Christmas Eve On Sesame Street

Premiered December 3, 1978. 

It’s Christmas Eve and the residents of Sesame Street are feeling the spirit of the season.  After a trip to the local ice skating rink, they pick out Christmas trees, sing holiday songs and shop for gifts.

Big Bird (Carroll Spinney) and his friend Patty (Debbie Chen) are excited about the impending arrival of Santa Claus.  However, he still has lots of questions about how the “Jolly Old Elf” can get down a chimney, let alone all of the chimneys.  Oscar the grouch (Spinney) has doubts about this and expresses these doubts rather rudely.  

He says that if Santa can’t fit down chimneys, kids won’t get presents.  Big Bird asks his friends Kermit (Jim Henson) and Grover (Frank Oz) to get children’s theories of how Santa delivers toys. 

Later, Ernie (Henson) spots a box in Mr. Hooper’s (Will Lee) store and thinks it would be a perfect place for his friend Bert (Oz) to keep his beloved collection of paper clips.  He has no money to pay for the box, so he offers Hooper his treasured rubber ducky as barter, which Hooper accepts. 

When Bert visits Hooper’s store, he sees a pink soap dish that would make the perfect home for Ernie’s rubber ducky.  He gives up his paper clips in exchange for the soap dish!

As evening approaches, Big Bird is determined to stay up and watch Santa make his way the chimney.  He goes to the roof of the Sesame Street apartment building so he can see what happens.  The heavy snow and frigid temperatures put Big Bird in jeopardy of freezing.  

Patty gets worried when Big Bird isn’t in his nest.  She goes to Gordon (Roscoe Orman), Susan (Loretta Long) and Maria (Sonia Monzano) for help locating their feathered friend.  

Will Big Bird see Santa arrive?  Will Bert and Ernie’s Christmas be "ruined" by their selflessness? 

Plus, Cookie Monster (Oz) tries to write a letter to Santa Claus! 

J.A. Morris says:

I rarely say this of anything we review, but this special is just about perfect.  I was born two years after Sesame Street debuted, so it was a big part of my childhood.  While the cast changed a bit while I was watching, this is more or less “my” Sesame cast.  So Christmas Eve On Sesame Street is a wonderful way to visit my old TV friends every December. 

The whole cast, puppets and humans is great, but Carroll Spinney is the real standout.  It probably wasn’t easy for Spinney to provide voice for Big Bird’s excitement about Santa and Oscar’s nastiness, but Spinney excels here. 

Frank Oz and Jim Henson's scenes as Bert and Ernie are among their best work.  Their performance of “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” brings me tears of joy every time I watch it.  Their story line is one of the best versions of  "The Gift Of The Magi."

Big Bird asks Mr. Snuffleupagus (Jerry Nelson) to help him solve the Santa/Chimney conundrum.

Roscoe Orman is wonderful as Gordon.  Orman plays the perfect father figure for Big Bird, Patty and even Cookie Monster.  I also thought it was sweet that Susan and Gordon invited Cookie Monster and Big Bird to spend Christmas with them. 

Christmas Eve On Sesame Street features three new songs and they’re all great, with “Keep Christmas With You” being the best.  When I was a little boy who loved the holiday season, I tried to take the song’s message to heart.  I remember grabbing a notepad and writing down the lyrics so I’d remember them “all through the year!”

This special is highly recommended and especially recommended to everyone who loved this particular Sesame Street cast when they were kids. 

J.A. Morris’ rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says: 

As I am a few years younger than J.A. Morris, this 1978 special DEFINITELY features the Sesame Street cast I remember.    The special was appreciated when it first aired - it won the 1979 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Program - and it holds up wonderfully well.  

Impressively, Christmas Eve On Sesame Street manages to present the "spirit of the season" in a sweet, but not sappy way and does so in a completely secular context.   

There is even a nod to the fact that not everyone is crazy about the holidays with Oscar The Grouch's "I Hate Christmas" song and he is the primary antagonist for the episode.   Fortunately, he does reform a la Rankin-Bass a little bit -- he's grouchy, but not a monster, for pete's sake!  

I also like that the special "opens out" the world of the cast a little bit -- we see the Sesame Street gang ice skating (with a little help from the cast of Holiday on Ice) and riding the subway back uptown.   Plus the ice skating sequence with Big Bird and a little girl skating to "Feliz Navidad" is precious -- especially the little girl's genuine reaction when she hugs Big Bird at the end of the number. 

The songs are great  -- full disclosure,  my first ever live concert was seeing Bob McGrath on stage!  As J.A. Morris says, "Keep Christmas With You" is a standout.   However, I find that "True Blue Miracle" has been really sticking with me in recent years as well.   There's something really charming about the Caribbean tinged tune. 

The original Muppet performers always make me smile, wonderful touches abound, like Oscar being helped over the turnstiles in the subway and Kermit and Grover's interviews with kids regarding how Santa does his job.

Plus, the human cast all gets moments to shine.   I particularly love Bob's interactions with Linda Bove.  Linda teaches the kids how to sign "Keep Christmas With You" in ASL as a present to Bob.

Mr. Hooper's intervention into Bert & Ernie's "Gift of the Magi" tale is a delight also.  It's a nice touch that the Jewish character (Mr. Hooper) wants to make sure his friends have a merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve On Sesame Street is an absolute classic and worth sharing with your family each year if you don't already do so!  Cannot recommend this one highly enough!

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes!!!

An appeal to Disney and The Henson Company

We spent this Christmas season blogging about Muppets holiday programming. Tonight is Twelth Night, so we bid farewell to Christmas with an appeal to the owners of the Muppets to release some other specials that are not currently available on dvd.  In fact, they've never been officially released domestically on home video in any format.

The ownership of the Muppets and the various Muppet specials, movies and series is complicated.  For example, Kermit and the other characters from The Muppet Show are owned by Disney, but the Jim Henson Company owns other characters, such as the fraggles.  Song rights are also preventing some specials from being released in their original form, without major edits.  There are unauthorized copies of these specials floating around and clips on the internet.  But it would be nice to see them officially released.  

The Great Santa Claus Switch features a great assortment of Muppet monsters and elves, with Art Carney playing both Santa and the villain Cosmo Scam.  It was hosted by Ed Sullivan and is considered an episode of Sullivan's classic variety show.

Art Carney as Santa Claus.

The Ed Sullivan Show is owned by SOFA Entertainment, which adds yet another wrinkle to why we haven't seen it released on home video.  But it's a very good Christmas special, you can see Henson trying out ideas that would be used in later Muppet productions.

Cosmo Scam (Art Carney again) plots with his monster minions.

John Denver And The Muppets:A Christmas Together is also unavailable due to music rights. This is covered in detail in an excellent post at Christmas TV History.

John Denver leads the Muppets in a performance of "Silent Night."

Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree aired in 1995 and is an adaptation of a book by Robert Barry.  In addition to Muppets, it features a great cast of humans, with Robert Downey Jr., Stockard Channing and Leslie Nielsen in starring roles.

Mr. Willowby and friends.

Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) hosts and narrates the special, which features both Mr. Willowby (Downey) and a family of mice seeking the perfect Christmas tree.  It's a short but nice story, with new Christmas songs.  Downey gets to sing here, something you don't see him do in recent films like Iron Man 3.  There are also some beautiful and intricate puppets created by the Henson Workshop, the owls are especially stunning.

We know it's unlikely that these specials will get a legitimate release.  But that's what they used to say about the 1960s Batman series. That show was produced by Fox, with characters owned by Warner Bros..  But Batman was finally released in 2014, so why not these rarely seen Muppet specials?  These shows are part of TV history as well as the legacy of one of our greatest performing artists, Jim Henson.  They deserve to be available to a wider audience.

J.A. & RigbyMel

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas

Premiered December 4, 1977.

Emmet Otter (Jerry Nelson) and his mother Alice (Marilyn Sokol) live on the river in the town of Frogtown Hollow.  They are very poor and rely on odd jobs and doing other people's laundry to get by.  Emmet uses his late father's tools to make repairs, while  Alice sells baked goods and does laundry in her washtub.  But they love each other and love to sing. 

Emmet & Alice sing "The One Bathing Suit."

When Emmet and Alice go shopping in Waterville, they pass a music shop.  Emmet spots a guitar in the window and tells his mother that he wants it for Christmas.  It costs $40, more than Alice has to her name.

The otters observe a group of toughs known as the Riverbottom Gang.  They're led by a bear named Chuck (Frank Oz) and they wreck havoc in the music shop.

The Riverbottom Gang, led by Chuck the Bear.

Emmet's friend Wendell Porcupine (Dave Goelz) tells Emmet of a talent show that will be held on Christmas Eve.  Wendell says Emmet is a good singer and that the winner gets $50.00 in prize money.  Their friends Harvey Beaver (Jim Henson) and Charlie Muskrat (Richard Hunt) suggest that the four of them form a jug-band and ask Emmet to play washtub bass.  Emmet isn't sure about that, because it would require him to put a hole in his mother's washtub, thereby ruining her laundry business.

Charlie, Harvey, Emmet & Wendell talk about forming a jug-band

At the same time, Alice is considering entering the contest.  She'll need a nice outfit to wear onstage and is forced to hock Emmet's tools to pay for it.  Unbeknownst to her, Emmet has put a hole in her washtub so he can join the band.  This means both of their livelihoods have been endangered.

Alice Otter discusses the upcoming talent show with her friend Hetty Muskrat (Eren Ozker).

The competition begins and Emmet's band mates are optimistic.  The other contestants aren't very talented and Harvey is confident that their band will win easily.

"Carrots, the Dancing Horse," one of less successful acts in the talent show.

But they're surprised when they see Alice singing on stage.  It gets worse when another contestant sings the song they were planning to perform.  They hurriedly rehearse a new song for the show.

Alice sings "Our World" at the talent contest.

The Frogtown Hollow Jubilee Jug-Band performs "Brothers."

The talent show seems to be over, but a last-second entry arrives--the Riverbottom Gang, performing as a rock band called The Nightmare.

Riverbottom Nightmare Band!

Will Emmet's band or Alice win the contest?  How will they survive without their washtub and tool chest?

J.A. Morris says:
It's very difficult to be objective about Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.  I first saw it when aired on ABC in 1980 and I've been a big fan ever since.

The band rehearses the song "Barbecue."

The songs are all very catchy and Emmet and Alice are very sweet and sympathetic.  It stands with Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, How The Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas as something I must watch every holiday season.

Emmet brings home the "Christmas Branch."

It's basically a retelling of O. Henry's "The Gift Of The Magi", with washtub and tools standing in for watch and hair.  But unlike that story, Emmet and his mother sell the things that help them make ends meet.

Emmet uses his tool chest to rebuild a fence.

I want to give some kudos to the two leads in this special.  Jerry Nelson gives Emmet an innate sweetness and gives the title otter an endearing speaking and singing voice.

Nelson also performs Stanley Weasel, villainous guitarist for the Nightmare band, who is as nasty as Emmet is nice. It's a tribute to Nelson that it took me years of viewing before I noticed both characters were voiced by the same person.

Marilyn Sokol is also great as the voice of Emmet's mother Alice.

Her lovely singing voice on "Where The River Meets The Sea" and "Our World" has brought tears to my eyes on just about every viewing of this special.  Sokol is a highly accomplished Broadway and TV veteran and has won an Emmy and an Obie award for her work in other shows.

J.A. Morris meets Emmet & his mother at the Smithsonian.

While the Riverbottom Gang are decidedly bad animals, it's to the credit of writer Jerry Juhl that they are funny characters.  Their song at the end of the talent show is a very good rock n roll song.  You'll find yourself tapping your foot and headbanging even you don't really want them to win.

Chuck on stage.

This special is available on DVD and can be streamed on Amazon and iTunes.  The special in its current form is different from the original version in several respects (my co-blogger goes into more detail in her review below).  You can read more about the various edits at the Muppet Wiki.

Alice meets Harrison Fox (Henson), Mayor of Waterville and MC of the talent show.

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is one of the greatest productions Henson and his troupe of Muppeteers ever made and is highly recommended.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says:

I also find it impossible to be objective about this special.   Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is one of my all-time favorite holiday programs.   I love it for many reasons - the wonderful puppeteering (which allowed the Henson workshop to practice and develop techniques they would go on to utilize in various feature length Muppet movies),  the beautifully designed naturalistic sets, and the sweet story, for starters.  

The Waterville Town Hall all ready for the Christmas Eve talent contest

This special is based on a (now long out of print) picture book of the same title by Russell and Lillian Hoban. My family had a copy of the book and I have fond memories of my parents reading it to me when I was small.   I was excited when I learned of the Muppets adaptation, which I think I first saw on HBO in the early 1980s.

Here's the cover of the original book  (I still have my battered and be-stickered copy). 

Henson and company do a great job of adapting the Hobans' story and illustrations.   The additions of giving the River Bottom Gang/Band more things to do as well as more personality and dialogue is welcome.

The Riverbottom Nightmare Band wails out their number during the contest.

Also, Kermit the Frog makes an excellent host in the original version of the special.  He both introduces and wraps up the action, tying things together nicely.

Kermit gets harassed by the Riverbottom Gang at the beginning of the original version of the special.

Sadly,  Kermit is not currently allowed to appear in present releases of the special on DVD, due to copyright issues.   (Dear Disney and Henson folks,  please can we get it together enough to make this happen sometime in the not too distant future?)

Kermit would like to be restored to the home video releases of the special, please!

Music is very important in a story that centers on a talent contest and Paul Williams' music and words are spot on.   They are fun, clever and folksy without being twee and the Riverbottom Nightmare Band's self-titled song is an amusing mash-up of 1970s glam rock awesome.

Harvey Beaver plays washboard and kazoo!

The musical highlight of the program for me is "When The River Meets The Sea" a sweet and tender gospel-tinged ballad that is sung twice during the course of the show.     I suspect that Jim Henson rather liked this song as well as it appears on the John Denver & The Muppets: A Christmas Together album, which was released in 1979.    It was also performed by Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold during Henson's memorial service in 1990.

Goofy dancing rabbits in the talent show.

Although this special makes no mention whatsoever of either Jesus or Santa Claus,  it has a generous spirit and heart that melds perfectly with the Christmas season.   Emmet and Alice Otter's sacrifices wind up paying off in unexpected and heartwarming ways.

Sadly,  when I mention Emmet Otter to most people, they stare at me blankly. That is a shame since this special is utterly charming and deserves to be much better known, with or without the inclusion of Kermit.

RigbyMel has a moment with Emmet and Alice Otter in a special exhibit at the Smithsonian during 2006. 

If you love Christmas and the Muppets, you owe it to yourself to watch Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and get the songs thoroughly stuck in your head!

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes!!!!