Rich Little’s “A Christmas Carol”: Comic genius

The characters Rich Little played in his rendition a "A Christmas Carol".
Source: https://www.christianskitscripts.com/scrooge/2018/09/10/rich-littles-christmas-carol/
(May be subject to copyright)

He was the master of impressions, a man who could imitate anyone and everyone. He could not only do the voice, but the mannerisms, and even a celebrity’s little ticks and quirks.

By the 1980s, Rich Little had been entertaining crowds for decades with live shows in Las Vegas and California, and on television, most notably Dean Martin Roasts among other shows.

Rich Little was Canadian, a national treasure who came to produce a one-man television special that showcased all his talents.

That show was “Rich Little’s Christmas Carol” and I saw it almost as much as I saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”.

Like the dickens
I always admired Rich Little’s creativity. Although he made his living being the opposite of creative by imitating famous people, I was amazed by the way he told a story using impersonations of famous people as characters. He did it with “Robin Hood” in 1982, but it started with Charles Dickens' story “A Christmas Carol” on CBC in 1978. I would go on to see it in reruns around Christmas time through much of the 1980s.

In this one-man show, Rich Little interprets the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in his own way. The story unfolds as Scrooge, a miserly old bachelor who hates Christmas, is taken through a journey of his own life by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come. Ultimately, he sees the error of his ways and catches the Christmas Spirit.

In Rich Little’s telling, he played the story’s characters impersonating the following celebrities, courtesy of Wikipedia:

• Ebenezer Scrooge – W.C Fields;

• Bob Cratchit – Paul Lynde;

• Fred – Johnny Carson;

• The two soldiers – Laurel and Hardy;

• Jacob Marley – Richard Nixon;

• Ghost of Christmas Past – Humphrey Bogart;

• Fezziwig – Groucho Marx;

• Dick Wilkins – Jimmy Stewart;

• Ghost of Christmas Present – Peter Falk as Columbo;

• Mrs. Cratchit – Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker;

• Tiny Tim – Truman Capote;

• Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau;

• The three businessmen – James Mason, George Burns, and John Wayne;

• A boy – Jack Benny.

Parting thoughts
“Rich Little’s Christmas Carol” was another part of the annual Christmas fare on TV in the 1980s in the three-channel universe.

When I first saw it, I was just intrigued with one man doing all these impressions. It was also my first exposure to the story of “A Christmas Carol”.

To this day, when I see some version of “A Christmas Carol”, I imagine Richard Nixon as Jacob Marley and Truman Capote as Tiny Tim.

It was only when I got older, and began to understand who some of these people were that I really appreciated something.

Rich Little’s comic genius.

“Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” – A gift

Emmet Otter's Jug Band, with Emmet second from the left,
and his mother Alice right in the middle. It is an amazing Christmas classic.
Source: https://lithub.com/is-emmet-otters-jug-band-christmas-a-work-of-genius/
(May be subject to copyright)

Of all the Christmas shows that come on TV every season, there was one that stands out for me even now, more than 40 years later. It is not Charlie Brown, the Grinch, or Frosty the Snowman, although all three hold a special place in my heart too.

Yet none of them can top my all-time favourite Christmas show. A product of Jim Henson’s Muppet studio, there is nothing like “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas.”

In the beginning
It was way back in the 1970s when I was in elementary school that I first saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”, and it left a lasting impression.

It opens with an old favourite – Kermit the Frog – narrating. He tells the story of Emmet Otter who lives with his mother Alice on “The River”. They both do odd jobs to make ends meet, with Emmet more of a fix-it man while his mom does laundry. Emmet’s dad had been a snake-oil salesman – literally – who died although we never found out how. We do know that both Emmet and Alice love him and miss him dearly.

They both want to provide a great Christmas for each other, but have no money to do it. Then they get their chance. There is going to be a talent show with a $50 grand prize. Emmet joins a jug band to enter while Alice decides to enter as a solo act. However, both have to make big sacrifices. In order to make a washtub bass for the band, Emmet has to put a hole in his ma’s wash tub, which is her sole source of income. At the same time, Alice needs a dress to perform. The only way to get the money to buy one, is to hock Emmet’s tool box, his sole source of income. Both struggle with their decisions but go ahead, unbeknownst to the other.

The night of the talent show arrives and all is revealed. Tragedy strikes too, as someone performs “Barbecue”, the song Emmet’s band intended to perform before they do. Now, they don’t want to look like copy cats, so they hastily rehearse a new song outside. Meanwhile, Alice performs and kills it. Then Emmet’s band performs and does well too.

However, before the judges deliberate, a late entry performs. They are “The Nightmare”, a bad-boy band from a neighbouring town, who electrify the crowd and win the prize.

Emmet, his band and his ma all walk home together where they reveal what they have done. All is forgiven as they sing together, combining their two songs from the talent show. They are overheard by Doc Bullfrog, who owns a nearby restaurant. He offers them a job, enough money for everyone to live on. The show ends with them doing their first show.

The special concludes with more words from Kermit the Frog.

That story has always tugged at my heart strings.

The show goes on
Over the years I watched it on CBC every year. One time, “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” was on at the same time as our annual Christmas concert at St. Joseph’s School. We actually got to watch it in our classroom, because we had already done our part of the concert. Another time, we hurried home after our Christmas concert in order to catch it on TV.

I kept watching it through junior high and high school on CBC, then lost track when I left home for university in 1987.

However, about 10 years later I returned to Southern Alberta, and that first Christmas back I saw “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” once more. It was no longer aired by CBC because there were likely too many other choices. Instead, it was on the specialty channel Showcase, and still as good as ever.

Kindred spirits
When I started dating my spouse, she told me she had this Christmas tradition she always did. I am pretty open to things, but I was shocked by what she described.

“I watch ‘Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas’ every year,” she said.

My jaw dropped open.

That was one of the first of many times I knew we were kindred spirits and she was the one for me.

A couple years later, after she got to know my family better, she said Emmet and his mom reminded her of me and my mom. I smiled because my mother’s name is also Alice.

The best part of it all? She has “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” on DVD so we can watch it whenever we like. We do not have to rely on CBC, Showcase, or any other broadcaster.

Parting thoughts
“Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” will always have a special place in my heart. Not only is it a charming story about the love between a mother and son, but also about friendship, sacrifice, and loyalty.

It was the kind of story Jim Henson did best.

Whenever I see “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas”, I miss Jim Henson not only for the stories he told in my childhood and the influence he had on my life, but I am sad the next generation won’t be able to share that same gift.

And at the end of the day, that is what “Emmet Otter’s Jug Band Christmas” is – a gift.

Bryan Adams’ “Christmas Time”: A holiday favourite

I was 15 the first time I heard it, but it immediately became my favourite pop music Christmas song.

In an era of everything from Cory Hart singing “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein Deer” to Bruce Springsteen singing, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, for me nothing beats Bryan Adams’ “Christmas Time”.

More than 25 years later it is still my favourite.

The history of the song
Adams wrote “Christmas Time” with longtime partner Jim Vallance. They released it late in 1985, coming off the heels of a very successful year for Adams whose album “Reckless” had produced hit after hit after from “Run to You” and “Somebody” to the number one hit “Heaven” and the anthemic “Summer of ‘69”.

Wikipedia reveals it was released on clear, green vinyl with a picture sleeve. I never did see the single in the record store though.

It reached number 31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and number 39 in Canada, although it peaked at number four on the Billboard 100 Christmas chart. It earned a gold record in Canada too for selling 100,000 copies.

“Christmas Time” remains a song that receives regular airplay every year at, well, Christmas time.

No music video for "Christmas Time" was released in the 1980s. However in December of 2019, Adams released the above video on YouTube.

Christmas on the farm
I still remember the first time I heard it. I was in Grade 11, lying in my water bed on the farm. I used to have this ghetto blaster that I listened to music on. By then, it was mostly 1090 CHEC radio, because they played singles more than albums. My Dad usually went to bed around 9 p.m. Our farm house had paper thin walls, so after 9 p.m. we always turned the volume down on the TV and the radio. After I got that ghetto blaster, I also got a pair of head phones. I used those when listening to the radio after everyone went to bed. I recall hearing “Christmas Time” over my head phones. The next time I heard it, I just pinned the volume and made my head phones vibrate.

That was not the last time I turned the volume right up when “Christmas Time” came on. In fact, this past Christmas season I pinned it again when the song came over CJOC 94.1 FM.

Parting thoughts
Every year, when “Christmas Time” comes up on the radio, I am taken back to Christmas time on the farm. It was such a good song.

I think I love it most because it is not a cover like so many other pop classic Christmas songs. It is an original song written and performed by Bryan Adams himself. There are no expectations, nothing to compare it to, unlike a song that may have been recorded a dozen times by a dozen different performers.

It also has a positive message about the joy the Christmas season brings in a world of joy and freedom.

What more could you ask for in a Christmas song?

Here’s to a new year

Initially this was intended to be posted on January 1, but things just got in the way.

I wanted it to be a New Year’s Resolution of sorts, pledging to write more this year. I wanted to build on the success I had in the latter part of 2020 when I reeled off 65 straight posts. When I recorded my second highest total, 72, and my best output since 2014 when I had 71 posts.

But I never got there.

It is best, looking back, to do it now. I have posted for the entire month of April, 30 straight days, and am embarking on a new month and continuing this latest streak.

So this is not so much a resolution to start of a calendar year, but a resolution for a 12-month period.

The writing habit
That resolution is a simple one – to develop the writing habit. There is no point in setting goals of this many posts in a month or that many posts in a year. Instead, it is much more valuable to create that habit of writing regularly. It takes something like six weeks, or maybe a couple months, to develop a new habit. That is what I am going to try to do.

To that end, I keep what I like to call my word count log, where I write down how many words I write every day. It seems to help because it sure is gratifying to look back and see what has been accomplished, and how the writing habit has a cumulative effect. Even a few words a day turns into a lot more when they're all added together after a week or a month.

It has also done some other things for me.

Blog ideas
My writing back log has been cleared up. I had exactly 30 post ideas sitting in the “Draft” folder of the blogging software I use. Those are all gone – all posted and there for the world to read now.

Some of them were topics that I just started because I wanted to keep a streak going. I did not give them much thought. But, I just could not delete them because they caught my attention for some reason, so I wrote about them. This has taught me two things – one is to not pick topics whimsically or haphazardly but give them some thought. The other is creating an actual post makes it real, so it becomes something I had to finish. And sometimes, it meant I started out by just free writing about a topic, such as David Cassidy or Morgan Woodward, and found a theme, some connection to the 1980s, that turned into a pretty serviceable post.

I shouldn’t say the back log is gone, because there are still a few things. I will deal with those, then I will get on with another aspect of this whole process for me – my bulging idea file. Sitting in two file folders in my work office are newspaper clippings, printouts from the Internet, and notes I have scribbled to myself on scraps of paper and the backs of envelopes. Now is the time to dig deep in there. I know, there are a lot of topics I have already used, but I know there are many more I have not done yet. That is the beauty of scribbling a note right away – striking while the iron is hot – because often I forget about it soon after I wrote it down. Re-discovering these ideas is energizing.

Parting thoughts
Always at the back of my mind I have thought if it would be possible to post 1,000 entries. Right now I am at 390. This will make number 391. I am not sure if I will get there because I am just under 40 per cent there and it has taken 8.5 years.

Maybe developing a writing habit will get me there.

So here's to a new year of writing and forming the writing habit.