TV Alert: Letters to Santa reairs December 4 and 19

[Phillip]

The Muppets return to prime time in the NBC special, "A Muppets Christmas - Letters to Santa" Friday December 4 and also Saturday December 19. A Letter's to Santa Extended DVD with bonus scenes and the Letters to Santa Soundtrack are also available.

Since this is the second year the special is airing, if you have seen the special before, post your thoughts on the second viewing. One of the true tests of a Muppet production is how well it ages year-after-year. Was it better or worse after repeat viewings? Let us know.

Likewise, if this is the first time you've seen the special, we'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

 

[Scooterthegofer]

First-time viewer, 'twas great!

 

[Baby Gonzo]

I watched it. I still enjoyed it, but I think that this year, I can better outweigh its pros and cons.

Pros:

- The performances were great all around. Even with the weak writing, the characters shined through.

- The music was enjoyable. My Best Christmas Yet and Delivering Christmas put a smile on my face. And I Wish I Could Be Santa is a sweet song.

- I like seeing the Muppets in New York. I'm not sure why, but the setting just works for them.

Cons:
- The pacing was off and parts of it felt rushed and/or awkward. But honestly, this wasn't so much of an issue with me this time around. What really struck me was: The bad writing.

- The writing and jokes just weren't top notch in this special. Statler and Waldorf suffered especially. (They sounded good though.) It was as though Fozzie wrote it. And what was with that "wah wah" trumpet (I guess that's what instrument it was) effect? Emphasizing that your jokes are horrible doesn't help you!

- Most of the cameos seemed forced. I understand that The Muppets have always relied on a certain amount of star power, but the writing wasn't there to support 75% of the cameos in this special. However, I did enjoy Nathen Lane's performance with Bobo. I felt like there was actually plot to back it up.

 

[analeisa]

I'm a first time viewer too but I liked the special quite a bit. The songs were kind of forgettable but it did give me the warm, fuzzy feeling that Christmas movies are supposed to give. The main characters were enjoyable (hee, like Pepe stating that he pretended not to believe in Santa to be macho) and a lot of the minor characters showing up was really nice.

 

[Stulz]

better on repeat viewings

I DVR'd it and just finished watching it. I watched it a few times last year, the extended version on DVD, and again tonight. Save for the misplaced "wah" "wah"'s, it does hold up better on repeat viewings then I originally thought it would after my initial viewing. Even the songs that aren't as strong .. "What's in your Heart" and "I Wish I could be Santa Claus" got more endearing over time.

The only thing I thought was lacking this time around had nothig to do with the special itself, but the lack of cross promotion. I mean this is Disney we're talking about, they basically invented the term, and yet no Muppet Disney-Day commercials, not even a promo that the Muppets will be on Jay Leno Monday night?

You have people tuning in to see these characters, there are commercials featuring them that are shot and airing. I know they haven't shot Jay's show yet, but that doesn't matter. NBC used still photos to promote Taylor Swift being on Jay Leno later the same night! Wouldn't it make sense to use the time to promote something that actually ties into what you're watching? You know, something like "Hey kids! If you liked this, why don't you tune into to this other thing that these characters are on!"
But sadly no, all I see are commercials and promos for everything but Muppets!

Great special, but definitely a wasted opportunity to build on this momentum.

 

[dwmckim]

I agree. I tuned it basically to see if there might be any kind of Muppet related promos or anything like for example some of the Give a Day commercials and there was nada. They didn't even air any commercials for LTS when they were at the Macy's Parade or during Christmas at Rockefeller Center. No commercials during LTS (or any of the other Muppet appearances) for the extended edition LTS DVD (and a commercial does exist as i saw it elsewhere during Thanksgiving weekend) Now you could say that was a failure on NBC's part but this has been the one area that Disney has totally failed bigtime on in their marketing the Muppets. When they're on tv, they don't air any kind of promos or screencrawls or anything plugging muppets.com - there are no Muppet commercials or promos on the Disney Channel. The I Believe video is the first time since Studio DC aired that any Muppet sighting was on DC (not counting Selena Gomez/Kermit's Year of the Frog PSA from last year) I've seen them on ABC, but none of the Give a Day commercials have popped up on DC that i've seen (and DC is my default channel that's on in the background when nothing else is on due to the hope of catching a Muppet appearance).

All their other shows/properties are plugged extensively during commercial breaks but the Muppets haven't yet been brought to the table in this area yet. DC still does those "I'm (Disney Celeb) and you're watching Disney Channel" spots that are of the same format as the ones the Muppets made about four years ago but they haven't shown any of those Muppet ones since about four years ago. Disney has done so well with their multi-media marketing with the Muppets but when it comes to their own notorious Disney Synergy, this is a surprising area that they've just not explored at all.

Along the same lines, it may have been too soon given the turnaround times for both getting the costume lines out and shooting schedules, but next Halloween i SO want to see characters on ABC and Disney shows dressing up in Muppet costumes when they do Halloween episodes! Heck, this year i saw characters on Disney-owned networks dressed as Marvel characters all over the place and that was pretty dang quick after Disney aquired Marvel. Someone on All My Children was even wearing a Fantastic 4 costume...and then Blair Cramer was seen wearing the same costume right after on One Life to Live (which was hilarious since the Manning family were dressed as the Fantastic 4 and were up against the Morasco family at a Halloween party costume contest...and the Morasco's won even though were were dressed as DC comic characters Batman, Robin, and Catwoman! I found that hilarious!)

 

[Oscarfan]

Hey all! The special is on Hulu.com again, not sure for how long though.

 

[Reevz1977]

Hey all Uk Muppet fans, if like me you missed Letters to Santa today on the Disney Channel at 7.00 am (! ! !), you can catch it again on Thursday at 5.00pm.

 

[minor muppetz]

Isn't it interesting that NBC is showing this special THREE TIMES this year? I mean, I wouldn't be so surprised if it was a cable channel, but NBC isn't cable. It's not often that a christmas special will be repeated during the same year on network television.

 

[Phillip]

Just a reminder that "A Muppets Christmas - Letters to Santa" will reair once again TONIGHT on NBC (Saturday December 19) at 8 pm eastern/7 pm central.

A Letter's to Santa Extended DVD with bonus scenes and the Letters to Santa Soundtrack are also available.

Watch the show and post your thoughts here.