The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities [Paperback]

Joanna Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2009

From the back cover: Christmas on TV is wilder, weirder, and more wondrous than you think! The Christmas TV Companion is a funny, engaging look beyond the same Christmas specials that air every year to the cult TV rarities, over-the-top made-for-TV holiday specials, and bizarre, spacey shows that truly expand the notion of Christmas spirit. Loaded with pop culture references, this book is sure to please pop aficionados and TV junkies of all stripes. Its remarkable breadth of content covers the far-out gems of yesterday, as well as the irreverent and cutting edge Christmas material of today, from Arthur C. Clarke to South Park, and from Ed Sullivan to Squidbillies. This guide also contains practical examples for enhancing your own Christmas TV viewing.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I'm reading a wonderful book right now - The Christmas TV Companion by Joanna Wilson. It's a collection of all the great, not-so-great, and weirdly oddball Christmas themed specials and series episodes we all grew up with (no matter what your age is) and it's a well-written and thoroughly researched delight. I'm a sucker for the classic holiday TV episodes and I enjoy watching my favorites in the run up to the holidays - this book does a great job of bringing those shows to life. There are loads of pictures and so many classic television faves to explore like the Dr. Who, Mork & Mindy, The Tick, Night Gallery and Pee Wee's Playhouse holiday forays. The author even details more obscure Christmas moments on variety hours like The Frank Sinatra Show, Elvis' comeback special, and The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. I really enjoyed reading about what looks like a hilarious 1965 musical special - The Dangerous Christmas of Red Riding Hood with Liza Minnelli, Vic Damone, and Eric Burdon & The Animals. Crazy! The Christmas TV Companion is witty, breezy and fresh; it's written in an intimate style that is instantly likeable. I can't recommend this book highly enough but be warned - it will put you in the Christmas spirit! --Billy Ingram, TVparty.com --Billy Ingram, TvParty!

I thought I'd seen just about every Christmas-themed television show out there. I was wrong. Joanna Wilson's Christmas TV Companion has sent me searching for all kinds of obscure oddments of which I had never heard and now can't wait to watch. In an engagingly amusing way, this book points out how versatile television has been in embracing, celebrating, satirizing, and abusing this single holiday. --Robert Thompson, Director of the Bleier Center of Televsion and Popular Culture, Syracuse University

Fans of my animated shorts will love this book! With The Christmas TV Companion as your guide, you're bound to have the most demented Yuletide Season ever! --Corky Quakenbush, animator of Raging Rudolph, The Reinfather and A Pack of Gifts Now

About the Author

About the author: Joanna Wilson is a bona fide pop culture expert who draws upon her considerable background in film and philosophy to create insightful commentary on pop culture of all kinds. She is equally at ease discussing the thoughts of the ancient Greeks on Art, Justice and Virtue as she is in discussing the plot, guest stars and cultural ramifications of an episode of Laverne and Shirley. At this moment she is probably hard at work watching yet another obscure Christmas-themed special for her forthcoming book: a comprehensive encyclopedia of Christmas on TV. Look for it in 2010 from 1701 Press!

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: 1701 Press; 1st edition (November 10, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0984269940
• ISBN-13: 978-0984269945
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,247,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Joanna Wilson is a bona fide pop culture expert who draws upon her background in film and philosophy to create insightful commentary on pop culture of all kinds. She is equally at ease discussing the thoughts of the ancient Greeks on Art, Justice and Virtue as she is in discussing the plot, guest stars and cultural ramifications of an episode of Laverne and Shirley. Her first book is The Christmas TV Companion: A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities. Joanna is hard at work creating a comprehensive encyclopedia of Christmas programming on TV, due for publication in 2010.

Joanna writes an up-to-date blog on her adventures in Christmas TV-Land at:

http://ChristmasTvCompanion.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect stocking stuffer, November 23, 2009

By 

elvistrek (Richmond, VA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities (Paperback)

While you may not want to read it straight through, the Christmas TV Companion is one of those books that is fun to thumb through and discover new tidbits. It examines some of TV's best and worst Christmas specials, from the traditional to the blasphemous. Sections of the book include Macabre, Sci-Fi, Variety, Animation, and Dark. It devotes five pages to the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special, including a photo of Harvey Korman and Bea Arthur from the show.

It also features several marathon suggestions, including ones centered around Star Trek and Elvis Presley. Many of the shows mentioned are available on DVD, but you'll have to hunt YouTube and similar locations to find some of the rare ones. If you enjoy watching a variety of Christmas specials and want to find out about some of the ones you may have missed (or forgotten about) over the years, this is the book for you.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great stories, great analysis, January 21, 2010

By 

Jack D. Julian "Jack the Atomic Kid" (Indiana, PA, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities (Paperback)

Ms. Wilson does a great job at discussing many of these forgotten cult classics and some not so forgotten. Highly recommended for anyone who loves Christmas and the great tv and movies this holiday has fostered. These are fun shows that also deserve a bit of a higher profile on tv during the holiday season. It also makes me wonder, what else does Wilson have up her sleeve. She clearly loves film, especially those odd ones that have only appealed to a few but should at least be seen once by everyone.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Witty, pretty, culty TV!, February 2, 2011

By 

sallysue - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Christmas TV Companion: a Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities (Paperback)

Well written and fun, this book brings out the funniest stuff I've read about Christmas on TV! So much fun to find that other people are interested in stuff like Santa Conquers the Martians just like me!