If you are a Christmasphile or a fan of the Muppets then chances are you've seen A Muppet Christmas Carol. Maybe you've even seen Emmet Otter's Jug Band? But here are some older Christmas specials involving some of Jim Henson's felt friends.
John Denver and The Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979)
The special that would become, in my opinion, one of the best Christmas albums of all time. As far as Christmas specials go all the fun is in the songs and the ever iconic Miss Piggy. The special can be a bit slow at times, but between the slow moments there are absolutely beautiful moments. See John Denver and Rolf's rendition of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.
A Special Sesame Street Christmas (1978)
A loose reimagining of A Christmas Carol when the Sesame Street gang decide Oscar is a little too grouchy for the holiday and try and "Scrooge" the grouch by having people pretend to be the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future visit Oscar to show him the err of this ways. The special is from 1978, with the exception of characters like Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch, none of the cast are immediately recognizable. The show's guest stars include Leslie Uggams, Imogene Coca, Dick Smothers, Henry Fonda, Ethel Merman and a teenaged Michael Jackson.
The special was produced by CBS Studios, not The Children's Television Workshop, making everything feel a bit... off. I don't how well this would hold a child's attention, especially nowadays. That said, Ethel Merman gives a killer performance singing Tomorrow from the musical Annie, and that performance alone is what puts this special on the map.
A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)
Before The Avengers tied the Marvel Universe together, A Muppet Family Christmas brought all the Jim Henson worlds of foamy friends together for this one television special. Kermit and the Muppets meet up with Big Bird and the Sesame Street Monsters along with Gobo and the Fraggles for a Christmas gathering like no other at Fozzie Bear's mom's house.
Miss Piggy steals the show arrive late through a horrible holiday blizzard, and there's a funny running gag about a slippery patch of ice just outside the front doorway.
There's also a cameo from the Muppet Babies.
SIDENOTE: This special is available on DVD, however the DVD cuts out the Muppet Babies scene I guess due to copyright issues, but the special can be found on YouTube in its entirety.
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
1978 was a big year for Sesame Street Christmas specials. Christmas Eve on Sesame Street was produced by the Children's Television Network, as opposed to it's sister Christmas Special A Special Sesame Street Christmas which was produced by the CBS Network,
Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is definitely the better special. Storylines include Big Bird trying to figure out how Santa Claus fits inside chimneys, Bert and Ernie Gift of the Magi-ing themselves while buying Christmas gifts for one another. There are some truly emotional moments as Ernie sells his Rubber Duckie to Mr. Hooper so he can buy Bert a box for his paperclip collection.
It's the ice skating that sticks with me the most though.
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