As soon as we saw it for the first time, my mom and I knew we’d be watching "The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Special" every year for the foreseeable future.
It’s got it all — beautiful gowns, dynamic sets, original parody songs and jokes, and two talented drag queens who ooze chemistry and theatrics.
The thing about this special, self-produced in 2020, starring Jinkx Monsoon and Ben DeLaCreme, former competitors on the popular reality show "RuPaul’s Drag Race" — is that it’s a joyous departure from the typical holiday special genre.
In the hour-long show, which you can stream on Prime Video or Apple TV, the two drag stars argue about how they should do the special that we’re currently watching. DeLa is trying to put together a classic Christmas show based on family traditions, inspired by the ghost of her late grandma embodied in a talking glass of eggnog. But Jinkx didn’t grow up with any of the warm holiday memories or revered traditions.
It’s all very sweet with just a touch of sacrilege. I watched it again recently, and that got me thinking: Just what makes for a good holiday special?
Of course this question led me down a deep YouTube spiral; I watched several hours of programming from now all the way back to the buttoned-up, intimate and super religious specials of the 1950s and '60s.
Radio and TV personalities Perry Como and Mitzi Gaynor were among the first to do it, and all-timers like Judy Garland, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra popularized it. You get a lot of fake living rooms, with the stars and oftentimes their actual children inviting you in for a “casual” evening of music by the fireplace.
As you’d expect, things got a whole lot looser by the 1970s, when everyone and their barely-famous dog had a holiday TV special. Some call it a golden age for this type of programming. We've got: Johnny Cash, Andy Williams, Bob Hope, the Carpenters, the Osmonds, even that one bizarre-but-beloved "Star Wars" special. There’s a special from this era starring John Denver that you might recognize: "John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together."
For the most part, the 1970s specials are classic variety shows, leaning into comedy and aiming for a heartwarming, cozy feel overall. Not only are Sonny and Cher singing disco-ified Jingle Bells in their 1976 special, they’re also doing little "Saturday-Night-Live-style" sketches spoofing "A Christmas Carol" and "Gift of the Magi" with Broadway legend Bernadette Peters and a baby Chaz Bono dressed up like an angel.
The vibe of the holiday TV special has been pretty consistent ever since. You either have the comedy-oriented-but-sometimes-cringey ones or the super-earnest-but-sometimes-corny ones.
But then there are holiday specials that defy any category. In the late 1980s, the lanky, bow-tied, squeaky-voiced alter ego of the late Paul Reubens’ Pee-Wee Herman took on the genre — and it’s just as fun and borderline hallucinogenic as you’d expect.
And the guest stars in "Christmas at Pee Wee's Playhouse"?
It’s wild. At one point, a package addressed to the White House gets mistakenly dropped off at the playhouse, at which point Grace Jones pops out and does a very Grace Jones iteration of "Little Drummer Boy."
The early 21st century brought the rise of what I’ll call the anti-holiday special. Stephen Colbert and Bill Murray each did their own satirical deconstruction. They take all of the typical components: fake snow, dancing rockette-esque ladies, duets, celebrity appearances, and convoluted plot devices and twist it into something new.
That same flavor runs through a lot of the specials of today.
I love the Jinkx and DeLa version because it plays with all of the kitschy heartfelt fun that makes these specials shine in a way that’s distinct from the movies or music.
Is it high art? Of course not. But that’s not why mom and I come back every year.
