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"CBS = Christmas's Best 'Stitials"
8 years ago
As a kid, back in the 1960s, I used to watch cartoons that aired on Saturday and Sunday mornings on CBS (including "Mighty Mouse", "The Tom & Jerry Show" and "Frankenstein, Jr. and the Impossibles"). But when December rolled around, I used to see some very rare cartoons from the network, specially designed for presentation around Christmas.
These animated shorts (ranging in length from fifteen seconds to one whole minute) are called 'interstitials' - made for the purpose of identifying the channel you are watching, while (at the same time) conveying holiday wishes to its viewers. I thought I'd present a few of these CBS 'interstitials' - which can be viewed on "YouTube", when you click onto the link following a summary of each short...
6. "A Very Bobble Holiday" (2017) (1:48): Posting the least-favorite 'interstitial' first, this non-animated short hypes some of the best programming CBS has to offer, in the form of 'bobble head' versions of its many stars - including the cast of "The Big Bang Theory", "Bull", and late night show hosts Stephen Colbert and James Corden. How they still managed to convey "Season's Greetings" by the end of this spot is a holiday miracle in itself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPbmcjeQWaY
5. "Christmas Message" (2005) (:30): One of the annual staples of the CBS holiday line-up is the annual broadcast of the Rankin-Bass animated special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Breaking down 'the fourth wall', we find 'Rudolph' and 'Sam the Snowman' walking off the set, when they encounter stop-motion puppet versions of some of the familiar CBS stars of that day - including Bob ("The Price is Right") Barker and David ("The Late Show") Letterman (the latter of whom mistakes the reindeer for a 'doggie')!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fErUPGeurwE
4. "50th Anniversary of Rudolph..." (2014) (:20): Even though the special debuted in 1964 on another network, NBC, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was celebrating half-a-century of TV airplay in 2014, when once again 'Rudolph' and 'Sam' are leaving the studio again, but this time they encounter some of the stars of CBS fare in live-action - including those from "The Big Bang Theory", "NCIS", etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvlfBTQlbck
3. "Child's Wish" (1966) (:30): One of the best animators of holiday fare is cartoonist R.O. Blechman - whose body of work includes Terrytoons' "Our Lady of the Juggler", and his contrib to the PBS Christmas special "Simple Gifts" ("No Room At The Inn"). And even though his style of art and animation is limited, and there's no dialogue to convey a message, you still actually 'feel' for his characters. One rare 'interstitial' from 1966 finds a young boy in rags visiting Santa Claus at a department store. His request is simple and very moving...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-M3AS-76jU
2. "Holiday Greetings" (2017) (2:00): Returning to its roots, CBS decided to use animation - with no dialogue - in a new series of spots (ranging in length from fifteen to thirty seconds) involving various forest creatures (bears, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, etc.), with each spot ending with the phrase "Warm Wishes from CBS". This link presents all of these 'interstitials' in one presentation (in case you might've missed one or more of these charming spots)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Pgm9hJnqQ
1. "Christmas Message" (1966) (1:00): Saving the best for last, no collection of CBS holiday 'interstitials' would be complete without the classic short, animated (once again) by R.O. Blechman. A flock of various birds in a pine tree are all in song (musically represented by different string instruments), when a human woodsman with his saw approaches the avian choir. This classic work was rebroadcast in 2016 (on "CBS Sunday Morning"), in celebration of the 'golden anniversary' of its initial airplay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWMjUjit_U
As usual, if I'd made any mistakes in any (or all) of the above links, go to the 'Search' portion of "YouTube", type in 'CBS' and add the title of each work before pressing 'Enter'. And Celebrate this Bright Season!
These animated shorts (ranging in length from fifteen seconds to one whole minute) are called 'interstitials' - made for the purpose of identifying the channel you are watching, while (at the same time) conveying holiday wishes to its viewers. I thought I'd present a few of these CBS 'interstitials' - which can be viewed on "YouTube", when you click onto the link following a summary of each short...
- - - - - - - - - - 6. "A Very Bobble Holiday" (2017) (1:48): Posting the least-favorite 'interstitial' first, this non-animated short hypes some of the best programming CBS has to offer, in the form of 'bobble head' versions of its many stars - including the cast of "The Big Bang Theory", "Bull", and late night show hosts Stephen Colbert and James Corden. How they still managed to convey "Season's Greetings" by the end of this spot is a holiday miracle in itself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPbmcjeQWaY
5. "Christmas Message" (2005) (:30): One of the annual staples of the CBS holiday line-up is the annual broadcast of the Rankin-Bass animated special "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". Breaking down 'the fourth wall', we find 'Rudolph' and 'Sam the Snowman' walking off the set, when they encounter stop-motion puppet versions of some of the familiar CBS stars of that day - including Bob ("The Price is Right") Barker and David ("The Late Show") Letterman (the latter of whom mistakes the reindeer for a 'doggie')!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fErUPGeurwE
4. "50th Anniversary of Rudolph..." (2014) (:20): Even though the special debuted in 1964 on another network, NBC, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was celebrating half-a-century of TV airplay in 2014, when once again 'Rudolph' and 'Sam' are leaving the studio again, but this time they encounter some of the stars of CBS fare in live-action - including those from "The Big Bang Theory", "NCIS", etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvlfBTQlbck
3. "Child's Wish" (1966) (:30): One of the best animators of holiday fare is cartoonist R.O. Blechman - whose body of work includes Terrytoons' "Our Lady of the Juggler", and his contrib to the PBS Christmas special "Simple Gifts" ("No Room At The Inn"). And even though his style of art and animation is limited, and there's no dialogue to convey a message, you still actually 'feel' for his characters. One rare 'interstitial' from 1966 finds a young boy in rags visiting Santa Claus at a department store. His request is simple and very moving...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-M3AS-76jU
2. "Holiday Greetings" (2017) (2:00): Returning to its roots, CBS decided to use animation - with no dialogue - in a new series of spots (ranging in length from fifteen to thirty seconds) involving various forest creatures (bears, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, etc.), with each spot ending with the phrase "Warm Wishes from CBS". This link presents all of these 'interstitials' in one presentation (in case you might've missed one or more of these charming spots)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--Pgm9hJnqQ
1. "Christmas Message" (1966) (1:00): Saving the best for last, no collection of CBS holiday 'interstitials' would be complete without the classic short, animated (once again) by R.O. Blechman. A flock of various birds in a pine tree are all in song (musically represented by different string instruments), when a human woodsman with his saw approaches the avian choir. This classic work was rebroadcast in 2016 (on "CBS Sunday Morning"), in celebration of the 'golden anniversary' of its initial airplay.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUWMjUjit_U
- - - - - - - - - - As usual, if I'd made any mistakes in any (or all) of the above links, go to the 'Search' portion of "YouTube", type in 'CBS' and add the title of each work before pressing 'Enter'. And Celebrate this Bright Season!
