Welcome, one and all, to the 8th annual A MarkInTexas Made-For-TV Christmas. Join me three times a week for the next month as I once again explore TV specials tied to the holiday, both old and new.
George Stevens, Jr., a prolific producer/writer/director on films and TV, had an idea an all-star, holiday season televised event to be filmed in Washington D.C. and shown later on network television, with no less than the President of the United States and the First Lady in attendance. That event would become The Kennedy Center Honors, which, other than the fact that the ceremony is generally held in early December and broadcast usually between Christmas and New Year's, has nothing to do with Christmas. The success of that led Stevens to decide on a second December special originating from the nation's capital, this one also with the President and First Lady in attendance and this one explicitly tied into celebrating the holidays.
The first Christmas in Washington premiered in 1982, and would become an annual tradition, first on NBC and then on TNT, until 2014. That long run encompassed five presidential administrations, and I decided to sample one special from each of those terms, to see how the changing face of pop music affected the concert.
A few things remained consistent from special to special. The three NBC shows I watched started with the same, specially written theme song, sung by the Navel Academy Glee Club (who were also part of the two TNT shows I watched). That would usually be followed by an opening medley of all the big name musical performers, before each one got to perform a solo or two. A second melody would conclude the show, right before the President gave his closing remarks and wished America a Merry Christmas, followed by everyone singing "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing" as the closing credits rolled. Each show also originated from the Great Hall of the National Building Museum. Many of the same songs were sung from show to show as well. Expect to hear numerous versions of "The Christmas Song", "Do You Hear What I Hear", "This Christmas", and others. And all the hosts of the shows I watched were all there because of corporate synergy.
That said, each edition had its own style that, to some extent, reflected both the time and the then-current occupant of the Oval Office. The 1985 show, during the administration of Ronald Reagan, seemed designed to appeal to a 74-year-old man who was alive when the Titanic sank, and not to what music people were then listening to. I don't think anyone expected Prince or Madonna to be the headliner, but maybe they could have found someone a bit more relevant than Pat Boone. His big solo number was a truly dreadful song about how Santa worships Jesus, which he sang surrounded by little kids. Oddly, of the five specials I watched, this one seemed the most explicitly Christian, even though by most reports, the Reagans were less religious than their next four successors. Contributing to that vibe was fellow performer, Amy Grant, who at the time was still exclusively known as a contemporary Christian singer. Joining them and third headliner Natalie Cole was young Russian violinist Viktoria Mullova, who was forced to awkwardly banter with host Tom Brokaw, and Kenneth Mack, Jr., a 13-year-old gospel singer who was really quite dazzling (unfortunately, Google doesn't have any info on him after 1986). This would be the only special that would show footage outside of the concert, as First Lady Nancy Reagan showed footage of a White House Christmas party for children of the military, with Emmanuel Lewis and Willard Scott (dressed as Santa) in attendance.
By 1991, George H.W. Bush was president. This year, headliner Anita Baker may not have been topping the charts, but was considerably more relevant to the music industry of that era than Pat Boone. She would be joined by Johnny Mathis, Anne Murray, and Vince Gill (who would marry Amy Grant in 2000). This would be the only special without a formal host, which meant that First Lady Barbara Bush gave the opening welcome and the musicians introduced each other. This edition was perfectly pleasant, and much better than the 1985 show, but also not anywhere near as memorable.
Bill Clinton was President in 1996, and for the hosts of that year's show, NBC went the corporate synergy route and brought in the cast of their then-new sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun--John Lithgow, Jane Curtin, Kristen Johnston, French Stewart, and then-15-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt--to host. Flying five famous actors cross-country for the gig meant that they quintet would get far more screentime than hosts before and after. Their lengthy opening monologue included jokes comparing their show, about a group of goofy aliens posing as human to learn about Planet Earth, and that summer's biggest hit, Independence Day, whose primary set piece involved evil aliens blowing up the White House. There was also a skit (apparently written by 3rd Rock's creators) where the cast in character send a message back to their home planet about the bizarre tradition of Christmas. Unfortunately, this had the effect of overshadowing the music, including headliner being Luther Vandross, Faith Hill, CeCe Winans, and opera singer Ruth Ann Swenson.
By 2001, George W. Bush was in the White House, and the special had moved from NBC to TNT. Coming three months after 9/11, this show was filled with references to the tragedy, including the NBC-era theme song being dropped in favor of the Navel Academy Glee Club singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas". That year, the festivities were emceed by Reba McEntire, whose new sitcom had just premiered two months earlier on TNT's sister broadcast network The WB. Brokaw and the 3rd Rock cast had been polite to the presidents without giving anything away of their personal politics. McEntire, on the other hand, wore her politics on her sleeve, praising Bush's job performance several times during her various remarks and leaving no doubt about who she had voted for the previous fall. McEntire was also the only host of the ones I saw who was also a musician herself, so she got her own solo numbers. While Tony Bennett (who didn't appear until nearly halfway through the show) was the headliner, the show was mostly notable for having an unusually young lineup of 23-year-old Usher (who scored his second career #1 hit the week the special aired), 17-year-old Mandy Moore, and 15-year-old Charlotte Church.
Ten years later, Barack Obama was President, and the special, other than a short "Carol of the Bells" from the Glee Club over highlights of previous editions, opened with Cee Lo Green. Host Conan O'Brien, as opposed to his predecessors, didn't play a large part in the proceedings, delivering an opening monologue, introducing each of the performers, and then disappearing until the finale. Other than Green, the headliner was Justin Bieber, still in the bowl cut, innocent teen idol phase of his career. He also was the only performer in any of the specials watched that had his own personal backup singers. The other performers were Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, The Band Perry, and Victoria Justice. If the lineup wasn't quite as impressive as the 2001 lineup had been, it was still a long way from the days of Pat Boone.
After the 2014 special, TNT declined to renew it for 2015, and Stevens, unable to find another broadcast partner, chose to fold it. While it was sad that the tradition came to an end, it might have been for the best, because it's hard to see it surviving the Trump years, anyway (he declined to attend any of the three Kennedy Center Honors held during his administration, though the president's participation in that one is largely peripheral, unlike this show). That said, this is a format prime for revival. It would not surprise me if, in some future December, the National Building Museum will be aglow once again with Christmas in Washington.
Next time: At Christmas, ya gotta have Hope.
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