Christmas Through the Decades

Take a trip back in time to see what Christmas and the holiday season were like in America not too long ago as we reveal how many of today’s popular holiday celebrations and traditions had their start in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. With experts and cultural icons offering their own insight and personal memories, we reveal how your favorite holiday films, fads, television specials, songs and toys are still part of your holiday celebrations today.

CD:UK

CD:UK was a British music television programme. Originally run in conjunction with SMTV Live, the programme first aired on ITV on 29 August 1998 to rival the BBC's Live & Kicking and was the replacement for The Chart Show, which had been airing on the network for nine and a half years. In contrast to its predecessor, which only showed promo videos, CD:UK was broadcast live on Saturday mornings with a studio audience and featured live performances, as well as star interviews and competitions. It also featured the Saturday Chart, which although was unofficial, usually reflected the new chart positions a day before the official chart was announced on Radio 1. This made the BBC's long-running Top of the Pops, which aired only the night before, seem very out-of-date broadcasting the previous week's chart. CD:UK later utilised an interactive chart based on viewers' votes, called the MiTracks Countdown. From 1999 to 2004, the show was sponsored by Tizer. In 2002, the programmes was criticised for showing "raunchy" performances in a slot aimed at children, sparked by a performance of "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera. In response, a spin-off programme entitled CD:UK Hotshots, featuring music videos which could be considered unsuitable for daytime viewing, was launched in January 2003 and broadcast overnight.

The '90s: The Last Great Decade?

The '90s: The Last Great Decade? revisits the decade through "inside out" storytelling and analysis via 120 original interviews—from unsung heroes behind the decade's most riveting stories to the biggest names in politics, tech, movies and music. They reveal a decade of highs and lows: Bill Clinton swept into office on the promise of change; we all made new "Friends"; the LA Riots kept us glued to our TVs; Nirvana gave Generation X a voice but everyone danced the Macarena; and "The Real World" and Jerry Springer changed the television programming landscape. With a star-studded cast of actors, eyewitnesses, politicians and celebrity interviewees, The '90s tells the story of 10 years before boom turned into bust; 10 years when the Web was wide open; 10 years before global terror hit hard.

Oh! Youngsim

Oh Young-Sim is single and in her 30's. She has worked as a TV variety show PD for 8 years. She wants to make people laugh with her TV shows, but they were always cancelled due to low popularity ratings. Her career is now in a crisis.

The Chart Show

The Chart Show is a music video programme which ran in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 between 1986 and 1988, then on ITV between 1989 and 1998. The production company was Video Visuals, and was credited as "A Yorkshire Television Presentation" from 1993 and 1998. The show has lived on through a Channel 4 revival in 2003 and a more recent revival on the digital music channel Chart Show TV, which ran sporadically from 2008 and 2009.

I Love the '90s

I Love the '90s is a television mini-series produced by VH1 in which various music and TV personalities talk about the 1990s culture and all it had to offer. The show premiered July 12, 2004 with the episode "I Love 1990" and aired two episodes daily until July 16, 2004, when it ended with "I Love 1999". On January 17, 2005, a sequel was aired in the same fashion.

The Sixties

The space race, the cold war, "free love," civil rights and more: The decade of the 1960s shaped our history -- and changed the world. In collaboration with Tom Hanks, Gary Goetzman and Mark Herzog, CNN explores perhaps the most transformative decade of the modern era in a 10-part documentary series and brings new insights into how those events shaped today.

I Love the 80s

I Love the '80s is a decade nostalgia television program that was produced by VH1, based on the BBC series of the same name. The first episode, "I Love 1980", premiered on December 16, 2002.

The Midnight Special

The Midnight Special is an American late-night musical variety series that aired on NBC during the 1970s and early 1980s, created and produced by Burt Sugarman. It premiered as a special on August 19, 1972, then began its run as a regular series on February 2, 1973; its last episode was on May 1, 1981. The ninety-minute program followed the Friday night edition of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The show typically featured guest hosts, except for a period from July 1975 through March 1976 when singer Helen Reddy served as the regular host. Wolfman Jack served as the announcer and frequent guest host. The series also occasionally aired vintage footage of older acts. As the program neared the end of its run in the early 1980s, it began to frequently use lip-synched performances rather than live. The program also featured occasional comedic performances such as Richard Pryor and Andy Kaufman.

The Seventies

A documentary series focusing on the ongoing Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, evolving music industry, the Iran Hostage Crisis, the sexual revolution, and the rise of foreign and domestic terrorism.

Red Oaks

A coming-of-age comedy set in the "go-go" 80s that is equal parts hijinks and heartfelt about a college student enjoying a last hurrah before summer comes to an end--and the future begins. David Myers, an assistant tennis pro at the Red Oaks Country Club in suburban New Jersey in 1985, is both reeling from his father's heart attack and conflicted about what major to declare in the fall. While there, he meets a colorful cast of misfit co-workers and wealthy club members including an alluring art student named Skye and her corporate raider father Getty.

Home Time

Gaynor Jacks, aged 29, returns to her mum and dad's house in Coventry after running off to find her place in the big wide world when she was 17-years-old.

Buzzin'

Buzzin' was a TV series that focus on musicians Cisco Adler and Shwayze. The show documents how Shwayze and Adler are becoming more famous and the exciting and entertaining life of being famous. They are both from Malibu, California. Their style of music is a collaboration of Hip-Hop and Alternative. The show was on MTV and was debuted on July 23, 2008.

B4

B4 was an early morning music video programme broadcast since 2004 on weekdays on Channel 4 at 7am. It was normally broadcast as part of Channel 4's breakfast programming following children's programme The Hoobs and preceding a number of comedy programmes normally imported from America. Produced by the firm behind ITVs The Chart Show, and spin off from their B4 music channel on cable and satellite, the show features around 7 new upfront videos each day that will be released in the United Kingdom in the near future, normally within the next month.

Objets cultes

I Love the '90s: Part Deux

I Love the '90s: Part Deux is a miniseries on VH1 in which various music and TV personalities reminisce about 1990s culture. It premiered on January 17, 2005. This series is a sequel to I Love the '90s. Its title is a reference to the 1993 comedy, Hot Shots! Part Deux.

Making the Video

Making the Video is an MTV show, consisting of half-hour episodes, which chronicles the process of filming various music videos. Usually the director outlines the concept of the video and the show often includes light-hearted and humorous moments. It always concludes with a premiere of the finished video. The show premiered on July 11, 1999 and is currently on a hiatus as of 2009. MTV2 has a similar show entitled [Name of Band/Artist] Makes a Video that has featured artists such as 50 Cent, Fall Out Boy, Dashboard Confessional, Evanescence, and Mos Def among others.

Club MTV

Club MTV is a half hour television show molded after American Bandstand that aired on MTV between the years 1985 and 1992. Club MTV was part of MTV's second generation of programming when they were phasing out the original 5 VJs and introducing new ones.

It Seems Like Yesterday

An entertaining documentary series that views popular culture as seen through the media in the baby boomer years.

Half Pants Full Pants

Set in a small town in South India, before the internet & mobiles, the series is a nostalgic ride about imagination, adventures and the magic of childhood. A little boy from a railway colony strives to bring his modest family a modicum of glory through highly fanciful means while constantly being brought back to reality by his level-headed father. It is a universal story of Child Vs Man.

Luther

A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.

Young Sheldon

The early life of child genius Sheldon Cooper, later seen in The Big Bang Theory.

The Office

Nightmare boss. Tedious colleagues. Pointless tasks. Welcome to Wernham Hogg. Fancy a tea break with David Brent? Classic comedy from the archive.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

In the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.

Miracle Workers

The first season of this comedy anthology is set in the offices of Heaven Inc. When God plans to destroy the Earth, two low-level angels must convince their boss to save humanity. They bet him they can pull off their most impossible miracle yet: help two humans fall in love.

Constellation

When a fatal accident occurs on board the International Space Station, a lone astronaut makes the heroic journey back to Earth, only to discover key pieces of her life—including her young daughter—have changed.

To the Lake

A grim drama that unfolds against the backdrop of a global catastrophe. An unknown new virus turns Moscow into a city of the dead. Money loses its value and those not yet infected struggle desperately for food and survival.

The Addams Family

A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people.

Angel

The vampire Angel, cursed with a soul, moves to Los Angeles and aids people with supernatural-related problems while questing for his own redemption. A spin-off from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Frozen Planet

David Attenborough travels to the end of the earth, taking viewers on an extraordinary journey across the polar regions of our planet.

Legend of the Seeker

The adventures of woodsman Richard Cypher, who discovers that he was born to fulfill a prophecy of becoming a guardian hero to oppressed people. With the help of a mysterious woman named Kahlan and a wise old wizard named Zedd, he must stop a ruthless and bloodthirsty tyrant from unleashing an ancient evil and enslaving the world.

Chicago Med

An emotional thrill ride through the day-to-day chaos of the city's most explosive hospital and the courageous team of doctors who hold it together. They will tackle unique new cases inspired by topical events, forging fiery relationships in the pulse-pounding pandemonium of the emergency room.

Death Note

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?

Justified

A character drama based on the 2001 Elmore Leonard short story "Fire in the Hole." Leonard's tale centers around U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens of Kentucky, a quiet but strong-willed official of the law. The tale covers his high-stakes job, as well as his strained relationships with his ex-wife and father.

Stranger Things

When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl.

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

A Las Vegas team of forensic investigators are trained to solve criminal cases by scouring the crime scene, collecting irrefutable evidence and finding the missing pieces that solve the mystery.

Spartacus

Torn from his homeland and the woman he loves, Spartacus is condemned to the brutal world of the arena where blood and death are primetime entertainment.

Generation Kill

The first 40 days of the war in Iraq as seen through the eyes of an elite group of U.S. Marines who spearheaded the invasion along with an embedded Rolling Stone reporter. A vivid account of the soldiers and of the forces that guided them in an often-improvised initiative.

Elementary

A modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.

Breaking Bad

Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live. He becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime.