On December 10th, 1974, the iconic television special, "A Year Without a Santa Claus", premiered on ABC! The special was produced by Rankin/Bass Productions, who is well known for their stop-motion animated Christmas specials, including "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in 1964. The story was based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name, and starred the voices of Mickey Rooney, Dick Shawn, and George S. Irving. The special aired annually on ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas" marathon until 2017, when it began to be shown annually on AMC, TNT, and TBS.
