Celebrate the Fictional TV Holidays: Festivus and Christmakah

The world of television is known for creating many unique things. The tube has brought us reality shows, game shows, and has gotten the country obsessed on court cases at times (O.J Simpson and Anna Nicole Smith). While there is a mix of good and bad, one of the best is the holiday spirit that's brought with two fictional holidays from highly popular shows. Here is a detailed look at the fictional holidays created by Seinfeld and The O.C.

Christmakah: In-between the antics of love triangles, fist fights, and all of the other plots going through the O.C's Cohen family, they always make time for Christmakah. Created by Seth Cohen, Christmakah is right in the name, a mix of Christmas and Hanukah. The holiday was formed because Seth's dad is Jewish and his mother is Christian.

The Christmakah celebration goes like this: The first seven days of Hanukah are celebrated, followed by the eight day celebration mixed with the festivities of Christmas. The first season of the O.C introduced this concept along with the "Christmakuh Miracle" that usually helped the characters out of a tight bind.

The Christmakah tradition lives on in the DVD sets of the O.C, a Christakis themed CD, and reruns that air nightly on SoapNet. It is a fun and happy holiday that adds a lot of comedy to the drama and opens up new ways for mixed religion homes to celebrate the holidays.

Festivus: For those who do not celebrate Christmakuh or any other holiday then there is "Festivus for the rest of us!" Bee Movie creator Jerry Seinfeld introduced the nation to Festivus on his hit NBC show Seinfeld. George Costanza's father was fed up with all of the other holidays and introduced the characters to Festivus.

The night of Festivus includes many different activities that include the Airing of Grievances, and the Feats of Strength. The Airing of Grievances is where everyone says what has disappointed them in the past year. Any family can do this in their own way, talking, yelling, or even writing it out on a piece of paper. The Feats of Strength is funny activity that may lead to violence. The point of Feats of Strength is to actually wrestle the head of the household to the ground, and until that happens Festivus is not over.

The main part of Festivus though, is the big celebration dinner, filled with food, drinks, and fun. Also the traditional Christmas Tree is replaced with a silver pole, removing the glitz and glmaor of Christmas decorations and lights.

This holiday was a such a hit on the show that it has received a cult following. There have been numerous books written on the subject, websites dedicated to it, and even a website that sells Festivus poles. A humorous storyline on Seinfeld has been turned into a phenomenon and really shows the power that television has.

Whether you celebrate the traditional holidays (Christmas, Hanukah, and Kwanza) or one of the unofficial holidays created by television, you cannot deny the creativity of these holidays and more are bound to be created on future television shows.