''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' is a Christmas television special loosely inspired by the 1823 poem "

A Visit from St. Nicholas ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', more commonly known as ''The Night Before Christmas'' and ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' from its first line, is a poem first published anonymously under the title ''Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas'' i ...

" by

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...

. It first aired December 7, 1977 on ABC. Directed by Tim Kiley, it stars

Paul Lynde Paul Edward Lynde (; June 13, 1926January 10, 1982) was an American comedian, actor and game show panelist. A character actor with a distinctively campy and snarky persona that often poked fun at his barely closeted homosexuality, Lynde was we ...

Anne Meara Anne Meara Stiller (September 20, 1929 – May 23, 2015) was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of the prominent 1960s comedy team Stiller and Meara. Their son is actor, director, and producer ...

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

, and

Alice Ghostley Alice Margaret Ghostley (August 14, 1923 – September 21, 2007) was a Tony Award-winning American actress and singer on stage, film and television. She was best known for her roles as bumbling witch Esmeralda (1969–70; 1972) on ''Bewitched'' ...

Plot

The story is set on Christmas Eve in a

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town in the late 1890s. The Cosgrove family's home is in an uproar over the holidays. The patriarch, Clark Cosgrove (

) is frazzled by the gift demands of his loud children. His wife Nellie (

) runs into endless friction with Clark's formidable mother (

), who lives with them. Nellie's inebriated father ( Foster Brooks) and cat-loving mother (

) arrive for the holiday, and tensions arise between the mothers-in-law. A

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

uncle (

Howard Morris Howard Jerome Morris (September 4, 1919 – May 21, 2005) was an American actor, comedian, and director. He was best known for his role in ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as Ernest T. Bass, and as "Uncle Goopy" in a celebrated comedy sketch on Sid Ca ...

) is also arriving, but complications ensue when a traveling salesman (

George Gobel George Leslie Goebel (May 20, 1919 – February 24, 1991) was an American humorist, actor, and comedian. He was best known as the star of his own weekly comedy variety television series, ''The George Gobel Show'', broadcasting from 1954 to 195 ...

) is mistaken for the uncle. Adding to the tumult is a visit from a caroling neighbor ( Anson Williams). During the night, Clark's mother-in-law's cat escapes from the house and winds up on the roof. Clark goes to retrieve the cat and creates a ruckus, waking the house. When the children ask if the noise came from Santa Claus, Clark initially wants to dispel the myth of Santa Claus. Instead, he appeases them by reciting ''A Visit from St. Nicholas.''"The Bootleg Files: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," Film Threat, December 22, 2006
/ref>

Cast

as Clark Cosgrove *

as Nellie, Clark's wife * Alice Ghostly as Clark's mother * Foster Brooks as Nellie's father *

as Nellie's mother *

as German uncle *

as Traveling salesman * Anson Williams as Caroling Neighbor

Production

''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' was part of a series of

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

(ABC) television specials starring Paul Lynde to fulfill a contract with him after previous efforts to establish a star vehicle for him, ''

The Paul Lynde Show ''The Paul Lynde Show'' is an American television sitcom that aired on ABC. The series starred comedian Paul Lynde and aired for one season, with original episodes airing from September 13, 1972, to March 14, 1973. Setting The series starred L ...

'' and ''

The New Temperatures Rising Show ''Temperatures Rising'' is an American television sitcom that aired on the ABC network from September 12, 1972 to August 29, 1974. During its 46-episode run, it was presented in three different formats and cast line-ups. The series was develo ...

'', had flopped in the ratings. Whereas previous offerings, most notably the 1976 production of ''

The Paul Lynde Halloween Special ''The Paul Lynde Halloween Special'' is a Halloween-themed television special starring Paul Lynde broadcast October 29, 1976 on ABC. It featured guest stars Margaret Hamilton in a reprisal of her role as the Wicked Witch of the West from '' Th ...

'', relied on a sketch comedy revue format, ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' retained a narrative format where Lynde and his castmates remained in character for the entire show.Wilson, Steve & Florenski, Joe. (2005) "Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story. Advocate Books. (Pages 188-189). Lynde's casting as a relatively

straight Straight may refer to: Slang * Straight, slang for heterosexual ** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype * Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture Sport and games * ...

, dramatic lead fulfilled a longstanding wish of his for more serious roles. Lynde was responsible for casting Martha Raye as his mother-in-law, telling an interviewer: "It's my chance to repay her for all the times she used me in her

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

''Comedy Hour'' back in the 1950s." George Gobel's casting in this production was an apparent coincidence and not related to his appearance three years earlier in a holiday special of the same name. For the climactic recitation of ''A Visit from St. Nicholas,'' Lynde was not allowed to rely on cue cards because director Tim Kiley felt they would distract the child actors in the cast. Lynde would later recall: "I had to do the poem five different times for five different camera angles. If America thinks I did this with cue cards, I'll kill myself."

Broadcast

''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' was broadcast by ABC on December 7, 1977. Reviews were not favorable, with ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' dismissing its plot as "anemic" and adding its "conceptual hugger-mugger was fatal.""TV VIEW; From Clinkers to Charmers In the Holiday Stocking," New York Times, December 18, 1977 (fee access required)
/ref> ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' complained that "an inept script and a subpar performance by Paul Lynde worked against the best efforts of a charming cast in this ABC yuletide special." The broadcast ranked 30th for that week's Nielsen ratings. However, it later received an Award of Excellence from the

Film Advisory Board The Film Advisory Board (FAB) is a member-supported organization founded in 1975 by Elayne Blythe (1919–2005). The FAB's "Award of Excellence" was developed to award quality family-oriented and children's entertainment in both print and elec ...

. ''Twas the Night Before Christmas'' was never rebroadcast by ABC or any other U.S. television network. To date, it has not been made commercially available on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

and, except for a one-time screening at a

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retro film and television festival in 2001, it has not been seen since its only telecast.

References

External links