History Film / Scrooged

* SettingUpdate: The movie takes place in 1988.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Frank's mother is seen smoking while pregnant with James, something common in the 1950s. By 1988, this was seen as a tremendous health hazard for mother ''and'' baby so this is an example where both audiences at the time and today would be shocked to see this behavior.

A 1988 comedy film directed by Creator/RichardDonner and starring Creator/BillMurray, ''Scrooged'' is a [[SuggestedBy moderately loose modern-day retelling]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', with the twist of taking place {{in a world}} where everyone is [[GenreSavvy already familiar with Dickens's tale]].

** There's James, who is Frank's brother and the expy of Mary, sister of Scrooge, and who is alive while in the book she's been long dead.

* AbusiveParent: Frank's heartless old man, whose EstablishingCharacterMoment was giving Frank five pounds of veal instead of a toy train for Christmas, telling the kid to find work if he really wanted it, despite the boy being a 4-year-old, then proceeded to mock his young age, likening it to other "excuses" people make when they cannot go to work (like a bad back and hurting leg).

* OurGhostsAreDifferent

* VerbedTitle

A 1988 comedy film directed by Creator/RichardDonner and starring Creator/BillMurray, ''Scrooged'' is a [[SuggestedBy moderately loose modern retelling]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', with the twist of taking place {{in a world}} where everyone is [[GenreSavvy already familiar with Dickens's tale]].

* SirNotAppearingInThisTrailer: Creator/JamieFarr and Creator/BuddyHackett (the latter makes a cameo at the end) are credited but aren't actually shown in the Heart Warming IBC promo, absolutely none of the cast are mentioned in the Nightmare Fuel promo.

* StylisticSuck: IBC's holiday specials give off every indication of being completely atrocious, with ''Scrooge'' featuring Buddy Ebsen's massacred cockney accent, digressions into animal acts and scantily-clad dancers, dialogue directly conflating the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come with the Grim Reaper, and a backflipping Tiny Tim played by gymnast Mary Lou Retton.

* DeadpanSnarker: The Ghost of Christmas Part, oh so much.

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scrooged_1988_movie_poster.jpg]]

A 1988 comedy film directed by Creator/RichardDonner and starring Creator/BillMurray, ''Scrooged'' is a [[SuggestedBy moderately loose modern retelling]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', with the twist of taking place {{in a world}} where everyone's [[GenreSavvy already familiar with Dickens's tale]].

Murray plays Frank Cross, a [[CorruptCorporateExecutive cynical, selfish TV executive]] who is planning a [[ShowWithinAShow live adaptation of]] ''[[ShowWithinAShow A Christmas Carol]]'' for a holiday special. Frank's own childhood memories of Christmas were less than fond, leaving him initially unable to appreciate the spirit of the season. However, things start to change when Frank's dead former boss and mentor smashes his way into his office to inform him that he is doomed unless he changes his ways. True to the source material, Frank is subsequently visited by the three very strange Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.

Intended to capitalize on Murray's success in ''Film/Ghostbusters1984'', ''Scrooged'' contains many references to the earlier (if largely unrelated) film; one of the taglines was, "Bill Murray is back amongst the ghosts, only this time it's three on one."

** He also misguidedly attempts to save his secretary Grace from the Ghost Christmas Future, not realising it's the version put together for his production, and prior to this, clearly cares when he finds out that Calvin is mute, asking if he'll be okay and more displaying a lack of awareness for the people around him and their problems; He didn't even know, for instance, that his secretary's husband had died. When confronted with Calvin's future thanks to his inaction and keeping his mother at work, he immediately regrets it and starts to throw out solutions desperately.

* TakeThat: One that plays [[HilariousInHindsight even better nowadays than it did at the time]], when Frank finds himself in a dark, disgusting, subterranean dungeon:

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: What with ''Scrooged'' being based on ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', IBC's live presentation of ''Scrooge'' runs roughly parallel to Frank's journey,

* AdaptationalJerkass: While they still mean well and are trying to save him, the ghosts do seem to enjoy tormenting Frank more than the original story's versions did with Scrooge. At the same time, Frank is a much more over the top dick than Ebenezer was, so it can be said that they have to up their game to get through to him. This is especially notable with the Ghost of Christmas Present, as she repeatedly beats the shit out of Frank.

* AloofBigBrother: Frank zigzags between being dismissive and uninterested in associating with his younger brother. He regularly shrugged off his brother’s invitations to spend Christmas with him. However, he does care about James and was concerned when [[spoiler:he thought James was the one in the coffin in the future segment.]]

* AnAssKickingChristmas / BadassSanta: Featured in ''The Night The Reindeer Died'', one of the [[ShowWithinAShow Films Within A Film]] during the movie. Apparently Santa is a very Jolly [[Film/{{Tremors}} Burt Gummer]].

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: Frank's mother is seen smoking while pregnant with James, something common in the 1950's. By 1988, this was seen as a tremendous health hazard for mother ''and'' baby so this is an example where both audiences at the time and today would be shocked to see this behavior.

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: Played for laughs near the end, when the Standards and Practices woman pounces on a tied up Bryce Cummings and kisses him. It's not ''rape'', but it's definitely assault.

* ExecutiveMeddling: InUniverse. Frank's boss bumps into him in the hallway, and orders him to put mice and/or squirrels in his production of ''A Christmas Carol'' to appeal to cats, thinking that pet-oriented shows will be the Next Big Thing.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Elliot tries to warn Frank that viewers would be too frightened of the new, gritty promo he wants played for the live broadcast of ''Scrooge''. He later turns out to have been correct when it's revealed that the promo scared one old woman so badly it caused her to have a heart attack.

* GenreBlindness: Played with. In producing a version of ''A Christmas Carol'', Frank is familiar with some beats of the story - looking somewhat glib when Lew's ghost tells him he's going to be visited by ''three ghosts''; he calls out the Ghost of Christmas Past, advising he knows the deal, and also recognises the Ghost of Christmas Future ''immediately'' (even if it's ''not'' the real deal). By the point he actively ''meets'' the Ghost of Christmas Future however, Frank is so rattled by what's going on that any familiarity with the story would be meaningless, particularly when the powers that be actively go one step further than showing him his own grave.

* HonestAdvisor: Frank fires and humiliates Elliot for attempting to be this, giving honest and concerned negative feedback to his ridiculous ad campaign among Frank's other sniveling [[YesMan yes men.]] Heartwarmingly, at the end of the movie [[spoiler: when he offers to give Elliot his office, Elliot replies that he doesn't like his office yet now Frank ''loves'' the fact that Elliot disagrees with him.]]

* JerkToNiceGuyPlot: Frank is a selfish, sleazy and greedy [[CorruptCorporateExecutive television executive]]. He's put through a series of ghostly encounters that teach him the error of his ways and becomes [[TookALevelInKindness generous, honest and loving]].

* MeaningfulEcho: "Scrape 'em off, Claire. If you want save somebody, save yourself."

** A gag with Christmas Present whacking Frank right in the face with toaster immediately transitions into Frank falling beneath a sewer [[spoiler:and somberly discovering that Herman has frozen to death.]]
* MoralGuardians: The Standards and Practices lady. [[spoiler:She gets into ''ahem'' [[JustForPun the spirit]] a little too much upon seeing Bryce Cummings tied up with garland.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Frank regrets telling Claire that she needs to think of herself instead of others when he sees her future self shrug off needy children.]]

* NoSocialSkills: Watching Frank, it becomes apparent that he's not just anti-social, he's almost incapable of normal interactions with other human beings. On the job he coasts by on acting (such as making a generic schmaltzy award acceptance speech) and executive arrogance, but he's got no idea how to interact with real people. Part of his abrasiveness seems to come from a genuine ignorance of other people's emotions, such as his failure to realize Grace's husband was dead despite the fact she spent a year wearing black in mourning, or casually insulting Claire's coworkers and then being baffled and hurt when she's upset. Spending fifteen years with only television for a touchstone with humanity didn't do his social skills any favors.

-->'''Stagehand:''' I can't get the antlers glued on to this little guy. We've tried crazy glue but it don't work.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:Elliot Loudermilk's M.O. on Frank just before the visit with the Ghost of Christmas Future. One epiphany later, Frank ''joins him'' in derailing the live show going on downstairs.]]

** In a rather roundabout way, the in-universe {{Expy}} of Tiny Tim (Grace's son, Calvin) doesn't end up dead during the Ghost of Christmas Future's visions, instead he [[spoiler:ends up locked away in a mental institution.]]
** There's James who is Frank's brother and the expy of Mary, sister of Scrooge, and who is alive while in the book she's been long dead.

* ThereAreNoGoodExecutives: Natch. Frank is a greedy bastard who fired an employee for standing up to him based of the depravity over a proposed ''Scrooge'' promo and bases his gifts to colleagues based off of how ratings for programs were. His superiors Heyward and Reinlanders are even worse (and basically helped to groom him into the CorruptCorporateExecutive he is today) and Bryce Cummings is set to be Frank's replacement and is just as much of a bastard that he is. [[spoiler: Although Heyward, in death, [[TheAtoner learned the error of his ways and tried to warn Frank]] and the others are either seen or implied to have changed for the better by the end of the film.]]

* ToiletSeatDivorce: What we see of Frank and Claire's original split comes off like this. While presumably there were problems before that, we go right from seeing them both quite happy, to her dumping him because the President of the network invited them both to dinner (something that could massively advance his career) and it would have meant canceling a dinner with friends.

*** It's also debatable whether Claire really intended to end the relationship. She proposes "taking a break", which ''could'' be an attempt to let him down gently, or she could have been sincere. The latter option is plausible because she just about drops everything to come see Frank after he calls her, despite it being well over a decade since they spoke. Even when Frank comes to her shelter, demands her to go with him, and insults her fellow volunteers for no real reason, Claire doesn't tell him to take a hike; she implores him to give her just a little time to finish working. Frank leaves in a huff. Maybe the reason they spent so long separated was because Frank just never bothered reaching out to her again after the Frisbee fiasco.
** A better example is Elliot, who's wife leaves him almost immediately after he's fired.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: What we see of the 4-year-old Frank. He just wants a "choo-choo" and wishes his (clearly long-suffering) mom a merry Christmas.
** Even the Ghost of Christmas Past, who's given Frank nothing but shit up to then, sadly shakes his head in sympathy for how his Father treated him.

* WhisperedThreat: while Frank anticipates The Ghost of Christmas Future, he encounters an actor playing the Ghost of Christmas Future for his channel's production of ''[[ShowWithinAShow Scrooge]]''. He assumes that it's him and he breaks down and screams until it devolves into a whisper, "You think I'm afraid of you, after the day I've had?! I know what you're here for! Come and get it, you ''pussy!"''

A 1988 comedy film directed by Creator/RichardDonner and starring Creator/BillMurray, ''Scrooged'' is a [[SuggestedBy moderately loose modern retelling]] of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', with the twist of taking place {{in a world}} where everyone's [[GenreSavvy already familiar with Dickens' tale]].

* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Frank genuinely does love his brother James. He's the only person aside from Claire that he isn't a flat-out jerk to. Nevertheless he keeps his brother at arm's length.

--> '''Frank Cross''': (coldly)That was a lousy... thing... to do.

* UnfortunateName: Grace's last name is [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coolie Cooley]].

* DerangedTaxiDriver: the Ghost Of Christmas Past takes the form of a sinister, cackling cabbie who drives like he's in a demolition derby.

* BottomlessMagazines: Eliot is shown getting more ammo out of his pocket to use in his double-barreled shotgun. However, the number of shots he ends up firing would have well filled his pockets to bulging. He also fires three shots before reloading for the first time.

* BottomlessMagazines: Eliot is shown getting more ammo out of his pocket to use in his double-barreled shotgun. However, the number of shots he ends up firiing would have well filled his pockets to bulging. He also fires three shots before reloading for the first time.

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* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In one of the flashbacks, Claire is clearly smoking a joint.
** When Eliot breaks into the broadcast booth, the censor falls into the lap of a security guard and he cops a feel.

*** PlayedForLaughs in one scene where Frank finds himself in a cold, dank storm sewer-like environment and compares it to a certain eponymous building owned by a certain [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump real estate mogul.]] It seems that even a ruthless businessman like Frank [[TakeThat has a low opinion of Donald Trump.]]

* TakeThat: The Ghost of Christmas Past calls out Frank for choosing his cutesy children's show over the love of his life.
-->'''Ghost:''' You left Claire for '''Frisbee The Dog'''?