Rich Little's Christmas Carol Explained

Alt Name:	A Christmas Carol
Runtime:	55 minutes
Starring:	Rich Little
Company:	CBC Television
Country:	Canada
Network:	CBC Television, HBO

Rich Little's Christmas Carol, broadcast in Canada as A Christmas Carol, is a TV special that premiered on CBC Television in December 1978, and in the United States on Home Box Office (HBO) on December 16, 1979. The special won an International Emmy Award^[1] and a Rose d'Or award. It was produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1978. It starred Rich Little in a one-man performance with impersonations of his characters playing the parts in Charles Dickens' famous 1843 holiday story, A Christmas Carol.^[2] Little played the following celebrities:

• W. C. Fields as Ebenezer Scrooge §
• Paul Lynde as Bob Cratchit
• Johnny Carson as Fred
• Laurel and Hardy as the two solicitors §
• Richard Nixon as Jacob Marley
• Humphrey Bogart as the Ghost of Christmas Past §
• Groucho Marx as Fezziwig §
• James Stewart as Dick Wilkins
• Peter Falk as Columbo/the Ghost of Christmas Present
• Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker/Mrs. Cratchit
• Truman Capote as Tiny Tim
• Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau/the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come
• James Mason, George Burns and John Wayne as the three businessmen
• Jack Benny as a boy §

The show was shot on videotape and included a laugh track.
§ - denotes the celebrity was deceased at the time of production

In 1963, Little released the LP "Scrooge and the Stars", which may have been the inspiration for this version of A Christmas Carol. On the LP, Little portrayed Scrooge as Jack Benny.

See also

• List of A Christmas Carol adaptations
• List of Christmas films

Notes and References

1. Web site: Rich Little show takes TV award. Ottawa Citizen. 2014-12-29.
2. December 1979 HBO Program Guide (The China Syndrome on cover), page 12