Thanksgiving Day 2012 will not only feature parades and stuffing, but will also feature an ABC special of Spike Lee's Michael Jackson: Bad 25. The special will air at 9:30 p.m.
The LA Times called the special a "welcome break from the traditionally saccharine holiday programming."
"Wielding an impressive collection of behind-the-scenes clips as well as interviews with a disparate array of colleagues (including Martin Scorsese and Sheryl Crow), Lee uses the creation of the album and the "short films" (Jackson eschewed the term music video) the songs inspired to keep his focus firmly on Jackson's work," Los Angeles Times Television Critic Mary McNamara wrote. "Although there is brief mention of things like Jackson's shyness, his increasingly pale skin and his choice to speak and sing in the higher registers of his impressive three-octave range, that's as personal it gets. Lee's window is definitively, and almost defiantly, framed by the ambition, talent and rigor that went into creating 'Bad'."
VH1's Lacey Seldman said two, among many, reasons why we should be watching the special is because "the film summons nostalgia for an era when music was successfully flourishing and record sales were at their peak. Ah, those were the days" and "Justin Bieber makes a few cringe-worthy, douchey interview comments that you'll definitely read about online the next day."
Jackson's "Bad" has sold up to 45 million copies worldwide and is the first album to release five consecutive No. 1 singles. The 1987 album is the fifth selling album of all time.
Siedah Garrett, co-writer of "Man in the Mirror," told Billboard that she never thought she would see this because it's "Michael's personal footage."
"When Michael said he wanted to record 'Man in the Mirror,' the demo was in a key that was comfortable for me and one step too high for Michael," Garrett told Billboard. "So he wanted me to re-sing the demo in the new key, and when I went into the studio to do it in the new key Michael followed me with a video camera. I said, 'What are you doing?' He said, 'I want to record you performing the song... because I want to sing it like you.' And I'm like, 'Great, Mike; all my friends are really gonna believe me when I tell them, 'Oh, Michael Jackson wanted to sound like me.' And I'm cracking up and he's cracking up, but he's still recording. And it's in ('Bad25'). I never thought I would see it because it's Michael's personal footage. It's amazing."
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