Now that Thanksgiving is over, December is here, and the networks are bombarding us with holiday ads and programming, I thought I'd take the opportunity to offer some of my favorite holiday moments in film, TV, and music.

White Christmas (1954),  directed by Michael Curtiz, starts the countdown because it has it all: Danny Kaye's comedic brilliance, Bing Crosby's crooning, Rosemary Clooney's dulcet tones, and Vera Ellen's dancing, set to a story about war buddies who become famous, and fall in love while trying to help two talented sisters trying make it in show business, and give an aging, retired general down on his luck a Christmas he'll never forget.

The film is pure schmaltz, but, as holiday schmaltz goes, it's wonderfully tasty....