video playlist

The best under-the-radar holiday shows to watch online, including Pee Wee'sPlayhouse & classic Saturday Night Live

It’s Christmas Eve, and you know what that means: only 24 more hours to enjoy all your favorite holiday specials. While many of you may be settling in with staples like A Charlie Brown Christmas or The Nutcracker, there are plenty more under-the-radar classics to consider when selecting your holiday video playlist.

Here are some of our favorite Christmas specials (that are available online, anyways).

TV Episodes

Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Originally aired in 1955, “Santa Claus and the 10^th Avenue Kid” is a surreal tale from the first season of Hitchcock’s iconic series.

Bewitched: Samantha struggles to get her home holiday-ready while keeping her witchy ways a secret from her husband’s boss in “Humbug Not To Be Spoken Here.”

Invader Zim: Will Christmas be the day that alien Zim and his faithful companion Gir get discovered by their unsuspecting Earth neighbors? Find out in “The Most Horrible Xmas Ever.”

Married, With Children: The two-part “It’s A Bundy-ful Life” puts a blue-collar spin on a classic Christmas story.

My So-Called Life: Episode 14, titled “So-Called Angels,” finds Ricky in need of a caring family around the holidays; there’s also a few cameos from Juliana Hatfield, who interjects every 10 minutes or so to sing a song in the snow.

Christmas Specials

A Muppet Family Christmas: With the recent release of Jason Segal’s latest Muppet movie, there’s no better time to revisit this Christmas classic.

Alf’s Special Christmas: Alf gets more adventure than he bargained for when he’s mistaken for a toy and gifted to a sick little girl.

America’s Funniest Home Videos Christmas Spectacular: Unfortunately, this episode isn’t hosted by classic AFHV host Bob Saget, but the ball-busting, head-bumping holiday mishaps are always (always) funny.

Black Adder’s A Christmas Carol: Aired in 1988, this Dickens parody features Rowan Atkinson at his best. Bonus: the show’s narrated by Hugh Laurie — while he’s best known now as House, Laurie actually got his start in Brit comedies like The Young Ones and A Bit of Fry & Laurie.

Pee Wee’s Playhouse: Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon stop by to make Christmas cards, Magic Johnson goes for a sleigh ride, Little Richard ice skates and, for some reason, Charo, k.d. land, Joan Rivers, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Oprah are there. Need we say more?

The Office (UK): Like most British shows, the original Office adheres to the classic “two seasons and a Christmas special” format, tying together the deliciously suspenseful threads left hanging in the series finale in this two-part holiday laugh-tacular.

The Star Wars Holiday Special: Legendary for being one of the most WTF-inducing productions of all time, this 1978 spin-off aired only once but quickly became a cult classic. The special’s very Chewie-centric, taking viewers on a trip to his home planet; but don’t worry, all your favorite characters make an appearance.

Cartoons

TV Funhouse: Best known as a recurring SNL bit, Robert Smigel’s TV Funhouse also had a short (eight episode) stint as a Comedy Central show in 2000; this Christmas episode is exemplary of its twisted, totally amazing sense of humor.

The Boondocks: Those with a less traditional take on the holidays will find a kindred spirit in wry Huey Freeman, who takes on directing his school’s Christmas play in this tongue-in-cheek take on Kwanzaa.

Daria: Not completely Christmas-centric, this episode finds Daria and friends battling holiday stereotypes to put Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day back in their place.

Saturday Night Live

While every season inevitably has its own holiday special, there are a few that stand out from the rest.

Candice Bergen (1975): The very first holiday special in SNL history, hosted by the very lovely Bergen with The Stylistics and Martha Reeves.

Bill Murray (1981): The first ex-cast member to come back and host, Murray can be heard apologizing to the original Not Ready For Primetime Players at the end of the ep.

Paul Simon (1987): Linda Rondstadt helps Simon celebrate.

Steve Martin (1991): Martin’s hosted SNL an astonishing 15 times, always bringing a big boost in ratings.

Alec Baldwin (1998): The only guy who’s beat Martin, with a mind-blowing 16 turns as host, Baldwin totally nails this episode — natch.

Jimmy Fallon (2011): Yes, this past week’s episode qualifies as one of the Best Xmas Eps Ever; the Weekend Update dream team reunion of Fallon, Fey, Poehler and Meyers was enough to cement its place in SNL history.

Etc.

Garrison Keillor: If you’re looking for something a little more low-key, listen up: Keillor reads from his book The Christmas Blizzard in this holiday broadcast.

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If you want more stuff to watch online, check out Fanpop’s list of 101 classic Christmas videos.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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video playlist

The best under-the-radar holiday shows to watch online, including Pee Wee'sPlayhouse & classic Saturday Night Live

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.