Welcome to the 2025 Heistmas Advent Calendar, a daily drop of pop culture Christmas icons, oddities, and joy. Check back every day from now through December 25 for each daily entry!
It's not Christmas in my house until Dean Martin puts on a Santa suit.
Everyone's got their favorite Christmas crooners, and the real vintage TV heads among us have our favorite old-fashioned Christmas variety show. For me, though, the apex of the art form (and believe me, I've gone deep on this) came in 1968, when that year's Christmas episode of The Dean Martin Show aired on NBC.
Even if you've never watched a Christmas crooner variety show, you know the format: Dean and his friends -- including Dom DeLuise, Bob Newhart, and many, many others by the end -- all gather together on The Dean Martin Show set for an evening of comedy sketches, dance numbers, and, well, just goofing around.
See, Dino famously didn't like rehearsals, so his show was always a bit free-flowing, and rather than appearing unpolished, at its best The Dean Martin Show always felt like you were just hanging out with this charming guy who couldn't believe his luck. The '68 Christmas show is the best version of that, because the holidays add an extra layer of warmth, and it's all topped off by a charity donation announcement that, frankly, should be done on national TV every year.
So, now you know about The Dean Martin Christmas Show. Wanna watch it with us?
As part of our ongoing Heistmas celebration, Pop Heist will be hosting a live watch party on BlueSky Thursday, December 11 at 9 p.m. Eastern. To watch along, just press play on the above video at 9 p.m. Eastern (that's 6 Pacific for the West Coast folks), and follow along on BlueSky with the #Heistmas hashtag. It's gonna be a jolly good time.
Check back tomorrow for even more Heistmas Advent Calendar Goodies!
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