Arnold Schwarzenegger 80's Very Special Christmas Party Featured Mike Tyson, Danny DeVito & Randy Travis
In the 1980’s Arnold Schwarzenegger hosted what I assumed was a straight-to-VHS Christmas special. It featured Danny DeVito, Mike Tyson, Randy Travis, a bunch of kids / other random adults and, of course, an elderly female bowling champion. First Arnold terrified the children with stories about Austrian Christmas (which features a visit from the Devil) and then everyone sang carols, formed a soul train and ended up hugging around a comically large dinner table.
With a little Google-ing, I have determined that this is a clip from A Very Special Christmas Party, which originally aired on December 22, 1988 on ABC (per the Anchorage Daily News!) and starred Maria Shriver (Arnold’s then-wife), Mike Tyson, Randy Travis, Scott Hamilton, Danny DeVito, Susan Saint James, Barbara Mandrell, John F Kennedy Jr., Eunice Kennedy Shriver and Edward Kennedy. From TCM.com:
A holiday special based on last year’s “A Very Special Christmas” record album, which raised money for the Special Olympics. Commemorating the twentieth anniversary of Special Olympics International, the program features celebrities and the athletes who compete in these events.
This entire special needs to be shown on network television this year. Why is ABC not showing this annually alongside A Charlie Brown Christmas? There is still time to save Christmas!