How Murray Saved Christmas
| How Murray Saved Christmas | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Based on |
How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss |
| Written by | Mike Reiss |
| Directed by | Peter Avanzino |
| Starring |
Jerry Stiller Sean Hayes Kevin Michael Richardson Jason Alexander John Ratzenberger Dennis Haysbert |
| Narrated by | Dennis Haysbert |
| Theme music composer | Walter Murphy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) |
Claudia Katz Lee Supercinski |
| Editor(s) | Paul D. Calder |
| Running time | 42 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Rough Draft Studios Universal Animation Studios |
| Distributor | Universal Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release |
|
How Murray Saved Christmas is a 2014 Christmas musical television special directed by Peter Avanzino and written by Mike Reiss. The special stars Jerry Stiller, Sean Hayes, Kevin Michael Richardson, Jason Alexander, John Ratzenberger and Dennis Haysbert. It is based on Mike Reiss' 2004 children's book of the same name which was illustrated by David Catrow. The special premiered on December 5, 2014, on NBC.
Plot
The story begins in Stinky Cigars, the secret town where all the holiday characters live, from the famous (Santa and the Easter Bunny) to the obscure (Labor Day Amos and Arbor Day Aardvark). Everyone's happy in Stinky Cigars - except Murray Weiner, the grumpy owner of Murray's Holiday Diner. But when Santa is knocked out cold by an experimental toy - the Jack-in-the-Boxer - it's up to Murray to save Christmas - which he does, in a weirdly wonderful way. He even brings toys to the naughty kids!
Cast
- Jerry Stiller as Murray Weiner
- Sean Hayes as Edison Elf
- Kevin Michael Richardson as Santa Claus, Easter Bunny
- Jason Alexander as Doc Holiday
- John Ratzenberger as Officer Bender
- Dennis Haysbert as Narrator, Baby New Year
- Nick Jameson as various characters
- Tom Kenny as various characters
- Maurice LaMarche as various characters
- Tress MacNeille as various characters
- Billy West as various characters
Release
Reception
The special received 3.57 million viewers and a 0.9/3 rating/share.[1]
How Murray Saved Christmas received mixed reviews from critics. The review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the special a score of 50% based on reviews from 6 critics, with an average score of 3.7/10.[2] The review-aggregation website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated a score of 60 out of 100 based on 4 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[3]
Patrick Kevin Day of the Los Angeles Times gave the special a positive review, saying "It's the kind of special that harried parents may want to turn on for their own tired parents to help babysit the kids. They'll enjoy the extended tribute to milkmen."[4] Robert Bianco of USA Today gave the special a positive review, saying "The very multicultural Murray is one of those rare holiday specials the entire family can enjoy for years to come."[5] Brian Lowry of Variety gave the special a negative review, saying "Reiss has talked about bringing a "Simpsons" sensibility to Christmas specials, and in that sense: mission accomplished. But at the risk of sounding like a Grinch, while Murray gets the sleigh off the ground, How Murray Saved Christmas doesn’t manage to stay airborne."[6] Erik Adams of The A.V. Club gave the special a C+, saying "Sentiment- and story-wise, How Murray Saved Christmas is all over the place, but its joke-telling abilities live up to the shiniest lines on its creators’ resumes."[7]
Home media
How Murray Saved Christmas was released on DVD on December 16, 2014.[8]
References
- ↑ Bibel, Sara (December 8, 2014). "Friday Final Ratings: 'Grimm' Adjusted Up & Final College Football Numbers". TV by the Numbers. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
- ↑ "How Murray Saved Christmas". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "How Murray Saved Christmas - Season 1 Reviews - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "'How Murray Saved Christmas' skews older". Los Angeles Times. 5 December 2014. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ Robert Bianco, USA TODAY (5 December 2014). "Weekend TV: 'How Murray Saved Christmas'". USA Today. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "TV Review: ‘How Murray Saved Christmas’". Variety. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "Review: Character counts in Toy Story That Time Forgot and How Murray Saved Christmas". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
- ↑ "How Murray Saved Christmas". Amazon.com. Retrieved 6 December 2014.