With Christmas only two days away, the holiday spirit is in full effect. Everyone is celebrating by attending their holiday parties, shopping for gifts, and getting together for dinners and social events. While these types of things are the tradition for every holiday season, there is a tradition on television as well. Each year, there are several shows and movies which are aired around Christmas and New Year's time. Families just love to get together and watch the programs to keep the tradition alive. Let's check out some of these shows now, and find out what is so great about them.
It's a Wonderful Life. This movie is probably the most famous to be aired around the Christmas season. The 1946 drama stars Jimmy Stewart as George Bailey, a man who is down on his luck and contemplating suicide. He is rescued by Clarence, his guardian angel who shows George all the lives he has touched and the contributions he's made to the community. In the end George realizes that his life really is important, and he and his family live happily ever after. The movie is appropriate for Christmas as it takes place on Christmas Eve. It was a huge success, and it has become tradition for the movie to air every Christmas.
A Christmas Story. A more recent flick to become popular during Christmas, this movie follows Ralphie Parker around his town in Indiana as he searches for the only thing he wants for Christmas: a Red Ryder BB Gun. Ralphie gets into various predicaments throughout the movie, including fighting the school bully and getting his tongue stuck to a metal flagpole in the cold. The movie is a feel-good film for the whole family to enjoy, and it has a much lighter plot than the more metaphysical nature of It's a Wonderful Life.
The Honeymooners. One of the most famous shows of all time, The Honeymooners airs a New Year's Day marathon every year. The classic comedy stars Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden, along with Audrey Meadows and Art Carney as the wife and best friend. The show was filmed in the 1950's, and is set primarily in the New York apartment of Ralph and Alice Kramden. This show set the standard for the half hour sitcom format that would become popular in later years, and focuses on Ralph Kramden as he gets himself into different situations and makes rants about everything from society to his dissatisfaction with his wife. He really does love Alice Kramden though, even if he does yell, "One of these days Alice, straight to the moon!".
The Twilight Zone. Definitely from a different genre than the shows and movies highlighted above, The Twilight Zone is a sci-fi program that has a different story with different characters in every episode. Each episode of the show focuses on some type of strange occurrence, bizarre scenario, or unexplainable premise. Usually the shows involve twists and turns, surprise endings, and theater-type devices which let the audience know that the main character is not crazy though everyone else believes they are. The show was created and narrated by Rod Serling, and became so popular that it now airs as part of a marathon every New Year's Day.
Make sure to tune in to some of these TV traditions this holiday season so that you can enjoy it all with family and friends. These shows are a staple of American entertainment and should definitely be watched by anyone who appreciates good television and cinema.
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