The latest version of that is: Santa arranges for something to happen to Santa and the protagonists must "save" Christmas. With a blatant Æseop or twenty thrown in.
Bitrate; Xero! Minecraft Roleplay it’s funny because family made fun of that with an episode where “kiss saves Christmas” was a running gag in the episode but they later did that exact thing
"Everything changed when Black Friday attacked." It was horrid, we were hopeless outnumbered and overworked, surrounded on all sides, we'd do our best to stem the tides and reinforce the lines. It seemed a lost cause, as we waded through isles choked with bodies, sometimes finding ourselves surrounded on all sides outnumbered twelve to one by soulless abominations that screamed demands at us. We were not people to these ravenous hordes without empathy or kindness, were we simply objects to give what they desired when they desired it. Yet eventually that horrid day ended and those green to this war believed that it was over. But those who had seen this horror before, this never ending tide of greed and desire knew better and did not tell these green workers who had sought only easy work and a quick buck. This was but the first day of the Black Tide, it would return tomorrow, perhaps not as fierce as it had today, but it would return, stronger everyday until finally the day of the Savior would arrive and those of us who survived would look around at others reduced to vacant stares and hollow eyes. I do not believe I will survive this year's Black Tide, I only hope to take some of that endless terrible mass with me as I die.
You clearly actually work retail to know it's a Black Tide and not a Singular Day Event lmao hmu when you write this book, or at least put this in your eulogy
@alexandra galici until madigra pretty much all Germanic holidays (integrated into Christian tradition) are about some combination of those and keeping the ancestors happy
@alexandra galici no, 200 years ago sex and booze weren't any more common than now, people hung trees from their ceilings and eat gees on St Martins day. 1500 years ago many (but our local roman garrison also celebrated saturnalia and sacrificed as many animals as any pagan tribe)
Oh! Here's a Christmas cliche I hate! The fact that Santa not being able to deliver presents means that Christmas is cancelled! You know, because human being are physically incapable of having Christmas on their own and the centuries old celebration of birth of Christ will suddenly just disappear from the calendar and unless a far old guy breaks into their house and gives them a present.
yeah isnt the point of christmas is spending time with friends and family and not over obsessing or worrying over which presents you get materialism is evil.
Santa has no place in Christmas history anyway, Christmas was about the birth of Christ and not some magical gift-giver xD Of course, for most children, Christmas would be ruined if the gift-giving part vanished one year, and I don't think screaming "evil materialism" at it makes sense - it's natural to look forward to getting things you want or need. We literally can't live without having stuff, so there is nothing wrong with wanting to have things. In overly rich societies, families, and so on it's good to question HOW much you actually need, but it seems kinda ridiculous to me to hate on the urge to have things in general. Extra food, new clothes, a new toy - that's always been part of Christmas, because people NEED stuff to live (and traditionally presents were given from the ruling class to their servants, not between families and friends, so it was basically an early form of charity).
@@sleepysera COUGH materialism in case you didnt know the literal definition a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
@@TiffanyRay I'm not seeing your point? My entire comment aside from the first sentence explained why I think there is nothing wrong with the concept unless you take it to an extreme (in particular, to an extreme that is harming others). Physical comfort logically always comes (and in my opinion should! always come) first - no merry Christmas spirit of love and family is gonna help you when you are freezing to death and your children are starving. Expecting out of children in particular (who, by nature, are greedy and selfish because that's a necessary trait to survive while they are dependent on others for survival) to not consider a Christmas without presents as ruined, just seems ridiculous to me.
And if anyone refuses to celebrate Christmas for _any reason_ (besides religion), the other characters must treat it like a serious problem and put their energy into changing that person's mind. Even in a show that's all about tolerance and individuality, the one holiday *_absolutely everyone must take part in_* is Christmas, because nothing says "good will to men" like forcing conformity!
@@DarthTalon5 Its a woosh because the op "if anyone refuses to celebrate Christmas for any reason (besides religion), the other characters must treat it like a serious problem and put their energy into changing that person's mind." if you don't get why its a woosh then... I don't know what to tell you.
@@BlueDragonknight375 Single mother meets the new guy in her small town and for some reason and we have to spend 10 minutes watching her kid do one of those bad school performances, as the producers pretend we'd ever want to watch one of those for anything other than a relative (this is based off of the two Hallmark Christmas Movies I've seen). Also the single mom lives with her Grandmother who doesn't do anything of note.
Holy crap. Ultra thin plot that serves as an excuse for various song and dance numbers, check. Hated by its creator who saw it as something he wrote for his pay cheque, check. Makes an appearance every year anyway, check. Any flaws are ignored because its Christmas, check. Tchaikovsky's *The Nutcracker* was the first Holiday Special.
@@alexanderchristopher6237 And then he hated the song he did it in because it was too focused on spectacle as opposed to artistry or whatever. This is starting to look like a consistent problem.
A Christmas Carol Story? … Check. A Grinch who can’t accept the constant marketing of the Holidays? … Check. Santa interacting with the cast. … Checkity, Check, Check. Pointless plotting about trying to get a kiss under the mistletoe to fuel the shippers? … Knew we forgot something.
To be fair, he would have to leave a large portion of the video to that pointless "kissing under the mistletoe plot" so that the love hyper-rhombisodecahedron can present itself and get the plot going.
The greatest holiday (Christmas) special was A Charlie Brown Christmas. 1. Actually "gets" Christmas. 2. Calls out the commercialization of Christmas. 3. It feels like this could happen in real life. 4. Snoopy is in there.
_And what happened then? Well, in UA-cam comments they say,_ _That JP's small heart grew three sizes that day._ _Then he seized his chest, his pain flowing readily,_ _And then dropped dead of cardiomegaly._ I shall write this down and pin it on the wall, this is high quality poetry, mate.
obligatory onedimensional bond-clone/ self-insert, obligatory love interest that works for the bad guy but only initially, obligatory replacement of stealth sections (you know, the thing spies are said to be good at) with full-on action scenes, obligatory chase scene ( 2 at minimum, but the more the merrier), obligatory disabling of the laws of physics for the sake of looking cool even when whatever is attempted would be nothing short of suicidal in our world, obligatory confusion between the goals of destroying and dominating the world on the villains end, obligatory detonation of the villains lair as opposed to a sneaky n clean operation (+hope the villain has no copies of the plans for the doomsday device saved literally ANYEHERE ELSE on the planet), obligatory kiss scene in the end
Holiday specials are the best. like the star wars holiday special, so good the creator didn't even think we deserved it on the planet, so he wanted all the copies destroyed.
Yes, that is one of the most beautiful specials. Heartwarming and one has to make sure one sees it every year. I wonder how we can get it back on television again. Now that would be something.
Also remember that no matter what, the Christmas special can only have one of three plot lines, either it’s the plot of The Grinch with different characters, the plot of A Christmas Carol with different characters, or something happens to Santa and the main characters need to save Christmas
Please do a video on crossovers with overly sarcastic productions. Also, a video on love triangles with overly sarcastic productions and hello future me.
The 3 possible endings of a holiday special: 1. Generic, formulaic Christmas song that every main character sings along with at the end, disregarding any previous character arcs involving music or singing. The song will be about 1 to 2 minutes long and will probably have a lyric video on the series UA-cam channel. 2. The characters all learn the true meaning of Christmas. Never explain how they haven’t learned about what Christmas is about after living an almost full life, because then we wouldn’t have an ending. And always have the meaning be something mushy and generic, like spending time with family and friends and having a grand old time. Make sure to never actually bring up the hyper commercialism of Christmas however, because that would draw attention to the commercialism in our own Christmas special, and if you do, make sure to dumb it down to the extent that even infants will be able to understand it. 3. “We saved Christmas” stock ending. Usually saving Christmas involves rescuing Santa, or even full-on taking his place in his absence. If you want to be really lazy, just say something along the lines of “There’s not enough Christmas spirit!” And obviously Santa will choose our plucky main characters to save Christmas, instead of the literally millions of elves who all work for him, obey his every command, and probably have more Christmas spirit combined than anyone. Oh, and make sure that in our universe, literally everyone believes In Santa Claus, so that he can appear at the end in front of everyone in (insert stock village or city here).
How to make a Christmas special! Step 1: Find a Christmas classic Step 2: if it isn’t in the public domain, but the rights to said property. Step 3: Put a new coat of paint on it. Done.
Well, not necessarily. For example, we use science and the supernatural could simply be things that we have yet to understand with our tools (aka, science/technology.) In a world with magic, there could still be things they don't understand with their tools, aka magic, that they are thus wary of or dismiss. Say, with magic germ theory never develops so they don't actually understand disease, So people who do things such as bathe regularly, may be seen as partaking in foolish superstition. Basically, "what we are currently incapable of understanding is "supernatural"
Depends on how defined the magic system is. If you can summon fire with that system and can't do anything else, the ability to fly would for example still be considered a myth.
These days, christmas specials are based on either 1) the Grinch, 2) Christmas Carol, or 3) both. Plus at least one obligatory out-of-place musical number like you mentioned. It's SO rare to find a christmas episode that DOESN'T revolve around the idea of someone not liking Christmas I can hardly think of any - except a typical family-fighting-then-getting-back-together plot.
"How do I know there's a war on Christmas? Because I'm the one waging it!" This has got to be the single best lines I've heard from TWA and that's saying a lot in the midst the many great lines
Do a terrible Writing Advice on Multiverses! The concept of alternate universes have lots of potential for science Fiction and to examine the general themes of the characters and world, but are often ruined by having the alternative universe just be a watered down version of the main setting and character just with new paint (Every Undertale Au ever). Or have it just as an easy plot device (clover field paradox). Don’t forget to have the au disregard all the rules and limits of the characters for no reason (Galactus in Marvel zombies). Also have all alternate universes just be the same as the main universes and never experiment or use your imagination to create truly Alien fantasy settings. If you want to do something different just have the alternate universe be a generic version of hell. You can also call them dimensions even though real dimensions don’t act like at all like how they are portrayed in pop culture.
This is a kinda dumb nitpick, but some undertale aus are pretty good. If you want a uniquley messed up one, look up the sprite comic helptale. (That might fall under "generic hell world" I guess.)
I have nothing against Undertale AUs by the way, or the sprit work and music. I just feel like that they often lack in Story which Is something I would like to see more of. I guess what I said was a bit of a blanket statement. I know that they are just for fun in most people’s eyes.
Helptale is awesome by the way. When I said Generic hell world I would was saying more just fire and brimstone every where and one dimensional generic Monsters. I’m not referring to having the creatures being portrayed like animals such as the Demogorgon in stranger things, I’m referring to them being “ Roar Evil, I do everything because....Evil!!!” Cough Dungeons and Dragons cough.
lest we forget that there should always be a Nazi alternate timeline no matter how difficult it would be to maintain in the long run. While we're at it lets go to the alt.universe section at the stock setting department. I'm sure simply copy and pasting our characters into these new and wondrous settings will just be fine, it's not like a new context and history will alter them in anyway. A good multiverse is the one found in Magic the Gathering in my opinion. Each plane is a unique setting that I would love to visit.
Rule one of Holiday Specials: Don't actually talk about other holidays outside if America. Always talk about Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween and all that and never talk about any holidays from "outside"
I totally identify with the comment about music at work. I still can't stand Jingle Bells because it was so overplayed during my high school job...40 years ago.
(this is all from memory) *JINGLE BELLS* *JINGLE BELLS* *JINGLE ALL THE WAY* *OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH (HEY)* (chorus repeats) *UP THE FIELDS WE GO* *IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH* *OVER THE FIELDS WE GO (?)* *LAUGHING ALL THE WAY (HEY!)* *SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING* *MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT* *OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO SING A SLEIGHING SONG TONIGHT* (chorus repeats)
One day in the future, when no one cares what Christmas was ever about, we'll have Black Friday specials about the importance of low prices and consumption.
@@zachmanf.7479 I remember seeibg that. Even though I don't care much for TTG (because it's a kid's show and I'm only interested in adult cartoons or those really old cartoons that a lot of people these days would consider racist), that episode was actually funny.
Literally an hour before this popped up I was thinking, "You know, a Terrible Writing Advice on holiday specials would be amazing." Looks like my Christmas wish came true!
I'd love to write or at least own the rights to a famous Christmas special or song. Imagine just sitting back and watching the royalties flow in every year.
@PokeEmblem 692 A 1070's Glam Rock band who had a hit with "Merry Xmas Everybody". This song is one of most played during Christmas in the UK, and the lead singer Noddy Holder has called it his retirement plan. They also had hits "Come on feel the nozie" and "Mama were all crazy now" that were covered by Quiet Riot.
@@rogermorris9696 Wow, it must be nice to live for hundreds of years and still manage to keep your copyright claims (must be easier than the plan I had, which involved faking my death, collecting my own insurance, moving to a different place, then going back into society once the statutes of limitations for insurance fraud runs out, rinse and repeat).
My idea for a Christmas special: the "good guy" tries too force a "grinch" to like the holidays. In the end the good guy realises he was in the wrong and learns it is okay that some people don't celebrate Christmas
I want to see the Christmas in Mordor musical. With catchy tunes like Do Orcs Know It's Christmas, or Slay Ride, or Elf Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire...
Like the south park song, or hishes 12 days of christmas with villains. Or the Ylvis christmas song. "Santa slays" would be a great song. or "Saurons hells"
How to make a standard Christmas special: 1. Keep it perpetually trapped in the Sixties, or just add cheese; lots and lots of cheese. 2. NO EPICNESS ALLOWED. 3. Copy-paste any story that came around the Sixies and before. (...besides The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, because NO EPICNESS ALLOWED) 4. Take jabs at commercialism. 5. Have ABC cut out scenes to fit more commercials into it, unaware that "hoss" doesn't rhyme with "stunk", and nerfing all jabs at commercialism.
He has touched on it, but if he never did any subject he has touched on in the past, eventually, he won't be able to do any new episodes. Besides I would love to see how he'd deal with cults.
I love how they make My Little Pony holiday episodes. Because they have own reasons to celebrate (as either reminder of end of demonic invasion, collapse of the kingdom or falling of they leaders.. and that isn't even a joke) they can reach deep meaning behind common holidays instead just repeating cliches.
I love it when he brings in the characters he's created, and has them interact with each other in all their deliberately cliched glory! Seriously, dude, you need to make a slice of life comedy skit of these guys, or maybe a webcomic. I would totally read it!
You forgot the "It's wonderful life" cliche where the main character tries to commit suicide or what the world looks like without because main character life sucks and a ghost shows what happend.
Dark Lord: Then, every year on the month before Christmas, I shall set aside a day where I separate workers from their families and force them to brave angry mobs of ravenous creatures. I shall call it Black Friday! JP: Um. We already do that. EDIT1:1 day and a hundred likes.
The cardiomegaly bit had me laughing out loud. As a doctor, I have the same thought when I hear that “heart grew three sizes” line. The only thing that bothers me is that the script sort of conflates cardiomegaly with a myocardial infarction, but it still works as an underlying cause of death, so thumbs up :)
You forgot the for cartoons typical "Oh no, something happened to santa or one of his thingy-does, and it's up to the main characters to save christmas for some reason" trope, sometimes followed by "santa just pretented he couldn't do it"
My favorite Christmas special was from SAO Abridged. “And so they say, that Kirito’s heart grew 3 sizes that day then immediately shrank 6, imploding into a black hole from which no love could escape.”
How to write a GREAT youtube comment: -death threats -improper grammering -bold text for attention -saying the creator sucks -mentioning polotics -love triangle
The true meaning of Christmas is celebrating the birthday of Jesus and the start of our salvation and a chance to redeem our sins on Earth: It means mercy in a world that desperately needed it and the representation of a God that, instead of sending people to die for him, he sends himself to die for the people. It's a heartwarming moment in history that truly deserves to be celebrated. However, since now arts and media are controlled by huge companies that only care about promoting consumerism, what we have is this.
@@namesurname8474 well, the true shit about dying is that its irreversible, if you "died" for someone but was ressurrected right afterwards, than dying was of no consequence to you at all.
@@suezuccati304 Jesus not only died, he was also betrayed, tortured for several hours and then crucified. This is probably one of the most painful deaths ever.
"I will establish a holiday all about binge drinking and alcohol-fueled mayhem!" "I don't see the downside to that. Besides, we have a lot of those already: Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, and New Year's Eve. That's why we call Jan. 1st 'National Hangover Day'."
Personally, I think about working until midnight and coming in early the next morning, hearing someone singing 'sleep in heavenly peace.' That's all I wanted to do.
Simple Christmas celebrations are always the best in my mind. Ignore Black Friday, ignore the pessimists, get together with your family, sing, eat, laugh, tell stories, read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke, and then, for some reason, always have biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Hey, every family has traditions.
Just use the "I'm attached to my master" trope or the "I may find my master annoying, but I still consider him/her my best friend" trope, because surely we have not seen that in companions in stories like a million times.
I hate how in every Christmas movie Santa not delivering gifts means Christmas is ruined. I thought the point of The Grinch was that presents aren't the point? And if two 8 year olds can do it for him then why's it such a big deal?
Oh, don't forget that all the adults don't believe in Santa Claus, despite the fact that he exists in-universe and the adults never question where the presents under the tree, they didn't buy, came from.
This reminds me of a yearbook quote meme I once saw: "High school is just like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire and the ground is on fire and everything is on fire BECAUSE IT'S HELL!!!"
"Everything is blanketed in falling snow"??? I can't see any. Strange, when I was a kid, we had snow in december almost every year, but for several years now, there has been next to no snow all winter. It's almost like global warming is really a thing... But that can't be right! That would mean we need to do something to stop it, and I'm lazy! I'm also too lazy to write the next chapter of my book, which is why I procrastinate by watching UA-cam videos. What was I talking about again? Ah never mind, cool video as always.
Oh, that's easy. Just plop in some Vaguely lizard like overweight monsters that all eat meat regardless of their body plan, that all have an insatiable drive to consume humans regardless of any potential risks, costs, or easier meals available, that are all cold blooded, and that absolutely positively have nothing even resembling feathers.
@@globin3477 Perfect, but let's not forget about Hammering the moral about the dangers of Cloning dinosaurs even though the likelihood of that happening are slim to none
@@merrittanimation7721 and just call it Velociraptor, no Matter different it looks from the actual animal OH YEAH! Also no matter what, always make these creatures make loud noises whenever hunting our protagonists(Unless it'smeant as a way to scare said protagonists into an ambush, because that actually makes too too much sense). Because it doesn't matter that t would give away your position, it makes for good action. And no matter what, make sure the Sounds that the Dinosaurs make are from Mammals, Specifically Big cats, Gorillas, Bears and elephants
I was going to do a christamass shortstory with charecters from one of my books. Where I set it up that the big reveal was that Santa was in fact a small but well organized society of wizards all devoted to making sure children could enjoy christmass, and learn to believe in magic. Then I realized that people aren't smart enough to realize that a story about people working together to brighten up other peoples lives is what the holiday is all about. Good will towards men and all that. SO I just wrote a emotionally manipulative christmass story about shoes or something like that written from the perspective of an insanely self absorbed sociopath and sold the rights to some band. I doupt they made much money on it, it was utter dreck. That being said I did enjoy the Librarians Christmas special, it was charming.
@@ahniandfriends123 I wish! I heard that guy made a ton of money.... Not like me, spent everything I earned on spiked egg nog. I knew adding that bit about the mother with cancer in there was just too much.
@@patrickbuckley7259 I might also bet that the part where the main character had to fight off a drug dealer who held a boy at gunpoint over unpaid drugs was a bit too extreme, especially since that scene took place on a rooftop.
@PokeEmblem 692 If your asking what I was referencing in the first bit, it actually is an original idea I seriously considered writing. The second part was me poking fun at "The Christmas Shoes." Um, thank you, I think.
7:34 is also pretty close to Japanese Christmas specials. Also, I was waiting the entire time for the "It's a wonderful life" cliche to come up, but somehow you didn't even mention it. Do shows still do the "Gift of the Magi" ripoff plot too, or has that one gotten outdated? TV Tropes has pages for each, if you want more info for what I'm talking about.
My favorite subversion of the usual Christmas tropes is Regular Show's "The Christmas Special." Not only is Santa perfectly fine (as opposed to the "we gotta save Santa" trope) and the cast actually help him with keeping the balance of Christmas alive, the special actually does have consequences later down the line; leaving Thomas/Nikolai "stuck in the banister" allowed him to shimmy out and sabotage the park for Russia.
"Your people use magic but question the super natural?" GODS, that always bothered me! Its always weird when the biggest skeptics in a fantasy setting are the magic users, it never made that much sense. Also, "Oh look its a Christmas miracle, I came back to life so I can get out of here!" made me laugh more than I probably should have. I think the tone is what did it for me.
@Gaming Miser Perhaps, but that assumes arrogance then and usually thats not the implication. As if a handful of magic users can somehow know the universe inward and outward in its entirety.
One thing I can't stand, is when a holiday episode contains essential plot points or developments, forcing subsequent viewers to watch them out-of-season.
Valentine's Day works great, Easter is pretty amazing too if you are writing for kids (of course sticking to the bunny thing, not any of the real Easter celebration). Children love seeing the tired Christmas story cliché of "Something happened to Santa and now the protagonist has to save Christmas!" play out with bunnies instead. And adults love seeing ridiculous dumb love story fights over some forgotten flowers and the like that lead to sexy strangers and love triangles and whatnot, and Valentine's Day is a good opportunity as any to force your SO into it alongside you.
Then again, that could be seen as exactly it: most Christmas specials can be summed up the same way, just replace "Terrible Writing Advice" with [name of franchise]. Like this episode, you get maybe a hint of what the franchise is about, but not much.
Did they ever play "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" on the radio while you worked in retail? That one is a tad different from other Christmas melodies.
Three ghosts? Love triangle? Hmmmmm?
Flying Dutchman ain't got nothing on this Ghost Ship.
gigity
Oh god! This comment broke me!!
@@matteussilvestre8583 fucking dead. Take my like
I wanted to like this, but it's at 666 likes
Biggest Christmas Special Cliché: Something happens to Santa and the main protagonists must “save Christmas.”
It does work when Death and Susan need to save Christmas. Best Christmas movie ever.
The latest version of that is: Santa arranges for something to happen to Santa and the protagonists must "save" Christmas. With a blatant Æseop or twenty thrown in.
owlnemo I concur! 🎶
William Astle YES!
Bitrate; Xero! Minecraft Roleplay it’s funny because family made fun of that with an episode where “kiss saves Christmas” was a running gag in the episode but they later did that exact thing
"Everything changed when Black Friday attacked."
It was horrid, we were hopeless outnumbered and overworked, surrounded on all sides, we'd do our best to stem the tides and reinforce the lines. It seemed a lost cause, as we waded through isles choked with bodies, sometimes finding ourselves surrounded on all sides outnumbered twelve to one by soulless abominations that screamed demands at us. We were not people to these ravenous hordes without empathy or kindness, were we simply objects to give what they desired when they desired it.
Yet eventually that horrid day ended and those green to this war believed that it was over. But those who had seen this horror before, this never ending tide of greed and desire knew better and did not tell these green workers who had sought only easy work and a quick buck. This was but the first day of the Black Tide, it would return tomorrow, perhaps not as fierce as it had today, but it would return, stronger everyday until finally the day of the Savior would arrive and those of us who survived would look around at others reduced to vacant stares and hollow eyes.
I do not believe I will survive this year's Black Tide, I only hope to take some of that endless terrible mass with me as I die.
Why isn't this the top comment?
@@eruyommo because some guy with a mustache took that spot.
@@pussinboots838 its always the rando with the mustache >:(
You clearly actually work retail to know it's a Black Tide and not a Singular Day Event lmao hmu when you write this book, or at least put this in your eulogy
I paused the video to read this
The target audience for holiday specials is drunk and half asleep, which explains much about their plot
Or 5 years old.
Or depressed.
@alexandra galici and scare away winter or spirrets
@alexandra galici until madigra pretty much all Germanic holidays (integrated into Christian tradition) are about some combination of those and keeping the ancestors happy
@alexandra galici no, 200 years ago sex and booze weren't any more common than now, people hung trees from their ceilings and eat gees on St Martins day.
1500 years ago many (but our local roman garrison also celebrated saturnalia and sacrificed as many animals as any pagan tribe)
This year, please remember. Put the "Terrible Writing Advice" back in "Christmas".
Just Some Guy with a Mustache oh shit I’m the first reply!!
And I'm the second whoa
Jelal is that you ?
Just Some Guy with a Mustache You are just in every genre aren't you? I rarely see you outside of anime anymore...
@@artoruvidal2793 hes Jelal with a mustache
Oh! Here's a Christmas cliche I hate! The fact that Santa not being able to deliver presents means that Christmas is cancelled!
You know, because human being are physically incapable of having Christmas on their own and the centuries old celebration of birth of Christ will suddenly just disappear from the calendar and unless a far old guy breaks into their house and gives them a present.
yeah isnt the point of christmas is spending time with friends and family and not over obsessing or worrying over which presents you get materialism is evil.
^^THAT RIGHT THERE. Always bugged me :|
Santa has no place in Christmas history anyway, Christmas was about the birth of Christ and not some magical gift-giver xD
Of course, for most children, Christmas would be ruined if the gift-giving part vanished one year, and I don't think screaming "evil materialism" at it makes sense - it's natural to look forward to getting things you want or need. We literally can't live without having stuff, so there is nothing wrong with wanting to have things. In overly rich societies, families, and so on it's good to question HOW much you actually need, but it seems kinda ridiculous to me to hate on the urge to have things in general.
Extra food, new clothes, a new toy - that's always been part of Christmas, because people NEED stuff to live (and traditionally presents were given from the ruling class to their servants, not between families and friends, so it was basically an early form of charity).
@@sleepysera COUGH
materialism in case you didnt know the literal definition
a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.
@@TiffanyRay I'm not seeing your point? My entire comment aside from the first sentence explained why I think there is nothing wrong with the concept unless you take it to an extreme (in particular, to an extreme that is harming others). Physical comfort logically always comes (and in my opinion should! always come) first - no merry Christmas spirit of love and family is gonna help you when you are freezing to death and your children are starving.
Expecting out of children in particular (who, by nature, are greedy and selfish because that's a necessary trait to survive while they are dependent on others for survival) to not consider a Christmas without presents as ruined, just seems ridiculous to me.
Holy crap, your stock characters are becoming self aware. Is there an episode on meta-humor coming?
Please let it be so.
Lazy meta humor is the bane of modern writing.
@A Person Humor that plays on the conventions of the genre or medium.
@@ineednochannelyoutube5384 Oh god I saw my username and was scared that I was a dumbass 1 year ago.
@@a.person1805 Who knows. I certainly dont remember. It shal forever remain a mistery!
@@a.person1805 Weren't we all?🗿🗿
And if anyone refuses to celebrate Christmas for _any reason_ (besides religion), the other characters must treat it like a serious problem and put their energy into changing that person's mind. Even in a show that's all about tolerance and individuality, the one holiday *_absolutely everyone must take part in_* is Christmas, because nothing says "good will to men" like forcing conformity!
Kimi FW been watching Christmas with the Cranks too buddy? Ah
But some people have good reasons for disliking Christmas (i.e. a loved one tragically died around that time).
@@DrawciaGleam02 wooosh
@@JPduprat It may not be a woosh, that is also a very common plot point in holiday movies. That or you are 100% correct and they just don't get it.
@@DarthTalon5 Its a woosh because the op "if anyone refuses to celebrate Christmas for any reason (besides religion), the other characters must treat it like a serious problem and put their energy into changing that person's mind." if you don't get why its a woosh then... I don't know what to tell you.
"I see you have the 'Curmudgeon who wishes to destroy Christmas for no good reason' trope-"
"I worked retail."
"... Touché, this time."
How does one guy destroy or cancel Christmas anyways?
@@illuminaticake4528 you cancel Black Friday
Good luck with pulling that off
Apparently Hallmark wasn't aware this was a sarcastic video
Nah, Hallmark is the r/woosh of tv producers
Was looking for someone like you. I can't stand Hallmark Christmas movies! They're all the same!
DrakeRedwingOfficial OOoOoooOOoOf
@@BlueDragonknight375 Single mother meets the new guy in her small town and for some reason and we have to spend 10 minutes watching her kid do one of those bad school performances, as the producers pretend we'd ever want to watch one of those for anything other than a relative (this is based off of the two Hallmark Christmas Movies I've seen). Also the single mom lives with her Grandmother who doesn't do anything of note.
Or guy meets girl who has a boyfriend who doesn't really love her so she falls in love with the male protagonist. Or vice versa.
Holy crap. Ultra thin plot that serves as an excuse for various song and dance numbers, check. Hated by its creator who saw it as something he wrote for his pay cheque, check. Makes an appearance every year anyway, check. Any flaws are ignored because its Christmas, check. Tchaikovsky's *The Nutcracker* was the first Holiday Special.
I had no idea Tchaikovsky hated writing The Nutcracker.
he sure put in a lot of work for his monthly tugboat
@@justinokraski3796 because it's Tchaikovsky. This is the same dude who thought cannons should be a musical instrument.
@@alexanderchristopher6237 And then he hated the song he did it in because it was too focused on spectacle as opposed to artistry or whatever.
This is starting to look like a consistent problem.
@@seabassthegamer6644 Problem with artists in general, really. The stuff they like is never the stuff that ends up popular.
A Christmas Carol Story?
…
Check.
A Grinch who can’t accept the constant marketing of the Holidays?
…
Check.
Santa interacting with the cast.
…
Checkity, Check, Check.
Pointless plotting about trying to get a kiss under the mistletoe to fuel the shippers?
…
Knew we forgot something.
To be fair, he would have to leave a large portion of the video to that pointless "kissing under the mistletoe plot" so that the love hyper-rhombisodecahedron can present itself and get the plot going.
It wouldn't be pointless if it was to advance the love triangle
Ya made the list, and checked it twice!
The greatest holiday (Christmas) special was A Charlie Brown Christmas.
1. Actually "gets" Christmas.
2. Calls out the commercialization of Christmas.
3. It feels like this could happen in real life.
4. Snoopy is in there.
No, The best was actually the Star Wars Holiday Special 🤣
But were they in a love triangle tho?
@@dollarsignmexican oh dear gosh i hope not
"Several international treaties prohibit me from singing."
XD
The way he says it, too.
6:16
_And what happened then? Well, in UA-cam comments they say,_
_That JP's small heart grew three sizes that day._
_Then he seized his chest, his pain flowing readily,_
_And then dropped dead of cardiomegaly._
I shall write this down and pin it on the wall, this is high quality poetry, mate.
Please can we have a terrible writing advice for spy novels
mahli smith perfect
That's easy, just take all the tropes Clive Cussler uses and copy them shamelessly.
what's the most important? the reasons? the espionage? the stakes? no! the love triangle!
obligatory onedimensional bond-clone/ self-insert, obligatory love interest that works for the bad guy but only initially, obligatory replacement of stealth sections (you know, the thing spies are said to be good at) with full-on action scenes, obligatory chase scene ( 2 at minimum, but the more the merrier), obligatory disabling of the laws of physics for the sake of looking cool even when whatever is attempted would be nothing short of suicidal in our world, obligatory confusion between the goals of destroying and dominating the world on the villains end, obligatory detonation of the villains lair as opposed to a sneaky n clean operation (+hope the villain has no copies of the plans for the doomsday device saved literally ANYEHERE ELSE on the planet), obligatory kiss scene in the end
@@chesterstevens8870 But make them botanists or something instead of oceanographers
Holiday specials are the best.
like the star wars holiday special, so good the creator didn't even think we deserved it on the planet, so he wanted all the copies destroyed.
Yes, that is one of the most beautiful specials. Heartwarming and one has to make sure one sees it every year. I wonder how we can get it back on television again. Now that would be something.
Isn't that the one with Chewbacca's grandpa fapping? Lmfao
They should just have destroyed the entire planet. Solves all problems with holiday special copies.
RandomElk That exists? I’ve never heard of it before
RandomElk , the cantina scene and the animated segment was a cool.
Also remember that no matter what, the Christmas special can only have one of three plot lines, either it’s the plot of The Grinch with different characters, the plot of A Christmas Carol with different characters, or something happens to Santa and the main characters need to save Christmas
Lol the only one I can think of that's not like that is abeds uncontrollable christmas from community
Please do a video on crossovers with overly sarcastic productions.
Also, a video on love triangles with overly sarcastic productions and hello future me.
Yes!
That would be awesome she already has done one crossover before
Maybe they could do an episode on crime thrillers
Dear God YES! TWA and OSP in the same video would win the internet for all eternity!
+
That would be amazing, I'd love that
"His heart grew three sizes that day, then immediately shrank six imploding into a black hole from which no love could escape."
The 3 possible endings of a holiday special:
1. Generic, formulaic Christmas song that every main character sings along with at the end, disregarding any previous character arcs involving music or singing. The song will be about 1 to 2 minutes long and will probably have a lyric video on the series UA-cam channel.
2. The characters all learn the true meaning of Christmas. Never explain how they haven’t learned about what Christmas is about after living an almost full life, because then we wouldn’t have an ending. And always have the meaning be something mushy and generic, like spending time with family and friends and having a grand old time. Make sure to never actually bring up the hyper commercialism of Christmas however, because that would draw attention to the commercialism in our own Christmas special, and if you do, make sure to dumb it down to the extent that even infants will be able to understand it.
3. “We saved Christmas” stock ending. Usually saving Christmas involves rescuing Santa, or even full-on taking his place in his absence. If you want to be really lazy, just say something along the lines of “There’s not enough Christmas spirit!” And obviously Santa will choose our plucky main characters to save Christmas, instead of the literally millions of elves who all work for him, obey his every command, and probably have more Christmas spirit combined than anyone. Oh, and make sure that in our universe, literally everyone believes In Santa Claus, so that he can appear at the end in front of everyone in (insert stock village or city here).
How to make a Christmas special!
Step 1: Find a Christmas classic
Step 2: if it isn’t in the public domain, but the rights to said property.
Step 3: Put a new coat of paint on it.
Done.
They use magic and are skeptical of the supernatural.
Yeah that is the stupidest trope that always bugs me.
Well, not necessarily.
For example, we use science and the supernatural could simply be things that we have yet to understand with our tools (aka, science/technology.)
In a world with magic, there could still be things they don't understand with their tools, aka magic, that they are thus wary of or dismiss.
Say, with magic germ theory never develops so they don't actually understand disease,
So people who do things such as bathe regularly, may be seen as partaking in foolish superstition.
Basically, "what we are currently incapable of understanding is "supernatural"
Depends on how defined the magic system is. If you can summon fire with that system and can't do anything else, the ability to fly would for example still be considered a myth.
We erradicated diseases through vaccination and some people still believe that they don't work
To aru majutsu no index. The supernatural exists but no one believes in magic because tje supernatural can be explained through science.
@@damiannagel963Nagel, though anti-Santa people in Christmas specials don't believe Santa will make their kids autistic.
These days, christmas specials are based on either 1) the Grinch, 2) Christmas Carol, or 3) both. Plus at least one obligatory out-of-place musical number like you mentioned. It's SO rare to find a christmas episode that DOESN'T revolve around the idea of someone not liking Christmas I can hardly think of any - except a typical family-fighting-then-getting-back-together plot.
Most Christmas Specials I remember are about aliens. Maaaybe someone also doesn't like Christmas, but most importantly, aliens x)
Or a wonderful life
Adventure time have an good Christmas episode that doesn't do anything that this video said
This is why the first Married with Children Christmas episode is such a classic.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
"How do I know there's a war on Christmas? Because I'm the one waging it!"
This has got to be the single best lines I've heard from TWA and that's saying a lot in the midst the many great lines
Do a terrible Writing Advice on Multiverses! The concept of alternate universes have lots of potential for science Fiction and to examine the general themes of the characters and world, but are often ruined by having the alternative universe just be a watered down version of the main setting and character just with new paint (Every Undertale Au ever). Or have it just as an easy plot device (clover field paradox). Don’t forget to have the au disregard all the rules and limits of the characters for no reason (Galactus in Marvel zombies). Also have all alternate universes just be the same as the main universes and never experiment or use your imagination to create truly Alien fantasy settings. If you want to do something different just have the alternate universe be a generic version of hell. You can also call them dimensions even though real dimensions don’t act like at all like how they are portrayed in pop culture.
Lord Devil fish *cough* Reverse Falls
This is a kinda dumb nitpick, but some undertale aus are pretty good. If you want a uniquley messed up one, look up the sprite comic helptale. (That might fall under "generic hell world" I guess.)
I have nothing against Undertale AUs by the way, or the sprit work and music. I just feel like that they often lack in Story which Is something I would like to see more of. I guess what I said was a bit of a blanket statement. I know that they are just for fun in most people’s eyes.
Helptale is awesome by the way. When I said Generic hell world I would was saying more just fire and brimstone every where and one dimensional generic Monsters. I’m not referring to having the creatures being portrayed like animals such as the Demogorgon in stranger things, I’m referring to them being “ Roar Evil, I do everything because....Evil!!!”
Cough Dungeons and Dragons cough.
lest we forget that there should always be a Nazi alternate timeline no matter how difficult it would be to maintain in the long run. While we're at it lets go to the alt.universe section at the stock setting department. I'm sure simply copy and pasting our characters into these new and wondrous settings will just be fine, it's not like a new context and history will alter them in anyway.
A good multiverse is the one found in Magic the Gathering in my opinion. Each plane is a unique setting that I would love to visit.
Rule one of Holiday Specials:
Don't actually talk about other holidays outside if America. Always talk about Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween and all that and never talk about any holidays from "outside"
They don't even talk about Thanksgiving anymore so the specials are all about Christmas.
WHERE'S MY NOWRUZ SPECIAL DAMMIT
@@ahniandfriends123 Ikr where'd all the Thanksgiving specials go-
Christmas and Halloween aren't American holidays though...
also, they tried a Hanukkah special, but unfortunately it ended up being 8 crazy nights.
“I need to brutally murder a child tree and decorate it’s corpse”
-JP “TWA” “Love Triangle man” Beubian 2018
JP's small heart grew three sizes that day! Then he seized his chest pain flowing readily. And then dropped dead of Cardiomegaly.
And his pallbearers found the strength of ten Grinches, plus two!
I totally identify with the comment about music at work. I still can't stand Jingle Bells because it was so overplayed during my high school job...40 years ago.
(this is all from memory)
*JINGLE BELLS*
*JINGLE BELLS*
*JINGLE ALL THE WAY*
*OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO RIDE IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH (HEY)*
(chorus repeats)
*UP THE FIELDS WE GO*
*IN A ONE HORSE OPEN SLEIGH*
*OVER THE FIELDS WE GO (?)*
*LAUGHING ALL THE WAY (HEY!)*
*SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING*
*MAKING SPIRITS BRIGHT*
*OH WHAT FUN IT IS TO SING A SLEIGHING SONG TONIGHT*
(chorus repeats)
Alan Bear not even the Trans-Siberian Orchestra version?
@@nightcollapse You fiend! (LOL)
@@floydlooney6837 TSO is undeniably awesome. I love their stuff...except that one. :)
Well... u r fuckin old 👌
One day in the future, when no one cares what Christmas was ever about, we'll have Black Friday specials about the importance of low prices and consumption.
Teen Titans Go had a Black Friday special. I wish I was joking.
Stuff like that is gonna turn me into an ancom
@@zachmanf.7479 I remember seeibg that. Even though I don't care much for TTG (because it's a kid's show and I'm only interested in adult cartoons or those really old cartoons that a lot of people these days would consider racist), that episode was actually funny.
@@zachmanf.7479I remember that special made me want to buy a computer as a kid. I never did.
Literally an hour before this popped up I was thinking, "You know, a Terrible Writing Advice on holiday specials would be amazing." Looks like my Christmas wish came true!
Wasted your wish tbh
I woulda wished for booze
“Everything changed when blackfriday attacked.” Nice TLA reference there.
I'd love to write or at least own the rights to a famous Christmas special or song. Imagine just sitting back and watching the royalties flow in every year.
In the UK this is called the Slade effect.
@PokeEmblem 692 A 1070's Glam Rock band who had a hit with "Merry Xmas Everybody". This song is one of most played during Christmas in the UK, and the lead singer Noddy Holder has called it his retirement plan. They also had hits "Come on feel the nozie" and "Mama were all crazy now" that were covered by Quiet Riot.
@@rogermorris9696 Wow, it must be nice to live for hundreds of years and still manage to keep your copyright claims (must be easier than the plan I had, which involved faking my death, collecting my own insurance, moving to a different place, then going back into society once the statutes of limitations for insurance fraud runs out, rinse and repeat).
My idea for a Christmas special: the "good guy" tries too force a "grinch" to like the holidays. In the end the good guy realises he was in the wrong and learns it is okay that some people don't celebrate Christmas
never heard "getting a Christmas tree" explained as "brutally murdering a child tree"
Most Christmas stories are just "Save Christmas with Santa!", or "Grumpy guy learns the importance of Christmas."
"Several international treaties prohibit me from singing."
Same, I also lie about my reasons for hiding my terrible singing voice.
Tis the season for saccharine cliches and thinly veiled advertisements! 🎄⛄
Lalalalala, la la la la!
I want to see the Christmas in Mordor musical. With catchy tunes like Do Orcs Know It's Christmas, or Slay Ride, or Elf Nuts Roasting on an Open Fire...
Like the south park song, or hishes 12 days of christmas with villains. Or the Ylvis christmas song.
"Santa slays" would be a great song. or "Saurons hells"
Or how about that all-time classic "Sauron got Run Over by a Dragon"?
All of them except for that last one
@@AnimeboyIanpower I do miss Grandma Sauron. Thankfully Grandpa Gandalf has been taking it so well.
How to make a standard Christmas special:
1. Keep it perpetually trapped in the Sixties, or just add cheese; lots and lots of cheese.
2. NO EPICNESS ALLOWED.
3. Copy-paste any story that came around the Sixies and before. (...besides The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, because NO EPICNESS ALLOWED)
4. Take jabs at commercialism.
5. Have ABC cut out scenes to fit more commercials into it, unaware that "hoss" doesn't rhyme with "stunk", and nerfing all jabs at commercialism.
Can you do a terrible writing advice for cults?
Check out Intrigue Plots and Cosmic Horror for more info
Whatever your plot is, it needs more human sacrifice.
When you say more, are you referring to greater numbers or a larger proportion of cult members?
He has touched on it, but if he never did any subject he has touched on in the past, eventually, he won't be able to do any new episodes. Besides I would love to see how he'd deal with cults.
@@deltoroperdedor3166 Greater numbers of sacrifices. The number of cultists should be large enough to handle the amount.
How to write a holiday special? Make the story take place on Christmas even if the plot has nothing to do with Christmas, easy.
You really are a “Diehard” fan of this idea aren’t you.
I know this is sarcastic, but it needs to be said, “Die Hard” is not a Christmas movie
I love how they make My Little Pony holiday episodes. Because they have own reasons to celebrate (as either reminder of end of demonic invasion, collapse of the kingdom or falling of they leaders.. and that isn't even a joke) they can reach deep meaning behind common holidays instead just repeating cliches.
I am overjoyed because 'Cardiomegaly' was put in rhyme. Now I just need a valentine with Takotsubo's Cardiomyopathy.
"Your world is stupid! I'm going to play Skyrim"
My thought every time I go outside.
I was about to say. That was way too relatable 😂
I love it when he brings in the characters he's created, and has them interact with each other in all their deliberately cliched glory! Seriously, dude, you need to make a slice of life comedy skit of these guys, or maybe a webcomic. I would totally read it!
I have worked retail, I can empathize. Also, nice catch about the love triangle in "The Grinch". Probably the single lamest thing ever.
You forgot the "It's wonderful life" cliche where the main character tries to commit suicide or what the world looks like without because main character life sucks and a ghost shows what happend.
Hearing "I don't want a lot for Christmas…" is enough to send me murderous rage.
That's become my most hated Christmas song because of how overplayed it is.
Dark Lord: Then, every year on the month before Christmas, I shall set aside a day where I separate workers from their families and force them to brave angry mobs of ravenous creatures. I shall call it Black Friday!
JP: Um. We already do that.
EDIT1:1 day and a hundred likes.
I think there's been more movies/episodes/books/etc. about someone having to save Christmas then there's been actual Christmases in the real world.
You're probably right, since hundreds of Christmas specials are released each year
The cardiomegaly bit had me laughing out loud. As a doctor, I have the same thought when I hear that “heart grew three sizes” line. The only thing that bothers me is that the script sort of conflates cardiomegaly with a myocardial infarction, but it still works as an underlying cause of death, so thumbs up :)
You forgot the for cartoons typical "Oh no, something happened to santa or one of his thingy-does, and it's up to the main characters to save christmas for some reason" trope, sometimes followed by "santa just pretented he couldn't do it"
theres a parallel universe where trees come and kidnap our babies, and decorate them until they're colorfu and flashy
wouldn't their corpses be already "flashy"?
Can I steal this idea from you? Please?
My favorite Christmas special was from SAO Abridged.
“And so they say, that Kirito’s heart grew 3 sizes that day then immediately shrank 6, imploding into a black hole from which no love could escape.”
SAO Abridged is a fucking treasure in general.
I laughed
Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell
I thought midichlorians were the powerhouse of the cell.
Mitochondria is the powercell of the house
Excellent anime taste.
hey thanks man i completely forgot
@@squeakboy3666 of course! I got it mixed up. Sorry for the hassle
we need a "terrible youtube comment writing advice" :)
Holy f*ck, yes!
Weird flex but ok
Josh M1911 u gay nigga
@@everlast282 no u
How to write a GREAT youtube comment:
-death threats
-improper grammering
-bold text for attention
-saying the creator sucks
-mentioning polotics
-love triangle
The true meaning of Christmas is consumerism and annoying relatives :)
It's spending money on things nobody wants just so you have something to complain about. At least in my house
The true meaning of Christmas is celebrating the birthday of Jesus and the start of our salvation and a chance to redeem our sins on Earth: It means mercy in a world that desperately needed it and the representation of a God that, instead of sending people to die for him, he sends himself to die for the people. It's a heartwarming moment in history that truly deserves to be celebrated.
However, since now arts and media are controlled by huge companies that only care about promoting consumerism, what we have is this.
@@namesurname8474 Thanks Linus :)
@@namesurname8474 well, the true shit about dying is that its irreversible, if you "died" for someone but was ressurrected right afterwards, than dying was of no consequence to you at all.
@@suezuccati304 Jesus not only died, he was also betrayed, tortured for several hours and then crucified. This is probably one of the most painful deaths ever.
"I will establish a holiday all about binge drinking and alcohol-fueled mayhem!"
"I don't see the downside to that. Besides, we have a lot of those already: Mardi Gras, St. Patrick's Day, Cinco de Mayo, and New Year's Eve. That's why we call Jan. 1st 'National Hangover Day'."
So since TWA guy is dead, and inner critic is alive, is the next video going to be done by inner critic?
Nah, that means there will be continuity, whatever that means.
Well, unless there's a plot hole.
That retail worker bit is too real, I'm still haunted by that Mariah Carey song repeating over and over and over...
I HATE THAT MARIAH CAREY SONG
Personally, I think about working until midnight and coming in early the next morning, hearing someone singing 'sleep in heavenly peace.' That's all I wanted to do.
Even I, who has never worked in retail, really dislike the song.
All I want for Christmas is for everywhere to stop playing that song.
Simple Christmas celebrations are always the best in my mind. Ignore Black Friday, ignore the pessimists, get together with your family, sing, eat, laugh, tell stories, read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke, and then, for some reason, always have biscuits and gravy for breakfast. Hey, every family has traditions.
"Your world is stupid. I'm going play Skyrim."
Me: Yeah same
A terrible writing advice for Animal Companions. Or assassin kt perhaps crazy doll makers?
Just use the "I'm attached to my master" trope or the "I may find my master annoying, but I still consider him/her my best friend" trope, because surely we have not seen that in companions in stories like a million times.
I hate how in every Christmas movie Santa not delivering gifts means Christmas is ruined. I thought the point of The Grinch was that presents aren't the point? And if two 8 year olds can do it for him then why's it such a big deal?
Oh, don't forget that all the adults don't believe in Santa Claus, despite the fact that he exists in-universe and the adults never question where the presents under the tree, they didn't buy, came from.
This is the best Christmas special I have ever seen.
*"Your world is stupid i'm going to go play skyrim"*
0:45 - then everything changed when the fir- what wrong script
then everything changed when black Friday attacked
Just as I'm not at all addressing my Worldbuilder's Disease, look who shows up!
The Evil Emperor was destroyed by an entire planet. Perfect.
*Ironic.*
"Here's a christmas special, because my inspiration and motivation are lost, please if you find them get them back for me."
These episodes are getting very hilarious because of the good world building. The hologram part was pretty clever... 😂
The "Santa is injured and the main character has to replace him" is another one.
Not only are the pencils on fire, the books, the plot, the characters, the whole story.... BUT THE CHRISTMAS TREE IS ON FIRE.
This reminds me of a yearbook quote meme I once saw:
"High school is just like riding a bike. Except the bike is on fire and the ground is on fire and everything is on fire BECAUSE IT'S HELL!!!"
@@theodorepinnock1517 lol
9:24
Huh, you know, I guess your heart suddenly growing three sizes isn't very good for your body.
Have your characters meet Santa. That’s all, you’re done.
"Everything is blanketed in falling snow"??? I can't see any. Strange, when I was a kid, we had snow in december almost every year, but for several years now, there has been next to no snow all winter. It's almost like global warming is really a thing... But that can't be right! That would mean we need to do something to stop it, and I'm lazy! I'm also too lazy to write the next chapter of my book, which is why I procrastinate by watching UA-cam videos. What was I talking about again? Ah never mind, cool video as always.
Merry Christmas
Even to you, retail workers, you shall overcome the struggle
These are so worth the wait. Your standards are really high. Well done
3:03 “holiday specials are the ?????? of most writer’s careers”
nadir - noun - the lowest point in the fortunes of a person or organization.
pulsar_ blah blah blah English major stuff
I really want you to purposely make a bad story (include mary sue, love triangle, horrible cliche etc) i would totally buy it
i hate christmas specials that do the same thing over again stories that copy the grinch, christmas carol, nightmare before christmas etc.
@@TiffanyRay how about we replace the three ghosts with time travellers now it's a completely different story
What do you mean by, 'bad story'. That sounds amzing!
The story equivalent of Kay(f)bop(t).
Can you do a Terrible Writing Advice Video for how to portray Dinosaurs in movies?
Oh, that's easy. Just plop in some Vaguely lizard like overweight monsters that all eat meat regardless of their body plan, that all have an insatiable drive to consume humans regardless of any potential risks, costs, or easier meals available, that are all cold blooded, and that absolutely positively have nothing even resembling feathers.
@@globin3477 Perfect, but let's not forget about Hammering the moral about the dangers of Cloning dinosaurs even though the likelihood of that happening are slim to none
And if you run out of ideas, add more raptors. Everybody loves raptors.
@@merrittanimation7721 And make sure the raptors always hunt in packs, despite the fact that most scientists agree they generally lived alone.
@@merrittanimation7721 and just call it Velociraptor, no Matter different it looks from the actual animal
OH YEAH! Also no matter what, always make these creatures make loud noises whenever hunting our protagonists(Unless it'smeant as a way to scare said protagonists into an ambush, because that actually makes too too much sense). Because it doesn't matter that t would give away your position, it makes for good action.
And no matter what, make sure the Sounds that the Dinosaurs make are from Mammals, Specifically Big cats, Gorillas, Bears and elephants
I was going to do a christamass shortstory with charecters from one of my books. Where I set it up that the big reveal was that Santa was in fact a small but well organized society of wizards all devoted to making sure children could enjoy christmass, and learn to believe in magic.
Then I realized that people aren't smart enough to realize that a story about people working together to brighten up other peoples lives is what the holiday is all about. Good will towards men and all that. SO I just wrote a emotionally manipulative christmass story about shoes or something like that written from the perspective of an insanely self absorbed sociopath and sold the rights to some band. I doupt they made much money on it, it was utter dreck.
That being said I did enjoy the Librarians Christmas special, it was charming.
Did that story involve an old woman getting ran over by a reindeer?
@@ahniandfriends123 I wish! I heard that guy made a ton of money....
Not like me, spent everything I earned on spiked egg nog. I knew adding that bit about the mother with cancer in there was just too much.
@@patrickbuckley7259 I might also bet that the part where the main character had to fight off a drug dealer who held a boy at gunpoint over unpaid drugs was a bit too extreme, especially since that scene took place on a rooftop.
@@ahniandfriends123 I don't remember writing THAT... but I was slightly stoned at the time.
@PokeEmblem 692 If your asking what I was referencing in the first bit, it actually is an original idea I seriously considered writing. The second part was me poking fun at "The Christmas Shoes."
Um, thank you, I think.
7:34 is also pretty close to Japanese Christmas specials.
Also, I was waiting the entire time for the "It's a wonderful life" cliche to come up, but somehow you didn't even mention it. Do shows still do the "Gift of the Magi" ripoff plot too, or has that one gotten outdated?
TV Tropes has pages for each, if you want more info for what I'm talking about.
Xmas cliche: insert character finding the perfect gift for insert other character, usually family or significant other.
My favorite subversion of the usual Christmas tropes is Regular Show's "The Christmas Special."
Not only is Santa perfectly fine (as opposed to the "we gotta save Santa" trope) and the cast actually help him with keeping the balance of Christmas alive, the special actually does have consequences later down the line; leaving Thomas/Nikolai "stuck in the banister" allowed him to shimmy out and sabotage the park for Russia.
"Your people use magic but question the super natural?"
GODS, that always bothered me! Its always weird when the biggest skeptics in a fantasy setting are the magic users, it never made that much sense.
Also, "Oh look its a Christmas miracle, I came back to life so I can get out of here!" made me laugh more than I probably should have. I think the tone is what did it for me.
In my little pony a unicorn said physics are unscientific because at least her magic is testable. ua-cam.com/video/6hc9KYr2-IA/v-deo.html
@Gaming Miser
Perhaps, but that assumes arrogance then and usually thats not the implication. As if a handful of magic users can somehow know the universe inward and outward in its entirety.
4:38 that’s the plot of an angel for Christmas.
I bet re-telling a christmas story with the character from yours is gonna appear
The Grinch is a science fiction/war film directed by Tim
Burton and Michael Bay. PROVE ME WRONG!!!
@@MegaToonzNetwork
No one dies.
@@MegaToonzNetwork There are no explosions
So no Michael bay
The giant robots don't engage in necrophilia
@@deltoroperdedor3166 I wish I didn't have to read that sentence...
*When every holiday is special None of them will be*
I was not expecting that reference
One thing I can't stand, is when a holiday episode contains essential plot points or developments, forcing subsequent viewers to watch them out-of-season.
Remember to never make a holiday special about any holiday besides Christmas. Those aren't nearly as marketable.
Valentine's Day works great, Easter is pretty amazing too if you are writing for kids (of course sticking to the bunny thing, not any of the real Easter celebration). Children love seeing the tired Christmas story cliché of "Something happened to Santa and now the protagonist has to save Christmas!" play out with bunnies instead.
And adults love seeing ridiculous dumb love story fights over some forgotten flowers and the like that lead to sexy strangers and love triangles and whatnot, and Valentine's Day is a good opportunity as any to force your SO into it alongside you.
@@sleepysera "Valentine's Day is a good opportunity as any to force your SO into it alongside you." Or maybe _into_ you :}
@@101jir I think that's called rape xD
@@sleepysera I hate how everyone forgets Halloween, I always thougt it was a celebration with a lot of potential...
@@andreyv.vieira521 Usually, Halloween specials are parodies of horror movies. Blame "The Simpsons" for that.
Holiday Specials and Bad Writing? I haven't seen such a common combination since PB and J!
I think you mean JP and B. Don't ask what B is. Even I don't know.
@@briangerloff5794 The B stands for Bees!
Lol, I love the Christmas Carol layout of this.
"your world is stupid, I'm going to go play skyrim" i have never related to anything more in my entire life
The evil emperor is real af about christmas
It was funny but not really Terrible Writing Advice. More just a parody on Christmas tropes.
Or how to plagiarize a Christmas special. XD
Then again, that could be seen as exactly it: most Christmas specials can be summed up the same way, just replace "Terrible Writing Advice" with [name of franchise].
Like this episode, you get maybe a hint of what the franchise is about, but not much.
Did they ever play "Grandma got run over by a reindeer" on the radio while you worked in retail? That one is a tad different from other Christmas melodies.