B.C.: A Special Christmas is a Canadian-produced holiday special based on the comic strip B.C. by Johnny Hart. The special starred the radio and television comedy duo of Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding, and originally aired on HBO beginning in 1981. This is the second TV special based on B.C., after B.C.: The First Thanksgiving, which premiered on NBC in 1973.
Synopsis
When Thor finds that the morning star is off by two and a half degrees, he determines to check his calendar to find out what day it is, but he had loaned it to someone else and doesn't remember who. After waking up nearly everyone else including Clumsy Carp, Fat Broad, Cute Chick, and Curls, he finally deduces that he had loaned his calendar to Peter.
Arriving at Peter's cave, Thor sees that the day is December 24th. Peter shoos him away and tries to go back to sleep, but a brief tremor causes a crevice to form in the ground, out from which instantly springs a large flower. An angry Peter is about to destroy it when Cute Chick sees it and marvels at its beauty. Peter gifts the flower to her, and when she kisses him on the cheek, he gets an inspiration. He goes to see Wiley to tell him about his "unbelievable experience" and remarks on how he "never knew giving could be so rewarding". Wiley begins to think that the perennially selfish Peter may have turned over a new leaf until he adds, "There's a buck to be made here!"
As Wiley starts writing on one of his slabs, Peter gets an idea: he makes up a tall tale about how he and Wiley are out digging for clams when they suddenly unearth an ancient slab filled with hieroglyphics. He then suggests that they create their own myth, a legend about giving "perpetuated through the ages", they should write it on a slab and then that night at the campfire they tell everyone about it, saying that it's a legend that they should carry on. Wiley is reluctant, but then goes all in when Peter tells them they'll be rich. Wiley asks what the main point of the legend should be, and Peter suggests a character that comes around once a year giving gifts to everyone; Wiley adds that the character should have "sanitary claws" so as not to soil the gifts. Peter then suggests the name "Santa", then adds that to fulfill the legend everyone must give gifts in Santa's name to feel the joy of giving, and Peter and Wiley plan to profit by selling the gifts for the others to exchange.
The two then throw out ideas for gifts, including rocks, dirt (which Peter thinks is too crass), and then trees, which Peter doesn't see until Wiley proposes that trees could be a symbol of the legend; Peter likes Wiley's suggestion, but even better the idea of profiting from the legend every year, and then suggests calling the holiday "X-mas". He then suggests they need some kind of mythical beast for the legend; Peter suggests a green pig, then a huge pink humanoid with a big green nose, tusks, and wearing a bowler hat, but then after some other useless ideas, they settle on a stout old man with white whiskers wearing a red suit and stocking cap. Wiley then suggests that "Santa" has to be presented as an exalted entity, more than human but less than godlike. He and Peter settle on Santa driving a sleigh pulled by reindeer, and the so-called "legend" is complete.
That night at the campfire, Peter and Wiley tell their "Legend of X-mas" to the others (quoting lines from the classic poem A Visit from St. Nicholas) Peter then suggests that they declare December 26 "the grandest holiday of them all"; Wiley seconds the motion, and everyone else, even Grog, voices their approval. Peter then tells them that he and Wiley have "lightened your burdens" by providing gifts and trees for purchase beginning the next morning. As they all go off to their caves, everyone except for the naturally-cynical Curls and man-hating Fat Broad are enthralled by Peter and Wiley's story. The two schemers go off to work on making gifts for purchase- Peter to gather the boulders, and Wiley to cut down the trees. Just as the snow begins to fall, they finish up and decide to get some sleep.
At sunrise, Peter and Wiley are ready for the customers, but little do the two racketeers realize that during the night they got a very special visitor in the person of the real Santa, who made a stop at each cave leaving a tree and a gift for each person, though he was almost devoured by a sleeping Grog who ate the pine needles off of the tree Santa left for him. At daybreak, the others, one by one, all come out and show off the gifts that Santa left for them:
- A snorkel outfit for Clumsy
- A new wheel for Thor
- A pair of pink booties for Fat Broad
- A pearl necklace for Cute Chick
- A tiddlywinks set for B.C.
When B.C. and Cute Chick ask Peter and Wiley what they got, they stumble over their words, but Peter manages to get out that he got a pair of red mittens, while Wiley says he got a red sock. Thor invites everyone over to his cave to celebrate, and they all leave, with a disgruntled Peter and Wiley staying behind wondering what went wrong. Peter goes back to his cave trying to make sense of it all, that a myth they created turned out to be real. To his surprise, Santa left in Peter's cave a tree decorated with candles, and a red stocking cap hanging from it. Peter puts on the cap and runs outside overjoyed, and then Wiley shows up saying that he found a candlelit tree in his cave and shows Peter a pair of red mittens hanging from it. Wiley sees Peter's cap and, calling it a "stump sock" puts it on over his wooden leg, and then lets Peter keep the mittens in trade. The two go into Peter's cave to marvel at his tree, and Peter muses about Santa's visit saying, "The ol' rascal really crossed us up", but Wiley is more convinced that Santa "straightened us out", to which Peter agrees. The two wish one another Merry Christmas as Wiley goes back to his cave.
That night, Peter is quietly awoken by the shadows of three camels passing in front of his doorway. Putting on his mittens, Peter goes outside to investigate and finds camel tracks in the snow, and then looks up to see the star in the east with the tracks going toward it. The scene freezes as the end credits roll, with "Away in a Manger" playing.
Notes
- The two female characters in B.C. were not given proper names until 2019, when Mick and Mason Mastroianni (who by that time had taken over production of the comic strip, succeeding their grandfather, B.C. creator Johnny Hart, who died in 2007) decided to name the fat broad 'Jane', and the cute chick 'Grace'.
Cast
| Voice actor/actress | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Bob Elliott | Peter |
| Ray Goulding | Wiley |
| Barbara Hamilton | Jane (Fat Broad) |
| Henry Ramer | Thor |
| Keith Hampshire | Clumsy Carp |
| John Stocker | Curls |
| Melleny Brown | Grace (Cute Chick) |