The Triple Dog Dare: Watching—& Surviving—the 24-Hour Marathon of A Christmas Story

by Joanna Wilson

1 Woman. 1 TV. 1 Movie. 24 Hours.

Every year since 1997, Turner Broadcasting has aired 24 hours of A Christmas Story from Christmas Eve through Christmas Day. The marathon has become a cultural phenomenon—many families tune in and watch the movie at least once—some watch several times. But no one watches all 24 hours, right?

Christmas TV writer Joanna Wilson trains her expertise on the 24-hour marathon of A Christmas Story to find out what really happens when you watch all 12 screenings of director Bob Clark’s classic Christmas movie non-stop, commercials and all. Along the way, she discusses the traditions of Christmas on TV, the nuances of Bob Clark’s filmmaking, the ongoing appeal of the movie and its relation to the multilayered, literary storytelling of Jean Shepherd, the activities of binge-watching and hyper-viewing—and she experiences what may or may not be the first recorded case of soap poisoning.

Genres: Christmas, Nonfiction, Pop Culture

180 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 26, 2016

Reviews

[Dann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Christmas aficionado Joanna Wilson testes her mettle in The Triple Dog Dare: Watching & Surviving the 24-Hour Marathon of A Christmas Story. Most everyone has watched some part of TBS’s 24 Hours of A Christmas Story marathon, but can someone watch all of it? And what will happen if they do? Ms. Wilson takes up that challenge and performs a sociological experiment; recreating the marathon with an old VHS cassette tape that includes commercial breaks along with recreating the Christmas experience itself with decorations, presents, and other holiday festivities. She documents her thoughts and experiences for each viewing, and provides information about the film and its history. Additionally, Wilson attempts to answers several key questions; such as why this film has been marathoned (as opposed to others), which films have potential for their own 24-hour marathons, why we love Christmas movies, and what effect does repeated viewings have? Unfortunately, as interesting as this all sounds, it ends up being a lot of minutia about the actual experiment (how she stayed awake, the activities she planned, etc.) and many of her thoughts and observations are repeated several times. The Triple Dog Dare: Watching & Surviving the 24-Hour Marathon of A Christmas Story has some intriguing discussions about this movie and Christmas movies in general, but never really goes anywhere.

[Leslie Goddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really loved this fun, witty book. It struck me as boiling down to two parts. The first is a funny memoir of her experiencing watching 12 repetitions of A Christmas Story in a single 24-hour period. I love her stories, like how she put up a tree (even though she was running the experiment in February), kept herself awake with coffee and energy drinks, experimenting with washing her mouth out with soap.

The other, equally engaging part is her ruminations on fascinating questions -- questions about why we love Christmas movies, what makes for a great Christmas movie, why A Christmas Story in particular is suited for this type of marathon, how Christmas movies differ from other types of movies, and so on. Wilson is the perfect person for these kinds of musing because she has both the depth of experience in film history to be knowledgeable about them and the warm, friendly love of movies that makes her like a good friend.

I kind of wish the title had focused less on the experiment itself (watching all 24 hours of the marathon) and more on what it taught her (e.g. The Triple Dog Dare: What Watching the 24-Hour Marathon of A Christmas Story Taught Me About Why We Love Christmas Movies). I was less interested in learning about the experiment per se than in what it would tell me about why we get so obsessed with watching the same movies over and over every Christmas season.

[Chelsea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Joanna Wilson takes on the Triple Dog Dare, she decides to actually watch a 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story. Except she does it in February using a VHS she bought on Ebay so it can be "authentic" with actual commercials. The VHS is a recording from 89. She stayed up watching Gilmore Girls though so is up for almost 36 hours just watching TV.
Throughout the viewings, 12 in total, Joanna peppers tidbits about other famous Christmas movies and TV Specials. I found most of her information interesting and she poses a lot of questions about why we like christmas movies and what other movie could potentially replace A Christmas Story. I think this book lacked a decent editor as some of the facts and tangents went too long or repeated in chapters. I wanted more facts about the movie itself. It was definitely an interesting read and it isn't too long to get through. Fun experiment. I think any Christmas Story fan might enjoy flipping through this one. Just skim the tedious dumps of Christmas TV-facts or her random inserts of what books she reads? Again, not a bad book but lacks some editing.

[Drucilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this was the perfect length. If it was any longer, it would not have worked as well. I enjoyed reading it and thought Wilson did a great job with it.

[Theresa F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find it amusing how obvious it is that some sections of this book were transcribed from ramblings the author made while in a sleep-deprived state. Clearly the author had a sense of humor regarding the absurdity of the challenge she had set for herself.
Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? Not sure.
Would I recommend it? For readers who can embrace another's absurdity without rolling their eyes, this book is an entertaining ride.

[Cory Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wilson really is a queen of Christmas, as she once again captures the joy and details of the season by going off the main road. This book does a great job of pulling out lots of great details from the cult Christmas classic, A Christmas Story, while throwing in a lot of cross references to other loved or scarcely known holiday films. Perfect book to get you into the Christmas spirit, not only by exploring the big fantastical elements of holiday entertainment, but also settling into the part that is mostly about cookies, pajamas, and staying warm with loved ones.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! I could picture Joanna in her living room the entire twenty four hours that she watched the marathon. I think I want to start a Christmas in February tradition in my own home.