Underrated holiday gems

We're tired of hearing "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and watching "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" every year. Here are some underrated holiday gems for your listening and viewing cheer.

The “Chrismukkah” episodes from “The O.C.”

So in case the spirit of the middle schooler inside you forgot, “the O.C.” was the best thing that ever happened to TV. And “the O.C.” was never in better form than during its four episodes surrounding Chrismukkah, the Christmas/Hanukkah mash-up that was the brainchild of half Christian/half Jew Seth Cohen.
During the show’s four years, we were blessed with many a Chrismukkah miracle, including Summer’s Wonder Woman costume that was Seth’s present; the Cohen’s welcoming Kirsten’s recently revealed sister Lindsay into the family; Seth, Summer, Ryan and Marissa raising money for Johnny’s surgery; and that weird one in season four in which Ryan learned what would have happened if he had never come to Newport.

“Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

OK, so we know what you’re thinking. There is no way in hell that a blood-ridden Stephen Sondheim musical about a psychotic barber out for revenge is a holiday movie, but hear us out. First of all, it was released Dec. 21, 2007, just in time for the holiday season. Second, the film is pretty much all blacks, greys and whites, save for the unbelievable amount of red blood and guts.
So its one primary color is a rather jolly one, even if it’s usually spraying against the screen in a bloody geyser. It may not be your traditional happy-endings-and-sit-down-with-your-family movie, but this one goes out for all of us who need a little murder fantasy to survive the holidays with our extended family.

“Ludachristmas” from “30 Rock”

Sitcom Christmas episodes are typically groan-inducing and eye rolling, employing all kinds of “Oh no! I burnt the turkey!” and “How will we make it to all these Christmas parties!?” antics. But surprisingly, “30 Rock” got it right by having Jack Donaghy and his conniving mother, Colleen, prove there’s no such thing as a perfect family by turning Liz Lemon’s blissful clan against one another and into drunken idiots.
There’s no holiday gift that compares to the reminder that humanity is actually the worst and that there’s nothing as fun as turning family members against each other.

“Lows in the Mid-Eighties” from “Will & Grace”

The best sitcom to come out of NBC’s golden era of Thursday night viewing (sorry, “Friends” and “Seinfeld”) was undoubtedly “Will & Grace.” We always knew Will and Grace had dated while attending college at Columbia University, but it wasn’t until this episode that we got all the information in one, long, juicy flashback.
Grace is jumping to take their relationship to the next level — which happens to be in the bedroom — but the closeted Will isn’t too ready to jump into bed. Because things never go right for sitcom characters, Will proposes to Grace to avoid sleeping with her. When the truth comes out, Grace cuts Will out of her life for a while. But we all know how that story eventually ended.

“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas” from “The X-Files”

A show about alien abductions, government conspiracies and monsters-of-the-week doesn’t exactly scream “holiday episode,” but luckily the writers thought outside the box for this one. Mulder and Scully do what they do best one Christmas Eve and investigate a house haunted by an elderly couple who died in a suicide pact. Oh, and the elderly couple is played by Emmy-winners Edward Asner and Lily Tomlin.
What follows is a wild tale involving the ghosts impersonating both Mulder and Scully, attempting to turn the agents against one another and prove everyone is lonely around the holidays. It’s all gun shots and trick rooms until Mulder and Scully manage to escape and exchange gifts, leaving the old ghosts to hold hands in front of the fireplace to share a laugh.

“Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl
The Pogues nail the sarcastic “bah humbug” attitude on this classic, where frontman Shane MacGowan and Kirsty MacColl duet as a frustrated couple. MacGowan, with his heavy Irish drawl, drunkenly slurs the first line of the song, “It’s Christmas Eve in the drunk tank.”
What follows is a lilting Irish folk-rock song that’s somehow cheerful, even though at one point MacColl scolds, “Merry Christmas your ass, pray to God it’s our last.”

“What Christmas Means to Me” by Stevie Wonder
Wonder’s classic from his 1967 Christmas album is a standard Motown jam.
From the bouncy guitar/bass riff to the jingle bells in the percussion to the lyrics about how the cheerfulness of the season makes him love his girl even more, it’s Stevie Wonder at his best.
It’s capped off with a harmonica solo, which is sure to get your Christmas shoes tappin’.

“River” by Joni Mitchell
This isn’t exactly a holiday song, but Mitchell borrows the melody of “Jingle Bells” for the piano riff and the first line says “It’s comin’ on Christmas.”
“River” isn’t cheerful like the rest of the songs on this list, but it’s gorgeous, and the song’s central image is definitely one of the season: “I wish I had a river I could skate away on.”

“This Whole World” by the Beach Boys
Here’s another song that doesn’t explicitly fall into the “holiday music” category. But the energy of Carl Wilson’s angelic vocals, along with the chimes and bells in the backing track, qualify it by my rules.
As Wilson sings “And when I go anywhere, I see love,” you’re bound to get in the spirit right along with him.

“Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” by Bruce Springsteen
If all the adult contemporary radio stations that change format after Thanksgiving just played this song over and over, I’d be happy.
It’s one of the few holiday songs you can listen to in July and still love. The Boss already seems as down-to-earth as a person can possibly be, but his banter with the band in this song makes him seem even cooler.
The energy of the E Street Band once they get in to the song is something I could listen to for 10 more minutes if the song were that long. They borrow the Phil Spector piano style and put a jazzy spin on the song. People should play this song a lot more than Mariah Carey’s. There’s no better recording of a holiday song.