Holiday Television
In the "Friends" episode, "The One With The Holiday Armadillo", which member of the "Friends" gang dressed as an armadillo in order to successfully teach his son about Hanukkah?
Ross Geller
"That's right, Ben! I'm Santa's representative for all the Southern states... AND MEXICO!" - Ross as the Holiday Armadillo
Double Points: What kind of oil was used during the original Hanukkah lighting in the Hanukkah story?
Clay
Bonus: Olive Oil
In the classic Christmas movie, "How The Grinch Stole Christmas", the Grinch was described with three words. What are they?
Stink, Stank, Stunk
Which "Big Bang Theory" star played Clark Griswald's son in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" in 1989?
Johnny Galecki
Before he was Dr. Leonard Hoftstadter in "The Big Bang Theory", Galecki played Clark and Ellen's son Rusty in "Christmas Vacation".
What Christmas song features the lyric, "And I'm offering this simple phrase, to kids from one to ninety-two..."
"The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)"
"The Christmas Song", which is commonly subtitled as "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire", was written in 1945. The most famous version was done by jazz musician, Nat King Cole, who actually recorded the song three different times (in 1946, 1953, and 1961), with the 1961 version being the most iconic.
True or False: "A Charlie Brown Christmas" was the first television special that featured Charles Schultz's iconic characters?
True
"A Charlie Brown Christmas" premiered on CBS on December 9th, 1965. It was the first Peanuts television special, with the second being "Charlie Brown's All Stars" in 1966. The special was actually sponsored by the Coca-Cola Company!
In order to light the Hanukkah candles for all eight nights, how many candles would you need?
44
The equation would be: 2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9=44.
In Charles Dicken's classic novel, "A Christmas Carol", how many ghosts appeared throughout the whole story to teach Ebenezer Scrooge a lesson?
Four
In "A Christmas Carol", 4 ghosts appear: Christmas Past, Present, Future and Jacob Marley who is a former deceased business partner of Ebenezer Scrooge. They were originally going to eat a goose, but in the end Scrooge buys them a giant turkey.
Double Points: What late comedic great played "Papa Elf" in the movie?
They saw that his diapers were called "Little Buddy Diapers"
Bonus: Bob Newhart
What Christmas song is considered to be the first song ever played on the radio?
"O Holy Night"
"O Holy Night" was performed live on the radio on Christmas Eve in 1906 by Candian inventor Reginald Fessenden. Broadcasted from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, it was heard over 12 miles away, by sailors at sea. Fessenden also recited a Bible passage aloud during the same broadcast.
In the Spongebob episode, "Christmas Who", when Squidward dresses as Santa Claus, who does he say he loaned his sleigh to when SpongeBob asks?
The Easter Bunny
He also says that the fact that he is not fat is a result of "undersea pressure on [his] body".
Which president became the first to light a Menorah in office?
Jimmy Carter
While Harry S. Truman gave a Menorah as a gift, Jimmy Carter became the first president to light a Menorah while in office. In 1979, he participated in lighting a menorah on the Ellipse, just south of the White House. Each president since has commemorated Hanukkah at the White House.
The iconic "Hess Trucks Back" commercial jingle, which has been used to advertise the annual Hess toy truck since 1988, parodies what 1960s #1 hit?
"My Boyfriend's Back" by The Angels
"The Hess truck's back and it's better than ever! Christmas is near, the Hess trucks here!"
The iconic commercial jingle has been in use every year since 1988, and has since become one of the longest continuously-running commercial jingles in advertising history!
In the beginning of "The Santa Clause", what was the name of the doll that main character Scott Calvin helped successfully market for the holidays?
"Do-It-All-For-You Dolly"
What Christmas Carol is the most covered Christmas song of all time?
"Silent Night"
"Silent Night" is known to have been recorded over 137,000 times, in a wide variety of musical genres.
In the Office episode, "Christmas Party", what was the item that Phyllis specially made for Michael, that caused Michael to switch Secret Santa to Yankee Swap?
An oven mitt.
According to Adam Sandler in his "Chanukkah Song", which two crewmembers of the Starship Enterprise from "Star Trek" could you spin a Dreidel with?
Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock
"You don't need "Deck The Halls" or "Jingle Bell Rock", 'Cause you can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock, both Jewish!"
Which of the following years was NOT a leap year on the Gregorian calendar?
A. 1600 B. 1776 C. 1800 D. 2000
1800
Leap years adjust for the fact It takes a little more than 365 days for the Earth to travel around the Sun. The traditional leap year every 4 years actually over-adjusts. To compensate for this discrepancy, a century is not a leap year unless it is divisible by 400.
In "A Christmas Story", what decoder did Ralphie use to decode the secret radio message?
Double Points: What was the secret message Ralphie decoded?
Little Orphan Annie Secret Society Decoder Pin
Bonus: "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!"
Ralphie waited weeks for his decoder ring to arrive but was disappointed when the first message to decode was an advertisement for the milk flavoring Ovaltine. The Little Orphan Annie decoder pin actually existed and was first introduced in 1935 by Ovaltine, though the 1940 model was featured in A Christmas Story.
Which Christmas classic holds the record for the best-selling physical single of all time, with estimated sales of over 50 million copies?
"White Christmas" by Bing Crosby
Although many sources claim that Elton John's 1997 version of "Candle in the Wind" for Princess Diana holds the record, Bing Crosby's 1942 version of "White Christmas" is the actual record holder. "White Christmas" was written by Irving Berlin, who is Jewish.
The first clip-show-style television episode in history was the Christmas episode for which highly-influential 1950s comedy?
"I Love Lucy"
The episode, titled "I Love Lucy Christmas Show", aired on December 24th, 1956.
Officially, where is the preferred location to display your lit Menorah?
Outside the front door
You should place your Menorah in a location that best publicizes the miracle of Hanukkah. The preferred location is outside of a door where it is most visible from the street.
Rounded to the nearest hundred-billion, what was the max amount of money they predicted the Y2K bug would cause in damages globally?
$600 Billion
Although many different sources placed different numbers, the most amount of money estimated to fix the Y2K bug was $600 billion. The U.S. spent over $100 billion preparing for Y2K in the years leading up to the new millennium, although very few damages occurred.
Rounded to the nearest dollar, how much was Kevin McCallister's groceries in total in "Home Alone"?
Double Points: What item did Kevin use a coupon he found in the newspaper for during the same shopping trip?
$20.00 (Exact: $19.83)
Bonus: Orange Juice
In recent years, the internet has been in an uproar about the insanely cheap cost of Kevin's groceries in the original "Home Alone". Multiple sources have tried to estimate the cost of the same groceries today, with numbers like $43, $64, and even $70 coming up!
What holiday song holds the record for the longest trip to #1 by ANY song on the billboard chart... clocking in at over 65 years after its original release?
Although the record was originally held by another holiday classic - "All I Want For Christmas is You" at 25 years, Brenda Lee's classic overtook the record in December 2023. Brenda Lee is also now the oldest person to earn a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 at 78 years old!