Christmas TV Shows / 1950s-1970s
Rankin Bass Christmas Specials on DVD Everything
you're looking
for is right here:


Save money!
Doris Day Christmas Shows on DVD
Christmas Fireplace Spirit of Christmas on DVD Bob Hope Christmas DVD Fractured Fairy Tales on DVD
Christmas Specials on DVD
Bionic Woman on DVD
Bionic Woman on DVD

 

Christmas TV Shows / 1950s-1970s
How Sitcoms Spent The Holidays in the 1960s and 1970s.
by Billy (ho-ho) Ingram

Families, not television, is what Christmas is all about. But can we help it as children growing up in America that many of our warmest family Christmas memories are wrapped around watching something on television?

Amos and AndyIn that spirit, allow me to play the ghost of Christmas past and try to conjure up some of your previous family gatherings.

Amos and Andy is a television classic from the 1950s that is rarely seen today because the series was practically banned from broadcast. But few people who have seen the series' Christmas episode are likely to forget it.

'The Christmas Story' is a touching piece, with Andy playing Santa to earn money to buy a doll for his goddaughter, while Amos (in a rare leading role) teaches his own daughter the true meaning of Christmas.

Amos and Andy Christmas showThere is a strong religious message at the heart of this story as Amos sensitively interprets the literal meaning of the Lord's prayer, line for line. I don't mind a religious message in a Christmas show (I mean, after all...) especially when it's handled as sensitively as it was here.

Jack Benny goes Christmas shopping in 1960, a yearly tradition on his show.

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952-1966) proved a TV show could be wholesome, entertaining and a ratings winner.

Ozzie and HarriettThis series really got a bad rap as the Sixties were ending, it came to represent a way of life that was quickly vanishing. Television shows from the mid-sixties until the present strived to be everything the Ozzie and Harriet show wasn't.

By the Eighties, the mere mention of 'Ozzie and Harriet' brought derisive laughter. The fact is, there will never be another show like it - a quality series written, produced, directed and acted by an actual, real-life family - a show that drew impressive audience numbers for most of the 14 years it was on the air.

Ozzie and Harriett Christmas episodeIn 1956, the Nelson family presented a very special Christmas episode. The opening to the show found Ozzie reminicing about past family get-togethers and pontificating on what Christmas means to him. His thinking reflected what the holiday meant to most Americans at the time - there is probably no better example of how television (and Christmas) has changed over the years than this clip.

That episode was a real family affair, extended Nelson family members were featured in the supporting roles and introduced at the end of the program.

I LOve Lucy Christmas episodeThat same week in 1956, a special Holiday episode of 'I Love Lucy' found the Ricardo family and the Mertzes decorating the Christmas tree and reminiscing. I doing so, they introduced a new (but now familiar) concept to television - the retrospective 'flashback' episode, where clips from previous shows are interspersed with new footage. After Lucille Ball died, this episode was rerun several more times by CBS. (Colorized.) This was the original ending:

lucy show Christmas episodeThere haven't been many non-traditional families portrayed on television, but The Lucy Show in 1962 featured one. Christmas found Lucy Carmichael and Vivian Bagley struggling to raise their three kids (they have two Mommies!) and arguing over what kind of Christmas tree to get.

Lucy Christmas ShowLucy wants a traditional green tree and Viv wants a white flocked one, so they decide to have two separate trees in the living room. One thing leads to another until they start breaking ornaments and hacking limbs off of the other's tree. When carolers show up, the girls snap out of it and revive their Christmas spirit.

Green acresWas it a dispute over a Christmas tree that led Oliver Douglas to want to move to the country on Green Acres? Disgusted that he can't find an unflocked, natural Christmas tree in New York City, Mr. Douglas vows to one day own a farm - where he can cut down his own natural Christmas tree!

Green Acres Christmas episodeWhen Oliver finally did get that farm, he found that government regulations forbid him from cutting down his own trees. Typical.

Of course, these shows harken back to a bygone time, when a great deal of sentimentality would go into a sitcom's Christmas episode. It wasn't unusual to find the casts of these shows slowing down the pace to embrace a thoughtful moment by (gasp) singing a traditional Christmas Carol.

Andy Griffith Christmas episodeThe very best example of this can be found on The Andy Griffith Show's 1960 (first season) Christmas program, where the Mayberry gang teach an old scrooge the true meaning of Christmas. His turnaround comes about after the geezer eavedrops on the celebration going on at the courthouse.

Andy Griffith and Elinore Donahue sing a lovely, acoustic guitar version of "Away in a Manger," sure to put you in a reflective Christmas mood.

 Beverly Hillbillies Christmas episodeFrom the sublime to the ridiculous - on the first season (1962) of The Beverly Hillbillies, the Clampetts gathered around to sing 'Jingle Bells,' with Jethro's sister Jethreen (played in drag by Max Baer, Jr.) playing the piano.

Here's part 2 of that Christmas story arc on The Beverly Hillbillies' second season Holiday celebration. The top rated show in the nation, you can bet more than 50% of Americans watched this episode when it first aired on December 26, 1963.

Beverly Hillbillies Christmas showAfterwards, on the original CBS broadcast, they saw Jethro relaxing by the fire eating a big bowl of Kellogg's Corn Flakes (the show's sponsor), reading 'The Night Before Christmas.' Sounds like somebody needs to have a loooong talk with that boy!

Five years (and two spinoffs) later, the Clampett family joined with the cast of 'Petticoat Junction' to celebrate the holidays. Part one:

The casts of both shows gathered to sing "Deck the Halls" on the Cannonball train as the episode ended. Talk about family get-togethers - it was extremely rare for one TV show to cross over into another in the 60s, but it happened frequently on the trio of Paul Henning produced shows ('Green Acres' being the third).

 

NEXT: PART TWO: Christmas Sitcoms in the Seventies!
More Holiday moments with Classic TV Shows...

Kenny & Dolly : A Christmas to Remember - 1984 Full Special

More Classic TV
ChristmasCommercials

Darlene Love's Christmas Comeback!

25 Amazing 20th Century Christmas Specials

1961 TV Christmas Specials

Ghost & Mrs. Muir Christmas Episode

1961 Hollywood Christmas Parade

1970s & 80s TV Christmas Shows

Dean Martin's 1968 Christmas Special

Christmas with the TV Families

1960s Christmas Variety Shows & Specials

1970's Christmas Commercials

Christmas on TV in 1988

Christmas Jukebox

Best Selling Christmas DVDs

Obscure 1950s Christmas TV Moments

The Lost Lucy/Desi
Holiday Special

Amahl and the
Night Visitors

Amos 'n' Andy
Christmas Show

Christmas TV
Commercials

Christmas on TV in 2007

Brawling for Scarce Christmas Toys

1994 Christmas on TV

1999 Christmas Eve

1999 Christmas Memories

Ozzie & Harriet Christmas Episodes

Baby It's Cold Outside

BONUS: Halloween 1969 Memories

Halloween TV of the 60s & 70s

Halloween Clips & Commercials 1970s-2000s

Wizard of Oz
Holiday Broadcasts

1980s Holiday Commercials

Untraditional 1978 Christmas Movie: The Silent Partner

Thanksgiving Day Specials

Thanksgiving on TV in the 1950s

Thanksgiving TV 1960s

Thanksgiving Day Parades

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade 1994

The Yule Log

Classic TV Christmas

1950's Christmas
Show Moments

Bill Melendez

Christmas DVDs

Unique Christmas
Gift Ideas!

A Christmas Carol
- The Movie


TVparty is Classic TV Christmas Specials
Christmas Specials
Classic TV Christmas Shows


OOOOPS:
Christmas Eve is no longer a night when many people watch network television. NBC's dreadful 2.2 rating / 5 share for Dec. 24, 2000 was the lowest rated night ever for any network in the entire history of television.


"One truly classic Christmas television memory that merits your full inclusion in tvparty.com is "Sisters at Heart," the classic 1970 'Bewitched' episode where Tabitha confronts racism by having herself and a young African-American friend share their skin colors - Tabitha with large black polka dots, and her friend with large white polka dots. Samantha later tells the girls how true sisterhood transcends any difference in or sameness of skin color.

"To many folks today, this approach might sound pure sitcom-simplistic, but a month before 'All in the Family' forever transformed U.S. television, this unusual show was quite bold and courageous. Remember, only some 13 years before this, Nat King Cole's show was dropped due to its inability to get national advertisers, who feared threats of boycotts from racists in the South. (Nervous network executives, I'm sure, also played a role in the quick demise of Cole's landmark show.)

"With such rare exceptions as the still-remarkable 'East Side, West Side' and more trendy, self-conscious attempts at African-American inclusion as 'Julia', African-American faces and images were infinitely rarer on television than they are yet today.

"'Bewitched', much as such 1960s shows as 'Star Trek' did, often confronted prejudice, hypocrisy, and other barriers to human happiness through the prism of fantasy. However, "Sisters at Heart" was quite unusual in that the idea for the story originated with the students of an English class at an inner-city high-school in the Los Angeles area. With the help of screenwriter Barbara Avedon and producer William Asher (Elizabeth Montgomery's husband at the time), who co-wrote the episode, the students were able to make their idea truly "ready for prime time."

"The ending credits of the episode, in fact, individually named each of the students as well as their teacher. Think of what something like that, not to mention the media attention given the episode and its genesis, meant to those young people!"

- Scott Enk

Bing Crosby Christmas SpecialsZoom on DVD

TV on DVD / / Holiday Specials on DVD
TV Commercials on DVD / /
TV Shows on BLU-RAY

PR4 & PR5 Pages for Advertising

 

What are your favorite
Christmas memories?

 

 

New TV  


Holiday Hearth on DVd / virtual fireplace for Christmas

 


Local Kid Shows / Movie Stars on TV / Saturday Morning Shows / Video Vault / TV Goodbyes / Fabulous Fifties / Unseen Scenes / Game Shows / Requested Forgotten TV Shows / The Super Sixties / More Modern TV Shows / The New * * Shows / 1980's Wrestling / TV Blog

TVparty is Classic TV on the internet!
Classic TV on the Internet!

TV's Embarrassing Moments / Action Shows of the Sixties / TVparty Mysteries and Scandals / Variety Shows of the 1970s / The Eighties / The Laugh Track / 1970's Hit Shows / Response to TVparty / Search the Site / Add Your Comments
Classic TV Commercials / 1950's TV / 1960's TV / 1970's TV / Groucho vs William F Buckley / / TV Games / Lucy Shows / Classic Cars / John Wayne / Gene Roddenberry / Rockford Files / Sea Hunt / Superman on DVD / Toy Gun Ads / Flip Wilson Show / Big Blue Marble / Monty Hall / Carrascolendas / Mr. Dressup / Major Mudd / Chief Halftown / What's In Oprah's Purse? / Baby Daphne / Sheriff John / Winchell & Mahoney / Fireball X-L5 / Mr. Wizard / Captain Noah / Thanksgiving Day Specials / Disney's First Christmas Special / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Amahl & the Night Visitors / Holiday Toy Commercials / Lucy & Desi's Last Christmas Show / Joey Heatherton / Fat Albert / The Virginian / Bewitched / Death of John Wayne / 1974 Saturday Mornings / Chuck McCann / Rudolph Collectables / Shrimpenstein / Local Popeye Shows / New Treasure Hunt / 1966 ABC TV Shows / 1967 TV Shows / 1968 TV Shows / Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes & Baby Doll / Fridays / TV Moms / Star Wars / KISS / Lancelot Link / Saturday Morning Cartoons / The Magic Garden / Wonder Woman / Classic Comic Books / Andy Griffith / Cher / TV Shows on DVD / Outtakes & Bloopers / 1967 TV Shows / Romper Room / ABC Movie of the Week / The Goldbergs / Daws Butler Commercials / Saturday Morning Commercials / Captain Kangaroo / Chicago Local Kiddie Shows / Boston Local TV / Philly Local TV / NYC Local Kid Shows / Amos 'n' Andy / Electric Company / Bette Davis / Judy Garland / Christmas Specials / Redd Foxx / Good Times / Sitcom Houses / What's Happening! / Winky Dink & You / big brotherSonny & Cher / Smothers Brothers / Commercial Icons of the 1960s / Soupy Sales / The Carpenters / Route 66 / Bozo / The Carpenters Christmas Specials / Local Kid Shows / Death of TV's Superman / Wonderama / Sesame Street / Bob Hope Specials / Little Rascals / 1980's Retro Gay T-Shirts / 1980's TV Wrestling / Fess Parker / Howdy Doody / TV Blog / Lost In Space / Pinky Lee / 1980's LA Punk Rock / Alex Toth Book / TV Terrorists / Irwin Allen / The Untouchables / Carol Burnett Show / Batman TV Show / Green Hornet / Today Show History / Our Gang / Doris Day Show / 1970's Commercials For Women / Bill Cosby in the 1970s / The Golddiggers / Lola Falana / 1970s TV Shows / David Bowie on TV / Hudson Brothers / Jackie Gleason / Hollywood Squares / Match Game / Bob Keeshan / Gumby / The Flip Wilson Show / Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour / The Bobby Darin Show / The Richard Pryor Show / George Burns / Celebrity Commercials / Rudolph / Movie Posters & More! 

Bob Hope Christmas Specials on DVD classic Kid's TV Commercials Classic Commercials on DVD Little Rascals on DVD TV classics Christmas Spirit of Christmas on DVD Bullwinkle & rocky season 2 on DVD
TV Shows on DVD/ / / / / / / TV Show Reviews / / / / / / / DC Heroes on DVD / / / / / / / Cartoons on DVD/ / / / / / / Holiday Specials on DVD / / / / / / Best place to Watch Movies Online / / / / / / /Classic Commercials / / / / / TV Shows on DVD Reviews
Looking for classic TV DVDs?/See below:
TV Commercials on DVD Wrestling DVDs Classic TV Books
Everything
you're looking
for is right here:


Save money!