Is Emmet Otters Jugband Christmas the hbo show with a Xmas branch vs. a tree?

Question

The show I am looking for aired in 1980 or 1981. My girls loved it -- I don't remember the band. Just that Christmas branch. I was sick and my girls got us a Christmas branch and decorated it themselves. I'd like to get it for their children. Thanks

Answer 1

Yes, that is Emmet Otter....CLASSIC.....

Answer 2

Yes, that would be Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas. I remember seeing it back in the early '80s as a kid, but according to the date on the DVD it goes back to '77 (and I want a better DVD, one that has the missing intro from Kermit the Frog which the one I've got here doesn't have). It's explained through Emmet and his mother's rememberances of his father that every year he, Emmet's father, would go out to gut down a tree for Christmas but just didn't have the heart to do so. So he'd just cut a branch off the tree, and it became a Otter family tradition as shown by Emmet going out and getting the Christmas branch. "Because I didn't cut it down the rest of that tree will still be alive in a hundred years."

Thanks for reminding me about Emmet. Just popped in the DVD since I haven't seen it yet this season. Maybe I oughta dig out the VHS so I can get the full thing. It's just wrong to have Emmet without Kermit being a part of it.