Most children of the '70's found the Rankin/Bass canon as absurd as it was must-see. The back-story they came up with for Santa alone, in "Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town" flies in the face of everything every child has ever been told about St. Nick but we watch(ed) it with glee. His best friend was a penguin? A Burger Meister Meister Burger who bans toys, thus making Kris Kringle break into homes via chimneys? Tanta Kringle!?
And so the fleshing out of the fabled Rudolph story was taken with the same grain of salt. But not in 2018 America. Like "Baby, It's Cold Outside" it's now on many a chopping block, even while both "take-downs" began as stand-up comedy routines. Brilliant ones at that. Also, ones that gotten far too seriously over the years.
In fact, "Rudolph" earned the writers of the original take-down an Emmy. Yep. Here's where it ALL began.