Dr. Caligari's cabinet is now so crammed that he had to stow stuff in the Cupboard. Time may wound all heels but once in a while you need a cup of tea.
Another Rankin/Bass production, Frosty the Snowman, premiered on CBS-TV on this date.
This was Jimmy Durante's final film (not counting documentaries and one short film appearance).
The original recording of Frosty The Snowman by Gene Autry was his seasonal follow-up to his successful recording of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1949.
This time he peaked at #7 in December 1950.
The Snowman in July (1944)
Frosty The Snowman (1953)
Snowman's Dilemma (1960)
The Snowman (1982)
When this program first aired on PBS stations in the United States, the introduction featured a newly filmed introduction by David Bowie instead of Raymond Briggs on the grounds that the animation needed a star.
Before you go - I couldn't resist this mashup of I Melt With You and Frosty The Snowman by Les Skivvies
I should have known what the costumes for The Skivvies were going to be.
I will not play the songs featuring Olaf from Frozen (the earworms they cause has led to a UN report being issued concerning possible war crime being committed by yours truly.) Really, don't bother to look for them if you can help yourself.
It's the Feast of Saint Nicholas (yes, that St. Nick.)
Amongst other things, he is the patron saint of children and was known for his generosity. He's also known as the patron saint of sailors, fishermen, merchants, the falsely accused, prostitutes (Huh), repentant thieves, pharmacists and broadcasters.
Let's check out some other ways St. Nick has been portrayed:
A history of Santa Claus -
Things that go together: Santa and Coca Cola -
Santa Claus' Workshop (1950)
Dónde Está Santa Claus Augie Rios -
Must Be Santa Bob Dylan -
Today is the 56th anniversary of the original broadcast of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, we have another Christmas video countdown today - Rudolph!
Rudolph was born 81 years ago this Christmas season, at the Montgomery Ward department store headquarters in Chicago. He was the star of a humble coloring book, written by a copywriter, Robert May, who almost named the protagonist “Reginald.” May, who’d been lonely as a child, based the character on himself. Store executives fretted that shoppers might think Rudolph’s nose was red because he was drunk, but something about Rudolph’s story spoke to people. He was an outcast, down on his luck. When Santa gave him a job (it was the Great Depression, after all)—well, something clicked.
That Christmas, the company passed out two and a half million copies of the book
Original Rankin/Bass Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer end credits (in black and white)
Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer (1944) -
Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer Gene Autry -
MAD TV Rudolph Trilogy
various commercials feature Rudolph and his friends -
Thank you for joining us today. It's our 200th episode!
Before our feature presentation, ACME would like to start the evening with the third and final of Chuck Jones' "hunting trilogy", which began with 1951's Rabbit Fire and 1952's Rabbit Seasoning, the 1953 Duck! Rabbit, Duck!, directed by Chuck Jones.
(sorry for the quality of the cartoon)
Bugs Bunny stuck out four signs to lead Elmer Fudd to shoot Daffy Duck. (They are all in capital letters). In order they are, first GOAT SEASON OPEN; second, DIRTY SKUNK SEASON; third, PIGEON SEASON; fourth and last, MONGOOSE SEASON.
A brief aside this evening: They have just removed the last two outdoor phone booths in my neighborhood. Soon, I'm sure most young bunkies will have no idea what they were.
ACME would like to mourn the passing of the formerly ubiquitous phone booth.
We hope you are doing well with your self quarantines - the programming department of The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hourhave been vigorously scrubbing themselves with ACME Eagle Hand Soap - If your eagle's hands are dirty, we'll wash them clean! and sanitizing themselves for your protection. We are also engaged in social distancing - we are communicating with each other via ASCIICodes and Braille.
The holiday season is once again upon us, we here at Acme are proud to continue sharing with you the Thirteenth Annual Holiday Video Festival. This weekend, perhaps you are starting to send out your holiday cards (most of the staff of ACME sent out their holidays before Thanksgiving; they wanted to start all of their friends holiday seasons by being the first card they receive.) Why not put The ACME Eagle Hand Soap Radio Hour on in the background and watch this Christmas classic, the 1947 film, Miracle on 34th Street. (Surprisingly, the film received a "B" rating (morally objectionable in part) from the highly influential Legion of Decency because Maureen O'Hara played a divorcee.)
Despite the fact that Miracle On 34th Street is a Christmas movie, studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted that it be released in May because he argued that more people went to the movies during the summer. So the studio began scrambling to promote it while keeping the fact that it was a Christmas movie a secret.
Before you go, ACME Eagle Hand Soap would like to serve you this dessert treat during this holiday season from the BBC: QI December Christmas Special from 2006-
It should be mandatory that we watch Stephen Fry every holiday season!
(Due to unforeseen circumstances, the posting concerning the cost of the 12 days of Christmas, originally scheduled to appear today, can not (the information is not available yet.) It will appear later this season.)
Hey, the holidays can be a lonely time.
And sometimes TV is your only friend, so why not have a marathon of Christmas themed episodes.
Friends The Holiday Armadillo -
When Chandler was planning a life with Monica. He said they would have 2 boys, 2 girls and a cat.
Newhart No Room At The Inn -
Look for it - in this episode, the Stratford is booked due to a convention. When a man and his pregnant wife unexpectedly arrive, Dick Loudan says to the husband, who's name is Joe, "there's no room at the inn".
The Jack Benny Program Christmas Shopping -
Mel Blanc steals this show without a doubt.
The Mary Tyler Moore Show Not a Christmas Story -
Look for when Ted goes on the air in a light blue blazer and when the news is over, comes from the studio in a dark blue blazer.
Community Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas -
Abed's mom's Christmas card ends with the phrase "Wash your dupa". "Dupa" is the Polish word for "ass".
Caroline In The City Caroline And The Decanter -
Addams Family Christmas With The Addams Family -
The Maharaja's gift 'flute' is a shehnai, a flared double reed woodwind. Traditional snake charmers use the pungi, a double tube woodwind with a bulbous air reservoir near the mouthpiece.
Mad About You Met Someone -
Look for Lisa Kudrow's first role on the show as Paul's blind date, Karen.
The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit for the first time this holiday season tonight. Remember to wear a mask and bring a polo mallet with you if you, unfortunately, find yourself in midtown.
Thousands of poor souls will attempt to gather for the 89th annual Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting. DON'T. If you unfortunately, find yourself in midtown, remember to bring a polo mallet with you.
Do you really want to be stuck in the middle of potential Darwin Award winners and their children who should be forced to play in traffic? So once again, I'm giving native New Yorkers a gentle reminder - watch last year's lighting here.
This year, Kelly Clarkson, Leslie Odom Jr., Dolly Parton, Pentatonix, Gwen Stefani, and a superabundance of others, as well as, the refugees from overbooked ancient hotels in the holy land are involved this year.
Exert extreme caution!
Today's theme - Christmas Light Shows:
According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 93 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. This means there are approximately 96,000,000 households in the United States that celebrate the holiday. While not every home in the U.S. that celebrates Christmas decorated with extravagant lighting, many of them do.
Electricity use in the United States in 2019 was more than 13 times greater than electricity use in 1950. Locally, New Jersey uses 43,637,794 MW over the holiday season. The entire state can use about the same amount of electricity for their lights as all of Hong Kong (43,140,000 MW) uses in a year. New York uses 99,521,135 MW over the holiday season. Or, just slightly less than Vietnam uses in energy over an entire year (101,000,000 MW).
Today, it cost the country $3,780,000,000 per day and $170,103,150,000 for the whole 45-day holiday season. This would have Americans using 31 million MW of electricity just on Christmas lights. An average American home can use 42,690 watts (43 kW) of electricity per hour in order to power their home Christmas lights, or 301 kWh per day, with the lights only being on seven hours a night. This comes to 13,545 kW or 13.5 MW per home over the holiday season, costing a typical household about $11 extra a month to light their household Christmas decorations. Some extreme household decorators can spend an extra $2,000 to light their displays!
It's nice to see that the public is helping support the public utilities. You know that they are barely eking out a living.
I grew up in a musical family; the majority of my growing up was done in Hawaii. It's what we do. You sing, you dance, you play ukulele and you drink. - Dwayne Johnson
Let's make everyone a little happier - tonight's theme is a Uke Xmas
Mele Kalikimaka Bing Crosby and The Andrews Sisters -
I'll be home for Christmas Jake Shimabukuro -
Please Come Home for Christmas Uku Lenny -
Sleigh Ride The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain -
The Christmas Waltz She & Him -
Winter Wonderland Cynthia Lin -
ACME is proud to sponsor the annual U900 Christmas Special featuring Usagi-no U (Rabbit U) and Kuma-no Kulele (Bear 900)
- Nothing says Happy Holidays more that a pair of ukulele playing knitted puppets.
There's something about the ukulele that just makes you smile.
