A Very YouTube Christmas

By Writer Keith

Many of us have time-honored family traditions during the holiday season. Be it from the recipes, when to open gifts, someone having too much egg nog, and the ultimate realization of why we only spend a limited amount of hours with extended family on major holidays.

I know this year is tough for a lot of you with the economy being in the toilet. It sorta doesn’t feel like Christmas this year. That’s why I am here to help. I’ve scoured YouTube to find some of my favorite holiday moments from TV and the movies. Sure, “Captain Nostalgia” may be riding again, but this time it’s for a good cause and hopefully it will brighten up your day a little bit. So grab some nog, sit back, and enjoy. Away we go.

Nothing says Christmas and the 1980’s quite like the Andy Williams special. From the garish sweaters to the kinda creepy song where Andy talks about hanging out with underage kids, the 1985 version was a keeper. NBC emptied their bench of all their young sitcom stars to go and search for Santa. This clip is worth watching just for the Alfonso Ribero/Natalie from “The Facts of Life” segment.

Not to be outdone by Andy was the cheddar factor that was “A Very Brady Christmas.” Apparently, Greg grew a hideous mustache, Jan was an architect and Cindy was a whole different actress. That and we finally got the resolution that after 30 years, Sam and Alice weren’t married yet … and Sam still makes bad jokes about meat.

Some of my favorite traditions were the commercials that only ran at Christmastime. The Budweiser Clydesdales marching in the snow. And this McDonald’s relic from 1983. It taught us so many messages: good will, helping others. It also marked one of the final times that McDonalds showed a healthy activity (ice skating) and tied it to their food.

Of course there is the world’s all-time longest running commercial. Did Liz Taylor film this thing after she wrapped Cleopatra? It has been on for 50 straight Christmases and I don’t know anyone who buys it. Do they just sell it by the gallon and the commercial is a reminder to fill up? And why does she have a problem with this O’Brien fellow?

Or how about this classic? Nothing says “I forgot you were going to be at the party and this was the only thing I could find at the 24/7 drug store.” I mean, if you are stuck in this predicament, do what my family does … buy scratch tickets.

It’s not a holiday unless you get an ice cream cake from Carvel. I bring this up because of this St. Patrick’s Day commercial which had me and Bob Van Dillen in stitches earlier this year. If they wanted to go full Irish stereotype they should have given “Cookie O’Puss” a bottle of Bushmills and had him pick a fight with “Fudgie the Whale.”

Now at some point on Christmas day you may get sucked into watching “A Christmas Story” for the 500th time. No problem there. It is still one of the greatest holiday films ever. But if you want to impress your friends and family bring this up after the “tongue on the pole scene” . The kid who played Flick ended up doing porno films. Not like hardcore stuff, he was more comic relief. Anytime I bring this up, my wife looks at me with the “You know that, but you couldn’t remember that I wanted a digital camera this year? What have I gotten myself into?” look. And since we are a family blog, I cannot put about 50 of the jokes going through my head right now.

Another Christmas classic is “It’s A Wonderful Life.” Thank goodness it stopped playing on a continuous loop throughout December. It could have inspired more Christmas specials like this classic clip from “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Now I have trouble believing that Tori Spelling didn’t get the Donna Martin gig because of her dad, but that is 2000 times more believable than the end of this scene.

It seemed anyone could get a Christmas special back in the 1980’s. Including spokespeople from a fruit corporation. So when the Family Guy did “KISS Saves Santa” I actually had to look it up to see if it existed. Off to the KISS-Copter!

MTV helped launch a lot of memorable “Christmas Music Videos” through the years … you know when they actually played videos? There was the good, the bad, and the legendary.

Then there are the toys you longed for as a kid, but never got. Mine was Snake Mountain from He-Man. I wanted it because of that cool microphone. My dad didn’t quite understand the difference between Snake Mountain and Castle Grayskull. After giving him a much detailed explanation, he just shook his head and asked me if I wanted to go play catch or something.

And of course there are the cartoons and kids traditions. Rudolf, the Grinch, Frostie. But here’s one that’s often overlooked: “The Year Without A Santa Claus.”. Click on it. You’ll be singing the song all day. My mom does. She was beside herself when she found out the Mr. Heat Miser and Mr. Snow Miser were getting a new special this season. “I’m Mister Green Christmas….”

So what are some of your favorite holiday memories? Maybe we can do a follow-up with all of your favorite clips.