Where Are The "New" Christmas TV Specials?

Last night, I had the pleasure of sitting in front of the TV with my 8 year old son Kevin and watching the “Rudolph The Reindeer TV Special” on CBS.

First of all, hats off to CBS for airing this classic TV special in prime time for a new generation of viewers. They said it was “digitally re-mastered”—frankly, I didn’t notice an improvement in picture quality, but then again, I don’t really care.

As I was careening down memory lane and re-living my childhood, I was anxious to see how my youngest would assess the program. Today’s kids have high-tech graphics on handheld devices (like Nintendo DS) that make the “visual effects” of the 1960’s seem like crude craving on the wall of a cave. Of course, the story and the music is the thing. Kevin was familiar with the music (since I play virtually the entire soundtrack on 94.9 WHOM during the holidays!) As for the story, he was engaged and delighted! It was a special experience to share, as I did with my other two kids, who are in college and high school now.

What struck me is how there really are no new “classics” being made. When we were young, we also had a “Charlie Brown Christmas”, “The Grinch”-and relative newcomer “Frosty The Snowman”. All of these are still shown today-and yet, I can’t think of a contemporary holiday cartoon special that kids today are excited about.

Maybe it’s the fragmentation into cable and a thousand channels. Maybe it’s just the Pokemon generation that views these holiday specials as “lame”. Certainly, the good old fashioned “messages” of good will, forgiveness and even the religious associations that are so prevalent in the Charlie Brown special seem to be dangerous territory for today’s TV producers to approach. Too bad.

Am I missing something here? If there is a “new” classic out there, I’m all ears!