Santa Wants Some Loving - A Very Murray Christmas on Netflix

Remember the erstwhile holiday variety special? They were abundant in my youth. I remember the Mandrell sisters, Donny and Marie, Sonny and Cher, the Star Wars gang… every TV show in the 70s and 80s seemed to have a bizarre, celebrity-laden lovefest where it seemed like they'd been hitting the punch pretty heavily and then started singing Christmas carols set to a disco beat. And who could forget the truly odd Little Drummer Boy duet with Bing Crosby and David Bowie? It's just not the holidays without that schlock.

Apparently I'm not the only one who feels that way. Witness the awesome weirdness of A Very Murray Christmas, currently streaming on Netflix. I mean, who better than legendary omnipresent celebrity Bill Murray to emcee the holiday hijinks?!

Here's a little taste of something you never really knew you wanted, Bill Murray laying down a slinky soul Santa song with George Clooney adding in the booming bass. Ah, yeah.



Written by Mitch Glazer, Bill Murray and Sofia Coppola, and directed by Sofia Coppola, A Very Murray Christmas is an homage to the classic variety show featuring Bill Murray playing himself, as he worries no one will show up to his TV show due to a terrible snow storm in New York City.  Through luck and perseverance, guests arrive at the Carlyle hotel to help him; dancing and singing in holiday spirit.

The star-studded cast also includes George Clooney, Paul Shaffer, Amy Poehler, Julie White, Dimitri Dimitrov, Michael Cera, Chris Rock, David Johansen, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, Jenny Lewis, the band Phoenix, Rashida Jones, Miley Cyrus, and more!

While you're getting into the holiday spirit(s) with Bill Murray and friends, you might want to leaf through this weighty volume that examines the man and the myth:



The Big Bad Book of Bill Murray: A Critical Appreciation of the World's Finest Actor is jam-packed with Murray-ephemera that celebrates the laconic wit and wisdom of one of the most versatile talents ever to grace the screen. And he's not halfway finished yet.


Follow @Netflix for more information on A Very #MurrayChristmas this holiday season. And then cleanse your holiday palate with a little Jessica Jones for good measure.

#GiveHeifer to Help End Hunger and Poverty

Ugly Christmas sweaters are fun but they're also a pretty overt reminder of how lucky most of us are during the holiday season. This year, Heifer International is challenging us to use our social networks for good, by tagging ugly sweater photos (and other holiday memories) with #GiveHeifer. Each post shared from December 18th – National Ugly Sweater Day! – through December 31st using the #GiveHeifer hashtag will add $5 to Heifer's efforts to provide life-changing livestock to communities in need. They even provided some snazzy shirts for me and the kiddos to take our own #GiveHeifer selfies with:

Share ugly sweater selfies with #giveheifer through Dec 31st and @heifer will get $5 to help families in need!

A photo posted by Naomi Shapiro (@superdumb) on Dec 18, 2015 at 5:01pm PST

Learn more about how Heifer International provides livestock and agricultural training to help foster sustainable, self-reliant communities across the globe and here in the United States. It can be as simple as one chicken:


If you have someone who is hard to buy for on your holiday giving list, consider one of Heifer's unconventional and empowering options.