TVSquad

I'm no fan of veneers, but in the case of Elliott Yamin, I'm glad to see it. Elliott placed third in last season's edition of American Idol. He was dubbed 'snaggletooth' for his extremely crooked teeth-- something that I have to admit I found distracting.

Elliott told People magazine that he spent 20 hours in the dentist's chair to get his new chops because he has been embarrassed about his smile since he was a kid. He said he figured out how to smile, and even how to sing, by showing the minimum amount of teeth. Elliott's new teeth are worth $50,000 but he got them for free from an LA dentist... just in time for the release of his first album, which is due early next year.

What do you think of Elliott's new look?

One of the longest running Christmas specials in television history, Rankin/Bass' Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer debuted in 1964 on NBC. Around 1972, it switched over to CBS, where you can see it again this year on December 8th. Let's just get this part out of the way - it's not Claymation. The special was made using figurines in a stop motion animation process labeled "Animagic" by the show's producers.

A whole world of nostalgia was brought back for me a few years ago when the Island of Misfit Toys were introduced as plush dolls at CVS. I have a soft spot in my heart for the Rudolph special because it glorifies the plight of the misfit. Rudolph is the beta-kid Christmas special. Hermey, the dentist elf, and Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer, are heroes to anyone who has ever been picked on for being a little different. Rudolph is for us - the geeks, the queers, the fat kids, the short bus riders, the loners and the AV crew.