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 material of today--from Ed Sullivan to Squidbillies, and Arthur C. Clarke to South Park!

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!

Reviewed by: Billy Ingram, TV Party!
www.tvparty.com

EXCERPT

When Santa Attacks
If you think about it, we commonly share stories with our children that could easily have a sinister tone: a supernatural old man, dressed in a red and white suit made of animal fur, who assisted by his minions of elves breaks into our homes each Christmas Eve to dispense rewards or punishment based on an ambiguous notion of what’s nice or naughty"after voyeuristically observing us all through the year. Aren’t we inviting nightmares from the frightening images inherent in our cultivation of the holiday?
If this sort of twisted fear makes your heart race, you may enjoy watching the 1989 episode “And All Through the House” from the TV series, Tales From the Crypt. This campy installment features an unfaithful wife who brutally murders her husband on Christmas Eve with the intention of blaming it on a killer she hears a warning about from the radio. Unfortunately, the scales of justice are not tipping in her favor when the ax-wielding escapee from the local asylum, now dressed in a Santa Claus suit, comes to her house and wants in! Completists shouldn’t miss the British made, 1972 Amicus Productions feature film, Tales From the Crypt. The film’s first segment, starring grand dame Joan Collins, is from the same original story. Both segments were inspired by the popular horror comic.