There wasn't much advanced warning when these shows appeared. My parents (who had probably seen ads for them earlier in the week) would simply tell us there would be something for my brother and me to watch just before bedtime. CBS had a very distinctive bumper which featured a swirling graphic of the word SPECIAL. When most children from that era saw this, they knew they were in for a treat. As the whole family gathered around the television, some of these programs choked me up during their more serious moments which was a credit to the care the writers had for these stories. I never did cry for fear of being embarrassed in front of everyone, though.
There was something “special” about watching these holiday specials and they were usually talked about in school the next day even if it was to just find out if your friends had seen them too. Since there were only three television networks on at the time, a great number of people tended to watch the same programs. It was one of those things in our everyday lives that we took for granted but it seemed to bind us together. Even at that age, there was a faint sense that the television shows I was enjoying were being watched by my friends in that very moment.
Then in 1984, something odd happened that seemed sacrilegious to me. While one of those sweet Christmas specials was airing, another network decided to play a very un-Christmas-like cartoon based on the Robo Force toy line. I looked at the show for about a minute before changing the channel. This was merchandising that hit a new low. While the novelty of the program had its appeal, I wasn't about to give up seeing Rudolph or Frosty for a whole year. The next day one of my friends said he had watched the Robo Force cartoon but was blissfully unaware of the Christmas special that aired at the same time. When I told him what he had missed, he was actually bummed out by his viewing choice. That Robo Force cartoon never did become a Christmas classic and today it's largely forgotten.
As I got a little older, I continued to watch these specials and in my freshman year of high school, our gym teacher tried his best to preserve the sense of innocence we had as children during the Christmas season. For one quiz, he said there would be an extra credit question that would have something to do with the Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer special so we were encouraged to catch it if we wanted the correct answer. Many of us did. A few days later he asked, “What was the name of the elf who wanted to be a dentist?” In the days before the internet, you just couldn't look up something like that on Wikipedia.
Despite my gym teacher's best efforts, viewing those Christmas specials became less of a priority as the years passed by. It didn't seem like a big deal because I figured at some point I would get married, have kids and then rediscover the magic of these shows through their eyes when we gathered around the television during the holidays...but life hasn't worked out that way.
Now in the digital age, kids can watch Rudolph, Frosty and a hundred other Christmas specials anytime they want much to my mother's chagrin. When she tunes in network television and sees a commercial for these holiday shows, she'll enthusiastically call my brother to make sure his kids know about it...and every year he seems to shoot her down by saying things like, “They have that one on DVD.” or “They've already seen it on Youtube.” For many children these days, those specials aren't so “special” anymore.
When I grew up, there wasn't much in the way of on-demand media so in addition to having longer attention spans, we learned to appreciate what we had in the moment. This year, there seemed to be an outcry when it was announced that several Charlie Brown specials would no longer be shown on network television because Apple TV+ had acquired their exclusive broadcast rights. A deal was eventually reached with PBS to air the specials but it came too late for It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
A few weeks ago, I found my mother tuning in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on CBS so I decided to sit down and watch it with her for a little while. I must have heard Clarice sing to Rudolph dozens of times but this was the first year I really paid attention to the lyrics:
There's Always Tomorrow,
For dreams to come true,
Tomorrow is not far away.
Oh, how those words struck a chord with me especially since my dreams seemed so far away. I decided not to watch the rest of the program and went upstairs to my room. In that moment, I felt like a person who chose to sleep through New Year's Eve. Instead of having a shared viewing experience, I sulked like one of the misfit toys. Just before 9 PM, I turned on the TV in time to see Rudolph's end credits with Santa wishing everyone a merry Christmas. There's always tomorrow for dreams to come true...
