New book explores small screen’s treatment of Christmas

Every year, sometimes starting as early as October, eager-beaver viewers start calling TV critics nationwide, wanting to know when their annual list of holiday-themed TV shows will be published.

So I think Newsday TV critic Diane Werts is onto something with her new book, “Christmas on Television“, which explores “the nakedly visceral emotions stirred by Christmas shows.” She also looks back at how television began to acknowledge Christmas with specials in the 1960s and then followed with series episodes in the 1970s and after.

“Practically every show has a Christmas episode,” Werts said by phone this week, even the prison drama “Oz.” “Very few shows don’t have a Christmas episode. I couldn’t find one for ‘Hogan’s Heroes,’ but there’s even a ‘Xena’ Christmas episode.”

Werts said most TV-show writers, even Jewish writers like Phil Rosenthal of “Everybody Loves Raymond,” look forward to writing these programs.

“You’ve got something to hang your hat on,” she said. “There’s a lot of stuff to play with, and you’re not just starting from scratch.”

In her book, Werts looks at both dramas (including the little-seen “Nothing Sacred” Christmas episode) and comedies, but she said comedies tend to stick with more viewers.

“People tend to remember the sitcoms better because they play forever in repeats,” she said.

Werts’ interest in TV Christmases began in 1985, when her parents gave her her first VCR for Christmas. The first things she taped were Christmas shows. And maybe the second things, too.

“I didn’t even realize I had an obsession until I had a stack of 30 tapes of all Christmas episodes, and then it became a collection,” Werts said. Now she has 800 Christmas programs on tape.