The Most Wonderful Time of the (TV) Year

I'm a fan of Christmas movies, no matter how improbable, no matter how formulaic.  Christmas movies and programs began playing on television before Thanksgiving this year and I started tuning in.  As a child, I loved the Rankin-Bass stop-motion animated specials of the 1960s.  I'd sit in my little black rocking chair in our cozy living room perched in front of our black and white television. I'd rock to the likes of Fred Astaire recounting the story of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," Jimmy Durante singing about "Frosty the Snowman" and Burl Ives singing "Holly Jolly Christmas" and "Silver and Gold" in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." These great Rankin-Bass Christmas TV classics are still being aired and will air over the next month.  Even though I no longer have my little black rocking chair, I will be tuning in, singing along with Fred, Jimmy and Burl.