John Swansburg thinks the 1966 animated version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas was superior to the book on which it was based. I like the special a lot and I think that if you had to turn the book into a cartoon of that length, you couldn't have done a better job of it…but better than the book? I don't think so.

Reportedly, Ted "Dr. Seuss" Geisel wasn't happy with the finished product, even though he participated in the adaptation by writing song lyrics. He was also listed as producer along with director Chuck Jones though that credit could have meant almost any level of involvement. I never met the Good Doctor but folks who did have told of him complaining about all the stuff that was added and how his designs morphed somewhat into Chuck Jones designs.

I think both those things are inevitable when you commit so short a book to a half-hour timeslot and hand creative control to a director as immersed in his own style as Chuck Jones. No matter what Jones did the last few decades of his life, everyone looked a little like Wile E. Coyote.

The resultant special won great accolades and awards and demands for its rerunning every year for a long time. It probably even sold a lot more copies of the book. But better than that book? Like I said: I don't think so.

I posted this here one year ago yesterday. As my Christmas gift to myself, I'm running it here again…

The kid in the above photo is me and I don't care that you don't believe it. It's me. I'm not sure where it was taken — some department store, probably May Company — or how old I was. Seven? Eight? Beats me. But it's me. And is it my imagination or does Santa look like he's telling me not to tell my parents about something he said or did?

I don't have a lot of great Christmas memories left to share here. In fifteen years of blogging and telling tales of my past, I may have exhausted my supply. There weren't that many to begin with.

I do not remember ever seriously believing in Santa or of Christmas being that big a deal around our house. It was a time of love and joy and gifts but with my family, it was always a time of love and joy and gifts. The main features unique to Christmas time were a tree in the living room, a lot of TV specials I had to watch and a certain synchronization of presents.

Our family consisted of me, my mother, my father, my Uncle Nathan, my Aunt Dot and my Uncle Aaron. Nathan and Dot were my father's brother and sister. Aaron was Dot's husband. Nathan never married. One year, my mother's parents came out from Hartford and stayed with us for the holiday season. Then after Grandpa passed away, it was just Grandma one year. After Aaron died, we'd invite Aunt Dot's best friend Sally to join us for Christmas Dinner if she didn't travel out of town to be with other members of her family.

Since Sally was going to bring me a present, I felt I should get her one…and I never knew what to get for her. All she seemed to want was that I address her as "Aunt Sally" and you couldn't wrap that and put it beneath the tree. I think I usually gave her candy but the real gift was that I'd make the card out to "Aunt Sally." The rest of us were real good at taking the gift-selecting burden off each other by hinting with a minimum of subtlety as to what we wanted.

So we usually had six or less people at the table…and then as people died, it went down to five and then four…and at some point, it seemed a bit depressing to have much of a celebration at Christmas. It just reminded those of us who were left of those of us who were not.

At any given assemblage around the table, at least one person was Jewish and one was Catholic — and then you had me who had never been Bar Mitzvahed but identified as more-or-less Jewish but really had a foot in both camps. Early in my childhood, there had been a bit of polite, respectful debate about the co-existence of the two faiths in one family and then there had been that ghastly mistake of enrolling me in a Sunday Hebrew school. But the religious situation was never that serious nor was it divisive. There didn't seem to be any point to it.

One reason I find the whole current "War on Christmas" thing so phony is that each year I intermingled with people of different religions and there was never an issue. Not for one second did anyone attach any significance to wishing someone "Season's Greetings" instead of "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" instead of some other preferred form.

Not just in our house but throughout the neighborhood and at school, one good wish was as innocent and friendly as another. No hidden meanings or schemes to demean any faith were inferred or assumed. "Happy Holidays" meant "I hope your holidays (whatever they may be) are happy for you." It's amazing that some people have become convinced that that innocent little pleasantry could ever mean something menacing.

I've always felt that way about religious preference or even bigotry. Just let everyone be whatever they want to be and respect it. I feel the same way about racial prejudice or about prejudice over sexual orientation. If you just respect that others are what they are, it works out fine. It only becomes a war if you somehow feel threatened and choose to start one.

Getting back to the photo up top: I've been staring at it, trying to figure out what was on my mind when it was taken. This is a guess but I think it's a good one.

I never really believed in Santa…or if I did, I didn't believe the guy in the red suit at the May Company was the real Santa because — you know — he'd be too busy just before Christmas to sit around a department store all day. Besides, I was well aware there was a Santa down the street at Bullock's Department Store and another one over in Beverly Hills at Robinson's and what about that Santa outside on Wilshire Boulevard near Rodeo Drive who was out there all day ringing a bell for some charity and posing for photos?

So if I did ever believe there was a real Santa Claus — and I don't recall that I did — I'd figured out that I couldn't meet him or sit on his lap. The guy at May Company was some outta-work actor or someone they'd hire to impersonate The Man Himself to draw customers into their store. At that age, thinking like that is not cynicism. It's figuring out the world around you and all the fibs — some of them, no doubt well meant — that you need to overcome if you're ever going to grow up.

By the time this photo was taken, I knew there was no Santa. So I'm thinking I was pressured by some relative with the camera to get in the line to sit on the impostor's lap…and what was on my mind was probably something like this: "What am I supposed to do here? Pretend this guy is the real Santa, meaning that I go along with a fraud? Tell him my list of stuff I want this year? Or maybe I should rip that fake beard off him and expose him as the fake he is?"

I'm pretty sure I didn't do that last thing. I probably went along with the hoax just to get it over with.

Or knowing me, I may have climbed up on his knee and whispered to him, "I'll make a deal with you, fella. If you'll pull some strings to get me that Sneaky Pete Magic Set I want, I won't blow the whistle and tell all the kids in line that you're just an office temp in a fake beard!"

And history does show that one year, I did get my own Sneaky Pete Magic Set. So maybe this is the year that I learned that while racial or religious prejudice doesn't work, blackmail sometimes does. Have a Merry Whatever.

One of the things you learn very quickly working in television is how remarkable the stage crews usually are. The first time I wrote a big-budget prime-time variety special, the entire set (which was enormous and complex) had to be loaded-in and set-up overnight and I decided I had to see how that was done. I went to Canter's Delicatessen, bought a sack of sandwiches, and went over to the stage to spend much of the night watching the crew work.

It was amazing, absolutely amazing. The only thing I have seen since that's been in any way comparable has been a few times at Comic-Con International in San Diego when I stayed in the main hall after closing and watched all those booths and exhibits come down. It was like watching Disneyland be disassembled and moved elsewhere right before my eyes.

On the variety show stage, I saw physical feats that would not have been outta place at Cirque Du Soleil, only performed by grips and technicians in t-shirts and jeans. I was sitting on a little platform, talking with anyone who stopped by for a free sandwich. And all the time I was thinking, "This is more entertaining than the show's going to be!"

The clips below are from last week's Saturday Night Live and we're going to do this in sequence. The first is the cold opening with Alec Baldwin in what is turning out to be the role of his career, playing You-Know-Who. As it ends and the prerecorded opening rolls, the crew has a tad under two minutes to pull off a big reset on live television with rows of audience members in their way. That's in the second video. If you think there's not much talent working on that show this season, you're wrong…

Someone who just signs themselves as "Jimi" wrote the following to me…

I have to disagree with your tweet. This is the Christmas season. Most of us celebrate Christmas and think it's the most wonderful time of the year and we don't like this war that's being waged on our faith. Why should anyone be made to feel bad for saying "Merry Christmas?" Why should anyone be discouraged from wishing someone a Merry Christmas?

I don't think anyone really is. But imagine for a moment that you were giving a speech, addressing an audience that was mainly males but contained a few females. Would you say, "Men, I'm here to speak to you today"? No, you'd say "ladies and gentlemen" or something else that would acknowledge the women's presence. It's just being polite.

When stores ask their employees to wish customers "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or anything like that, that's all they're doing…trying to be inclusive and to not make an issue of who celebrates Christmas and who doesn't because (a) why even take the time to guess? and (b) you'll often be wrong. They're also extending the good wishes to include New Year's Day at the same time. That's all it is…a positive sentiment that skirts the issue of whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Something Else or None of the Above.

You ask why anyone should be made to feel bad for saying "Merry Christmas." Why should anyone be made to feel like they have a devious agenda for wishing you a happy holiday season? Maybe it's just the year-end way of saying, "Have a nice day" or "Good luck" — with no strings or even ribbons attached.

• Very few things dumber this season than assuming someone wishing you "Happy Holidays" is implying anything about the Christian faith.

A bit over two years ago here, I linked to this article by Richard Zoglin which was headlined, "New Book Reveals Johnny Carson's Least Favorite Tonight Show Guest: Bob Hope." As I noted, the headline did not exactly reflect the article but the piece did say that Johnny didn't like having Bob on his program.

I've been watching the Carson reruns on Antenna TV and they seem to run a disproportionate number with Hope as a guest. (I just looked and another one is on tonight. The other guests are Liv Ullman and our friend we lost two months ago, Kevin Meaney.) I'm guessing the frequency of reruns with Ol' Ski-Nose is because whoever picks the reruns tries to avoid shows with a lot of music so as to not have to pay clearance fees. Ergo, you get a great many with comedians. They run an awful lot with Buddy Hackett and George Carlin, too.

I don't doubt what the sources told Zoglin but I have to say that watching those shows now, I don't see it. Johnny fawns a lot more over Hope than necessary and accommodates more plugging than he allowed most other guests. Hope usually showed up with some decent prepared material and often a few funny out-takes from the upcoming special he was there to promote. And Johnny was always primed to cue some anecdote about Hope's career that Bob would rattle off to the audience's delight.

They were usually pretty good segments and if Johnny really resented Hope coming on to do an infomerical for his special, he never did anything to stop it. I was at a taping once when Hope was a guest and after Johnny finished his show, he stayed around and helped (and heckled) as Hope used the Carson audience to tape the monologue for the upcoming special he was plugging. Johnny didn't have to do that.

The one place where those episodes now seem awkward is when Bob drifted into the political stuff. Then again, with hindsight, about 90% of what everyone said in public about Vietnam in the seventies now looks pretty naïve.

I'll watch the rerun that's on tonight with the same curiosity I have for all of Hope's appearances: Did Johnny really dislike this guy as much as some of his associates now say? Because he sure doesn't show it and there were times when you sensed that Mr. Carson didn't like a guest and they wouldn't be back. There was one on a few weeks ago with Milton Berle where I could practically read Carson's mind. He was thinking, "This is the last time he'll be on this show…and I have to make sure that when I'm that age, I don't embarrass myself like that."

Donald Trump seems to tweet in a two-stage manner. He sends something out into the world via Twitter, then his aides scurry about and tell us what he really meant. Recently, he tweeted about how the U.S. needs to expand its nuclear capability…and that made folks uneasy because I don't think even his most fervent supporters are all that comfy with the concept of Trump being able to start a nuclear war. He might send missiles off to punish Rockettes who won't dance for him.

So here's Fred Kaplan trying to figure out not what Trump's staff says he meant but what the man really meant. And Fred thinks it may not be as bad as some thought at first.

Another favorite Christmas video…

The parent company of the Rockettes has issued a statement that the dancers don't have to participate in the inaugural gala if they don't want to. Some folks are now posting that the earlier report — that it was compulsory — was inaccurate.

Well, not actually. The earlier report said that the American Guild of Variety Artists — the union that represents performers like the Rockettes — said that if the ladies have a contract, they can be ordered to perform. In the new statement, the Madison Square Garden Company, which I guess owns or manages the Rockettes, says they won't make any Rockette participate and dance if she doesn't want to. Those two statements are not contradictory.

The Rockettes are hardly a big "get" for the inaugural gala so it's trivial whether they perform at this trivial event or not…and the fact that some of them want to opt out exceeds even the Utterly Trivial standards of this blog. But it's worth noting because we're about to get a president who is obsessed with trivial slights and punishing those responsible for them. Someone right now is probably trying to talk him out of tweeting that any Rockettes who don't show up are pathetic loser whores.

This is going to be a movie. Professional gambler Phil Ivey won $9.6 million smackers at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, NJ playing Baccarat. A judge has now ruled that he has to pay it back. Was he cheating? Well, that's arguable…

Here's one we love every year. It was designed by R.O. Blechman and animated by Willis Pyle, who passed away this past June at the age of 101…

So he's talking about a big Nuclear Arms Race and about all sorts of strange tariffs…but I guess the big story is that they can't get any Big Names to perform for his inauguration. The Rockettes have been drafted into service, reportedly against many of the dancers' wishes. But that seems appropriate…women being forced to do things with their bodies for the pleasure of Donald J. Trump. The high point of the gala may turn out to be Scott Baio with a harmonica and Rich Little doing all the celebrities who refused to show up. If he does, he's going to be up there a while.

I don't think it's their own Liberalism that's keeping the stars away. I think it's the growing recognition that this President-To-Be is really, really loathed even by a lot of people who cast their ballots for Trump/Pence; that even in this honeymoon phase when many are trying to think positive, there's the fear of having your name associated with the guy. He sure ain't doing anything to win over those who voted for Hillary — which, you'll be reminded constantly, was more than voted for him.

It's all kinda turning into a big Rodney Dangerfield routine and one can imagine Trump repeatedly touching the knot in his tie as he bitches about getting No Respect. I think he thought it came automatically with the presidency; like there was some law that everyone had to acknowledge his awesomeness and also forget everything he said and did to win, including the "promises."

That may be the dominant theme of his time in office. You'll have Trump whining about not being loved by all while he simultaneously distracts us from what Mike Pence is doing to roll back gay rights, ban abortion, stop all this nonsense about fighting Climate Change and, of course, making sure the filthy-rich get filthier-richer.

One of my Red State Friends wrote that I hate Donald Trump. No, no, no. I don't hate anyone. I just think that even before Trump has placed his left hand on a copy of The Art of the Deal and taken the oath of office, he's showing all signs of being a really true, destructive Chief Exec. It's kind of the same way that same Red State Friend was sure Barack Obama was going to crash the economy, send gas prices skyrocketing and unemployment into double-digits while taking orders from Moscow. I hope I'm at least half as wrong as he was.

I asked earlier if anyone had a suggestion on how to convert a lot of old Wordstar files to the current version of Word. I apologize but I should have been more specific. I've tried all the obvious options that come up when you Google "wordstar convert." They're all either dead links, Word add-ons that don't work with current versions of Word…or programs I just plain can't get to work well. I'm looking for advice from someone who has some experience doing this.

I will settle for a decent conversion from Wordstar to PDF. How about that? Anyone?

Word has reached us of the passing of cartoonist Paul Peter Porges on December 20 at the age of 89. Porges was a frequent contributor to the top magazines, including The New Yorker, Harper's and Saturday Evening Post but if you know his name, it's probably because of his work for MAD starting in 1966 and continuing just barely into the twenty-first century. He usually wrote but sometimes drew and sometimes did both.

He had a fascinating life. He was born in Vienna and spent much of his adolescence moving about Europe, trying to avoid imprisonment by the Nazis. Captured once, he managed to escape but his parents were not so fortunate and spent time in a concentration camp before being freed and, like him, emigrating to the United States. In 1950, he was drafted and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

He had been an artist before that — "mostly paintings to be hung on walls," he told me the one time we spoke. But in the army, he was asked to draw cartoons for the camp newspaper and that set him off on the career he would follow for the rest of his days. It was a friend — MAD's longtime art director John Putnam — who invited Porges into The Usual Gang of Idiots.

The last twenty years or so, if you asked him who he was drawing for, he said, "Myself." He stopped working on assignments (with the occasional exception) and drew as he pleased. If someone wanted to buy some of his output and publish it, fine. But as he put it, "If they don't, that's fine too."

His friends at MAD describe him as "a warm and gregarious man," one who was exceptionally devoted to his wife, Lucie. Lucie preceded him in death and that's the two of them dancing in the above photo. I only knew him through a phone interview for my book MAD Art but he was sure funny on the phone. Oh, yeah — and on paper, too.

I've had pretty good luck asking questions here. Very smart people read this blog.

I have a large number of old files in Wordstar format. I would like to convert them to the current Word format, preferably with the formatting intact. What's the easiest way to do this? I no longer have Wordstar on my computer — does anyone? — and I'm currently running a PC with the current version of Windows. Anyone got an idea?

[UPDATE: I have amended this request.]