Christmas TV December 21-23, 1970 (USA, Canada, UK)
Christmas Eve Eve Eve Eve (Dec 21), 1970
Early in the evening, Leslie Nielsen guest-starred on this year’s festive installment of the Red Skelton Show which featured, as usual, Freddie the Freeloader.
Later that night a favorite holiday sitcom episode of mine premiered, though I doubt four year old me saw it then. The Doris Day Show’s “It's Christmas Time In The City”
(More info at Christmas TV History
Next we take off to the Great White North (It's a beauty way to go) for The Pig and Whistle Show's Christmas Pageant '70. Best clip I could find comes from 1975 but probably gives a good idea of what was going on, eh?
Over in Blighty the morning's Play School offered little ones a reading of "The Christmas Tree" by Nancy Quale, a story I can find nothing about.
(This clip comes from Dec 24)
The afternoon brought the kiddies Blue Peter, which was always reliably festive back in the day.
(This clip is actually from the 17th)
(And this clip is from the 24th)
In the evening, long running police drama Z-Cars aired the first part of the two part story "Christmas is Coming". Z-Cars featured multiple Christmas related story lines throughout its run, and multiple in 1970 alone.
Christmas Eve Eve Eve (Dec 22), 1970
CBS started the evening off with a re-run of 1968’s Christmas in Hooterville episode of The Beverly Hillbillies…
...while NBC countered with an apparently Christmas themed episode of the single-season variety program The Don Knotts Show. Don’s guests included Gina Lollobrigida.
Back to CBS for UNICEF – A World of Love was a star-studded international affair featuring the likes of Barbara Streisand, Bill Cosby, Julie Andrews, Richard Burton, Audrey Hepburn and Shirley MacLaine.
NBC offered a rerun of 1954’s White Christmas.
CBS closed out the night with 60 Minutes and a pair of holiday adjacent segments on unsafe toys and a “Look at Jerusalem”.
The program took a bit of flak for waiting until the eleventh hour to warn parents about the potential dangers posed by gifts that, at that point. had already been purchased and were waiting to be tucked under the tree.
In Canada, while much of the programming runs parallel with the States there were some unique programs such a special starring the Dofasco Christmas Choir
In the UK the second part of Z-Cars "Christmas is Coming" aired. Later in the night A Muslim looks at Christmas aired as part of a four part series where non-Christians looked at Christian traditions during Christmas and New Years.
Christmas Eve Eve (Dec 23) 1970
ABC began with a non-Christmas episode with an apropos theme – The Courtship of Eddie’s Father – “Gifts are for Giving”. Back in 2010, it was included on a DVD collection of “classic” Christmas shows which may have been pushing it.
Later there was a country star variety show showdown between Johnny Cash and Eddy Arnold. The Man in Black’s guests included Roy Orbison, Minnie Pearl, and The Everly Brothers while Eddy welcomed Charley Pride and Brenda Lee.
In some markets, the half-hour special Christmas in the White House was aired.
In NYC WNBC’s afternoon film was The Lemon Drop Kid while WABC’s The 4:30 Movie was the second part of the Old Testament epic The Story of Ruth.
The evenings festive programming in the UK was highlighted by a repeat of the 1969 The Spinners at the Phil live concert special. This track is from their 1972 live Christmas album but should give a good indication of what their annual Christmas concerts sounded like.
Also airing was a repeat of the 1969 musical special Jesus, based on a collection of songs released in 1965 by Claude-Henri Vic and Jacques Hourdeaux.
(sources include The Daily News, The Guardian, TV Guide, The Annston Star, The Corpus Christi Caller Times, The Rock Island Argus, The Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Tennessean, Christmas TV History, Radio Times, The Gazette (Montreal), YouTube, Facebook)
