Dave Foley's "The True Meaning Of Christmas Specials" (2002)
invidious.tiekoetter.com
Warning: Not very good. But if you are determined to watch a Christmas special, August is the least obnoxious time of the year to do it.
"The hour-long special was originally supposed to also air that same season Stateside on ABC Family, but the Disney-owned network balked when Foley refused to make changes to the script.
"What really rankled Disney was Foley’s on-air suggestion near the end that Christmas isn’t about acquiring consumer goods or selling ad time. Echoes of the Grinch, who once observed that, 'Christmas doesn’t come from a store.'
"'They said it would discourage shopping and be offensive to their corporate sponsors. What kind of a network gives their ad sales department veto power over what they buy or script approval? I’ve actually never been angrier in my professional life.'"