Man, talk about a blast from the past. As soon as I read the title, "The house without a Christmas tree" I immediately remembered it starred Jason Robarts. I have no recollection of the acutall plot, but just remember a young girl wanting a Christmas tree and he wouldn't get one. I can't believe they actualy wrote a whole tv special around that theme. That could describe 80% of my family. It describes me come to think of it..hahaha. I thought I was the only one who remembered it. Everyone else I ask about it looks at me like I grew a 2nd head.
My recollection isn't the clearest, but I remember that it was filmed on video tape. The girl got into a fight at school with a classmate, who had made fun of her grandmother for pulling a wagon to the grocery store, and she performed with others in a school play, in which she sang O Christmas Tree while staring at her father.
At the end, the father's heart melted (Grandma helped do this somehow), he brought in a tree on Christmas Eve, and took his daughter to a room where he brought out a special ornament that had belonged to his late wife. A bittersweet moment.
