Most of the other songs exclusive to this album are covers, but we do have a few unique items. "A Christmas Pageant" for some reason involves Bert posing as a Christmas tree and the other Muppets "planting" him. "The Night Before Christmas On Sesame Street" is David's solo, and it reads more as "a mid 70's New York hipster's version of 'The Night Before Christmas.'" Hispanic neighbors Luis and Maria sing two untranslated Spanish numbers, "Saludo" and "Arrurru." The Count gives us his...unusual...rendition of "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth."
Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon wrapping presents. I managed to get through half of them, including all of the gifts for Mom, Keefe, and Keefe's family, all of Lauren and her parents' gifts, one of Finley's gifts, and one of Khai's gifts. I'll finish the rest tomorrow.
Listened to two more Christmas children's albums while I worked. My family had 4 of the 6 Little Golden Book Christmas Stories when I was a kid in the 80's. For all I know, Mom or Rose may still have "Jingle Bells," "Frosty the Snowman," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," and "The Night Before Christmas." Of the two books narrated on the LP I don't recognize, "How Lovely Is Christmas" is the more interesting one. A young boy who wants an ax that's his size to clear trees for his pioneer parents dreams that American tall tale icons Johnny Appleseed, Daniel Boone, and Paul Bunyon give him gifts to help his family. "The Twelve Days of Christmas" isn't nearly as effective when the lyrics are recited rather than sung.
Dickens' A Christmas Carol from 1974 is the original version of what would become Mickey's Christmas Carol almost a decade later. There were quite a few changes from the LP to the big screen. Merlin from Sword and the Stone was the Ghost of Christmas Past. The Wicked Queen in hag mode from Snow White was Christmas Future. Gideon and Foulfellow from Pinocchio were the men collecting for the poor. The biggest change is the addition of six songs, none of which would make it to the animated version. To be honest, I suspect the reason for that is they're not that memorable, although I do like the delicious march "Money" as Scrooge explains what he loves most to Mickey Cratchit.
I was just having lunch when I looked at my watch...and realized it was quarter after 2. I was supposed to have been at work at 2! I was thinking of the after-school program's schedule, not the Acme's. I usually work there in the mornings. I raced around like crazy after that. Took Uber because I thought it would be faster, and because I would be at work after dark. Even with Uber only taking 6 minutes to arrive, I was still a half-hour late.
It was really busy when I got in, much more than it has been. Good thing the Eagles aren't playing until tomorrow night, or it might have been even worse. I ended up getting help with the carts from one of the guys who were supposed to be cashiering. Thankfully, it slowed down enough by the end of the night that I was able to get the carts done on my own, though I never did get to the trash or the side by the pharmacy. Uber took 11 minutes to get me home, not bad for the height of rush hour.
Spent the rest of the night after dinner watching the Sunday Match Game marathon. The addition of the Star Wheel in mid-1978 was controversial from the outset. Admittedly, it did allow contestants to win more money, up to $10,000 on the daytime show and $20,000 on the nighttime syndicated run. It was also supposed to give panelists other than Richard Dawson a chance to play the Head-to-Head. Richard was furious, to the point where he only lasted two weeks after they changed the set to work better with the Star Wheel.
While the idea of giving everyone a chance to play may have been nice, it didn't always work. Some of the panelists weren't that crazy about doing the Head-to-Head, even the ones like Brett who were actually good at it. Sometimes, the Wheel would land on someone multiple times in a row, like it ironically did with Richard the first couple of times it was used. (In fact, the moment it landed on Richard the first time, most of the panel, including Richard himself, walked out!) I know it landed on David Doyle at least four or five times in a row one week during the syndicated era, too.
Contestants had fewer problems with it, other than some of them weren't all that great at spinning it. It did allow them to win a ton of money. This was particularly true in the nighttime syndicated show. Joyce Bulifant got the chance to help a man dressed all in blue win $20,000. Charles made him his "code of arms" to remind him of a slip-up on the Audience Match and of his big win.
Spin that Star Wheel to get big bucks the Match Game way in this hilarious marathon!
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