🎄 Holidays! EXCLUSIVE! Merry Christmas, Darling: Carpenters Public TV Special and DVD

newvillefan

I Know My First Name Is Stephen

NOVEMBER 2, 2016


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It's that time of year again! There's a crisp chill in the air, Christmas decorations are finding their way to storefronts and malls everywhere, and the sounds of the season are beginning to hit the airwaves. Among the most beloved classic holiday songs heard on radios and playlists each winter are those by Karen and Richard Carpenter. The brother and sister duo proved to be the most successful American popular music act of the 1970s (20 BillboardTop 40 hits including three #1s and five #2s, plus fifteen Adult Contemporary #1s, for those counting!), but their music has remained relevant and popular ever since. Last year, TJ Lubinsky's TJL Productions released the 3-CD set The Complete Singles as a Public TV pledge premium exclusive, presenting the A- and B-side of every one of the Carpenters' U.S. singles released by A&M Records in the form of their original single version spanning from 1969 to 1989. Earlier in 2016, the U.K. saw the A&M release of The Nation's Favourite Carpenters Songs, a 20-track anthology. It opened at #2 on the U.K. Official Albums Chart and eight weeks later remains in the top 100. Now, TJL (also responsible for this year's Ultimate Anthology for The Mamas and the Papas for PBS) is celebrating the season and the Carpenters ' legacy with a brand-new public television special: My Music Presents: Carpenters - Christmas Memories.

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KAREN, RICHARD, CUBBY O'BRIEN AND SNOWY FRIEND

Carpenters' Christmas Memories features some of the most beautifully-sung and lushly-arranged yuletide music of all time. With new introductions by Richard Carpenter, this program presents the very best of the Carpenters' holiday performances, unavailable in any format since their original 1970s television broadcasts. Included are Karen and Richard's sparkling, enduring renditions of "The Christmas Song," "Winter Wonderland, " "Silver Bells," "White Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," "Christ Is Born" and "O Holy Night".

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NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED PHOTO (1977)

A special Public Television-only DVD will offer not only the songs heard on the television broadcast - digitally remastered in stereo from the original sources - but numerous additional selections, as well. These include "Make Me Laugh," "Christmas Alphabet," "It's Christmas Time," "Merry Christmas Darling," "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town," "Carol of The Bells" and "Ave Maria."

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NEVER BEFORE PUBLISHED PHOTO (1977)

If you're interested in receiving a copy of the DVD, simply make a pledge at the level designated by a Public Television station airing the show. Anyone can donate online or via telephone to any Public Television station that broadcasts the show; it doesn't matter where you live in the United States. Some stations, particularly those in areas such as Detroit and Buffalo, may ship to Canada, as well. All of the individual Public Television outlets have websites where pledges can be made as well as phone numbers that are active much of the time regardless of when the show is actually broadcast. Fans in Europe would need to have a friend or relation based in the U.S. make the donation. It's possible that some stations may be willing to ship overseas for an extra charge, though such an occurrence is a long shot.

My Music Presents: Carpenters - Christmas Memories begins airing later this month as part of the acclaimed My Music series on Public TV stations everywhere. Check your local listings for information on air dates!

EXCLUSIVE! Merry Christmas, Darling: Carpenters Public TV Special and DVD Coming Soon »
 
I just read a post on Randy Schmidt's Facebook page that PBS and "My Music" are producing a new show about Christmas music by the Carpenters. No air date was mentioned.
 
Just for clarification, does this DVD feature both Christmas specials in their entirety? Or is it just clips featuring the music? Either way, sounds magical! Thanks Stephen for the heads up!! :love:
 
Just for clarification, does this DVD feature both Christmas specials in their entirety? Or is it just clips featuring the music? Either way, sounds magical! Thanks Stephen for the heads up!! :love:

You're welcome!

I've read many, many posts on this forum over the years from fans who have hankered after exactly this product: all the clips from the Christmas specials lifted out of the actual TV broadcasts and compiled onto one DVD set. It seems a lucky few of us will finally get our Christmas wish. It's just a shame that yet again this is limited to a Public TV station release instead of being available to the general public, as no one outside the US is going to even be in with a shout for this release. I think it would have sold in bucketloads had it gone on general release.
 
You're welcome!

I've read many, many posts on this forum over the years from fans who have hankered after exactly this product: all the clips from the Christmas specials lifted out of the actual TV broadcasts and compiled onto one DVD set. It seems a lucky few of us will finally get our Christmas wish. It's just a shame that yet again this is limited to a Public TV station release instead of being available to the general public, as no one outside the US is going to even be in with a shout for this release. I think it would have sold in bucketloads had it gone on general release.
Hear hear!
 
Wow this is a complete surprise never expected this, I'd donate the highest amount for this lol

Seriously, as much as I want this and I do want it bad does anyone else sorta feel left out? What I mean is lately it seems we hear about this stuff out of no where and not even a clue it's coming. Just like the other PBS release we thought Richard was done so nothing else was ever coming down the pike and then we hear of this Christmas DVD. I guess what I'm saying is that although I'm apart of this great Carpenters forum I still feel like I'm left out in the dark about stuff Richard is working on or soon to be released. I guess I should just be happy some of this Christmas stuff is finally being released. I can't wait for this to air or get it early like before??
 
Wow!! Perhaps this will 'sell' well enough, that the next offering will be videos from the non-Christmas specials!!
 
Fantastic News !
I "shared" this PBS Event on my Facebook page....drumming up some 'word-of-mouth' !
 
Here is some additional copy that Jim Pierson, coordinating producer/consultant of the program sent me earlier today:


CARPENTERS - CHRISTMAS MEMORIES
Debuts Nationwide In November on Public TV
- Check Local Listings For Airdates -

Brother-sister duo Richard and Karen Carpenter not only enjoyed an indelible string of hits that made them the most successful American recording act of the 1970s, they also created some of the most beautiful and beloved Christmas songs of all time. This new half-hour retrospective from TJL Productions celebrates The Carpenters' music that has become synonymous with the yuletide season.

With introductions by Richard Carpenter, this program presents the very best of the Carpenters' holiday performances, not seen since their original 1970s broadcasts. Included are heart-warming renditions of "The Christmas Song," "Winter Wonderland, " "Silver Bells," "White Christmas," "Sleigh Ride," "Christ Is Born" and "O Holy Night."

A special Public Television-only DVD will offer the songs heard on the television broadcast - digitally remastered in stereo - as well as numerous additional selections such as "It's Christmas Time," "Merry Christmas Darling," "Christmas Alphabet," "Make Me Laugh," "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Carol of The Bells" and "Ave Maria."

Many stations will be airing CARPENTERS - CHRISTMAS MEMORIES as a double feature with CLOSE TO YOU - REMEMBERING THE CARPENTERS, a full-length
documentary looking back at the duo's tremendous career.
 
I'm wondering now if this will just be clips from the videos and not full video performances. Half an hour seems short to contain full performances.
 
Here are the broadcast dates for KQED
Upcoming Broadcasts:
Duration: 29:00
This special holiday program stars beloved brother-sister recording duo Richard and Karen Carpenter, the most successful American recording act of the 1970s. The program focuses entirely on the Carpenters' perennially popular Christmas music offering favorites "The Christmas Song," "Winter Wonderland," "White Christmas" and more.

UPCOMING BROADCASTS:
  • KQED Life: Sat, Nov 26, 2016 -- 5:00pmRemind me
  • KQED Life: Sun, Nov 27, 2016 -- 11:00amRemind me
  • KQED 9: Sat, Dec 3, 2016 -- 7:00amRemind me
  • KQED Plus: Sun, Dec 18, 2016 -- 6:00pmRemind me
  • KQED Plus: Mon, Dec 19, 2016 -- 12:00amRemind me
  • KQED Plus: Sat, Dec 24, 2016 -- 3:30pmRemind me
  • KQED 9: Sun, Dec 25, 2016 -- 12:00pmRemind me
  • KQED Plus: Sun, Dec 25, 2016 -- 7:30pmRemind me
  • KQED Plus: Mon, Dec 26, 2016 -- 1:30am
 
Time to start saving... I'm a little more interested in this set than the Singles release, as the Christmas stuff is something I do not yet possess. The Singles was tempting, but I had my vinyls at least. :D
Wish I could help some of you guys out in the UK. I could almost say I'd trade for a Nation's Favorite disc. :laugh:
 
I'm wondering now if this will just be clips from the videos and not full video performances. Half an hour seems short to contain full performances.

Presumably just musical clips of Karen, Richard and the band. That might be enough for an entire half-hour. No guests from the original Christmas specials, no duets with Kristy McNicol, and none of the non-musical bits that RC dislikes so much.

I'm just happy there will finally be clear video available of Merry Christmas Darling and Winter Wonderland at last.
 
No guests from the original Christmas specials, no duets with Kristy McNicol, and none of the non-musical bits that RC dislikes so much.

I'm confused how they can show Christmas Alphabet if Kristy McNichol isn't featured.
 
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Presumably just musical clips of Karen, Richard and the band. That might be enough for an entire half-hour.

Half an hour seems very short, I can only presume that all the music from both specials isn't on this because I'm sure there's more than half an hour of KC/RC songs across both specials.
 
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I'm confused how they can show Christmas Alphabet if Kristy McNichol isn't featured.
That's true unless Richard recorded Kristy's part, hey it's happened before lol

I hope they don't just show the first 2 mins of MCD and they cut away to talking like so many other times. I hope these are not just 30 sec or 2 min clips of videos.
 
This will be nice. But some people seem to be missing something. In both announcements it mentions that the DVD will contain more than what will be seen on the broadcast. So maybe the DVD actually contains both specials whole, but for broadcast there will only be the 30 minute special, since "Close To You" itself is about 90 minutes, so an additional 30 minutes would give the show a 2-hour airing.

So far WPBS doesn't have this listed, but I'll keep checking, since they offer to both Canadians and Americans.
 
So far I can't find anything on WPBS or DTV (Detroit PBS)'s website. But if this is for the Holiday drive it may not be on the schedule yet.

But at least the DVD and broadcast will present the videos in high-quality transfers from the original 70's 2-inch/1-inch/U-Matic composite masters, rather than the low-res VHS-SLP quality copies that have been circulating on line for years.

Of course with the DVD, I wonder if as a bonus they've maybe licensed Richard's version of "Home For The Holiday's" from 'Solid Gold Christmas'.
 
I wonder about the 30 minute length - if this is for pledge week purposes, these specials are normally 90 minutes, with about 60 minutes of actual content. They have three 20-minute segments of content, with three ten-minute breaks for soliciting pledges. Thirty minutes is not long enough for a pledge week special. Just my guess. Oops, now I see it's listed as 29 minutes long, so I guessed wrong.
 
I asked Randy Schmidt on FB....if it was just a half hour video. He said, the Broadcast would be half an hour, the dvd would be longer.

My thoughts,
Cameron
 
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