Welcome to the 9th annual A MarkInTexas Made-For-TV Christmas! This year, I'll be doing a lucky 13 entrees coving 16 specials, including three brand new 2022 arrivals. We're starting off this year with a very traditional special by a country legend.
These days, Tennessee Ernie Ford is mostly remembered for his three guest appearances on I Love Lucy and his signature song, "Sixteen Tons", about the plight of a coal miner trapped in an endless cycle of poverty, highlighted by the song's darkly humorous chorus. However, Ford's musical oeuvre is much more diverse than that, as he released dozens of albums, mostly country and/or gospel, and was a regular presence on television, hosting several variety shows and appearing as a frequent guest on other people's shows, as well as talk and game shows, through the 1980s.
While he was no longer at the top of his game by 1972, he still had enough clout to get his own primetime Christmas special. Tennessee Ernie Ford's White Christmas would be a very traditional special, with an hour spent mostly in songs, with only small amounts of dialogue, and no sustained comic bits in sight.
Its easy to make fun of specials that pretend like we're visiting the actual home of the host (indeed, several modern variety specials have made fun of that very cliché), but in 1972, the troupe wasn't worn out yet, so here is Ford, standing in a yard that very much looks like it's in a studio, inviting all of us into his house, which very much looks like a set, to attend his Christmas party.
Whoever cast this special did quite a good job, as most of the other guests were up-and-comers, who had yet to reach their biggest moments of fame (though in two cases, those moments would come for reasons outside of entertainment). Other than three obligatory kid actors (including a moppet named Scott Firestone, who based on his billing I thought for sure had been a regular on some TV show, but it appears he was mostly famous for doing commercials at the time), the first guest to arrive was country star Lynn Anderson, then and now best known for her 1970 song "Rose Garden". She almost immediately launches into the first sustained song of the special, "Let It Snow". After several more songs, the next guest, R&B singer Lou Rawls, arrives, and he barely has his coat off before launching into his first number of the evening.
After the commercial, the next guest, French singer (and then-wife of crooner Andy Williams) Claudine Longet arrived, and dueted with Firestone on an American/French combination of "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer". After that, a group of carolers, in the form of the then-popular choral group The Mike Curb Congregation, arrives and sing more songs (though they don't get invited inside the house set).
The special's final big guest, Mac Davis, didn't arrive until past the halfway point, and only sticks around to sing two songs. But don't worry, there's many, many, many more numbers, up to and including Ford tossing off a few bars of "Sixteen Tons" and him singing the jingle of sponsor Canada Dry "Ginger Ale Tastes Like Love" (by my count, there are at least 26 different songs sung during the hour, and that's even with the few minutes that Ford devotes to reading the Christmas story from the Bible).
After the special, Anderson would continue to have a strong career throughout the 70s, though it would fade in the 80s, though she would continue working regularly until her death in 2015. Rawls's signature hit "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" would top the charts in 1976. Davis would go on to become one of the top country stars of the 70s, and would also launch an acting career. Even young Firestone would have his biggest hit a few years later, appearing as one of The Bad News Bears in the 1976 movie.
Mike Curb, of the Mike Curb Congregation, would go into politics, and be elected lieutenant governor of California in 1979, serving for one term. Meanwhile, Longet would achieve a great amount of notoriety in 1976, when she supposedly shot and killed her boyfriend, an Olympic skier (she maintains the gun discharged accidently). She would eventually be convicted of negligent homicide and has led a low-profile life since.
If you enjoy Christmas carol after Christmas carol after Christmas carol, Tennessee Ernie Ford's White Christmas might just be the special for you. For myself, I found it got rather tedious. The singing was nice, but that is a lot of songs to go through in an hour, and I do wish Ford had broken up the numbers with something else (other than the Biblical story). Still, everyone is likable, and seems to be having a good time. It's certainly better than hauling sixteen tons.
Next time: Two Oscar winners and an overnight time slot
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