Discuss: Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree...

Karen: A big part of the holiday season for me is music. I start feeling that Christmas spirit when I hear any of the tunes off of the Vince Guaraldi "Charlie Brown Christmas" album. That has to be my number one, all-time favorite Christmas music. But there are a lot of other songs I really enjoy. I like the  traditional tunes like "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" and old crooners like Bing Crosby and Nat King Cole, but it's great hearing traditional songs with a twist. Surf guitar slingers  Los Straitjackets have a great album, "Tis the Season for Los Straitjackets," where they combined traditional Christmas tunes with classic surf songs like "Pipeline" and "Walk Don't Run" to create unique sounds. I absolutely love this album, as it hits two of my favorite genres.

Karen: Last year I was thrilled to run across a little gem in Best Buy - "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector." This album is a real beauty. It has holiday classics performed by The Crystals, The Ronettes, Darlene Love, and Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans. If you're a Phil Spector fan, or a girl group fan, or just a fan of 60s pop singing groups, this is a terrific album.

Karen: There have been a lot of original songs over the years that I've grown fond of, but none rocks harder than the Kinks' "Father Christmas."

Karen: There are so many more I enjoy -"Little Saint Nick" by the Beach Boys, the schmaltzy synth of "Wonderful Christmastime" by Sir Paul, "Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight)" by The Ramones, "Christmas Is" by Run-DMC...it seems like everyone has put out a Christmas song. What are your favorites?

Discuss: The Charlie Brown Specials

Doug:  The Peanuts animated features, whether on television for the holidays or even as feature films in the theaters, were always treats.  Tell about your favorites... and have a Zinger while you're at it!

Who's the Best... Christmas Cartoon?

Doug:  OK, so my grammar's not the best today.  What it should say is, "What's the Best... Christmas Cartoon?"  I'm mainly looking at those shows that repeat year after year, but if you have another suggestion, throw it out to all of us!

TV Party Tonight! -Christmas Specials

Karen: Well, it's that most wonderful time of the year. We put out the eggnog, hot chocolate, and cookies, so let's sit down by the fire and watch some of our favorite Christmas shows!

First, to get the juices going, let's start with that beloved classic, A Charlie Brown Christmas. I've seen it a million times but I can never get enough of it. There's so much to love here, especially the incredible music of Vince Guaraldi. Charlie Brown's valiant stand against the commercialization of the holiday is a classic. There are so many great moments - the ice skating, the kids dancing during rehearsal, Snoopy's prize-winning decorated doghouse, and of course, Linus' moving speech about the true meaning of Christmas. An absolute gem.



How about a little musical number before we get to our movie? This is an odd little bit from the 1977 Bing Crosby Christmas Special. Bing Crosby and David Bowie?! You couldn't get two more diametrically opposed personalities. And yet...it's a beautiful performance. Check it out.



And of course, what would a Christmas special be without a commercial? I know, it would be much better! But this is a pretty cute commercial:



Let's get to our main feature, shall we? While there have been many, many film versions of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, my favorite one is the 1951 movie with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. I think what gets me the most about this version is the time spent showing Scrooge the child; it's easy to see how such a lonely, unhappy child could turn into such a cold, distant creep later on. But the possibility of redemption exists, and we get our happy ending, as Scrooge attempts to make up for the past and become a good man. Whenever I see this I always feel acutely my own short-comings toward my fellow men. It's a good reminder that we only have so much time in this world - we should strive to do well with it.