Christmarathon Day 21: Rich Little's Christmas Carol

You didn't see this one coming, did ya?

In 1978, HBO premiered the holiday special Rich Little's Christmas Carol, and then they played it over and over again every year. This was back when HBO was still new and they didn't have a whole lot of programming. This was way before True Blood and the Sopranos. Hell, this was way before Dream On and Tales From the Crypt. Back then HBO had a few Shannon Tweed movies, Fraggle Rock, that tv movie about Terry Fox, and Rich Little's Christmas Carol. My siblings and I used to watch it every time it was on, which was just about every day during the month of December from 1978 til about 1986.

Rewatching it now with an adult perspective, I have no idea why I loved this so much when I was a kid. I don't mean to say that the humor doesn't hold up or that it's not funny -- it's quite funny, actually, in an old school, vaudevillian sort of way -- but I just don't know why kids who grew up in the late 70s and early 80s would have enjoyed a one man show featuring Rich Little doing impressions that would've been out of date even when my parents were kids.

The entire special is composed of Rich Little doing every character from A Christmas Carol as one of the impressions he used to do in his stand up act. Here is the complete rundown taken from Wikipedia:

• W. C. Fields as Ebenezer Scrooge §
• Paul Lynde as Bob Cratchit
• Johnny Carson as Fred
• Laurel and Hardy as the two solicitors §
• Richard Nixon as Jacob Marley
• Humphrey Bogart as the Ghost of Christmas Past §
• Groucho Marx as Fezziwig §
• James Stewart as Dick Wilkins
• Peter Falk as Columbo as the Ghost of Christmas Present
• Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker as Mrs. Cratchit
• Truman Capote as Tiny Tim
• Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
• James Mason, George Burns and John Wayne as the three businessmen
• Jack Benny as a boy §

Why would I have enjoyed impressions of people like W. C. Fields, Paul Lynde, Truman Capote, and Jack Benny? I don't think I even knew who most of those people were when I was that age. Nowadays I love that style of old school comedy and recognize that Rich Little's impressions are spot on. But as a six year old kid I was really cracking up at Rich Little doing James Mason and Peter Falk? Apparently so. To that I say, good job, Mr. Little. I loved it as a kid, and I mostly enjoyed it as an adult. It's available to watch in its entirety on Youtube, and it's worth checking out if you want to see some spot-on impressions of the above mentioned people. If not, try to find some old episodes of Dream On instead.