Christmas: Are they shoving it down our throats too early?

[Drtooth]

How about all the variations on A CHRISTMAS CAROL? I'm pretty sure both BEWITCHED and THE ODD COUPLE did episodes like that.

While I don't exactly hate A Christmas Carol, I hate that so many shows feel the need to have to do it because it's public domain. The Simpsons made a bold statement about how everyone milked that goat years ago. Though there are some alterations I enjoyed.

Pepper Ann did their's about Valentine's Day, Rosanne I swear did one for Halloween, and Teen Titans Go did one for Black Friday which was admittedly a fairly enjoyable episode.

As far as actual adaptions go, there's no going wrong with Mr. Magoo. That's probably my favorite adaption, especially since the special shakes things up by having the Ghost of the Present first, then the Past. It gives a different perspective that pays off.

Other than that, what really bugs me about the reuse of Christmas Carol is that the messages of the adaptions always seem to have a sliding level of obscuring the true meaning of the book. Dickens pretty much ranted about the Industrial Revolution and how it was screwing the heck out of the poor via exploitative labor and shiftless businessmen. And most of those have that in tact, at least as background. Sure, we have that standard Christmas message, but I really feel that background is needed to enjoy the story from a literary perspective.

Tell me about it. When 106.7 started playing that stupid drum machine ladened Winter Wonderland again, I just turned down the volume and listened to Red Baron on YouTube until it was over, lol.

UGH! Is that the one with the creepy swirling music introduction that sounds like it came out of a serial killer movie? I HATE that one, and have been trying to find out who's responsible for that horrid cover. Now, I have a soft spot for 1980's synth pop. There's a campy goodness level to it. But 90's synth pop is the worst! And even the singing performance feels flat and listless. Especially the half[butt]ed scatting at the end of it. I'm glad to say I haven't heard much of that this year so far.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I didn't know where else to put this but,has anyone ever noticed that Walt Disney's birthday was in December and died in December. But the same is true for a bunch of the Disney family,many were either born in November or December and or died in November or December. The holiday season is either a very happy one or a very sad one for the Disneys.

 

[D'Snowth]

Caroll Spinney was expected to arrive Christmas day, hence why his mother named him Caroll.

 

[Drtooth]

While Christmas is pretty darn close, already the candy canes in stores are dwindling and choc full of broken, bashed in packaging. That's something I don't see until a week to the date.

Plus, I'm kinda disappointed how slim the variety is. Seems that they all under ordered these things this year.

 

[D'Snowth]

I too am a little surprised that Christmas merchandise in general seems to be under-ordered this year, it seems so odd and out of context.

 

[Drtooth]

Depends on the store and depends on the product. Some things seem really over ordered, some things are surprisingly scarce, but overall, it looks like part of that reason is because everyone's buying them up. I absolutely hate how bad condition candy canes usually get by the time I get them. They're either all broken or all out of the one I'm looking for except for the one or two broken packs. And you don't want to get them too early, or they'll accidentally get knocked over by someone and break anyway.

And for the record, I don't really grab those standard peppermint ones. I always go for fruit flavored or flavored like candy flavored like fruit kinds. I love the Everlasting Gobstoppers ones that have multiple flavors in layers. Last year I saw Hawaiian Punch ones, but didn't get to go back to the Wegman's that actually carried them and got something at Target instead. And I never saw the Hawaiian Punch ones again.

 

[D'Snowth]

I like blueberry candy canes, but they're hard to find anymore.

 

[Drtooth]

Here's something.

Apparently by sheer coincidence, A Charlie Brown Christmas debuted the year Aluminum Christmas Trees were falling out of favor, so much so that it's an urban legend that the special was the death of the fad. But again, pure coincidence.

 

[fuzzygobo]

I like the fruit-flavored candy canes over peppermint as well.
You would think the candy companies (or General Mills when they crank out the Monster cereals) would have some website, or customer service number, so you can find out what products are going where, and when.

Or they should have a mail-order branch set up, so you can have a case of your favorite flavor shipped right to your house, and cut out the middle man.

I think it could be cost-effective. For the markup they don't get from the retailer, they make up on shipping charges.

 

[D'Snowth]

Oh, surprise-surprise, we got another Bubbly Mikey Pizza Crust holiday concert special again this year. Seriously, that guy's relevance ran out years ago, why do we keep giving him holiday concert specials every year?