While it's possible that the overtly religious plot of "Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey" (about a donkey who leads Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem) has made it an unpopular choice for TV, it's more likely that poor Nestor is just the victim of a glut of Christmas TV. However, you can still find him.

For example, his special has been a fixture of ABC Family's holiday programming for the past three years. You probably have better things to be doing first thing Christmas morning, but if not, the network is airing it then, for the second time this year (the first time is on Sunday, Dec. 21).

The special was produced by Christmas-TV giants Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin Jr., but that might be part of its problem: Nestor just isn't as popular as their better-known specials such as "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman."

As well, he has to compete with the new specials that are being produced every year, such as ones featuring popular modern characters such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda (it's hard to imagine a Nestor the Long-Eared Donkey action figure).

There's also the fact that Nestor's special was just a little weird. It could be said that Rankin/Bass's Rudolph and Frosty specials air more often because they aren't overtly religious, but it could just as easily be said that it's because neither of those specials feature the main character's mom freezing to death.

Yahoo.com put Nestor at No. 4 in its list of the "weirdest holiday specials," ahead of such oddities as the 1988 "Christmas at Pee-wee's Playhouse" and "Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas" (which sounds normal enough until you remember that it featured Crosby's duet with weirdo extraordinaire David Bowie).

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