Mleh, this one didn’t turn out as good as I’d like. Oh well. Try again tomorrow.

Heads up: A Charlie Brown Christmas airs Monday night on ABC, and yes, it’s required viewing. If you haven’t seen it in a few years, you might be amazed about what it doesn’t have… no adults talking with muted trumpets, no football scene with Lucy, no Woodstock. Oh, and make sure to skip out on whatever new Peanuts cartoon they air after the show… they’re never as good.

You know what they should do one year? Instead of the big tree in Rockefeller Center, they should construct a giant replica of the Charlie Brown tree. Someone get on that.

Six days into the sketchblog and I finally did something breakfast-related. I know some of you were getting worried.

If you grew up around the time I did, you know what I’m talking about. It wasn’t Christmas until you heard the Fruity Pebbles commercial.

The Flintstones themselves are not inherently Christmassy, but their annual holiday commercial certainly was. It’s a classic based on pure repetition alone; they’ve been re-using the same ad every single year since the late eighties. Whether it’s because of tradition or because Post Cereal Corporation is a bunch of cheapskates, I dunno. But I’ve heard the irritating jingle so many times, I’m half convinced there’s a verse of Deck the Halls that goes “Yummy Fruity Pebbles in our bowls.”

Not sure if this is exclusive to Cleveland or not, but out of nowhere, Dominick the Donkey has become the most popular tune on the radio here. Every time I switch the dial I’ll inevitably hear Lou Monte singing about the hills of It-al-y.

I guess it beats hearing Frosty the Snowman for the umpteenth time, but there’s gotta be something more to it’s outta-the-blue popularity. I call conspiracy.

This one’s for you, Jen.

‘Twas shocked to learn The Christmas Toy was recently released on DVD. Didn’t think anyone remembered it anymore! I was three when it first came on the air, and it’s been such a permanent staple of my childhood that I practically wore the VHS tape down to tatters.

The show takes place in an enormous playroom belonging to ridiculously lucky kids Jamie and Jessie. Seriously, these kids must have the entire Toys-Я-Us catalog crammed into a single room. But the special isn’t about the kids… because when people aren’t looking, their toys suddenly spring to life!

Wait… where have I seen this before?

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Rudolph is the ultimate nerd redemption story. Social outcast, kicked out of sports, hanging around with someone elves won’t even be seen with. Rudolph would have been president of the computer club had there been one in Christmastown.

It’s too bad Burgermeister Meisterburger is the main villain in Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, because this guy is the one you really gotta watch out for. Sure, he’s a push over if you give him a choo-choo. But consider that he was about to kill an infant Santa Claus simply for trespassing on his mountain. Imagine your stereotypical “you kids get off my lawn” senior citizen times a billion and you’d still not reach that level of meanness. Icy heart indeed.

Good to see they’re rerunning the other Rankin-Bass specials on national TV. Think they’re all prime targets for this holiday sketchblog. Hmmm….

Public service announcement: How the Grinch Stole Christmas is on ABC tonight at 8:30 ET. You know, the good one. Chuck Jones, animation, Boris Karloff, Zoo-Zitter Car-Zay. That one.

Meanwhile, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the live-action movie from 2000 with Jim Carey, is on ABC Family at 8PM. You know, the one where the Grinch impersonates Ron Howard.

Call me biased. One of my coworkers mentioned that their kids, having grown up with the Jim Carey version, actually prefer it to the cartoon. I guess I can understand that, but c’mon. To me there’s no contest comparing it with the original. Tells it’s story perfectly in thirty minutes, no need for childhood flashbacks or car chases to pad out the running time. Some things are meant to stay 2D.

Tell me, dear readers… how do you prefer your Grinch?

Also, I’m going to try this sketchblog thing, with a holiday twist. 25 days, 25 drawings featuring something Christmas-related. Let’s see how this goes…

You remember getting Halloween candy, and some of the wrappers had these god-awful jokes? I’m looking for the most miserable, groan-worthy Halloween pun in existence. A joke that would force the makers of Laffy Taffy to place labels on their candy: “Warning, puns may be letal.”

Prefer if they’re short (it’s gotta fit onto a candy wrapper,) and they’re kept to question-and-answer puns. No “Three vampires walked into a bar…” stuff. See here for some stupid examples.

Can’t guarantee I’ll use every joke I get, but if I do use yours I’ll be happy to credit you. Send me an email, post on the message board, or comment here if you DARE.