Elvis's 1968 Comeback Special
Remains a Spiritual Experience

December 3rd is the anniversary of Elvis's 1968 television special, now commonly known as his "Comeback" special.´
There is no doubt that it was an extraordinary landmark in his career, as well as a joyous event for all of us who were
Elvis fans at that time. Today there are many other Elvis fans who were not even born by December 1968. They know
Elvis's first TV special only by viewing it years after the fact on VHS or DVD format. Many of we "vintage" Elvis fans, however, have
vivid memories of the Christmas season of 1968, when a leather-clad Elvis made his first TV appearance in over eight years.

Let's start with some basics. Officially titled Singer Presents Elvis, after it's sponsor, the Singer Sewing Machine Company, Elvis's special first aired on the NBC-TV network at 9 p.m. on Tuesday, December 3, 1968. The program had been heavily promoted with

full-page ads appearing in many national publications, including The New York Times and Variety. Running 60 minutes, it was easily the highest rated prime time program in the Nielsen ratings for the week of December 2-8, 1968. (NBC's Laugh-In and CBS's Charlie Brown's Xmas came in a distant second and third.) The special ran again on NBC eight months later on Sunday night, August 17, 1969. For that showing, one change was made in the program's content. Elvis's rendition of "Blue Christmas" was replaced with "Tiger Man" in the summer re-run.

Years later the generally accepted consensus concerning Elvis's '68 TV special is summed up by Ernst Jorgensen in his book Elvis: A Life In Music. He wrote that the special, "only gave Elvis' record sales a modest boost at first, but its real effect

was much broader and deeper. It re-established his place as a dominant force in
American music and culture." Thus, the "Comeback" label, which is generally
attached to the '68 special these days.

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