Christmas TV 2022 - 2024

Was watching the Christmas special of Great British Bake off the other night & was disappointed to note there were no Christmas adverts in the ad breaks. Given the episode was aired in the middle of Christmas itself that's a bit depressing & just reinforces the shift in the season that has occurred in my lifetime. It seems all guns are blazing from early to Mid November but adverts are already tailing off in the last few days in the run up (assume companies feel that the peak selling time is done at that point & its diminishing returns with increased advertising costs) with very few showing over the actual 12 days itself.

Listen, I appreciate the world moves on but the traditionalist in me rues the changes that commercialism has brought in the last few years. Its such a shame that the majority just accept (& in many cases embrace) that this is the way Christmas is nowadays & cant wait to see it in the rear view mirror and move on to the new year delighted its done & dusted. Rose tinted glasses & all that but I'd love it if more people would simply stop & enjoy the season until it finishes, you dont have to go all out full on Christmas for 12 days but appreciate the time of year & the intent of the season. So many are unaware of the 12 days and bin all signs of it before new years now & I find that a little sad. Anyway, its my little gripe that I need to accept is never going to change. I just dread the day we go & start opening stuff up as normal on Christmas day itself, which as mad as it may sound now I suspect isnt that far away in reality.

I actually believe that we don't even get as far as Christmas itself anymore, I noticed this year that many of the adverts had returned to normal for Christmas week itself, Christmas stock in shops was being replaced (probably sold off in the vast majority of cases to be fair) and sales that normally start after Christmas were starting a week before!! Even the airports we travelled through had very little signs of Christmas on display.

The shift up until recently was happening quite slowly, but it seems to have quickened up a pace in the last 2-3 years, not sure why that has happened TBH, but I wish the race to diminish & creep the season would relax a tad or we'll start the build up in June & be done by Halloween at this rate😀

My comment re: Halloween was in jest (hence the smiley) but its a fair point, Halloween is probably the one thing stopping Christmas creep moving even further back into the year. Thankfully Halloween seems to be enjoying a renaissance and is more popular now than at any time I can remember in my lifetime so isn't going anywhere soon.

Its the nightmare before that saves Christmas!!

Totally agree @Loughc my kids might not turn into Christmas fans like me however I try to get them to understand what Christmas is all about (religious and just the spirit of Christmas) and is not about getting presents.

Agree ... I don't know but Christmas has become a lot less magical the last few years ... technically speaking the season lasts from 1st December to the 1st Sunday in February ... traditionally it was 8th December to 6th January ... but now it is 1st November to 25th December ...

I could take it or leave it this year .... it just seemed to be too much buildup and fell flat ... it has been going that way for years ... certain things did not help ... that lengthy level 5 lockdown 2 years back before and after Christmas did not do it any favours that time ... this year that stupid infantile unneeded war in Ukraine and the constant media coverage of it did not help ... some hardliners in Russia need to be visited by 3 ghosts ASAP!! The crass commerciality starting from October ... Halloween disguises it somewhat ... and going into full throttle in November makes one jaded by December ... because the pre-2020 Christmases did not feel much better ... the magic of Christmases up until 2013/2014 somehow has gone ... or so it seems?

But getting back on topic ... the TV does not help either ... nothing special being done ... as said that affore mentioned infantile war gets too much coverage and you'd think they'd have the decency to cease fire and end the effing thing for Christmas? ... really children would run things in Russia better than these supposed experienced clowns ... terrorism killing civilians is not what anyone wants to see at Christmas or any time ... it needs to stop now and the criminals who started it jailed for life ...

Other than that it is Mrs Brown too much ... 10 years back it was new and maybe funny ... now it is jaded ... and frankly there is nothing else better on ... and then it is all this advertising Dancing With the Stars and Operation Transformation .. and worst of all First Dates Ireland ... the magic is certainly killed when this is all is on.

Was on here as well (my folks love it and they were here Christmas Day), to me they are all the same the last few years however obviously still have some appeal. Not really my thing at all.

Saw an advert on TV last night for one of those Christmas clubs ( i was building flat pack furniture at the time) and i nearly got whiplash in my haste to see if I was hearing things when it said 'Get ready for Christmas 2023'

I'm always saying this to the OH, all those soaps seem to be full of murders, affairs and depressing story lines from what I can see.

yeah think it was VM, glad I wasn't the only one or else people would think you were mad!

Agreed, real life is terribly boring🥱🥱

Waiting on a reply to this too. Have it on my favourites from last year never got around to watching it. Might start this weekend now.