Christmas in July : Father Christmas

Christmas in July   


          So it's July and might as well look at Christmas stuff... but what to look at?   We are going to the other side of the pond to the United Kingdom for this Christmas Special called Father Christmas , named after what the British call Santa.    The special came out in 1991 on Channel 4 , it is based on  British Author, Raymond Briggs' two short stories "Father Christmas" (1973)  and "Father Christmas :  Goes on Holiday" (1975).   This special pretty much wonders what does Santa do on the other 364(or 365 if it's a leap year) days of the year.
   For note : We are using the British version , which is unedited ,what I mean is that there was an American version that edited things out I will get to that in the article.

     The special begins with Father Christmas , who lives in England apparently, returning home from his Christmas travel.  He breaks the fourth wall (and scared me) to tell  us the audience at our wonderment of why is he moaning and groaning. (I wasn't thinking that)  He tells the audience that the other 364 days aren't peachy either and starts with a story of last year and flashback time.  Father Christmas  is thinking about going on Holiday. He builds his own camper sleigh  with wheels thing and packs up for his trip and puts his pets in kennel and heads off on his reindeer pulled sleigh. 

     France is his first stop  where he notices the French people are snickering at him  so he gets some "local clothes" and he heads to a restaurant and eats a lot of food and drinks alot of wine. (that's not what Slosh means ,Santa) Of course Santa is drunk , but also he gets food poisoning and has to use the bathroom alot.   The next day, people see his reindeer and figure , hey it might be Father Christmas. He decides he has to go to new spot.. Scotland!  

  In Scotland ,not sure where in Scotland, he goes to a pub and gets drunk again, and while drunk he decides to buy a kilt. 

well at least he's not naked/copyright Channel 4

       A girl see him and tells her mother she thinks he's Santa Claus.  The next day, he wakes up hungover and see that it has stopped raining and decides to go for a swim but the water is cold and shark infested. (Well that's not good) Father Christmas is tired of this so he picks his next spot to be Las Vegas.  ( Viva los Father Christmas) He also chooses to stay in a hotel at Nero's Palace. (not sure what he did with his reindeer)  He eats some more and swims. 

What? This is how I eat all my deserts /copyright channel 4 

      Father Christmas is in Vegas so , of course he goes to the casino ... and loses a lot.( No Lady luck for him)  There's a montage of him having fun in Vegas , he even won some slots and danced with some showgirls. (Gasp Santa!) He spends about a month there and a kid asks his mom is he Santa Claus? Father Christmas makes his leave back to England.  He gets his pets , and comes home and finds out the heavy mail load has started. He  mentions all the names he is called.  (he's hiding from every government so alias are must)  He does his daily actives while piles of mail keep coming in, He goes to pick up his suit from the dry cleaners  and sleeps while dreaming of laying in the pool with the ladies in Vegas. (Steady Santa)  It's the big day and he gets all ready and packed for his trip to deliver his goods. 

Santa really has downsized the operation/copyright Channel 4

       We get a montage with a song to match of Father Christmas doing his Christmas Eve thing. (Christmas Eveing?)  While he makes  stop in the North Pole  (don't ask) he runs into a snow person party... a crossover with Briggs' "The Snowman" the kid from the other special is there too. Father Christmas finds out he forgot to deliver a couple presents. (gasp)  He  makes a hurried trip to deliver them to the Royal Family. (Don't  worry Father Christmas , they can't cut your head off it's not that century anymore) .  Now we jump back to  the current time post and Father Christmas  tells us know we know and maybe now we won't complain as much. (But Santa , that dress really isn't for me , my name isn't Abby) Father Christmas prepares Christmas meal , takes a bath , gives his pets some presents and he opens his presents from family members , he really is happy about the alcohol gift. Then he says "Happy Bloomin' Christmas to you" 

  That's the special... guess you want to hear my thoughts (no, but go on).  Hold on, first  yes the American edit :  well that version does edit out Santa's drinking , over eating, hangovers, dancing with the show girls , and the scenes where you see his rear.  (uhhhh)   

Now our review : 

    It's  fun take on Santa , it's different to see him a little cranky ,and also it's nice  take on maybe what does Santa do on those off season. For a Christmas special (ish) it doesn't have a lot of songs , it has one and the song in the credits. Santa's character is funny if not a little to drink happy, but hey he deserved it.  

   Yes you and your kids (if you are a kid, then yes you) should watch this special. 

   That's our lookback  tune in next time when we find out why Santa reduced his reindeer to 2.  

2016 Prime time Emmy Nominations

Emmys 

   
     The 2016 Primetime television Emmy award nominees have been announced Thursday , the awards air on Sunday September 18th on ABC at 7e/4pt hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

Here's the list :

Lead Actor  DRAMA
Kyle Chandler - "Bloodline"
Rami Malek - "Mr.Robot"
Bob ODENKIRK -"Better Call Saul"
MATTHEW RHYS  "The Americans"
LIEV  SCHRIBER  "Ray Donovan"
KEVIN SPACEY  "House of Cards"

LEAD ACTRESS  DRAMA
Claire Danes  -"Homeland"
Viola Davis - "How to  Get Away With Murder"
Taraji P Henson -"Empire"
Tatiana Maslany  -"Orphan Black"
Keri Russell -"The Americans"
Robin Wright- "House of Cards"

Outstanding Lead Actor Limited Series or Movie
Bryan Cranston  -"All The Way"
Benedict Cumberbatch- "Sherlock :The Abominable Bride"
Idris Elba- "Luther"
Cuba Gooding Jr.- "The People V. O.J Simpson : American Crime Story"
Tom Hiddleston-"The Night Manager"
Courtney B. Vance -"The People V. O.J Simpson : American Crime Story"

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie
Felicity Huffman -"American Crime"
Kerry  Washington -"Confirmatiion"
Audra McDonald- "Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill"
Lili Taylor -"American Crime"
Kirsten Dunst- "Fargo"
Sarah Paulson -"The People V. O.J Simpson : American Crime Story"

Outstanding Drama Series
The Americans
Better Call Saul
Downton Abbey
Game Of Thrones
Homeland
House Of Cards
Mr Robot

Outstanding Comedy Series
Black-ish
Master Of None
Modern Family
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Unbreakable
Veep

Lead  Actor - Comedy
Anothony Anderson -"Black-ish"
Aziz Ansari - "Master of None"
Will Forte-" The Last Man on Earth"
William H Macy- "Shameless"
Thomas Middleditch -"Silicon Valley"
Jeffrey Tambor -"Transparent"

Lead Actress- Comedy
Tracee Ellis Ross -"Black-ish"
Lilly Tomlin- "Grace And Frankie"
Ellie Kemper-"Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt"
Laurie Metcalf-"Dr.Jenna James"
Amy Schumer- "Inside  Amy Schumer"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus - "Veep"

Outstanding Reality-Competition Program
The Amzaing race
Ninja
Dancing With The Stars
Project Runway
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Structured Reality Program
Antiques Roadshow
Diners, Drive-Ins and  Dives
Lip Sync Battle
Myth Busters
Shark Tank
Undercover Boss

Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program
Born This Way
Deadliest Cath
Gaycation with Ellen Page
Intervention
Project Greenlight
United Shades of America

Outstanding Variety Talk Series
Comedians In Cars
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight
The Late Late Show with James Corden
Real Time With Bill Maher
Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

Outstanding Variety Sketch Series
Documentary Now!
Drunk History
Inside Amy Schumer
Key and Peele
Portlandia
Saturday Night Live


Outstanding Limited Series
American Crime
Fargo
The Night Manager
People Vs OJ Simpson
Roots

Outstanding Television Movie
A Very Murray Christmas
All The Way
Confirmation
Luther
Sherlock

here's more categories and list here 

The Lookback: The Lost DCOM

The Flashback 

  

   Disney Channel just celebrated their 100th  made for TV by them movie  and they celebrated in an amazing way, by airing every single original movie dating back to their start in 1997. They also have them on demand and able to buy digital downloads!  But there is a Disney Channel Original Movie out there that didn't air, and was their first movie  in the DCOM era, not the things they did before.   

     That is called  "Northern Lights" and yes that is our lookback. (Get comfy... not that comfy have some pride) Also fun fact , that is important to this : this movie stars Diane Keaton ... who also was the executive producer (thanks Google , this time)   and came out on  August 23, 1997.

       The movie begins with a boy and his father  talking about The Northern Lights (the thing in the sky not this movie) then we go to an office building where a woman named Roberta  (Dianne Keaton)  works  on the phone as  a person who sells tickets to Broadway shows.  Forget all that there's a guy rescuing a cat (yay save that kitty) on power lines (uhhh) and he gets electrocuted to death (uhhh Disney, I have a question) .  Inter-cut with that scene we see Roberta doing her job  (kind of) and so far I am not sure what this movie is about.   Roberta gets a call  about the guy who was killed , so now it makes some sense , he was her brother.  There's a guy who works at some big box like store who also had a connection to the deceased.  Roberta  hasn't spoken with her brother for about 10 years.

    Copyright Disney 

       The boy from earlier was the man's,  Frank, son.  Roberta and the man from the big box store meet each other at a train station waiting for a taxi  where  a strange mumbling man in a truck picks them up on their way which was only short stop anyway.    Later on,  Roberta and the man , who's name is  Ben Rubadue find out that  Frank left his son to them.  (random)  which , understandably upsets Roberta that she would have to take care of a child with a random stranger.   She's having a hard time dealing with the situation.

yes...our images have nothing to do with the things we are taking about this time /copyright Disney 

      At a picnic that Jack is preforming at , Roberta finds out that Jack's mother is still alive  but she is unable to take care of jack and stays at a residential institution. After the incident with his mother , Jack runs away  with Ben chasing him. Jack doesn't want to leave the area because of  his mom.  Roberta sees Jack is mad at Sassy, the cat who his father died rescuing, and she talks with him  and she tells him that the reason she was mad at his father because she didn't want him to leave.  He asks her if she is going to stay but there's she doesn't want too and Jack storms off. Meanwhile, it seems that and Daphne have a liking to each other.

Gosh, get a room / copyright Disney 

    Ben tells Roberta that his wife is his ex-wife  (which is good because otherwise that would be awkward) they've been divorced for 6 years and he has decided to move  to that area and take care of Jack.  Roberta exits her hotel room and goes down and is greeted by the town's people saying goodbye to her.  While waiting to be picked up , Jack goes on the roof again, to look for the  northern lights when he slips and is hanging by the ledge. The gutter breaks and he jumps  and they catch him. She decides to stay as well.  The movie ends with the northern lights.

    So that's the movie .with some paraphrasing.   Diane Keaton's character does something you never see in a Disney Channel Movie these days... she smokes, not even with the it's bad for you warning or anything just she smokes. That is maybe a reason why  it's not aired or counted as a DCOM.. they should at least release it though , it couldn't hurt.

 For the movie itself it's a weird movie  but it has some heart and some funny moments . Everyone plays their part well, Diane Keaton's character is likeable and never comes off as mean spirited.

That's our lookback ... tune in next time when we  bury the this post and not even count it in our list.

The Peanuts Film Festival : A Boy Named Charlie Brown

Peanuts 

    While our Peanuts TV specials lookbacks  are taking  nice well deserved rest , we decided to delve in to some of the Peanuts  movies , and unlike our TV specials lookbacks where we just go in any order we decided here to start at the beginning.  "A Boy Named Charlie  Brown" was the first Peanuts feature movie that came out in 1969.

       Charlie Brown is playing baseball and his team looses their first game of the season and of course ole Chuck is not happy with that result. ( Don't worry Chuck, alot of  MLB teams have the same experience) Later on,   he tells Linus that it would be nice to win one time (insert team that's not doing too well right now in some sport here)  and Linus tells him winning isn't everything,  and that we learn more from losing than winning. Linus assures him that he will win sometime then beats him at tic-tac-toe, unknowingly.

     Next Charlie Brown, found another use for that stick /copyright Peanuts 

 
     That night Snoopy has a nightmare where he is the famous World War I flying ace and he is being shot down. which gives him a terrible  awakening and he sleeps inside for the night.  It's a new day and Charlie Brown is still feeling down and he visits Lucy (that's not the best idea) . As expected , it didn't work.  The Next Next day , Lucy jokes that Charlie Brown should do the spelling bee ( ha ha ha ?)  Linus ,on the other hand, suggests yeah he should do it.  
     

    wait wait wait...Charlie Brown is an Esquire? /copyright peanuts

   So , Charlie Brown e-n-t-e-r-s  t-h-e  s-p-e-l-l-i-n-g b-e-e  (s-o-r-r-y)  and he wins the class bee , with the word insecure. Now he gets to be part of the School  championship , so he studies.  After being crowned champion , everyone does cheers for Charlie Brown and Lucy  even makes herself ,his agent.  Being champion he  gets to go to the national  in New York City.  Charlie Brown studies some more though the  big Day to go NewYork City  he feels a little down on himself so, Linus gives his blanket to Charlie Brown for good luck. (oh my )
                       

 The Bus is ready... for the 60's  to end /copyright Peanuts 

     That may have not been a good idea for Linus because he is having blanket with drawls so , he and Snoopy take a bus to New York City. (ahh the 60's)  Charlie Brown continues studying to point he looks like he hasn't slept.  Finally , when Linus makes it to Charlie Brown's hotel room when C.B tells him he doesn't know where it is. (Darn it Charlie Brown)  Linus searches New York City for it , while Snoopy goes ice-skating at Rockefeller Center. ( Good thing it was 1960 , or he would have run into the Today show)   Linus becomes distraught that he couldn't find , so he and Snoopy go back to the hotel room.  Charlie was preparing for the contest and since , Charlie Brown seems out of his mind he uses the blanket a shoe shine cloth. Linus is reunited now.
                     

   Charlie Brown used too much starch/ copyright Peanuts 

   It's the big event  and  Charlie Brown is doing pretty well and it's down to him and some kid that looks like Schroeder . then gets the word beagle , he messes up the le part as el.  Poor Charlie Brown, especially as Snoopy is a beagle. Lucy and the others at home are disappointed.

    Hey where'd our bodies go? and What's  Schroeder doing here?/copyright peanuts 

     Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Linus  make their sad ride home.  The next day, Sally tells Linus that Charlie Brown hasn't gotten out of bed all day and has the shades closed.  Linus tells him that the other kids missed him at school and they had a baseball game and their first win of the season. (Linus is not helping) Linus peps him (We think)  by telling him the world didn't end.  Charlie Brown gets out of bed , goes outside, and sees Lucy holding a football  he sneaks up and runs to kick it and then Lucy moves it out of the way and she says "welcome home, Charlie Brown"
                                             

   She Smiles now...wait til I call my lawyer.../Copyright Peanuts 

 That's the movie.

But we have more, come  jump with us (you know after the jump)

But First These Messages : America is 200

But First these Messages 

        2016 is the United States  240th birthday ,and it's also the 40th anniversary of the bicentennial  which is a weird thing to say but that's what we are doing here , celebrating 1976 and America's bicentennial.  But first we need to prepare for July 4th so we need to buy some stuff.

But first These messages:
 
   We need some food , but  let's not cook it ourselves, but what should we get ?  What's more American than Hamburgers? (Hotdogs?)

                   
             
    It is hard to get things your way... I mean you could fire the painter if he's not doing it your way but fine I guess. Back to burgers .. mmm Burger King that'll work we bring some for our bicentennial dinner bash.  Ah 1976 when food in commercials look like the food you will be buying. (It's like food without the make up)

 mmmmmmm 100% pure beef  what you mean burgers aren't.. never mind/burgerking eyeh8cbs/youtube

      Good we got the hamburgers and we fired the painter.  We need something to wash down the 100% pure beef (paint?) .  How about Coke?  (well I am leaving, I am an RC Cola lover) 

  

                           
   Let me tell you my children , the ride of Paul Revere with his trusty Coke, he ran  to tell of it's deliciousness  and the British are trying to take it. (NOOOOOOO!!!!)   Also we should paint more fire hydrants red, white ,and blue.
     Coca-Cola went all out for the bicentennial theme.  

  For some people Coke might not be what they want (finally, we get some nice tasty Dr.Pepper here) so , we got 7UP (uuuuugh).


                                
      MMM  Bicentennial Bottles  , though these bottles do limit me from passing off any old 7up as new ,but hey Washington  crossed the Delaware for 7UP so might as well some.

Darn 100% pure beef ..

            
   Johnny, please spell relief ... R-E-L-I-E-F , relief ...wrong it's R-O-L-A-I-D-S , relief.  

   Ah 1976 , your  antacid commercials were more direct and I remember what the product is so good job.  Yes it may not have a bicentennial favor , but you know what? America likes relief!

  Much better , but we gotta get some plates and tacky red,white , and blue decorations for our Bicentennial where ever shall we go?  (Amazon?)


                     
    These are the happiest people to ever shop ,and they also sing their loyalty to  Kmart.  Infact these people are invited to our 4th of July 1976 party come on over guys we need your energy.

  All these people , are going to need to follow us for our party, but how do we make this easy?  Convoy time!  You know what else was popular in 1976?

uhhhh Not  Richard Nixon ? 

    Yep, that's right .. CB Radios (well I was close) 

     
   We stopped by our Local Radio Shack getting some CB Radios  now we can have convoy  that's 10-4   on our way to the big D.

  Welp to time to buy a car...


            
  Nothing says  America like  a big car ... actually that would be a nice to have, looks comfy maybe too comfy like you will fall a sleep in the comfort and verve off the road, good thing we have  a CB Radio.

Sure, Oldsmobile ,build me one  everything on it , and wrap it up. /GM/ OsbornTramain.youtube 

     

                    
     I want this cereal , take all my money Kellog's your commercial has convinced me .  At least this one is patriotic.  If you love America give it some love and buy some Kellog's cereal , go ! We'll wait. because Yes, we Can!

   That's our messages ...now back to our program "Abe Lincoln vs Godzilla"...

ABC Announces Fall Premiere Dates

ABC  TVLookFall2016 

     ABC has announced their fall schedule any they are heading  to it early , at least for "Dancing With the Stars" which will start it's new season on September 12th. There's also the prime time Emmys  which happens on  September 18th.

Here's the dates and times

 Monday , September 12

8PMET  Dancing With the Stars 

Sunday, September 18

7PMET  68th Emmy Awards Arrival Pre-Show 

8PMET   68th  Emmy Awards  

Tuesday, September 20

8PMET  Dancing with the Stars :Results Show 

10PMET  Marvel's  Agents of  S.H.I.E.L.D  

Wednesday, September 21 

8PMET  The Goldbergs  

8:30PM  Speechless 

9PMET    Modern Family 

9:30PM   Black-ish  

10PMET  Designated Surivor 

Thursday, September 22 

8PMET   Grey's Anatomy 

9PMET    Notorious  

10PMET   How to Get Away with Murder 

Friday, September 23 

8PMET   Last Man Standing 

8:30PMET  Dr. Ken 

9PMET    Shark Tank 

Sunday, September 25

8PMET   Once Upon a Time 

9PMET  Secrets and Lies  

10PMET   Quantico 

Sunday, October 2 

7PMET  America's Funniest Home Videos 

Monday, October 3 

10PMET  Conviction (new series) 

Tuesday, October 11 

8PMET The Middle 

8:30PMET  American Housewife (new series) 

9PMET   Fresh off the Boat 

9:30PM  The Real O'Neals 

press release after the Jump

CBS Announces Fall Premiere Dates

CBS  TVLOOKFALL2016 

    CBS has announced their fall premiere dates , as has been the case for the past couple years "The Big Bang Theory" will start the season on Mondays then moving back to Thursdays after CBS has finished airing their simulcasts of Thursday Night Football.  October 27th will be the date for "The Big Bang Theory" to move, season premieres  of "Mom" and "Life in Pieces". New comedy,"The Great Indoors" and New Drama "Pure Genius" also start that night.

    Here's a look at the full premiere dates:


Thursday, Sept. 15

8:25 PM ET/5:25 PT: “Thursday Night Football”

Sunday, Sept. 18
8:30 PM ET “Case Closed” part 1 (miniseries, two hours)

Monday, Sept. 19
8 PM ET“The Big Bang Theory”
8:30 PM ET “Kevin Can Wait” (New Series)
9PM ET “Case Closed” part 2 (two hours)


Tuesday, Sept. 20
8 PM ET “NCIS”
9 PM ET “Bull”  (New Series)
10PM ET “NCIS: New Orleans”


Wednesday, Sept. 21
8PMET  “Survivor” (90 minutes)
9:30PM ET “Big Brother” finale (90 minutes)


Friday, Sept. 23
8 PM ET“MacGyver” (New Series)
9 PM ET “Hawaii Five-0”
10PM ET “Blue Bloods”


Saturday, Sept. 24
10 PM ET“48 Hours”


Sunday, Sept. 25
7:30 PM ET “60 Minutes” (follows NFL doubleheader)
8:30 PM ET“Case Closed” part 3 (two hours)

Wednesday, Sept. 28
9 PM ET “Criminal Minds”
10 PM ET “Code Black”

Sunday, Oct. 2
8 PM ET“NCIS: Los Angeles”
9 PM ET“Madam Secretary”
10 PM ET“Elementary”


Monday, Oct. 3
9 PM ET “Scorpion” (two hours)

Monday, Oct. 10
9 PM ET “2 Broke Girls” (one hour)
10 PM ET “Scorpion” (time period premiere)


Monday, Oct. 17
9:30 PM ET  “The Odd Couple”


Monday, Oct. 24
8 PM ET“Kevin Can Wait” (time period premiere)
8:30 PM ET “Man with a Plan” (New Series )


Thursday, Oct. 27
8 PM ET“The Big Bang Theory” (time period premiere)
8:30 PM ET  “The Great Indoors” (New Series)
9 PM ET “Mom”
9:30 PM ET “Life in Pieces”
10 PM ET  “Pure Genius”(New Series)
press release after the Jump

The CW releases Fall Premiere dates

The CW TVLookFall2016 

    The CW continues it's tradition of starting it's fall season in October , starting it's new season October 4th, With the new season of The Flash, and the premiere of No Tomorrow .  The first week also includes their annual broadcasts of the "IHeart Radio Music Festival" on October 6th and 7th.

Here's the schedule



Tuesday, October 4th
8 PM ET “The Flash”
9  PM ET “No Tomorrow” (New Series)

Wednesday, October 5th
8 PM ET“Arrow”
9  PM ET “Frequency”

Thursday, October 6th

8 PM ET “iHeartRadio Music Festival” night one (two hours)

Friday, October 7th
8  PM ET“iHeartRadio Music Festival” night two (two hours)

Monday, October 10th
8 PM ET“Supergirl”

Thursday, October 13th
8  PM ET “Legends of Tomorrow”

9  PM ET  “Supernatural”

Monday, October 17th
9  PM ET “Jane the Virgin”

Friday, October 21st 

8  PM ET “The Vampire Diaries”

9  PM ET “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”

press release after the jump