‘Elf’ is at the Center of the Dumbest Cable TV Controversy

If you’re able to overlook the fact that Buddy the Elf’s childlike wonder is the product of intensive psychological conditioning, Jon Favreau’s Elf is one of the best Christmas movies ever made – which is doubly impressive considering that Favreau filmed so much of it at an abandoned mental health facility that didn’t exactly scream “holiday magic”.

Elf is so beloved that it’s spawned children’s books, toys, a nightmarish animatronic decoration, and a breakfast cereal that presumably tastes like a combination of maple syrup-drenched spaghetti and Will Ferrell’s bare hands.

But Elf recently caught the ire of a very specific segment of cable TV viewers: HGTV fans.

As reported by TV Insider, Elf aired twice on Home & Garden Television earlier this month, shocking audiences who were no doubt expecting to see some reality show about an insufferable married couple attempting to gentrify an entire neighborhood while quietly dying inside and/or divorcing offscreen. 

“Why is Elf on HGTV?!?” one person on Reddit complained. “This is the second week in a row that some lame azz old movie is on HGTV. Where are the design shows?!? If this is the new direction of HGTV, I’m out!” 

“I love Elf, but I’d be highly pissed if I noticed it was on HGTV. But this is why I don’t mess with cable anymore,” another agreed. 

“We don’t tune into HGTV to watch Elf,” an angry user stressed. “Sounds like HGTV management needs to bring back some of the cancelled programs that actually highlighted home building, remodeling, landscaping and interior design.”

“HGTV is taking the path MTV took in the ‘90s when they began moving away from playing actual music videos,” someone else complained. 

As Parade noted, fans were especially miffed because the Elf airing followed a “wave of recent cancellations of popular, design-focused HGTV shows.” Folks came up with a number of different theories to explain why Elf aired on HGTV, ranging from it being the result of a “glitch in the Matrix,” to the fact that Zooey Deschanel is engaged to one of the Property Brothers. 

More realistically, Elf likely aired on HGTV because the channel is a property of Warner Bros. Discovery, who also own New Line Cinema, the company that made Elf. Plus, as a number of people pointed out, of all the Christmas movies for HGTV to play, Elf actually makes a certain amount of sense, since Buddy is a clearly a very talented decorator,

While Elf may not have been the best fit for the channel, these bitter HGTV viewers might want to try renovating their holiday spirit.