Its Friday! Which means it’s time once again for the weekly roundup of my favorite pop culture atrocities, misfires and entertaining trainwrecks. This week’s theme: Christmas Specials.

Christmas ain’t what it used to be. Christopher Haak, a senior analyst with Mintel, a market research group, told the New York Times:

We’re seeing less conspicuous consumption and a more back-to-basics consumption.

This year, while it may be hard to avoid the fact that we’re facing a war in Afghanistan, an economy in the dumps and a Tiger Woods scandal that gives new meaning to the word tabloid journalism, it’s even harder to avoid Hollywood movies and TV shows aimed at the Holidays.

On the big screen, we’ve seen Disney’s A Christmas Carol, Robert Zemeckis‘ CGI rendering of the classic tale, that, even in 3D, was a little less entertaining than staring at a blank wall. And on TV, Jenny Mccarthy‘s Santa Baby 2 reminded everyone why they skipped out the first Santa Baby. Posted below is a classic scene from the already forgotten ABC Family Channel holiday offering:

As if that wasn’t proof enough, the following  examples demonstrate the fact that Christmas comes but once each year, is a very good thing indeed.

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1. THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL, CBS (1978)

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2. A VERY BRADY CHRISTMAS (1988) CBS

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3. CHRISTMAS THEMED EPISODES OF TV SHOWS

2000s

1990s

1980s