- Network: Apple TV+
- Series Premiere Date: Aug 15, 2025
Critic Reviews
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It’s delightful. Yes, it’s a little light on story — it’s not going to make anyone forget “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” but nothing else is, either. But the songs, three by Ben Folds and two by Alan Zachary, are great.
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A pleasant and even moving Apple TV+ show that has the retro feel of the old TV specials of the 1960s and ’70s.
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That’s really the main problem with this special, even more than the mutation of melancholy to sentiment: It’s not all that funny. For long stretches, it barely even tries to be funny. .... The authorial voice that comes through most clearly here is Ben Folds, who wrote the songs. He doesn’t sing any of them, leaving that to the overpolished kid performers, but his piano-based mixture of exuberance and melancholy are all over each tune.