpsons (in Homer's nightmare) is a parody of the Simpsons mania of the early 90s (the Simpsons were "meta" before most of us knew what "meta" meant).
And the opening credits show the Peanuts gang in their "ghost" costumes from "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown".

But "The Simpsons Halloween Special II" is more than just a collection of pop culture references, it's a classic in its own right.

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

One cannot possibly go wrong with a Simpsons "Treehouse of Horror" Halloween episode at this, the spookiest time of the year. I always enjoy each new installation of the "Treehouse of Horror" every year, but I find that my favorite installations tend to come from the early years of the series, such as this one. (Whether this preference is due to being younger and more impressionable when the earlier episodes first aired, I do not know.)
I think my favorite vignette from this episode is Lisa's nightmare, which is based on "The Monkey's Paw", a famous horror story by W.W. Jacobs. Huzzah for intelligent, spooky television fun!

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

Merrie Melodies - "Transylvania 6-5000"

2011-10-29T17:19:00.000-04:00

First released November 30, 1963

"Transylvania 6-5000" is a wonderful 1963 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones. (In fact, according to Wikipedia, this was the last Jones-directed Warner Brothers short to feature the "wascally wabbit.")

Bugs Buanny is en route to Pittsburgh, PA, but somehow winds up in Pittsburge, Transylvania instead. (Presumably, Bugs should have taken that left turn at Albequerque!) He stops to ask directions from a two-headed vulture lurking nearby - the two heads answer to "Agatha" and "Emily". They seem more interested in making a meal of Bugs. Bugs spots a spooky castle in the distance and, thinking it is a hotel, makes his exit to go see if said "hotel" has a phone.

When Bugs rings the castle doorbell, he is greeted and invited in by a vampire calling himself Count Blood Count. Bugs just wants to use the hotel phone but the Count hungrily insists that he stay the night. ("Rest first, telephone tomorrow. Rest is gooood for the blooood.")

Yay funny titles!

Bugs is shown to his room where he finds some light reading to help himself get to sleep. He selects a book of "Magic Woids and Phrases" and reads aloud to pass the time. Which proves fortunate for our hero.

A series of comedic transformations takes place as Bugs at first unwittingly and then knowingly changes the phrase "Abracadabra" (or "abacadabra" as Bugs puts it) around causing Count Blood Count to morph humorously back and forth between various permutations and combinations of his vampire and bat form.

Bugs dealing with the castle's bat problem

You'll have to watch this great short cartoon to discover whether Bugs Bunny escapes the castle unscathed.

Bloodcount: I am a vampire!
Bugs: Oh, yeah? Well, abacadabra! I'm an umpire!

RigbyMel says:

Like many people around my age, I was introduced to Bugs Bunny cartoons like this one through Saturday morning cartoons. Although this is not an explicitly Halloween-themed 'toon in that Halloween is never mentioned, the gothic trappings and the presence of an honest-to-goodness (albeit somewhat inept) vampire make it a Halloween seasonal favorite of mine.

As a child, I liked that Bugs wasn't the least bit frightened by a situation that would have scared tiny me and in fact holds his own very nicely against the supernatural forces arrayed against him. As an adult, I still appreciate Bugs' unflappability as well as the cleverness of this cartoon from the great sight gags to the fact that the title of the short is a parodic reference to a great Glen Miller tune. I also love the great voice talent (Mel Blanc as Bugs Bunny, Ben Frommer as the Count and Julie Bennett as Agatha/Emily) and Chuck Jones' directing style.

This is one short that I always feel like watching sometime around Halloween. I consider it a seasonal classic!

RigbyMel's rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

Mad - "Halloween Episode"

2011-10-26T18:27:00.027-04:00

Premiered October 24, 2011
"Kitchen Nightmare Before Christmas"

Network Executives are meeting with Gordon Ramsey to pitch yet another "angry chef" show. Ramsey says no, he's sick of doing the same schtick. He leans against the wall of the boardroom and falls through a trap door that leads to Halloween Town! Ramsey breaks into a (Danny Elfman-esque) song while trashing the cooking of the Halloween Towners. He is merciless in his criticism of baked brains and other ghoulish dishes.
Ramsey's presence attracts the attention of Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. Jack is used to being the scariest creature in town, but Ramsey is threatening him on this front. So Jack seeks out Ramsey. Will he challenge him to a duel...or ask him for career advice?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"How I Met Your Mummy"

A Werewolf tells his children the story of how he met their mother...a mummy. In the process, he tells them how he met their mother's sister, his dentist, and other mummies who aren't their mother.
We also get to see Barney the vampire's attempt to woo a woman who looks a lot like Medusa. He says "ladies love the cape".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional stuff from this episode:

The "meddling kids" of the Scooby Doo gang ruin Halloween.

A moralizing rotten cucumber tells an anti-bullying story in "Veggietales From The Crypt".

The Black Spy from "Spy Vs. Spy" hosts a Halloween costume party.

J.A. Morris says:

If you liked Mad Magazine as a kid (I still pick it up now and then myself), you'll probably enjoy this series and this episode. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" parody was the highlight. And it's hard for me to say the phrase "VeggieTales From The Crypt" without laughing. But most of the jokes were merely "smile inducing". It's a good Halloween episode, and a good introduction to the series if you haven't watched it yet. But it's no classic. If I was a teen or adolescent, I'd probably rate this higher:

My rating:
2 and a half jack o'lanterns

Castle - "Demons"

2011-10-24T21:46:00.017-04:00

Premiered October 24, 2011

A possibly haunted building in Manhattan

NYPD consultant and mystery novelist Richard Castle (Nathan Fillion) works with Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) and her team to solve murders in the Big Apple. This Halloween-ish episode, opens with a paranormal investigator for a fictional tv series called "Ghost Wranglers" on location in a spooky old building that is thought to be haunted. Armed with a video camera and an EMF meter (two items commonly used in the ghost hunting business), he is recording his experiences. He sees something that frightens him and is quickly revealed to be our murder victim of the week.

Alexis and Castle enjoying "father-daughter zombie night"

Castle is at home enjoying a zombie movie on "father-daughter zombie night" with his teenage daughter Alexis when he gets a call to come out to the murder scene.

Upon arriving at the scene of the crime, Castle sees the "Ghost Wranglers" van outside the building and reveals that he is a big fan of the show. Beckett is not at all enthused about the concept of the show and calls it "ridiculous". Castle responds that it is "ridiculously aweseome" thus setting up who is going to be the "Mulder" and the "Scully" of the episode. Castle is shocked to learn that Jack Sinclair, the host of the program, is the murder victim but in typical fashion, his writer's brain kicks in with a bit of humor. He remarks that this is "one wraith he (Sinclair) couldn't wrangle" and makes a comment about the ghost hunter becoming the hunted.

We learn that the crime is especially bizarre, the victim's throat was slit causing blood to spatter everywhere but there is no sign of the murderer and the clues on the scene don't seem to add up. Is it possible that this murder is the result of paranormal activity? Castle wants to think so and Beckett thinks there must be a rational explanation. You'll have to watch the episode to find out the solution to the mystery. No spoilers here!

Beckett and Castle interviewing a suspect

RigbyMel says:

Full disclosure: I am a devoted fan of both Nathan Fillion and of programs like Castle and The Mentalist. I like my modern detective shows with a side of snark and Castle definitely provides a great deal of humor in this vein. For example, I really enjoyed when Castle referred to the murderer as an "Apparition American" after Beckett forbids him to use the word "ghost." Moreover, I am fascinated by ghost stories and paranormal investigations myself, so this show really appealed to my inner ghost geek.

The themes of this episode definitely have a Halloween flavor (haunted house, paranormal activity, etc) and the when we see the title sequence it has been changed a bit to include a spooky organ rendition of the theme music and an orange (rather than the usual blue or grey) background.

Castle logo in Halloween mode

This episode is an amusing way to spend an hour and definitely appropriate for the Halloween season. It's also not a bad introduction to a really smart and fun police procedural with a comedic edge, so if you've never seen the show, I recommend checking it out on Hulu or your internet tv source of choice.

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns

My rating:

MAS*H - "Trick or Treatment"

2011-10-24T20:45:00.049-04:00

Too bad the enemy was dressed to kill! Halloween in Korea: bobbing for shrapnel.
-Hawkeye Pierce

First time I ever heard of where being dead wasn't terminal.
-BJ Hunnicutt

Premiered November 1, 1982

It's Halloween in Korea, 1953. Hawkeye Pierce (in a Superman costume) and BJ Hunnicutt (dressed as a clown) are getting ready to attend the 4077th M*A*S*H unit's Halloween party at Rosie's bar. Their tent-mate Charles Winchester is on surgical duty, so he won't be joining them. Maj. Winchester doesn't care for Halloween or any of its trappings. Klinger shows up and says a group of Marines has arrived at Rosie's. One of these "piranas" has gotten a pool ball stuck in his mouth. Charles says he'll show the Marine "some Halloween spirit."

We get a funny scene where Charles taunts the Marine, Pvt. La Roche (played by George Wendt), who, indeed, has a pool ball stuck in his mouth. Later, Charles tends to another Marine who thought it would be a good idea to punch an electric fan at Rosie's. Charles calls this man "the lowest form of Marine life."

BJ and Hawkeye meet up outside with Col. Potter (wearing a makeshift cowboy costume) and Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan (wearing an oriental-style silk dress).

Halloween plans are put on hold when new injured troops arrive. One of the wounded appears to be dead, he even has a toe tag attached. In the operating room, Potter, Hawkeye and Margaret all tell ghost stories to lighten the mood. Charles is dismissive of all the spooky tales insisting that "we're all adults here."

Another batch of wounded arrives, including a morbidly-thin soldier named Pvt. Scala, who is wounded but conscious. Hawkeye tries to cheer him up with jokes, Scala doesn't respond. Hawkeye asks Nurse Kelleye to get some x-rays of Scala. BJ is helping Marine Cpl. Hrabosky (played by Andrew "Dice" Clay), who has a head wound. Hrabosky says he was racing a jeep and accidentally crashed into a chicken coop, resulting in his injury. Nearby, the dead soldier has been left on the ground in a stretcher. Hawkeye calls for someone to cover him up.

A military police officer tells Potter that Hrabosky should be considered a prisoner, since he ran over the chickens. Potter points to all the blood on his hands from operating on wounded soldiers and doesn't "give a damn about any blessed chickens!"

Finally, two soldiers from graves registration show up to take away the dead soldier's body...but is he really dead?!

And will Charles make it through Halloween without experiencing a haunting?

J.A. Morris says:

I watched M*A*S*H religiously for about the first 18 years of my life, not much since then. This was the first episode I've watched in years.

"Trick Or Treatment" is a lot like other good episodes of the series: there are some laugh out loud moments combined with some very sad commentary about the futility of war. At the end of the show, the Army doctors have saved lives and will likely have to do the same tomorrow. Yes, it's formulaic, but that's okay. Plus, it's always funny & interesting to see actors (like Wendt and Clay in this episode) unexpectedly pop up in cameos before they were well known.

I imagine soldiers and doctors tried to celebrate Halloween just to make life during the Koren War a little more bearable. Alan Alda (Hawkeye) and Mike Farrell (BJ) are funny as always, but David Ogden Stiers (Charles) was funnier than usual in "Trick Or Treatment." Charles was often the but of the jokes, but he gets some of the best lines in this episode.

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns

Roseanne - "Boo!"

2011-10-21T21:12:00.029-04:00

Premiered October 31, 1989

Roseanne:"Halloween is the one night of the entire year
where the veil is lifted between the living and the dead.
And the dead return from Hell to walk the Earth.
And we have to dress up like ghosts and goblins and stuff.
To fake out the evil spirits. Or else they might carry us back to Hell with them!"

Becky:So why do the dead people come back?

Roseanne:For the candy! There's no chocolate in Hell, that's WHY it's Hell!

In the Connor family's kitchen, Roseanne and her sister Jackie are making caramel apples for their upcoming Halloween party. DJ says he's dressing up as a Ninja, his sisters Becky & Darlene act like they're too "mature" for costumes. Roseanne gives them a hard time about that, but Becky says she'll be attending her friend Marcy Michaelson's Halloween party. Dan enters the scene. Roseanne claims to be "the champ" of scaring, Dan claims he's the best in the family.

Breakfast of Halloween morning is eventful: Roseanne pretends she is being shocked by the toaster, Darlene pretends her tongue is cut out and "bleeds" into Becky's cereal. Dan comes inside covered with blood, he says he's cut himself on a jigsaw. Roseanne freaks out...but it's fake blood! Dan says this proves he is "the Master" of scares.

On Halloween night, Dan is awaiting an important call from a man named Jeff, who might be interested in giving Dan a construction job. Becky is in a bad mood, insulting Darlene (more than usual) and yelling at her mother. It turns out Becky wasn't invited to Marcy Michaelson's party. Her parents try to cheer her up by saying she'll have a good time at their party, Becky isn't interested and says she hates Halloween. Roseanne gives Becky a speech about the meaning of Halloween (see the pull quote at the top of this review). Becky's mood improves, she's decided to dress up and participate in the Conner's Halloween party.

Dan has a "splitting headache"!

The festivities begin:trick or treaters arrive. The Conners have turned their living room into a haunted house, they call it "The Tunnel Of Terror". Roseanne and Dan keep attempting to scare each other through various means. But only one can be "The Master" of Halloween scares! Who will be the scariest? Watch the show and find out!

J.A. Morris says:
A very good episode, fans of the series will remember that 'Roseanne' always went all out for Halloween. This episode is over 20 years old, but it still holds up pretty well. Roseanne and Dan's methods of scaring one another are all very funny, I won't go into detail to avoid spoilers. I This entire cast plays off each other so well, it feels like there was a lot of improvisational stuff that made it into the final script. I appreciated the daughters' attitudes about Halloween too. Teens and adolescents like Becky and Darlene still struggle over wearing costumes(it was a tough decision for me when I stopped) as they're torn between growing up and holding on to childhood activities. All in all, a great episode of a great series, and you don't need to be a 'Roseanne' aficionado to enjoy 'Boo!'.

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

I didn't watch "Roseanne" regularly when it was first airing, but have enjoyed the odd episode in re-runs and on DVD. This Halloween show is quite a lot of fun. I like the way it captures the funny, but true to life sibling dynamics (as the oldest of 4 children, I can relate) and I Roseanne and Dan's attempts to out-scare each other perhaps a little mean-spirited but also believable in a funny way. This episode is well worth adding to your Halloween viewing, although I am not 100% convinced it is a "classic."

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns

That 70s Show - "That 70s Halloween"

2011-10-21T12:10:00.032-04:00

Premiered October 26, 1999

“Hey, let's not fight, alright? It's Halloween, man, it's time for Peace On Earth and Good Will towards men!”-Kelso

In Eric's basement, he and his friends (Hyde, Donna, Kelso, Fez, and Jackie) are talking about how fun Halloween was when they were kids. They're all trying to figure out what to do to celebrate Halloween. Fez is fascinated by the concept of candy being given away for free, as it's not something that's done is home country. Kelso suggests they go see 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'. Eric suggests they visit Old Main their old grammar school. It has recently been burned and boarded up. Eric says they should break in and tell ghost stories in the dark. But first, Fez decides he must go trick or treating...dressed as Batman! Fez wants free candy, but gets an apple. He's not happy about that.

Fez goes Trick Or Treating

We cut to Eric's house where his parents, Kitty and Red are waiting for trick or treaters. They flash back to the first Halloween they celebrated in their house, in 1957: Kitty is wearing a Catsuit (Kitty is "a kitty" for Halloween), she's preparing for a Halloween party. Red's mom Bernice Foreman shows up uninvited and is making fun of Kitty (as usual). Red (dressed in a Zorro costume) and his friend Frank (dressed as “a bum”) arrive at the house carrying copious amounts of beer. Kitty asks Red for help setting up for the party, he says no, he's got to go to the garage with Frank so they can get drunk. Kitty gets a phone call from her doctor and learns she's pregnant! Bernice asks if she knows who the father is!
Later in the flashback, trick or treaters arrive at the Foreman house. Red and Frank scare them away, causing some of the kids to drop their candy. Kitty says Red shouldn't do that to kids because “what if you has kids?” Kitty then drops the news that she's pregnant. Red says “oh crap!”.

After attending a screening of 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre', Eric and the gang break into the school. Eric tells a story about a gym teacher who died in the fire, his ghost still walks through the school. Kelso freaks out and runs away, Jackie is disgusted that he didn't stay to protect her from the ghost. She runs off, Donna goes after her. Jackie notes that Fez stayed behind to protect her.

The guys are getting bored with Eric's “scary” ghosts stories, when the Donna walks in with a stack of papers. She's discovered something verrry scaarry... their Permanent Records from grammar school!

Permanent Records!

Hyde's record says he's destined for a lifetime of crime, citing his destruction of a classmate's diorama in the 2nd grade. Eric then admits he broke the diorama because “it was better” than his. Eric's admission infuriates Hyde, because everyone turned against Hyde and labeled him as a bad kid when the diorama was destroyed. He accuses Eric of ruining his life. Eric objects and they're both ready to fight about it!

Kelso peruses his Permanent Record

What other deep, dark secrets will be discovered about the gang through their Permanent Records? Will the revelations turn them all against each other? And will Fez discover who stole his last box of Sugar Babies?

Jackie lets out a "Horror Movie" shriek when Hyde threatens to reveal her darkest secret!

J.A. Morris says:

This is no classic, but it's a good, solid episode. I watched 'That 70s Show' regularly for the first 3 or 4 seasons, but I didn't remember this one. It's easy to forget what a nice ensemble cast this show had. Wilmer Valderama (Fez) and Ashton Kuther (Kelso) got the biggest laughs from me, but everyone had their moment. In the parents' flashback, we got an "origin story" of sorts for Red's use of the word "dumb@$$", which was funny. And Marion Ross was always fun when she guest starred on the show as Red's mother Bernice.

My rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

This is definitely a fun, silly and amusing episode. I was a bit puzzled by why the scary permanent records wouldn't have been salvaged from the remains of the school building, though - maybe it is part of their evil divisive nature or something?

I always tend to like the way that this series zaps back and forth in time as it does with Red and Kitty's 1957 Halloween flashback segments as well.

My rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

My So-Called Life - "Halloween"

2011-10-20T12:22:00.005-04:00

Premiered October 27, 1994

"When I was little I, like, worshipped Halloween. And truthfully, part of me still does. 'Cause it's your one chance all year to be someone else. I wanna be someone else, but to wear, like, an actual costume to school is too scary." -Angela Chase

Angela looking through a jack o'lantern - or is the jack o'lantern looking through her?

At the beginning of this episode of My So-Called Life, Angela is thinking about how much she loved Halloween as a kid. She also is feeling a bit self-conscious about doing the whole dress up thing at school this year, though. Little sister, Danielle had planned to be Catwoman, but now says she can't because another girl in her class is already dressing up in the same costume. Their mother, Patty suggests her old flapper dress as a possible costume option for both girls. Neither is the least bit interested in their Mom's suggestion.

Patty is having issues with a problem employee and talks to her husband Graham about it. She then remembers that they've been invited to a friend's costume party and laments the fact that she forgot to get costumes for them. Graham suggests Patty wear the flapper dress. Patty rejects this notion too.

Later that day at Liberty High School, we see lots of people getting into the Halloween spirit. We see Angela's classmate, Sharon dressed in a catsuit. Her classmates mock her for wearing a "ratsuit". In English class, the teacher Ms. Lerner (dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi!), asks where Jordan Catalano (the "bad boy" Angela has a crush on) is and if anyone knows him. Ms. Lerner asks Angela to deliver a message to Jordan: If he doesn't show up to the next English class, he will be expelled.

English teacher in Obi Wan Kenobi gear for Halloween - "You want to read new books. You want to study."

Between classes, Angela's friend Rayanne (dressed as a vampire) is shaving her legs in the girl's restroom. She spots Brian (a socially awkward "bookish" boy who lives next to Angela, whom he secretly crushes on) scoping her legs as the restroom door swings shut. Rickie (a boy who normally wears makeup) shows up dressed as "Brian" for Halloween. He's followed by Angela, who is carrying a library book for the English class reading assignment. Rayanne has decided that Angela needs to dress up for Halloween too and has some 1960s era clothes for her. They talk about Nicky Driscoll, a Liberty High student who died at the school on Halloween night in the early 1960s. Rayanne, Rickie and Sharon all tell different urban legend-ish tales the about cause of Nicky's untimely demise. Rayanne shares that her aunt once rode on the back of Nicky's bike when she was in high school, and tells Angela her "costume" consists of clothes that once belonged to the aunt. It also turns out Angela's book had once been checked out by Nicky Driscoll!

Angela in her 1960s costume doing a bit of research on Nicky Driscoll

While walking up the stairs, Angela sees Nicky...or thinks she does(?). Jordan appears in the same spot where Nicky was standing. She tells Jordan he needs to show up at class or he's expelled. He tells he he doesn't care and walks away.

Meanwhile, Angela's parents visit a costume shop, it's Halloween, so there aren't many left to rent. The shop owner suggests Rapunzel for Patty and a Pirate for Graham. They're reluctant, but they don't really have a choice, because they waited until the last minute.

As school is letting out for the day, Rayanne tells Angela that she talked to her friend Tino about Angela's book. Tino has agreed to meet them at school that night to help them stage a seance and contact the soul of Nicky Driscoll! Rayanne thinks this is a perfect Halloween pastime, but Rickie thinks it is a bad idea. Brian overhears them talking about the seance and wonders if he's invited.

Back at the house, Danielle has put on one of Angela's flannel shirts and is imitating her voice and mannerisms. She's found her costume! Later that night, Sharon stops by to pick up a dish, she ends up going Trick Or Treating with Danielle.

Later that evening, Rayanne is drinking alone outside the school while waiting for Tino. Brian shows up and startles her. He is soon followed by Rickie and Angela. Tino never shows, Rayanne determines that they should break into school and write "Nicky Driscoll Was Here" on the gym floor as a Halloween prank. Rickie takes off, he's had enough. Rayanne discovers that Brian knows a "clever chess club" way to get into the school without setting off the alarm.

An assortment of scenes from the episode - Vampire Rayanne, Danielle as Angela, 1960s Angela, Cat/Rat Sharon

Once the three teens get inside the school, they become separated and spookiness ensues ... you'll have to watch the episode to find out what else happens!

RigbyMel says:

I must admit that I was a bit "late to the party" where My So-Called Life is concerned. I never had a chance to see the series until a couple of years ago. Having watched it though, I agree with a lot of what fans of the show raved about - this is a richly textured show with a lot going on and is also one of the more sensitive portrayals of what it is actually like to be a teenager. There is so much going on in the show, that I've found it a bit hard to review as a "stand alone" episode.

That being said, I love the way that Halloween and growing up are dealt with in this episode. Angela wants to participate in Halloween like she did when she was younger, but feels constrained by her teenaged self-consciousness. Sharon goes trick or treating with Angela's kid sister because she (Sharon) wants to feel like a kid one more time. Rickie tries on the role of "good kid" (i.e., Brian), while Brian tries out a "bad boy" persona. Little Danielle both resents and wants to be her big sister/to grow up. There are parallels between Nicky, the bad boy who died young and Jordan, the bad boy in danger of expulsion. It even shows how Halloween can allow older folks (like Angela's parents) an opportunity to let their hair down. There is even a bit of a magical realism "ghost story" element to the plot. The show really captures a lot of different aspect of what makes Halloween fun.

My only reservation about declaring this a "classic" Halloween show is my doubt as to whether it stands alone without people having to watch the entire series. However, it really is a fun episode and a great series that deserves to be watched in its entirety, so maybe my doubts don't matter much.

My rating:
3.5 jack o'lanterns

J.A. Morris says:
I'll admit that I'm a huge fan of this series. I watched the premiere of the Pilot episode back in the Fall of 1994 and I was hooked. I had just graduated from college, I wasn't the same age as the main characters, but Angela, Rickie, Rayanne & Brian reminded me of people I knew. Their dialogue still sounds believable, right down to the frequent use of the word "like" as a conversational space-filler. I counted 25 uses of "like" in this context during 'Halloween' (Brian:"My hobby is photography, so I'm, like, trained to notice stuff."). It stills feels like the most true to life depiction of teenagers in the history of television.

But this episode is a bit of a departure. Angela may or may not see and talk to the "ghost" of Nicky Driscoll. Do the writers want us to believe "Nicky" is real or just a dream? This is odd for a show that's all about "realistic" portrayals of suburban teens. It used to bug me, but now I think of this as a case of "Anything can happen in a Halloween episode".

RigbyMel mentioned the role-reversals of Brian & Ricky, I'll add Rayanne to the mix. She spends most of the series picking on Brian and acting like a devil-may-care party animal. But when Rayanne and Brian are forced to spend time together (some of my favorite scenes of the whole series), she treats him with respect (okay, a modicum of respect) and shares things with him about her life that she normally wouldn't share with anyone. The scene where she coaches Brian through a lie to his mother on the phone is priceless! The acting talents of AJ Langer (Rayanne) and Devon Gummersall (Brian) really shine through in 'Halloween'.

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

Scaredy Squirrel - "Halloweekend"

2011-10-19T13:34:00.023-04:00

Premiered October 4, 2011

"This year I'm gonna scare someone else for a change. I vow that for this Halloweekend, I will stop being the scaredy...and start being the scared-er." - Scaredy Squirrel

Chronically frightened Scaredy Squirrel is planning for Halloweekend, a two-day Halloween fest held at his workplace, the Stash & Hoard.

His friend Dave the skunk is skeptical, pointing out that Scaredy always gets terrified every year at Halloween.

They arrive at the Stash & Hoard, and Scaredy's boss Nestor immediately starts mocking Scaredy for being petrified of everything. Scaredy says he wants to be in charge of the store's Haunted House on Halloweekend. Nestor thinks he'll ruin the holiday, but Momma (Nestor's mom and the owner of Stash & Hoard) tells Scaredy to go for it.

Scaredy's "Tour of Terror" - On the Perils of Unwashed Ice Cube Trays ...

Scaredy welcomes his co-workers into the "Tour Of Terror". His "Haunted House" mainly consists of Health Code violations (in addition to being scared, Scaredy also appears to suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) such as ice cube trays being refilled without being washed and a restroom that hasn't had a sanitation check in over 45 minutes. None of his co-workers are scared or entertained by this, and Nestor says Scaredy has "out-lamed" himself.

Dave tells Scaredy to cheer up, there's still another day of Halloweekend, so Scaredy has a chance to redeem himself. The next day, the squirrel decides to read a ghost story to his co-workers. Scaredy and Dave decide that during the spookiest part, Dave will run out in a ghost costume. Unfortunately, Dave never shows up, and everyone walks out (led by Nestor, who mocks Scaredy yet again). Scaredy is alone, when suddenly a ghost shows up. Scaredy tells "Dave" he's late...but it's not Dave! It appears to be a real ghost! Scaredy is more scared than ever and the ghost chases him all around Stash & Hoard! Will Scaredy be able to save Halloweekend (and himself) from the ghost?

J.A. Morris says:

I'll start by saying that I've never seen an episode 'Scaredy Squirrel' before watching this one. But a Halloween story is a great place to begin, since a major plot point of the series is Scaredy's constant state of being scared of...well, just about everything. On the one hand, Scaredy is his own worst enemy, on the other, I did admire his determination to conquer his fears and try to enjoy Halloweekend.

This is a decent enough Halloween episode, but no classic. I'm about 30 years older than the target demo, but I enjoyed it, even if I don't see this becoming something I'll watch next year.
My rating:
2.5 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

This was a cute short, but I agree with J.A. Morris that it's not a classic.

I did enjoy Scaredy's attempts to be the "scared-er" rather than the "scaredy", as well as the silly wordplay inherent in those terms. The show's aesthetic definitely owes a lot to other animated programs like Ren & Stimpy and Spongebob Squarepants. In fact, it may actually cross the line from being influenced by these shows to just being derivative.

As someone who toyed with becoming a children's librarian for a bit, I feel it necessary to point out that the "Scaredy Squirrel" cartoon show is based on a series of picture books by Canadian author Melanie Watt - my suspicion is that the books are better. (Aren't they usually?)

My rating:
2 jack o'lanterns

The Scooby Doo Show - "The Headless Horseman Of Halloween"

2011-10-13T01:56:00.030-04:00

Premiered October 9, 1976

The Headless Horseman rides through the fog in search of a new head

Scooby and the Mystery Machine gang are attending a Halloween party at Crane Manor, owned by Gertrude Crane.

The Scooby gang in their Halloween costumes

Scooby, Shaggy and Scooby Dum are goofing around in the yard, when suddenly a Headless Horseman rides past them!

Their friend Beth Crane (Gertrude's niece) tells them that she is the Great Granddaughter of Ichabod Crane, famous for his encounter with the Horseman in 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow'. On dark, foggy nights, the Horseman rides around looking for a new head. Fred thinks that the Horseman is just another costumed guest, but then the lights go out and the Headless Horseman appears again! He screams "I want a head!" and scares away all the party guests...except the Scooby gang. Fred says the Horseman won't get away with what he's done. The gang splits up (as usual) and tries to find the Horseman.

Great-granddaddy Ichabod Crane

Shaggy, Scooby and Dum catch the Headless Horseman briefly, but he gets away, leaving behind a clue (of course!). Gertrude is napping in her library, when suddenly the wall opens and a "ghostly white hand" reaches out to grab her. The gang hears her scream and comes to the rescue. When they arrive, Gertrude's cousin Ellwood is there offering advice. He thinks Gertrude's necklace is cursed and has caused the haunting. Ellwood wants to take the necklace out of the house. He suggests taking it to the bank and leaves with the necklace. As he drives away, the Headless Horseman catches up with him and seems to have acquired Ellwood's head!

Aunt Gertrude napping in her snazzy necklace, pre-ghostly hand

We don't want to spoil the episode, but you probably know the way Scooby Doo episodes work. The gang does some sleuthing, there are a couple of chase scenes and a criminal posing as a ghost is brought to justice.

J.A. Morris says:

This episode has some sentimental value for me, as it served as my introduction to Irving's 'The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow'. You could say that any Scooby Doo episode makes for good Halloween entertainment, but this one is the Halloweeniest of them all. It's fun to see Scooby & friends in Halloween costumes. Moreover, the Crane manor's butler is named "Tarloff" (an obvious homage to horror icon Boris Karloff) and looks a bit like Lurch (from 'The Addams Family"), both nice "inside" references.

"Tarloff" the butler

It's also a bit darker than many 70s Scooby shows. When the Horseman (seemingly) takes Ellwood's head, Daphne exclaims that Ellwood has been "taken to the grave", an unusual reference to death for a Saturday morning cartoon from this era.
There is one continuity error I have to mention though: in the first scene, Shaggy refers to Scooby Dum as Scooby Doo's brother. Later in the episode, he calls Dum Scooby's cousin.

'The Headless Horseman Of Halloween' is a solid Scooby Doo episode, with fun Halloween overtones.

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

Although I love a good Scooby Doo episode as much as the next person, I have no memory of this particular installation from my childhood, which is strange. Having re-watched it for blog purposes, I can see why it didn't make much of an impression on me. For one thing, I was never a fan of the Scooby Dum character. Dum just never tickled my funny bone as (apparently) intended. For another, I feel that they could have handled the Headless Horseman connection better. It bothers me that Ichabod apparently had grandkids still living in Sleepy Hollow seeing as the original Washington Irving story indicates that (at best), Icky left town and had a family elsewhere. So although I agree with J.A. Morris about the fun references and the awesome Halloween costumes the gang has (Shaggy as a vampire particularly appeals - especially when he goes bobbing for apples), I am not quite as enthused about the episode overall.

My rating:
2 jack o'lanterns

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

2011-10-11T22:02:00.012-04:00

Skeletons with some seriously spooky dance moves!

First released August 22, 1929

"The Skeleton Dance" is the very first of Disney's ground-breaking Silly Symphonies animated short subject series. It is one of the very first cartoons to feature animation, music and sound in perfect synchronization. It's quite an impressive technological achievement and also quite a fantastically freaky, and even surreal installation from the Disney studios.

Original lobby poster for the short

Although this may not explicitly be a "Halloween" cartoon, the setting (an autumnal churchyard populated by bats, owls, black cats and ambulatory skeletons) certainly seems to indicate that Halloween is implied, if not implicit.

See? Quite Halloween-ish-ly spooky!

Moreover, my first acquaintance with this short was via the Disney's Halloween Treat special, which first aired in 1982 and features a weirdly colorized clip of this short in its opening sequence. (Whoever heard of an ORANGE skeleton?)

ORANGE? Really?

As the church bell tolls midnight, a quartet of skeletons emerge from their unquiet graves and proceed to have quite the dance party. There are gags featuring skull throwing at a disapproving owl, use of a black cat's tail for fiddling and other equally surreal and fun spooky imagery. One of my favorite bits features one of the skeletons appropriating his cohort as a xylophone like percussion instrument. I also really like that one of the skeletons demonstrates some very 1920s Charleston dance moves!

A skeletal xylophone performance

Poor kitty! But the sight gag is pretty good.

The cartoon features music composed by the great Carl Stalling and fabulous animation by the great cartoonist (and co-creator of Mickey Mouse!), Ub Iwerks. The short features fabulous perspective shots that have a 3-D effect and wonderfully surreal ways for the skeletons to move.

3-D House of Skull!

Quite possibly the most surreal bit of the whole cartoon (near the end of the short)

I highly recommend adding this to your annual Halloween viewing whether you are an animation history fan or just a fan of spooky autumnal silliness!

My rating:
4 jack o'lanterns

'Fat Albert's Halloween Special'

2011-10-11T12:40:00.024-04:00

Premiered October 24, 1977

Fat Albert and his friends go shopping for Halloween costumes at the Root'N Rummage Emporium. Rudy and Devery are creeped out by the presence of Old Lady Bakewell, an elderly woman who lives in “that creepy old house by the cemetery”. Fat Albert wants to know why they’re afraid of her. Rudy says it's because Bakewell is weird and that “all old people are weird.” The store’s owner, Mr. Root throws them out for horsing around in his shop. Russell believes that all old people, including Mr. Root, are bad and that they hate kids. Later, when the gang is dressed up to go trick or treating in home-made Halloween costumes, Rudy & Dumb Donald express excitement about "scaring old dudes" that night.

So the gang meets up with Devery at the cemetery. They plan an evening of scaring and pranking old people in between trick or treating visits. Fat Albert suggests they just stick with trick-or-treating, but he's overruled by the rest of the gang, especially Rudy and Devery.

Devery's sister Melba shows up reminds her big brother that he's grounded and needs to go home. He mocks her and continues his quest to frighten the elderly.

The gang then goes to a movie theater that is showing 'The Space Squids That Ate Pittsburgh'. Devery wants to scare an usher named "Searchlight" Johnson. After Rudy and Devery cause a disturbance, the whole group is thrown out of the theater. Fat Albert is angry about this because he wanted to see the rest of the movie.

Next,they try to scare Mudfoot Brown (a street smart old man who was a recurring character in the Fat Albert series). This backfires, as Rudy and Devery freak out, thinking Mudfoot is a ghost. Mudfoot then manages to eat most of the gang's Halloween treats while rambling about how much better the holiday was when HE was a kid.

The last stop is Old Lady Bakewell's house. Melba shows up and says Devery is in big trouble and must come home right now. Devery says he will, if she'll go trick or treating at Bakewell's house all by herself. To the shock of the gang, Melba walks right towards the Bakewell house, then Russell follows her!

Now it's up to Fat Albert and the gang to get them out of Bakewell's scary old house! Will they make it out of the house alive? Or will they learn a Valuable Lesson about respecting their elders?

J.A. Morris says:

If you grew up in the 70s (like I did), Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids was probably part of your Saturday morning. Every episode had plenty of laughs, bad plays on words ("you're like school on Sunday-No class!") and every episode taught a lesson. This special is no different. Fat Albert was always the moral/emotional center of the show, often discouraging his friends from doing something stupid. And for a few years, this special was as much a part of Halloween as It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

Without spoiling the ending, the simple message in 'Fat Albert's Halloween Special' is "old people are human beings and should be treated with respect."

It should be noted that 'Fat Albert's Halloween Special' is the first and only appearance of Devery.

My rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

RigbyMel says:

I, too, have fond memories of the Fat Albert series growing up. As a more critical adult, I am not crazy about some of the cheap, recycled animation (one of Filmation's trademarks), but the voices (many done by Bill Cosby, himself - haha!) and story make this Halloween special worthwhile.

My rating:

3 jack o'lanterns

Spectacular Spider-Man-'The Uncertainty Principle'

2011-10-10T13:12:00.046-04:00

Premiered May 10, 2008

"'Twas the night before Halloween, and all through Manhattan... not a criminal was stirring, not even the Green Gob... lan."
-Spider-Man

"We all wear masks, Spider-Man, but which one is the mask? The one that hides your face, or the one that IS your face? "
-Green Goblin

This episode opens with Spider-Man attempting a Clement Moore-esque Halloween poem while patrolling the streets for bad guys.

Elsewhere in the city, the gangster Hammerhead is attacked and captured by the Green Goblin. He tells "Hammy" he wants info on his boss Tombstone, AKA "The Big Man".

Hammerhead meets the Green Goblin

At Midtown high school, Gwen Stacy notices Harry Osborn get a test tube of green liquid from his locker. He passed out the night before, she figures the liquid caused that to happen. She says he needs help. Harry tells her the green stuff (some form of steroid) "is the help" and it's helped him become a football star and maintain a 4.0 GPA.. As he puts it "a few blackouts are a small price to pay."

Green Goblin visits Tombstone and tells him Hammerhead gave him a jump drive full of incriminating evidence. Gobby tells Tombstone to meet him later that evening, "You'll know where."

Peter Parker (in his Spider-Man costume) goes to talk to Harry about his problems, but runs into the Goblin on the way. He tells Spidey about the jump drive and tells him to meet him later that night. Goblin flees the scene, but Spider-Man notices him enter the Osborn penthouse. When he goes inside, he finds no trace of the Goblin.

Peter phones Harry, wanting to talk about his problems, he says to meet him at the Bleecker Street Halloween Carnival. At said carnival, Mary Jane shows up dressed in a vampire costume. She runs into Gwen and they ask each other where Peter is. Neither knows.

Note the people in the "home-made" Spider-man costumes in the background on the left of the above picture!

We see several of Peter's Midtown classmates in Halloween costumes (pirate, genie and cheetah) working at the carnival's concession stand. Midtown's football team, led by Flash Thompson, shows up dressed as cheerleaders (perhaps they lost a bet in a previous episode - something MJ says seems to indicate this). Thompson hits on Mary Jane...

Peter arrives at the Halloween Carnival in his Spider-Man costume. He runs into Gwen and unmasks, pretending it's just a Halloween costume. Mary Jane tells him he "fills out that costume" nicely, Liz Allan says "you can web me up any time, Petey!" Flash (still dressed as a cheerleader) gets jealous, Peter tells him "don't worry Flash, you fill out your costume nicely too."

Flash goes to attack Parker, when suddenly, jack-o-lantern shaped fireworks light up the sky above the carnival. Peter knows this is Goblin's cue to meet him, he traces the fireworks back to a waterfront refinery.

Spidey and Tombstone show up at the refinery, both knowing they're walking into a trap. They find Hammerhead, suspended over a vat of molten steel. He tells Tombstone there never was jump drive, it was all a trick by the Goblin to get Tombstone and Spider-Man. A fight ensues, Hammerhead and Tombstone get away and Spidey pursues the Green Goblin.

Meanwhile, back at the Halloween carnival, Flash flirts with Mary Jane, saying he's available since he & Liz recently broke up. MJ spurns him, saying she's a free agent, nobody's "replacement girl". Gwen is angry that Peter disappeared from the carnival and Harry never showed up.

Green Goblin once again leads Spidey to Osborn's penthouse. When he gets there, he watches the Goblin unmask...

J.A. Morris says:

A very good Halloween episode of a great and (sadly) short-lived series. The Green Goblin (with his jack o'lantern bombs and scary mask) is a natural villain for a Halloween episode. I like the way this series uses real New York locations too. It's not just the "Halloween Carnival", it's the "Bleecker Street Halloween Carnival". And the "Halloween" portions of the story don't feel shoehorned into the episode either.

If you want to know who is under the Goblin mask, this episode is easily available.
'The Uncertainly Principle' can be found on 'The Spectacular Spider-Man:The Complete First Season' and also on a standalone dvd called 'The Spectacular Spider-Man' Vol. 3. It's also available for streaming on Netflix.

My rating: 3.5 jack o'lanterns

Rigby Mel says:

An excellent Halloween themed episode. It doesn't hurt that it features one of my favorite superheroes, either. I've always liked Spidey/Peter's sense of humor and this is used to good effect. I also like the way the costumes are used - we even get a glimpse of another Spider-Man villain/hero, The Black Cat, in passing. (Whether it's actually her or just someone in a Halloween costume is open to interpretation, I think.) Spidey even gets to come to the party as himself, so to speak. This ep is perhaps not a "classic" Halloween show, but it's certainly a lot of fun!

My rating:
3 jack o'lanterns

'Yankee Doodle Cricket'

2011-07-27T15:10:00.023-04:00

"It wouldn't sound quite right would it? A cat, a mouse and a cricket started the revolutionary war."
-Harry the cat

Premiered January 16, 1975 on ABC.

'Yankee Doodle Cricket' is the third special in a trilogy produced by Chuck Jones starring Chester Cricket (voiced by Les Tremayne) & friends that began with 'A Cricket In Times Square'. We reviewed the second special, 'A Very Merry Cricket', here.

We open with Tucker the mouse(voiced by Mel Blanc) discovering that the Declaration of Independence was co-written by a mouse. He goes to tell his friend Harry the cat (also Tremayne) about this and we flash back to 1775.

Tucker's ancestor writes the 'Declaration of Interdependence between cats and dogs', which brings peace between cats and dogs. It states "all cats and mice are created equal". He runs it over to his friend Harry (an ancestor of his friend Harry) to sign it on behalf of cats. On his way to Harry's house, he almost runs over a snake. The snake tells Harry "don't tread on me", which gives Tucker the idea to create the Gadsden flag.

It turns out Harry is Thomas Jefferson's cat. Jefferson is working on the Declaration and having trouble with the ending. He tries out several phrases "Speak softly and carry a big stick", "Two chickens in every pot","54-40 or fight"-all famous political slogans from another time. He is helped by Tucker(or an ancestor of Tucker?). Tucker emerges from his mouse hole to help Jefferson come up with "We hold these truths to be self evident...". Jefferson steps away for a break, when Tucker arrives and shows Harry his 'Declaration'. Harry is impressed with ending, which says "we hold these truths to be self-evident" etc. He leaves Tucker's Declaration on Jefferson's desk, which gives him the idea he needs to help him finish the Declaration of Independence.

The animals need a song everyone can sing to unify the colonists in the fight for Independence. They hear a cricket making music and ask if he'll compose the song. Chester (the great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather of Chester) composes 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. The three stars travel all around the colonies and teach all the animals how to sing and play 'Yankee Doodle Dandy'. And the rest is history! At least, it's "history" in the context of this special.

While promoting the song in Boston, they learn the man who is supposed to light lanterns in the Old North Church is unable to do so. So Tucker, Harry and Chester team up to make sure the lanterns are lit.

J.A. Morris says:

I'm a huge fan of Chuck Jones(his work on 'Looney Tunes' and 'How The Grinch Stole Christmas' make him animation royalty in my book), but this is easily the weakest of the three 'Cricket' specials. It's entertaining, but most of the jokes fall flat. Worst of all is the recycling of animation. We see the some of the scenes used 3-4 times in a 26 minute special. It could be a good way to introduce to history to children though. That,plus the voice of Mel Blanc is what makes me give this special a mild recommendation(we also get a voice "cameo" from the legendary June Foray as Marsha the firefly, which helps a little).
My rating:
2.5 flags.

Merry Christmas In July!

2011-07-25T14:15:00.009-04:00

Yesterday, RigbyMel and I attended a Richmond Flying Squirrels Baseball game. The game was host to a celebration of 'Christmas In July'.

They had a local band singing songs like 'White Christmas' and 'Winter Wonderland' at the stadium entrance, and Santa was present too, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and posing for pictures with children.

The Flying Squirrel's mascot Nutzy played "Santa Nutzy", he was kind enough to help me record a "commercial" for this blog!:

And Santa also "endorses" this blog!

We had a great time at the game, and it was a nice reminder that as of today, Christmas is only five months away!

If you live in a town that has a Major or Minor League baseball team, check their schedule this week, they may also be celebrating 'Christmas In July!

J.A.

The Great American Fourth Of July And Other Disasters

2011-07-08T16:23:00.009-04:00

Here's a holiday special featuring Jean Shepherd as narrator, Ralphie Parker, the Old Man and Flick, but it's not A Christmas Story as you might have come to expect. Instead, it's:

The Great American Fourth of July and Other Disasters is a 1982 tv special that first aired on PBS as part of the "American Playhouse" series.

The special features a teenaged Ralphie Parker (as played by a young Matt Dillon) and tells of adventures had on a long ago 4th of July full of "gut-thumping explosions", marching bands, parades, picnics, maniacal drum majors, sack races, blind dates, wash rags, and of course, fireworks!

Our story begins with a framing device, Jean Shepherd is driving a Rolls Royce down present-day (for 1982) I-95 which leads him to South of the Border the venerably tacky roadside attraction in South Carolina which features a vast array of fireworks of varying lethality for purchase. As he fills a shopping cart full of recreational explosives ("just like the A&P"), he thinks about how much "the Old Man" would have loved a place like South of the Border and how "the Old Man's" 4th of July fireworks displays were reknowned which leads us down memory lane to teenaged Ralphie and friends in Holman, Indiana.

We learn that Ralphie plays sousaphone in the local marching band which is getting ready for the big 4th of July parade under the direction of Wilbur Duckworth, a drum major with "the soul of a true storm trooper". The band, frankly, isn't all that great and are further stymied by swirling midwestern dust and colliding sousaphone bell, but Wilbur insists on rehearsing them to the brink of exhaustion in preparation for the big parade.

Meanwhile, we are introduced to Ralphie's family - his long suffering mother, his brother Randy "whose art form was the whine" and the Old Man himself (as played by James Broderick - Matthew Broderick's old man in real life) who is looking forward to 4th of July festivities while being puzzled as to an amusing subplot involving mom and wash rags. We also encounter Ralphie's friends Schwartz (Jeff Yonis) and Flick (William Lampley) - Flick seems to have turned into a not-very-nice teenager (maybe getting his tongue stuck to that flag pole embittered him?).

Schwartz's mom has set Ralphie up on a blind date, which Ralphie is not looking forward to at all. But as tends to happen in Jean Shepherd's stories, the date doesn't quite pan out the way Ralphie anticipates.

We are also introduced to Lud Kissel (Babe Sargent) , the town drunk - you can tell he will be important later because of the "Jaws Theme" that plays in the background whenever he appears on screen.

The 4th of July dawns bright and hot and the day's festivities get underway. The parade has interesting consequences when Wilbur Duckworth's double baton act goes terribly wrong, but folks recover from that shock and go on to enjoy the town picnic. Ralphie and Schwartz have trained for the sack race in anticipation of winning a pair of shiny transistor radios but that also winds up not going according to plan due to Flick's machinations.

Lud emerges from a darkened bar (due to parade consequences) to join in the fun. He produces a massive, black and menacing firecracker that wrecks havoc on the unsuspecting citizens of Hammond and on Mrs. Kissel's front porch, thereby ensuring his place in town folklore.

The evening ends with the Old Man's much anticipated fireworks extravaganza and a good time is generally had by all. Ralphie and the Old Man share a nice moment together at the very end of the evening, talking about what a great day it has been.

We then return to present (1982) day Jean Shepherd, back in his Rolls on I-95 to wrap things up with some lovely philosophizing about how holidays are "like mileposts in the picket fence of the years that stretch on and on through our lives."

This is great, funny special in the best Jean Shepherd storytelling tradition. The effects are low-budget, but that makes it all the more charming. It is a pity that The Great American Fourth Of July And Other Disasters isn't commercially available at this time, but if you can get your hands on a copy, it is well worth your time.

Rigby Mel says - my rating:

4 waving flags

*************************************************

J.A.Morris says:

I agree with Rigbymel on this one,'The Great American 4th Of July' should be on tv every July. I watched this when it was brand new, I didn't realize until years later that it featured the same characters from 'A Christmas Story'. I'm guessing that licensing difficulties regarding some of the background music(like the aforementioned 'Jaws' theme) are preventing an official dvd release. Dillon and Broderick are especially great in their roles.
My rating:
4 flags!

Since it's never been released commercially, here's a link to Part 1 of the special on Youtube:

Muppets for the 4th of July

2011-07-06T16:30:00.004-04:00

Ok, a bit later than the 4th, but I figure we here at "Holiday Film Reviews" can stay in the spirit all week if we feel so inclined (and I assure you, we feel inclined).

We were traveling home from July 3rd fireworks (a new Richmond area tradition, that I rather hope continues - we watched from Oregon Hill rather than Brown's Island on the grounds that it would be less crowded, but still fun) and listening to one of our favorite programs (Can't Stop The Music) on one of our favorite local radio stations (WRIR 97.3) while an Impressive Thunderstorm crackled all around us. The program was devoted to quirky, somewhat off the beaten track music in honor of the 4th of July for the evening and they played this:

It's a 2008 clip of the Muppets' take on Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" march and it was brilliant, so I am sharing it with you, dear readers, now.

More 4th of July fun coming later this week!

Happy 4th Of July!

2011-07-04T17:40:00.005-04:00

This 'Schoolhouse Rock' short is something I watch every 4th of July weekend. It's not as well known as 'The Preamble' or 'Conjunction Junction', but it was always been one of my favorites. Probably because I always loved fireworks when I was a kid! Enjoy,
J.A.

'Here Comes Peter Cottontail'

2011-04-29T15:38:00.002-04:00

Premiered April 4, 1971

"Don't be so depressed, Peter. When you are depressed, it's gets to be very...depressing!."-Seymour S. Sassafras

Narrator Seymour Sassafras ( voiced by Danny Kaye),a peddler of "magic and moonbeams" begins by telling us of April Valley, home of all current and past Easter Bunnies.

Chief Easter Bunny Col. Wellington B Bunny (also voiced by Kaye) is retiring and has designated Peter Cottontail(Casey Kasem) to be his successor. His advisors don't think Peter is a good choice,but Wellington says Peter reminds him of his younger self. Peter has one glaring flaw: he tells fibs. Whenever he tells fibs, his left ear droops.

Another bunny named January Q Irontail(Vincent Price) objects to Peter's appointment and wants to "rule" April Valley as Easter Bunny. Irontail hates children, because a child skated over his tail, he now wears a tail made of iron. He hates Easter and all its trappings. When he takes control of April Valley, he plans to cancel Easter forever.

Wellington holds a ceremony where he declares Peter the new Chief, and presents him with the official basket of the Easter Bunny.

Irontail shows up and tells them the constitution of April Valley states the chief bunny will be the one who delivers the most eggs. He challenges Peter to a contest: whoever delivers the most eggs will be the new Easter Bunny. Peter accepts the challenge, Wellington agrees, telling Peter he must win to save Easter.

The night before Easter, Peter parties with friends, until very late at night. He stumbles to bed, setting his alarm-rooster to wake him up at 5:30 am. Irontail and his pet bat Montresar show up and give the rooster bubble gum. This causes his beak to be stuck closed, so he's unable to wake Peter in time. He sleeps all through Easter, Irontail is only able to give away one egg, but that's one more than Peter. Irontail wins the contest and takes over April Valley.

Easter is canceled forever, eggs will now be colored "the color of mud". Chocolate bunnies will be replaced by tarantulas and octopi.

Peter is ashamed of himself. His irresponsible behavior allowed Irontail to win. He walks for miles until he collapses & falls asleep. When he wakes up, he finds himself in the Garden of Surprises. Turns out the Garden is run by Sassafras.

He offers Peter the use of his time machine, the Yestermorrowbile, piloted by Antoine the Caterpillar (Kaye yet again). It has buttons for every holiday, pressing them takes them to Christmas, Easter,etc. Peter can use it to travel back in time and beat Irontail in the egg delivery contest.

They set off, but Irontail sees this and sends a spider flunky to sabotage the Yestermorrowbile, which causes a crash that damages the controls. Peter and Antoine can no longer choose which Holiday to visit, they just end up on random Holidays.

Along the way, Peter runs into an old friend from April Valley, Bonnie, a talking Easter Bonnet, who joins his quest. He also meets a bunny named Donna on Valentine’s Day. They are smitten with each other and go on an ice skating date. While they’re skating, Irontail steals the eggs, and proceeds to dye them green.

SPOILERS follow:

Donna is grossed out by the green eggs, so Peter flies off disgusted with himself for leaving the eggs around. He eventually winds up at a St. Patrick’s Day Parade, dressed as “The Blarney Bunny”. Green eggs are perfect for the occasion; St. Paddy’s celebrants grab all of his eggs. Peter wins the contest and becomes Chief Easter Bunny!

As he sets off to deliver eggs and candy on Easter morning, he runs into Donna. He gives her an egg; she kisses him and is seen in April Valley in the final shot. Bonnie is delivered by Peter as an Easter gift, which makes her happy. Irontail is sentenced to clean up April Valley. Peter runs into Antoine, who has turned into a butterfly! They all march in the April Valley Easter Parade.

J.A. Morris says:

This is the best of Rankin-Bass’ three Easter specials. The presence of Vincent Price’s voice alone makes it worth watching. In some ways, it’s “The Mother Of All Rankin Bass Holiday Specials”, since we see Peter visit virtually every Holiday. I think the songs are all pretty good & memorable. The music and songs by Maury Laws are as good as anything he’s done. Kaye does a nice job voicing multiple characters, and Kasem delivers a solid performance in the title role. During the Christmas segment, Santa Claus makes a cameo, voiced by Paul Frees (who voiced him in several other Rankin-Bass specials). Most of the Rankin-Bass specials feature "Celebrity Narrators", but this is the only time I can think of where the narrator interacts with the protagonist, making it unique. And of course, there’s a strong nostalgia factor, for people who grew up in the 70s.

But I do have one quibble:

We learn early on that Peter is sort of irresponsible and has a bad habit of telling fibs. He parties too late on the night before Easter. But he doesn’t oversleep on Easter JUST because he’s irresponsible and stays out too late. He oversleeps because Irontail sees to it that his alarm clock rooster is unable to wake him. So, it’s not all his fault that he loses the contest, since Irontail had to cheat to win. The lesson about “responsibility” falls a little flat here.

At least during the Valentine segment, Donna tells him he should be forgiven, because anyone can make a mistake.

That’s the only thing that keeps this special from getting a 4-egg rating.

Hop

2011-04-25T15:26:00.019-04:00

Released April 1st 2011

Directed by Tim Hill

Hop centers on the story of two characters who are disappointments to their fathers, who bond over this and (eventually) save the Easter Bunny from a usurper.

The film opens on Easter Island, where we’re introduced to a young rabbit named E.B.(Russell Brand). We soon learn that his father is the Easter Bunny(Hugh Laurie), who is hard at work preparing for his worldwide Easter journey. His candy factory(located inside one of Easter Island’s “head” sculptures)is operated by a chick named Carlos(Hank Azaria). The Easter Bunny tells E.B. that someday he’ll take over his job, Carlos is angry thinking he should be the successor.

The story moves to the suburbs of Los Angeles. A little boy named Fred, wakes up early on Easter and catches a glimpse of the Easter Bunny delivering eggs & candy. It’s a memory he’ll treasure all his life.

We cut to 20 years later, Fred(James Marsden) is now an adult slacker who can’t keep a steady job and moved back in with his parents (Gary Cole and Elizabeth Perkins), who are frustrated with his lack of ambition. His sister Samantha (Kaley Cuoco) gets him a job interview with a videogame company, and asks him to house sit at her boss’s mansion. He’s not interested in the job but tells Sam he’ll humor her and apply.

At the same time, E.B. is due to be appointed Easter Bunny, but he’d rather play drums in a rock band. He doesn’t think he’s cut out to take over for his father. Using a magic rabbit hole, he flees to Hollywood to pursue his rock n roll dream.

The Easter Bunny is furious at E.B. and sends his Pink Berets (a team of rabbit-ninjas) to bring him home. Meanwhile, Carlos and his fellow chicks are plotting a coup against the Easter Bunny.

Fred is driving and accidentally hits E.B.. When he picks up a rock to put him out of his misery, E.B. shocks Fred by asking him not too. E.B. needs a place to stay, so he uses Fred’s guilt to let him join in on his housesitting gig.

Fred tells E.B. not to go upstairs. He disobeys this order, leaving carrot stems all over the house and running a jaqcuzi until it overflows, making a mess upstairs. E.B.’s antics make Fred late for his job interview at the videogame company. The Pink Berets show up and chase E.B. around the office and run into Fred, causing him to botch the interview. E.B. asks Fred to help him get to an audition for a talent show overseen by David Hasselhoff, Fred agrees but says he’s wants E.B. to leave him alone after the audition.

The audition is a success,but the Berets show up again and attack both of them. They escape and E.B. tells Fred his backstory and his reluctance to take over for the Easter Bunny. Fred doesn't believe him until he poops jelly beans. Fred remembers his childhood encounter with the Easter Bunny and decides that he will take over as Easter Bunny. He begins vigorously decorating eggs and gathering candy in preparation for his Easter journey around the world. But before he can do that:

The Berets invade the mansion, E.B. escapes by faking his own death. Fred is accused of killing E.B. and taken to Easter Island. At this point, Carlos takes over, imprisons Fred and the Easter Bunny and is magically transformed into a rabbit-chick hybrid.

Spoiler Alert: E.B. regrets abandoning Fred, so he returns to Easter Island just in time to save his father and Fred. He overthrows Carlos and becomes the new Easter Bunny, just in time for Easter. Fred accompanies E.B. on the journey and becomes his new fulltime assistant, thus finding a job he loves.

JA Morris says:

Hop is entertaining, but just good enough to be disappointing. At “press time”, Marsden is 37 years old and too old to play a “20-something” character, but he’s still convincing as a wide-eyed manchild. It’s not easy acting with animated characters, but he pulls that off too. I don’t care much for Russell Brand, but he’s okay as E.B., but E.B. isn’t very sympathetic as a protagonist. He takes a bit too long to “wake up”, accept his role as Easter Bunny and save the day.

Having the Easter Bunny based on Easter Island was cute, and the candy factory assembly line scene is how I imagined candy was made when I was a kid. And the Easter Bunny’s sleigh was cool too, a nice way of showing how he travels around the globe.

But ‘Hop’ is ultimately not a very good movie. The story jumps around and E.B. isn’t very sympathetic as a protagonist. He takes a bit too long to “wake up” and save the day.

“But won’t kids like it? And isn’t that what matters about a movie like this?”

If I was a kid, I probably would have enjoyed it once, but not cared too much if I ever saw it again. Which is too bad, because the list of Easter movies & tv specials is short.

My review:

2 and ½ Easter Eggs

RigbyMel says:

On the surface this movie had a lot going for it (good voice cast, neat computer animation, pretty good live action cast, fun concept) but the execution left me wishing it was better than it was. As it was, it was mildly entertaining but kind of empty, which is a shame.

My rating: 1 and 1/2 Easter eggs

The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count

2011-04-21T16:08:00.003-04:00

Since spring is the season of allergies here in Virginia, I've had this song stuck in my head on and off for the past several days (especially as I've been trying to rid my car of evil, yellow pollen dust ...).

So Holiday Film Reviews now presents a musical interlude linked for your listening/viewing pleasure: "The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count" by The Divine Comedy.

This is a fun pop song by the British band The Divine Comedy. It was originally released on their Liberation album in 1993, but the linked version is a re-recording that was done for their 1999 best of compilation entitled A Secret History ... The Best of the Divine Comedy. The single peaked at #17 in the UK charts.

Interestingly, the song points out a bit of a geographical difference as I tend to associate allergy season in Virginia with spring and autumn, but this song is about summer. Summer is generally more of a pollen-filled season in the U.K. than in the eastern U.S. actually, so this makes some sense.

Something to mull over with your U.S. (Virginia) allergies and congestion today.

TTFN

Jim Henson's The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

2011-04-20T23:02:00.005-04:00

First aired on HBO on March 26, 1986 in the U.S. (and 3 days later on the BBC according to Muppet Wiki)

This charming special tells the story of Bean Bunny (as performed by Steve Whitmire), an imaginative but small rabbit who does not feel appreciated by his family or peers. His older brother Lugsy and sister Twitch seem to find him a bit of a nuisance and tell him he's too little to help out with their preparations for the upcoming Bunny Picnic.

The Bunny Picnic is an annual spring festival that involves elaborate preparations on the part of all the bunnies as well as a much anticipated visit from the Bunny Storyteller.

Frustrated that his siblings won't let him help out, Bean wanders off to a nearby farm where he is frightened and chased by a Dog. Bean manages to get away and returns to warn the other rabbits about the Dog, but no one believes him since a dog has not been seen near the warren for years (and also, one surmises, because Bean's imagination has been known to run away with him in the past).

Dog, as it turns out, isn't really a bad fellow(and is amusingly performed by Jim Henson) , but has been coerced by the mean Farmer - who is allergic to rabbits and resents the bunnies' incursions on his lettuce patch. Dog needs to catch bunnies so the Farmer can have some bunny stew (yuck! & possibly not smart in light of Farmer's apparent bunny allergies) so that the Farmer will feed him and possibly deign to give Dog a real name.

Dog eventually finds his way to the warren, peril is averted by Bean's bravery and imagination (with an assist from a cute story about a wise Giant Hedgehog courtesy of the Bunny Storyteller), the mean Farmer is defeated and the bunnies become friends with Dog and even give him a real name and the Bunny Picnic is a success.

To my mind, this cute hour of television was intended as a secular Easter special (bunnies, springtime, etc) and functions quite well. It's sort of in the same stylistic vein as Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas, but with songs that are not quite as strong as the songs in Emmet (lack of Paul Williams as composer will do that though). Although the songs are not quite as strong as in other Henson movies and specials, they are perfectly adequate to the purpose and you may well find yourself humming the bunnies' “Hello Sunshine” song for days after the fact. It may not quite be a “classic” per se, but this is a very fun special that you may have missed & well worth a look, especially if you are Jim Henson/Muppets fan. I was almost 10 when this special first aired and I find it still holds up well for jaded thirtysomething me.

Sadly, it has not (yet) been released on DVD (what's the hold up, Disney?), but The Tale of the Bunny Picnic did receive a VHS release and is readily obtainable from various internet sources.

My rating:

3 Easter Eggs

Spring has sprung on the HFR blog!

2011-04-18T10:59:00.002-04:00

Spring has sprung on the Holiday Film Reviews blog and we've updated our look. Now we can change the background to look all seasonal. Spiffy, isn't it?

And after a bit of a long absence, we will be returning shortly with exciting new posts about specials relating to Spring!

Holiday Film Reviews

Happy New Year, Charlie Brown

Happy Days-"Guess Who's Coming To Christmas"

A follow-up about "I Wish It Was Christmas Today"

Harry And The Potters At The Yule Ball 2008

Glee - "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"

One of my favorite modern Christmas songs:SNL's "I Wish It Was Christmas Today"

Northern Exposure - "Seoul Mates"

Saturday Night Live's Tradition Of Thanksgiving Songs

The Bob Newhart Show-"An American Family"

Cheers-"Thanksgiving Orphans"

Tower Heist

Jem And The Holograms-"Trick Or Techrat"

The Simpsons-"The Simpsons Halloween Special II"(A.K.A. "Treehouse Of Horror II")

Merrie Melodies - "Transylvania 6-5000"

Mad - "Halloween Episode"

Castle - "Demons"

M*A*S*H - "Trick or Treatment"

Roseanne - "Boo!"

That 70s Show - "That 70s Halloween"

My So-Called Life - "Halloween"

Scaredy Squirrel - "Halloweekend"

The Scooby Doo Show - "The Headless Horseman Of Halloween"

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

'Fat Albert's Halloween Special'

Spectacular Spider-Man-'The Uncertainty Principle'

'Yankee Doodle Cricket'

Merry Christmas In July!

The Great American Fourth Of July And Other Disasters

Muppets for the 4th of July

Happy 4th Of July!

'Here Comes Peter Cottontail'

Hop

The Pop Singer's Fear of the Pollen Count

Jim Henson's The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

Spring has sprung on the HFR blog!

MAS*H - "Trick or Treatment"