Yes, that hallowed holiday tradition is back. It’s time for the first Holiday Jihad of 2014!

This one just baffles me. Last week I added my annual bookmark for the site Christmas TV Schedule, so I can be sure to record the best shows of the season. I scrolled through to find the highlights and noticed one show in particular was hard to find. I hit Command-F[1], typed in “Grinch,” and reviewed the results. Plenty of showings for the full-length movie starring Jim Carrey. But only one, on Christmas night, for the original cartoon.

Just to be safe, I did some more digging on the web. Sure enough, that is the only December showing of the cartoon. TBS did play it twice before Thanksgiving. But no other network or cable TV airings until the kids are coming down from their Christmas morning buzzes.

WTF?

How the hell do you show it twice in Novembe – once in the middle of the month – and not a single time in the first four weeks of December? It’s right up there with Rudolph and Frosty and Charlie Brown for classic, essential holiday cartoons. But apparently I have to either go buy the DVD or get it from Amazon or iTunes if we want to see it before Christmas night.

Unacceptable.

And for that, TBS and the rest of the major broadcast and cable networks earn my first Holiday Jihad of the year.


  1. Control-F to you PC users.  ↩