From Deseret News archives:

Christmas specials I remember best

Published: Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2006 1:38 p.m. MST
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Sometimes TV is more than just TV — like when it's intertwined with Christmas memories.

"'A Charlie Brown Christmas' stands out most and blows every other TV Christmas special away," wrote Deseret Morning News reader Michelle Llewellyn. "Thanks to that cute blanket-carrying boy, the first Bible passage I could recite by heart as a child was Luke 2: 8-14. We watched this every year on TV as a family. It's become a part of every American family's Christmas tradition."

Carrie Johnson recalled a Christmas "16 or 17 years ago" when she she was up late making candy with her sister and the happened upon "It's a Wonderful Life."

"We both loved it and had never seen it before. ... It has become a favorite and reminds me of a favorite memory with my sister many years ago when our children were young and we enjoyed happy holiday times together."

Leatha A. Betts is partial to "Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol."

"There are hijinks at the very beginning and the ending, but the true meaning of Christmas is portrayed with a loving cartoonist's hand, and glorious songs that can be sung year after year. ... It brings back such wonderful memories."

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Lonette Anderson recalled that her parents didn't want her and her siblings to watch TV, but every year her father would bring a set home from work so they could watch "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer."

"The TV was small, no more than 12 inches, and of course we didn't have cable, so there was rabbit ears to adjust and tin foil to apply so we could watch without snow. I remember the panicked feeling that we wouldn't get reception soon enough for the show to start. We would set the small television on the kitchen table so all five kids and parents could crowd around to get a good view ... 'Rudolph' is still the first Christmas special I look for in the paper each year. But in the days of large, flat-screen televisions, my favorite memory is still of sitting around our kitchen table one night a year to watch Rudolph's nose glow red with my family."

Kay Barg mentioned both "Magoo" and "Rudolph."

"But I think what would put me in the spirit the most was the holiday variety shows, especially Andy Williams' Christmas special. He would have his whole immediate and extended family on at the end and talk about their memories. ... That's what would put me in the Christmas mood."

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