"A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa" is an hour long TV special, brought to you on DVD so you can strengthen the DVD market and bolster Halloween sales. And uh, celebrate Christmas. I mean, family. I mean, I respect all creeds and what is important is that family's qxythdshg. I'm sorry, I just passed out and hit my head on the keyboard. LTS centers round the secular version of the Christmas holiday that seems to make the least people uncomfortable, and make the most money for retailers. The action features the Muppets mailing letters, singing and dancing, accidentally not mailing some letters, and hamming it up with celebrity guests. Spoiler Alert: They take the letters to North Pole, meet Santa, and sing some more. Hope I didn't ruin the surprise. More after the jump:

To say an x-mas special lacks heart is almost redundant in this day and age. But this lacks heart. Not in an awful brutal kind of way. But it's still sad. The Muppets themselves seem to realize how by the numbers their schtick has become, and as they make their way "merrily" through the fifty-four minute "special" it's easy to imagine Kermit and Gonzo sitting in a bar somewhere knocking back whiskey and trying to figure out where the magic went.

All that being said, this thing is still better than at least eighty percent of the crap that will be showed in your face this holiday season. Even by the numbers and lacking heart, the Muppets still got it. The celebrity guests also all perform well.

The DVD features a "smorgasbord stocking stuffer" of features. Nine pathetic extras including out takes, and interview, which in total cannot possibly last longer than a half hour. Given the quality, it's probably a blessing.

All in all, not horrible. I'll show it to the kids I work with. But I can't help wishing that this year Santa would bring me an alternate Universe where Jim Henson is still alive.

C+