This Sunday marks the 50th anniversary of the premiere airing of one of the most beloved Christmas stories of all time: Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Based on the Seuss book from nine years earlier, “The Grinch” is 30 minutes of poetic beauty and poetic justice. There is song, there is dance, there is pomp, there is circumstance. Good triumphs over evil and no one is harmed in the process.

The episode also contains one of my favorite lines from all of cinema, one that has entered my everyday lexicon…

What a great Grinchy trick!

Snide remarks aside, “Grinch” is beyond classic. It is unfortunate that it lives in a world with Charlie Brown, whose Christmas special preceded it by a year, but as Linus Van Pelt once said (about the Great Pumpkin): perhaps being number two, you try harder.

I have refused to see any of the remakes and reimaginings of the original Grinch for 34 years and will continue to do so until the day I die. Nothing can top the original. End of story. NBC has already aired the original this season, but look for additional airings in your local listings… for those of you who don’t own it on VHS!