santa claus

Remember the days when they would take characters from a TV commercial that you would see all year long and then put them in a Christmas-oriented ad around the holiday season? This commercial for Fruity Pebbles and Cocoa Pebbles will bring back memories for those of a certain age. I'm not certain when this is from, maybe the 1980s? One thing's for certain: they don't even say "Merry Christmas" in the ad. Even back then there was a war on Christmas! Bill O'Reilly was right, those bastards!

It shows Santa coming down the chimney at Fred's house (Wilma and Betty must be out shopping, not sure if this was before Pebble's was born or not), and Fred gives him some Fruity Pebbles, which of course makes Barney jealous until Santa tells them to share. Can someone tell me what the hell Barney is wearing? A dress? Did he get that from Mrs. Claus? And Dino is carolling? I thought he couldn't speak? Is he just going "ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh-ruh?"

Another thing I'm not clear on: what exactly is the timeline that The Flintstones follows? They're from B.C. but they celebrate Christmas? Video after the jump.

• At 8, ABC has a new Ugly Betty, followed by new episodes of Grey's Anatomy and Men In Trees.
• CBS has a new Survivor at 8, then repeats of CSI and Shark.
• NBC has new episodes of My Name Is Earl, The Office, Scrubs, 30 Rock, and ER.
• There's a new Til Death on FOX at 8, then a repeat ep, then a new ep of The O.C.
• The CW has a repeat Smallville at 8, followed by a repeat Supernatural.
• ABC Family has Santa Claus: The Movie at 8.
• It's cookie night on Food Network: Emeril has some "Holiday Cookie Contest" winners, then you can see All Star Holiday Cookies and Winning Holiday Cookies.
• Also at 8: Bravo has that Madonna concert that aired on NBC a few weeks ago.
• At 9, HGTV has Divine Design Christmas.
• Robert Urich stars in the holiday movie Miracle on the 17th Green, on Lifetime at 9.
• Hallmark has the movie Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus at 9, followed by The Night They Saved Christmas.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas, ABC, Tuesday Nov. 28 at 8 pm;
  
• Polar Express, ABC, Friday December 1 at 8 pm;
• Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, ABC, Tuesday December 5 at 8 pm;
• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, CBS, Friday December 8 at 8 pm;
• Frosty the Snowman, CBS, Friday December 8 at 9 pm;
• Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey version), ABC, Saturday December 9 at 9 pm;
• Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (animated version), ABC, Tuesday December 12 at 8 pm;
• It's a Wonderful Life, NBC, Saturday December 16 at 8 pm;
• National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, TBS, Sunday December 17 at 8 pm;
• A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart version), TNT, Wednesday December 20 at 8 pm;
• A Christmas Story (24-hour marathon), TBS, Sunday December 24 at 8 pm;
• Yule Log, INHD, Monday December 25 at 7 am.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town, just one of many holiday classics from Rankin-Bass, will air on ABC December 5 at 8 pm. The special takes a look at young Kris Kringle as he opens a gift factory to provide toys for children. Unfortunately, Burgermeister Meisterburger, the lands tyrannical ruler, won't allow toys, so Kringle gets help from Mother Nature, not to mention some elves and reindeer. This same story was also made into a movie. The name of that movie? That's right, 1978's The Deer Hunter. Though I think some artistic license was taken with the theatrical adaptation.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town features the voices of Fred Astaire, Mickey Rooney and Paul Frees. Rooney plays the role of Kris Kringle/Santa Claus, because as we all know, Santa himself was banned from Hollywood during the House Un-American Activities Committee hearings in the late '40s and early '50s. Apparently that wasn't a good time to be wearing so much red.