Real Christmas

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Jennifer Hudson and Jamie Foxx - recently seen together onscreen in Dreamgirls - will be joined by an array of Muppets, musicians and movie stars for “Elmo’s Christmas Countdown,” which will air as a one-hour special on ABC this holiday season.

The concert will “feature the celebrities helping host Elmo count down the days leading up to Christmas.” Also taking part are: Ben Stiller (who will voice Stiller the Elf, a narrating muppet made in the comedian’s image), Tony Sirico and Steve Schirippa (both of “The Sopranos”), Brad Pennington (”Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”), Alicia Keys, Sheryl Crow, Brad Paisley. The latter three, as well as Foxx and Hudson, will perform musical numbers, while Sirico and Schirippa will appear as Bert and Ernie in a comic sketch. Muppets Big Bird, Grover, Oscar, the Count and Snuffleupagus will also make appearances.

Over the years we have seen South Park break past all barriers of irreverence to tackle just about any topic, including Christmas. Back in 2000 Warner Home Video released a dvd set that had 3 episodes and about 100 minutes of South Park Christmas.

This year, on November 13th, South Park is going Christmas again — this time with 154 minutes of their brand of Christmas merriment. We do not know if this is all new material or merely a release of previously distributed Christmas material.

We do know this: with South Park, nothing is sacred. And nothing is safe. Especially Christmas.