When I was 11, I first saw this special (on the VHS release that is). And that was back in 1999-2000. I couldn't stop watching this special! Then I acquired the DVD in 2001. Then I found out my mother taped it when it aired on Nickelodeon in 1992. I was shocked to find out that the DVDs that I had been watching all this time had been edited because the music rights had been only secured for television, and not for home video release. If only they could acquire the full rights to all the songs and re-release the original special that only aired in 1987 and 1988. How could they just think about money, rather than this priceless Christmas gem? ANYWAY, I love "Muppet Family Christmas." It features practically every Muppet known to man, from Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Miss Piggy, Animal and the rest, to the cast of Sesame Street. Even Doc, Sprocket the dog, and the Fraggles make an appearance! Most of the Muppets in this special don't even exist anymore. Fozzie decides to surprise his mother at the farmhouse for Christmas, who was going to spend the holidays in Malibu. It's not only Fozzie who shows up, but all of the Muppets! Soon a blizzard hits. All the Muppets are safe and warm (and definitely crowded) inside the farmhouse except for Miss Piggy, who has been doing last minute shopping, and hasn't gotten there yet, and Kermit had been worried sick. But Doc decides to go out in the blizzard and search for her. Then Kermit and Robin discover a Fraggle hole in the basement, and it leads them into Fraggle Rock, and they meet some Fraggles. The Fraggles tell them about their Christmases, how they've been exchanging a Fraggle Pebble 37 times. They give it to Kermit, who gives it to Robin, (who later gives it to Grover.) Miss Piggy finally arrives, and makes her entrance (and slips on the icy patch, which had been a running gag throughout the whole show) And the Muppets sing a medley of carols, which sums up the holiday goodness of this wonderful special.
I am lucky that my mother taped this, probably the last time it ever aired on TV during the holidays. Had I not watched that tape, I would be watching the edited version! All the edits still do make the show make sense, except for one--when the Muppets are watching home movies of their very first Christmas together, (look out for a special live-action Muppet Babies cameo,) it shows them singing Santa Clause is coming to Town, and right after, Animal bursts through the screen. Yet in the edited version, it cuts right to Animal bursting through the screen, and Doc saying "boy, that was fun!" How could it be fun if it was like, two seconds??? LOL.
Fortunately, if you're lucky, you will have an old VHS tape with the original airing (or the 1989 "almost uncut" edit.) Back in the wonderful Jim Henson era of the Muppets. He even makes a cameo appearance!
