My favorite Christmas special of all time is A Charlie Brown Christmas. I was a huge Peanuts fan when I was a lad and I loved all the Charlie Brown TV specials. Ironically, though, I missed the first showing of A Charlie Brown Christmas because my family was out shopping for and buying an artificial Christmas tree. But I did see it the following year, and every year since. The same Christmas tree has been used almost every year since, too.
What is kind of a shame about Christmas specials is that they're not that special anymore. Because of the existance of VCRs, marketed videos and DVDs, kids and families can watch shows like ACBC, Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer and How the Grinch Stole Christmas over and over again, whenever they like. These shows were major events for me as a child. Big bowls of popcorn were made. Cushions were pulled up closer to the TV than normally allowed. Grownups let themselves be "shushed" if they talked too loud. And you had to pay attention, cause if you missed that first terrifing peek of the Abominable Snow Monster, you didn't get to see it for another year. And when it was over, all you could really do was sort of bask in it and replay it the best you could in your mind.
Nowadays, it's nice that we have these shows at our fingertips, ready to view at any time at our convience with no annoying commercial breaks. But at the same time, there's something within me that yearns for simpler times, when ACHB was truely a Christmas special and not just another DVD amongst many others crammed into my video bookcase.
Ugh! How terribly nostalgic I am tonight! Next thing you know I'll be pulling out my collection of Sears Christmas Wishbooks to lull myself asleep.