by 
Updated on December 10, 2021
Christmas season 2010 has arrived, and this year we make contact with the traditional spate of holiday TV specials.
(Yes, I know… but only another month or so to use up my remaining pointless “2010: The Year We Make Contact” puns…)
My local paper, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, recently published a schedule (all times CT) of the major holiday specials airing this season, from now through December 31:
http://www.jsonline.com/entertainment/tvradio/109527064.html
As you can see, it’s quite a lengthy list, though it’s missing a few specials. There’s several obscure specials airing on Boomerang, such as “A Flintstone Family Christmas” (one of the multiple Christmas starring the Flintstones) and that 80s curio, “Christmas Comes to Pac-Land” (yep, a Pac-Man Christmas special, from the early 80s Saturday morning cartoon). For the six people who actually get Boomerang, the Pac-Man Christmas special airs December 18 at 4 PM ET (3 PM CT), and on Christmas Day at 3:30 PM ET (2:30 PM CT).
For those of us who grew up in or near Chicago (which excludes most of the Milwaukee TV viewing area, save its southernmost portions), WGN (both local and its WGN America cable counterpart) is airing “Bozo, Gar, and Ray,” a special produced by WGN about its various classic children’s shows. WGN annually reruns this special on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve/Day in recent years.
Finally, while “A Christmas Carol” versions aplenty are to be found (including the Flintstones’ own version…yes, they managed to create a “Stone Age” version of Victorian-era London), the classic 1951 version starring Alastair Sim isn’t listed. Imagine it’ll be broadcast on some local TV stations Christmas Eve. Nationally, I assume Turner Classic Movies, at least, will air it.
This holiday season, I’ll consider posting my thoughts about some of the odder animated Christmas specials I’ve seen (yes, even odder than the idea of a Stone Age version of 19th Century London).
