It’s less than one week until Thanksgiving (here in the US), but one wouldn’t realize it was still that early by watching store shelves and television. We have been in full-Christmas swing since September, with Thanksgiving merchandise going to clearance before the Halloween shelves are emptied. When it comes to television though, there’s something about holiday specials that aren’t the same as they used to be. We may still get the Peanuts every year, but no more Garfield. Never will we see classic Muppets specials or the scarred Star Wars Christmas special on television.

There is a place online that you can spend every hour living in a 70’s-early ‘90s winter wonderland though — all in the comfort of a classic 80’s living room complete with Raiders and Ferris Bueller posters, a tree, and that infernal blinking VCR clock.

Betamaxmas.com compiles several master YouTube playlists made up of classic Christmas television specials, commercials, and even ad spots for local television stations found alongside these shows as they had originally been recorded on VHS or betamax. These can range from the Smurfs, Alf, He-Man, Jim Henson’s The Christmas Toy, Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, Tony Bennett, and even, most recently, Star Wars. The added bonus to watching clips from these specials on the website is the classic tuning of the video tapes as they have been played for years on end before being transferred to digital format.

While I have issues with not being able to watch entire programs on this site, having been cut into segments and randomly programmed for the website due to YouTube usability, this is a wonderful tool if you do not have a particular viewing choice and just want to get into the Christmas spirit. It’s also a good way to find old favorites you forgot about then find the full versions online or at your local library.