Holiday specials were made for color

[bgadow]

When I came along Peter Paul/Cadbury had taken over sponsorship of all the "peanuts" specials, which somehow I related to how "Peppermint Patty" got her name!

[veg-o-matic]

I'm all a-tingle.

The gentleman who wrote the book on the making of Rudolph finally managed to locate a copy of the original 1964 broadcast, including the GE commercials featuring the elves! I've been waiting years to see those commercials again!

Ordered my copy the other day; haven't received it yet, and I can hardly wait! I mean, how perfect is that for watching on a roundie? Particularly my Zenith roundie, which was made in '64. Rudolph might have been the first Christmas special the original family watched on it!
veg

[Carmine]

My parents bought their first color TV in 1975 at Ollie Fretter's in Detroit. They tell me the first thing we ever watched was the Charlie Brown Christmas special. They told me that every Christmas, and probably will again this year, lol.

The set looked a lot like this one:



...but was a bit more expensive.

I sure wish I had that set today. It never really stopped working, but got replaced in '84 and demoted to basement use. They gave it to my uncle years later to take to his hunting cabin. Those guys shot it when they tired of the shifting colors (likely from dirty module connections).

[David Roper]

Originally Posted by veg-o-matic

I'm all a-tingle.

The gentleman who wrote the book on the making of Rudolph finally managed to locate a copy of the original 1964 broadcast, including...

...the original ending when Ukon Cornelius throws the pick in the air one final time (after Santa's sleigh takes off) and upon inspecting it discovers he's struck___________?

[Carmine]

As long as we are discussing plot lines...

Does anyone remember the 60's Christmas special where it's obviously supposed to be set in Germany, and the mayor (burgermiester) is a short little guy who runs around yelling that Christmas toys should be banned? Then his uniformed guards go around bursting into peoples houses looking for "toys"? I think there might even bee a scene where they put all the toys in a pile and destroy them. I'm not quite sure how it ends...

I watched it last year (don't really remember this one as a kid) and not only thought it was a bit surreal, but was surprised it was being run in the PC 2006-era. I could really care less about banning it, but just wonder if anybody else remembers it? The 60s were crazy, lol.

[oldtvman]

Mr Magoo's Christmas carol premiered Christmas in color on NBC You can purchase that program on DVD

[veg-o-matic]

Originally Posted by David Roper

...the original ending when Ukon Cornelius throws the pick in the air one final time (after Santa's sleigh takes off) and upon inspecting it discovers he's struck___________?

Peppermint!

I'm pretty sure this is the version where Rudolph's father tells his wife "This is man's work!"

Ah, memories.

All I did was email Rick Goldschmidt Rickgoldsc@aol.com and sent him 35 bucks via PayPal.

If you haven't read his book, there's a good article on tvparty.com: Linky

veg

[Indian Head]

Does anyone remember the 60's Christmas special where it's obviously supposed to be set in Germany, and the mayor (burgermiester) is a short little guy who runs around yelling that Christmas toys should be banned? Then his uniformed guards go around bursting into peoples houses looking for "toys"? I think there might even bee a scene where they put all the toys in a pile and destroy them. I'm not quite sure how it ends...

That's from Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. It was just on ABC Family channel last week. And yes, Paul Frees does the voice of the Burgermeister Meisterburger, as well as several others. Almost as good as "Rudolph."

[oldtvman]

The original broadcast of Rudolph the red nose reindeer was Christmas 1964 a full two years before CBS gave in to the color experience and went all color for it's nighttime programming.