Book Review:The Christmas TV Companion

Cover of "The Christmas TV Companion" By Joanna Wilson-Cover Image courtesy 1701 Press



TV Guide Ad for The Infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special" from November 1978-Courtesy Star Wars Collectors' Archive


One of my own favorite Pastimes is the traditional Holiday Christmas TV Special..Since the dawn of TV Broadcasting, the Holidays have been a time for local stations and National TV Networks to bring out "Holiday Chestnuts" Whether they be movies, specials or Holiday episodes of regular series..

Ms. Joanna Wilson has taken her own love of "The Christmas Special" and has produced a very well writen paperback book on the subject..

The full book title is "The Christmas TV Companion..A Guide to Cult Classics, Strange Specials and Outrageous Oddities"..Publisher is startup company 1701 Press of Akron, Ohio..

What is unique about this book is while Ms. Wilson mentions in passing many of our favorites, she dwells here more on the "Strange and Weird" In Christmas Programming, Whether it is about Homicidal Santas, evil elves, shows/movies that seem to be deliberate "downers" or the Grandaddy of all strange Holiday Specials, The 1978 "Star Wars Holiday Special"

Ms. Wilson appears to have a real affection for All Holiday programming, not just the "strange"..And it does come through in her writing..She has seen most, if not all of the shows she writes about...She has really done a lot of good research here..I believe she is planning, if she hasnt done so already, to write a larger encyclopedic-type book on Holiday programming, which I am looking forward to seeing..

The only criticism I might have, and it depends on the reader..That if one reads too much about the perceived "negative" Holiday Specials, one could become a bit depressed..

In spite of that, Ms. Wilson has the making of an excellent author and I highly recommend this book for the information she presents..She also suggests "Make Your Own Marathons" for watching certain shows throughout the book, which is a nice touch..

Here is the Publishers' Website for more information..

http://1701press.com/Home.html