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Christmas on Television
Diane Werts

0-275-98331-5/978-0-275-98331-4

Description
This entertaining and illuminating retrospective covers the history of Christmas on television from its inception through the present day, highlighting holiday specials, Christmas episodes of running series, and other programming.

Reviews:
-[I]ndispensable for anyone--viewer, fan, or fanatic--who wants a complete catalogue of the medium's yuletide output over the past sixty years or so. —Television Quarterly
-For those who think the best holiday shows were the ones they watched as a kid. —The Kansas City Star
-Bing Crosby and David Bowie sang duets in a 1977 Christmas show. Collie star Lassie may have outdone them for weirdness nearly 20 years earlier munching fake candy canes. Bony actors have donned the red suit with varying results, most series with more than 13 episodes in the can have cranked out a Christmas project, and the sensitive can rejoice in that both Kwanzaa and Hanukkah have had their time on the tube, with Hanukkah celebrants including an armadillo. Journalist Werts treats all this with the appropriate seriousness, covering early television, alternate holidays (Festivus for the rest of us!) and tips on how to create a holiday show. Particularly interesting are her comments on Christmas specials, ranging from family warmth, revered traditions, perverse Santas, miracles, social statements, dance numbers, cartoons, impressions of Dickens and lots and lots of people wishing they had never been born. —Reference & Research Book News
-The line between obsession and expertise can be a fine one, but thanks to Werts' new book, Christmas on Television, the Newsday TV columnist has made it safely over to the expert side, with a detail-rich exploration of television's long love affair with Christmas....With commentary on everything from The Sopranos' Christmas episode _ remember the Big Mouth Billy Bass Meadow gave Tony? _ to South Park she's also kept faith with the Ghost of Christmas Present. —Philadelphia Daily News/Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service
About the Author
DIANE WERTS initially worked in television as a writer/director/editor for Beyond Our Control, the award-winning Midwest sketch satire of the 1970s and 1980s. Her writing has appeared in TV Guide, The Los Angeles Times, and other publications. She served two terms as president of the Television Critics Association, as well as on juries for the American Film Institute and the Banff International Television Festival. She now works as television writer for New York's daily newspaper Newsday.
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ISBN Title Price Qty Total
0-275-98331-5 978-0-275-98331-4 Christmas on Television $39.95    
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