Top 15 Christmas Movies/TV Specials

Now that its Christmas, here are some movies that I enjoy watching to get in the Christmas mood.

1. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) – This is a must watch to start off the Christmas season right. Watching Clark's Family Christmas makes us feel like our family get-togethers are not that bad after all. Also who doesnt get excited when you hear the opening song. :)
   



2. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) –If you were to hear only the description of this movie you might think that a movie that is about an attempted suicide and depression isn’t what you consider to be a classic Christmas Movie. This is probably why Jimmy Stewart did not like doing this film. However after almost 65 years this is still an original story that shows you the true meaning of Christmas, friends, and family.


3. Scrooged (1988) – The Dicken’s classic, The Christmas Carol, feels out of date with many adaptations but 1988 brought us a new spin on the classic story. Even though it is over 20 years old, it still falls in the top of this list with good laughs and not a dull moment. In my opinion I would say “Yule love it!”
   


4. Elf (2003) – This is a great family comedy that, aside from Christmas Vacation, has the most quotable lines a person would recognize. Even though this movie looks like a kiddie movie it is great for all ages.
   


5. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) – Yes, yes I know I included two adaptations of this Dickens Classic but both are done so well. When you mix Christmas, Michael Caine (Inception, and the Prestige) and a casting of 99% Muppets, it is bound to be a classic to watch again and again during the Christmas Season.
   


6. A Christmas Story (1983) – I know you’re probably saying, “Hey Mitchell, why are you putting this one so low on the list”. Well truth is in a way it gets old with 24 hours of it every Christmas. Even though TNT and TBS have burned this movie into our brain for about the last 10 years, it’s still an enjoyable movie to watch.
   


7. The Santa Clause (1994) -  So full of heart and charm it's becoming a holiday season staple.
   


8. Trading Places (1983) - This comedy starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd is a good watch during the Christmas season. A movie that takes a spin at a drunken Santa Claus. This is a timeless comedy that will raise your spirits and brings you back to the days when Eddie Murphy was still a funny actor.
   


9. A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965 - TV) – Ok, yes it’s a made-for-TV program, however you have to have this in your arsenal of Christmas movies...I mean it’s a Classic.
   


10. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966 - TV) – This is such a classic it’s almost became a sin not to see this during the Christmas season
    


11.  Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977-TV) - Master puppeteer Jim Henson directs this gentle 1977 made-for-TV tale about a mother otter and her son who both enter a talent show to win money to buy Christmas presents for each other.
    


12.  Home Alone (1990) – Good family film for all ages and warms your hart and makes you laugh about all the funny gags, hilarious antics and truly feel-good moments as well.
    


13. Gremlins (1984) – It began as a furry, cuddly Christmas present and became a town’s worst Christmas nightmare. I know a lot of you would say this isn’t Christmas at all but you know it’s a decent movie and they all can’t be heart warming tales all the time.
    


14. Die Hard (1988) – Nothing says Merry Christmas like “Yippee-ki-yay, motherf@#$er”.  And adding a Run-DMC holiday song in there is nice too.
    


15. A Muppet Family Christmas (1987 - TV) - The the past years there has been many flopped Muppet Christmas specials however there is still the original that lives on for many Muppet fans around a little 1987 special where it brings all the Muppets together from the Muppet Show gang to the Sesame Street regulars, as well as the Fraggles. This is a must see if you like the Muppets.

I know that there are some Movies or TV Specials that I have missed but this is what I thought would be the top 15 Christmas movies and TV specials.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Fast Food That Just Didn't Make The Cut

With the comeback of the McRib once again at McDonalds, I started thinking of what foods out there in the fast food world have been total misses and not had the success of the McRib. Below are just a few of the many that just didn't get as far as some would have hoped.

The Arch Deluxe
In 1996 McDonald’s introduced the world to the Arch Deluxe. According to some sources McDonald’s spent an estimated $200 Million promoting the new product. The major problem with the burger was it had such an unusual taste for a burger found in a fast food chain at the time. The Arch had bacon, Spanish onions and a blend of mustard and mayo on it. McDonald’s tried selling the burger so hard they criticized customers for not having a sophisticated palate in their advertising to have them try harder to like the burger.

McDonald's McDLT
The McDLT was introduced in the mid 80’s. It burger was served separated in a Styrofoam container with 2 sections in it. In the cold side went veggies and the hot side went the meat, so that customers could “keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool,” as the slogan went. It was then up to the customer to take the step of combining the two when ready. This was a successful product but what ended up putting an end to this burger was environmental movement in the early 90’s, the Styrofoam container was not biodegradable and to comply with regulations the container was scraped and put an end to the burger with it.

McPizza
In the late 1980’s, McDonalds introduced pizza to the menu. Pizza Hut and other competitors got so worried that they dropped their prices of their pizzas to chip aware at McDonalds. Unfortunately this item did not succeed for the fast food restraint because unlike their other items this took much longer to cook and would make customers angry who didn’t want to wait.

Hula Burger
In the early 1960’s, McDonald’s Came out with an item to attract the vegan population into the restraint and also another option besides the Filet-O-Fish for Roman Catholics that didn’t  eat meat on Fridays. That item was the Hula Burger. The Hula Burger was a slice of grilled pineapple between two buns… oh yea with with cheese.  This Item was never popular and was removed from the menu quickly. 

McAfrika
Norwegian McDonalds introduced a burger called the McAfrika in 2002.  This was a fine item, however a naming fail was the problem with this burger, with bombarded questions from media and aid agencies wanting to know why McDonalds went with that name when millions of people in Africa were starting to death. Ultimately the burger was discontinued.

McLobster
The McLobster was a try at a classy sandwich for McDonalds put on Menus on the Northeast America and Canada cities. The reason for the failure of this product was because it cost $6 and that many McDonalds’ customers were not looking for shellfish when getting something to eat at the restraint. Although it’s gone in the states, you can still find this seasonal treat in Canadian McDonalds.

McBrats
In the fall seasons in the1990’s and again in 2002 McDonalds sold a Johnsonville brand bratwurst. The general location of this product was found in Midwestern cities. The reason for this failure was sales did not go like they planned and stopped having it on their menu, however in eastern Wisconsin they still offer it on a seasonal basis- This is because it is near Johnsonville headquarters.

McSpaghetti
In the early 1990’s McDonalds tried their hand in at Italian food besides its early attempt at pizza a few years before that.  McSpaghetti was introduced and was not taken in with open arms by the customers many said the pasta was bland. 

McLean Deluxe
In 1991 A lower-calorie Quarter Pounder sandwich was introduced to the McDonalds menu called the McLean Deluxe. This burger was identical to the big N’ Tasty and the McDLT, the only difference with this was that it was 91% lean beef and was mixed with a type of seaweed which to some people thought did not taste the same as other burgers.

Burger King's Shake 'em Up Fries
In the spring of 2002, Burger King introduced Shake ‘em Up fries to get eaters (mostly kids) to “play with their food”. How it worked was that you poured the fries into a special Shake ‘em Up bag followed by the package of powdered cheese then close the bag and shake until the fries got covered in cheese. Shake ‘em Up Fries didn’t even last the year.

Burger Bundles
Before Burger King had their Stackers they had a mini burger in the 80’s called their Burger Bundles. That product was discontinued because the small patties would often slip through the production broiler.

Burger King Table Service
In the early 90’s Burger King tried to change up the fast food experience by adding “service” to their restraints, this was where employees would deliver food right to the customers table - like a real restraint. Also Burger King tried to entice you to come into the restaurant by offering popcorn at the table while you waited for your food.This didn’t really catch on and was dropped from the restraints.

Taco Bell's Bell Beefer

In the 70’s and 80’s Taco Bell came out with a version of a Sloppy Joe type of sandwich called the Bell Beefer. The Beefer was basically a pile of taco meat served in a hamburger bun. Taco bell pulled the product after they determined it a total flop, much like other flops this has a nice fan base online.

Sonic's Pickle-O’s (Fried Pickles)
In 1968 Sonic Drive-in introduced an item called Pickle-O’s, this item was a sliced dill pickle and battered and deep fried. It’s not clear why the restraint stopped selling this item as it seems to be popular with a Facebook page asking for Sonic to bring it back. In 2003 they did make a comeback for Sonic’s 50^th Birthday Celebration.

Jack in the Box's Frings

In 1979 Jack in the Box introduced Frings, they were a combination of French fries and onion rings in one container. This sound awesome I don’t know why they stopped selling this item. 

Dairy Queen Breeze
A healthy attempt on the popular DQ Blizzard introduced in the late 80’s was Dairy Queen Breeze. The Breeze was made with frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, but it failed to catch on. According to Dairy Queen’s Web site, all frozen yogurt products were discontinued “because there was not enough demand for the product.”

Wendy's Superbar

In the late 80’s Wendy’s came up with the idea of an all-you-can-eat buffet with food like salads, Italian(Pizza, garlic bread…) and Mexican(Tacos, burritos…). The buffets stayed around for over a decade but were discontinued in 1998. Wendy’s said that a buffet did not fit their fast food model. There are still people online hoping for its return someday. 

A Game System That Never Was

In 1991 Nintendo was working on a project to compete with Sega who was working on Sega CD add-on for the Genesis. Nintendo teamed up with Sony to try and crush the competition, however the project was scrapped after Nintendo’s present was not happy that Sony wanted full control of what games where released with the console. Luckily for Sony they were not disturb and continued on their own with the CD Console and in 1995 released the Sony Playstation. Just hard to think what would have happened in the consoles war if thing went different in the early 90’s.