Many of us can remember childhood Christmas seasons in which we waited in youthful excitement to revel in once-a-year viewings of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "A Charlie Brown Christmas." But, as with all television, holiday programming has evolved and expanded over the last several decades.

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Is the magic still there? Recently, Washington Post staff writer Liza Mundy sat down for a marathon of old and new Christmas television to see for herself and us. She'll be online Monday, Dec. 17, at Noon ET to discuss her Washington Post Magazine article about TV's take on the true meaning of Christmas.

A transcript follows.

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Liza Mundy: Hello to all and thanks for tuning in. There are lots of questions waiting, so I'll read through them quickly and get started ASAP. Expect lots of sharing of Christmas favorites that were not mentioned in the articles. So many shows, so little times......

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Washington, DC: Liza - great article. As a contemporary I grew up with the "Big 4" as well. One of the key reasons why these were special to me is that I could only see them once a year. They were like lunar eclipses in that their rarity made you appreciate them even more. I remember in the late 1980s when they released the Charlie Brown Christmas on video tape. This seemed terribly wrong to me. How can something maintain its charm when it can be watched on demand?

Liza Mundy: I know; I agree. Somehow it also seems to me morally superior that once upon a time, the holiday classics were only shown once a year. Somehow it seems less desirable that they be available 24/7, on DVD. Robert Thompson, the Syracuse professor of television and popular culture, made the same point: that formerly, when the holiday shows came on, it was like the ornaments being brought up from the basement, a sure sign that school would be out soon and the holidays were arriving.

It's hard to know whether the modern household created the need for DVDs and their constant availability, or whether DVD's created the modern household. But it does seem that in many homes, it's a lot harder than it used to be, getting everybody together for an annual showing of anything. We all need to watch when it's convenient. I know that my problem is that the TV listings have reached a level of complexity whereby I likely would miss the listing for an annual showing.

Anyway, I think the truth is that this is an old-fashioned point of view. Whenever I start talking about how once upon a time, the holiday classics only came on once a year--or how, growing up, my family only got two television stations, which is true-my kids just look at my blankly.

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Washington DC: Hi Liza,

One of my favorite Christmas-time shows growing up was the animated version of "The Little Drummer Boy". While I still hear the song played frequently, I haven't seen the show in years. Do you know if it is still being shown?

Thanks!

Liza Mundy: I don't know, but I'll post this in case someone else does. It's also striking, what you can get on Amazon in.....DVD format.

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Annandale, VA: Required Holiday viewing should be the Alex Baldwin Saturday Night Live skit where he plays Tom Schweaty, the owner of Seasons Eatings holiday treats. The deadpan delivery regarding his product, plus the product name (using his last name in the title) is classic.

Liza Mundy: I'll post this too for the general edification of the public.

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Ocala, Fla: The two Crosby movies were missing from your viewing experience. What's Christmas without "Holiday Inn" and "White Christmas?" Don't hoteliers and ski resorts deserve to make a profit during the Christmas season, too?

Liza Mundy: Yes, absolutely! Everybody deserves to make money! Unfortunately, there had to be omissions, and they weren't deliberate or even carefully thought out. It may be that these two did not pop up on my Amazon search.......I got what I could!

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McLean, VA: What seems to be missing from so many contemporary Christmas specials is a commitment to really great music. Part of what makes the classic shows so memorable was the music. Would we love the Grinch nearly as much without that cool song? I doubt it.

Liza Mundy: That's a good point. I did watch the new Shrek special, which, like the movies, combines old boomer songs (I think it starts out with something from Seals and Crofts--Summer Breeze--something sly like that....) and then newer songs as well, to cover all age groups, but, if I remember correctly, does not have original Christmas-related compositions.

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Arlington, VA: South Park's Mr. Hanky and the original pilot (the spirit of Christmas) are my favs. Is there a plan for anything new from the boys at South park this year?

Liza Mundy: Again, I'll post this in case anybody knows. If I remember correctly from my interview with the Comedy Central publicist, they've done a number of Christmas specials, but have not necessarily done them every year. You might be able to learn from the website whether there's one coming up.

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Washington DC: No Kathie Lee specials? Or should we just be content with reading Tom Shales' reviews of them?

Liza Mundy: I knew somebody would ask about that! This was not an intentional omission; I was ordering DVD's a little randomly, and when it came to the specials, I got sidetracked by the Osmonds and Sonny and Cher. Plus the Shales columns are so immortal that one suspected there could be nothing more to say. But I bet you can order them, invite guests over, and concoct some sort of good drinking game.

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Washington, DC: I take umbrage at your assertion that Frosty is a second-tier holiday special. Sure, the animation is a bit cheesy, and the humor forced, but it has a real pathos to it. The scene where little Karen is crying over the puddle that was Frosty always gets to me. And it has a cool rabbit.

Liza Mundy: OK, fine.

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Boston, Mass: Great article, Liza. Any thoughts on "new Christmas classics" not manufactured by cable channels (I'm thinking specifically of "Elf" with Will Farrell)? Is it too soon for us to figure out what the new classics are?

Liza Mundy: Thanks. Well, the Shrek special this year was a bid by Dreamworks to create another classic, and according to Robert Thompson, it's one in a series of periodic efforts to do just that. I watched the Shrek special and while it was good (better than Shrek 3), it didn't rise to classic status, though apparently it did get excellent viewership numbers, according to the Post's TV experts. (As far as I could tell, the message was an anti-nesting one: appreciate your family, but don't forget your old friends.) (The best part about receiving the advance DVD was the directive, from Dreamworks, to smash teh DVD after viewing and send the shards back to them--an antipiracy measure.) Among theatrical releases I do think that Elf is seen as a huge success and addition to the Christmas canon.

Let me take this opportunity to say that my personal Christmas TV favorite, which I did not have room to mention in the piece, is Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean, with Rowan Atkinson. Our whole family really does sit down and watch this every year. For my part I have to say that Christmas lends itself to comedy more than anything. There is great pathos in the scene where Mr. Bean sends himself Christmas cards through his own mailslot, then enters and looks thrilled to see them; and there is a hilarious scene involving a creche at Harrods that is so good that I urge anybody to run out and order the collection right now.

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Bowie, MD: Just because the Christmas shows are on DVD doesn't mean they have to be available 24/7/365. We keep the Christmas specials alive in our house by forcing the whole family to sit down and watch them together... usually while we are all wearing pajamas.

By the way, "The Little Drummer Boy" IS available on DVD. It's another high-quality Rankin/Bass production.

Liza Mundy: Good to know.

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Washington, D.C.: Of the 2 things I remember from 5th grade, one was my teacher showing us how the elves in Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer killed the Bird That Can't Fly. Watch the credits. The elves throw the Bird off the sleigh without a parachute.

Liza Mundy: I'm not sure I remember anything from 5th grade.

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Alexandria, VA: My parents tell me that they dreaded the holiday season, because of one particular holiday special - It focused on the donkey that carried Mary into Bethlehem. At one point, the donkey's mother shields him from a snowstorm, but dies. This would set me sobbing for hours, and they couldn't calm me down. I don't have any memory of it, and I don't know what it's called. I don't suppose you came across it in your travels?

Liza Mundy: I didn't see that one, but I have to say, that one thing I DON"T miss from the 60s and 70s is animal deaths. There were so many animal movies where the animal always died. And there is always a baby animal that survives but risks being un-cared for! It doesn't surprise me that back then, the donkey would die, and I hope your parents have been able to enjoy Christmas ever since that movie was shelved.

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Bethesda MD: While technically not TV, I love listening to the Charlie Brown Xmas album all year long. What better way to ease the pain of a Washington August than hearing "Linus and Lucy" and think of kids skating on a pond.

Liza Mundy: You don't get depressed, listening to that? I do. Or at least melancholy.

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Washington, DC: I think "Little Drummer Boy" has been abandoned for a couple reasons. It is terribly violent (the boy's family dies in a fire), is overtly Christian without Charlie Brown's universal themes, and has some truly nasty Arab caricatures.

Liza Mundy: I haven't seen it and can't comment, but from what you say it doesn't seem to express the genial inclusiveness of some of the others.

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Arlington, VA: Justin Timberlake's Saturday Night Live skit, ---- In A Box, might be one of the best ever. The classic holiday show seems to be forever changing with each generation.

Liza Mundy: That xmasdvd site had links to some of the SNL Christmas skits, though I had trouble accessing them, but probably all these are accessible somewhere.

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Charlie Brown: I always remember the Dolly Madison commercials during A Charlie Brown Christmas, because those cakes were not sold where we lived, and they seemed so exotic.

Liza Mundy: Yes, though in his excellent biography of Charles Schulz, which I am still reading, David Michaelis points out that Schulz was very proud when his characters were used to advertise Ford (I think it was), such a classic American product, but that Dolly Madison cupcakes seemed a little more downscale.

Boy, the fact that we STILL associate this special with its commercial sponsor shows that the specials really did accomplish their mission!

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Xmas Specials on DVD:: Two words: No commercials.

All the holiday fun, minus the commercialism.

Liza Mundy: Point well taken.

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McLean, VA: What! No mention of Ralphie and his quest for the official Red Ryder carbine action two-hundred shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and this thing that tells time?

Our family watches "A Christmas Story" every year.

Liza Mundy: Hey! I mentioned that one! I mentioned it at length!

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Alexandria, VA: It's a treadmill: busy people stop to watch a Christmas show, which induces them to send a Christmas card (Hallmark brand, of course) or bake cookies to take to orphans, which adds to the stress on their schedules, which makes them feel that they can't enjoy the holiday, which makes them vulnerable to watching a Christmas show...

The only way to break the cycle is to get off it, which is just what these new shows are designed not to let you do.

Liza Mundy: Only women. Only women get caught up in the cycle you describe. Men are able to disregard those get-busy messages, very impressively.

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Menomonie, Wis:

Omigosh. Say it isn't so. According to the start of your article, you describe an "R" rated Alvin and the Chipmunks. I, too, remember, growing up with them, and never thought I'd see the day when they would become an R-rated parody. But, you did teach me a lesson in your article. I have no children but I do have a 9-year old niece. Before I share any childhood memories with her on YouTube, I am going to view it FIRST to make sure it is NOT a parody. Regardless, I am devestated that my fond memories of Alvin et al has become fodder for parodies. Sigh.

Liza Mundy: Yes, but the thing is, it's really funny.

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Friendly, Md: Favorite of favorite is Charlie Brown because of the portrayal of the true meaning of Christmas and the American commercialism. Do you think Charlie Brown will continue to be a favorite a decade from now?

Liza Mundy: Yes. Absolutely. The fact that it's embedded in lots of the South Park specials shows the extent to which it's just part of the culture. The music, I noticed yesterday, is being sold in Starbucks.

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University Park, MD: Our family classic is the Muppet Christmas Carol. We must see Gonzo set fire to Rizzo the Rat to get our season started.

Liza Mundy: Good to know.

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Nestor the long-eared Christmas Donkey...:.......was the title of the sad dying donkey movie. Boy, I too, am glad that one is gone--like the other chatter it used to bring me to tears, and my parents distracted me on those nights it ran so that I missed it.

Liza Mundy: I do think ABC Family is offering that one (could be wrong, but I think so), now that you mention the title--if you'd like to see it again, or tape it for your parents.

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Arlington, VA: There are lots of Christmas specials that I remember seeing just once. Something about a teddy bear who is seeking Christmas (I think Tommy Smothers did the voice) and another one about talking animals. It seems like Christmas specials are like Christmas songs, they keep throwing stuff against the wall hoping to come up with an annual moneymaker. I mean, just think about how many Dolly Madison Zingers the Charlie Brown Christmas has sold

Liza Mundy: Yep.

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Fairfax, VA: Don't you find Rudolph just a little bit sexist? You know, with the does cheering on the young bucks? My daughter wanted to know why Clarisse wasn't allowed to fly.

Liza Mundy: Yes! I mention that! Very sexist, though in the end, Clarice and Mrs. Donner just ignore Donner's tyrannical ranting, and go out in the storm to look for Rudolph.

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Who says they're not educational?: I learned who Copernicus was from the Christmas cartoon "The Night Before Christmas" about a nerdy animated mouse that alienates Santa Claus and then has to woo him back to town by helping build a singing clock whose song used to get stuck in my head for days after watching! Don't think they still air this one, though...

Liza Mundy: And I learned what "nonconformist" meant from watching Rudolph.

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Menomonee Falls, Wis: Dear Lisa,

I just read a commentary that you had written in our local newspaper, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In that particular commentary you made note of the Bing Crosby and David Bowie duet. I know that I had heard the song in the past, however with the rush of the season, it seems as if you only hear half of the words. It was only last year, that I really took time to listen to David Bowie's "Peace On Earth." For whatever reason I "Googled" Bing and David, to find this particular clip on "YouTube." After a little research, I learned like you that they rehearsed about an hour and "got it" on the third take. However, I also learned that it was recorded on September 11, 1977, -- listening to the words, it give me a chill and then at times hope. I learned that Bing Crosby died the following month, in Spain. After golfing 18 holes, beating 2 Spanish pros, a score of 85, he was on his way into the club house and had a massive heart attack.

Thank you for your time.

Diane Berg

Liza Mundy: Thanks for the annotations!

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Washington, DC: Liza -

Loved the story! Sadly, my mother, sister and I have created a new family tradition - sitting around watching these Lifetime holiday movies, which we have cleverly termed "crappy, crappy Lifetime movies." There's something about them that draws us in - we mock them, knowing each plot point before it is going to happen, feeling the cloying and treacly lesson we will soon learn even before the first commercial break. Yet we don't (can't?) stop and we will rewatch movies we've already seen. Now, after reading your story, we may branch out to ABC Family. Thanks! (I mean that.) And happy holidays.

Liza Mundy: Is spiked eggnog involved? It should be. This sounds like a great tradition. I applaud it.

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McLean, VA: I am steeling myself for an Oprah Christmas Special. You know it's just a matter of time.

Liza Mundy: Definitely, now that you've brought it up.

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Washington, DC: Do you believe that Hermie from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was supposed to represent a gay person? I don't know why, but as a kid in the 1970s I always thought so. My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I've known multiple gay people who had his character on their desk at work and were like, "I'm a misfit elf too."

Liza Mundy: Yes! We talked about this in the office! I confess I was obvious to this as a child, but others among my colleagues always sensed it, apparently. There is a Rudolph website (of COURSE) where I believe this is discussed.

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Rockville, Md: I do remember an Eddie Murphy sketch from Saturday Night Live where he played Gumby doing a Christmas special. He ended it with "Merry Christmas to everyone--and to my writers, my producer, and my agent, Happy Chanukah, boys!"

Liza Mundy: OK, just going to post some favorites here.

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Alexandria VA: Another animated feature I regard as one of the original classics is Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol, which also came out in the mid-1960s. I came across it again on the Cartoon Network a couple years ago. It's done as a musical and the songs are actually quite good, though there are a couple of moments -- with Marley's Ghost and the Ghost of Christmas Future -- that are rather scary for a child, as I recalled.

Liza Mundy: And another.

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Washington, DC: Liza,

One thing about the big Mid-1960s Christmas specials was how their vision of Christianity was filled with love, forgiveness, difference and inclusion. When I see Christmas specials today they seem to have two flavors- 1 is the Gap Commercial- everyone having fun in ski sweaters. The second is the in-your-face religious type that's just angry. Does that play a part in your impressions of these shows?

Liza Mundy: You know, the contemporary movies I saw were sort of studiously non-religious. They were relentlessly about family, rather than religion. I wonder which are the movies/specials you have in mind. I certainly believe they must be out there.

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Washington, DC: So I am to understand that getting caught in a blizzard is to family reconciliations the way that getting caught in a rainstorm is to passionate encounters?

Liza Mundy: Exactly! Thank you for seeing that.

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Bethesda, Md: Our family classic is "Christmas Vacation." My personal favorite, though, is the SNL skit that picks up at the end of "It's a Wonderful Life" -- the whole group beats up Mr. Potter for keeping the money. Dana Carvey does a great Jimmy Stewart, and Mary and Harry hold Potter while George hits him.

Liza Mundy: Well, it's good to know that Mr. Potter gets his comeuppance somewhere, since he doesn't in the movie.

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Baldwin SNL skit - Schweaty Balls: There, I said it.

Liza Mundy: Congratulations. You should watch that R-rated Alvin skit.

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Frederick, MD: Don't forget the Muppets! There was a great show where

Fozie Bear's mother was renting her house out to some old

guy and his dog that just wanted to be alone. Of course,

muppet after muppet showed up and mayhem happened. I

think John Denver was in it too.

We love Grover!

Liza Mundy: Thank you.

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Washington, DC: I find the Little Drummer Boy and Little Drummer Boy Book II to be the most Old Testament and Jewish of the specials- Aaron, the drummer boy, wears a yarmulke and is terrorized by the Romans. Do you think that there would ever be interest in popularizing the historic biblical story for kids again? It seems so far removed from our culture.

Liza Mundy: Well, wasn't there a movie out last year that told the Nativity Story? And yet I couldn't find that it was being replayed on any of the cable networks this year. (could be wrong, but didn't see it.) I took this as a sign that the TV execs want to stay away from the actual religious basis for Christmas, but maybe I'm wrong.

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Washington, DC: There are many specials that were huge in the 1960s and 70s that are gone now:

Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol

Cricket on the Hearth

Cricket in Times Square

Mouse on the Mayflowers

Thanksgiving that Almost Wasn't

etc

I loved those as a kid, less than Grinch and Charlie Brown, but certainly as much as Frosty the Snowman.

What's your take on these?

Liza Mundy: We only got two networks. I didn't see them! Not that I remember. It was a deprived childhood, in that way. We didn't get the Brady Bunch, either.

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Fairfax, VA: Was the little elf with the tooth fixation called Hermie or Herbie? After 40 years I still can't decide.

Liza Mundy: Hermie. I can say this categorically. You can put your mind at ease.

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Alexandria, VA:"It's as though the season has turned us into compulsive list-makers, only to make fun of us for it. This didn't surprise Ellen Galinsky. The media, she says, have always been "fairly uncharitable" to mothers."

What about fathers!? The mom in sitcoms is generally smart, wise, competent, and effective, while the dad is goofy, short-sighted, bungling, and selfish. (Cf. Ozzie and Harriet, Cosby Show, Home Improvement, etc. etc. ad nauseam.)

Or maybe that's the answer: Dads are useless except at Christmastime, when their childlike incompetence is more valuable than moms' efficiency. What do you think?

Liza Mundy: Dads are imaginative and fun, I always find, in shows and movies. The mom's competence is rarely a positive trait. Though your point is well-taken about teh sort of bungling-dad model. But it's always meant to be endearing.

Rarely is the mom a bungler--though I will say, appropos of nothing really, that I happened to watch a Christmas episode of All in the Family, featuring of course a bungler-wife, and the level of abusiveness directed at the Edith character was breathtaking. It was painful to watch.

There was also a lovely episode of the Honeymooners, on xmasdvd.com, however--funny, but also genuinely loving. I am rambling here but it's worth watching.

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Arlington, VA: On DVD - one of the happiest moments of my life was finding "A Claymation Christmas" on DVD. The rendition of "We Three Kings" is beyond amazing.

Liza Mundy: There will be a run on it now. I want to order it.

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Our family watches "A Christmas Story" every year. : Me too. I watch it just to see that leg lamp.

Liza Mundy: An excellent philosophical observation to conclude with. Thanks, everybody, and happy holidays. All best, Liza Mundy

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Annapolis, MD: Re "specials that were huge in the 60s and 70s": their creation in the first place, and disappearance in the second place, is a symptom of the fragmentation of the entertainment landscape which Ms. Mundy writes about. There were no networks dedicated to children's programming, so the Big Three networks created special children's programming just to get the numbers of an all-ages hit. Today that programming is consigned to Disney and Nickelodeon and other kid-targeted channels.

Liza Mundy: Ok, I'm going to add this one.

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Re: Eddie Murphy as Gumby: The best part of that sketch was when Gumby's guests Donny and Marie (played by Gary Kroeger and Julie Louis-Dreyfus) sang "Blue Christmas" and ended up making out with each other.

Liza Mundy: And this one. Happy reminiscing! Goodbye!

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