The Ultimate Auction (partially found one-off Fox TV auction special; 2000)

Special 'Fox Auction' logo

Status: Partially Found

The Ultimate Auction is a TV special that aired on Fox on December 7, 2000. It was a live auction featuring unique and extravagant items and was hosted by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York as well as actors from Fox TV shows including Gillian Anderson, as well as James Cameron, and Robert Urich.

Background

Announcements for the Ultimate Auction first appeared in newspapers in October 2000.“ Some releases stated that Fox was eyeing the idea as a possible ongoing series, with the final special acting as a pilot; but later press statements released prior to the special's airing clarified that it would be a one-off event. It was also initially stated that it would be a 2-hour special, but it was later announced that it had been cut down to an hour.

Items

Gillian Anderson reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas before the original, hand-written copy is placed up for auction.

The items placed up for auction included:

• A complete dinosaur skeleton

• A rocking chair owned by JFK

• An original, handwritten copy of 'Twas The Night before Christmas by Clement C. Moore

• The only surviving letter postmarked from the Titanic

• A Vostok 3KA2 vessel from the Soviet space program

• A private tropical island

• A “Swan Lake” diamond necklace owned by Princess Diana and worn by her during her last public appearance at Royal Albert Hall

• The Cowardly Lion costume worn by Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz

• A private concert by N' SYNC

• A personal basketball game with Kobe Bryant

The show was taped on December 1st, 2000, and aired six days later on December 7th. It also aired on ITV2 in the UK and was streamed on Amazon, a rare streaming event that happened in the early 2000s.

Sarah Ferguson, the former sister-in-law of the late Princess of Wales, stated that she was uncomfortable with being associated with any items connected to the Princess and would not take part in the segment in which her necklace was auctioned.

The final outcomes and winning bids for the auctioned items are also not readily available online.

Availability

The special has not re-aired since its original broadcast nor has it appeared on any streaming services. Given that it was a high-profile special that aired in primetime, there is a large possibility that someone taped the event.  

Several stills of Gillian Anderson reading 'Twas The Night before Christmas during the special appear on her website, and a brief clip of her reading the poem as an intro to the item's before it appeared for auction is available on YouTube. As of June 2023, while the Gillian Anderson clip of her reading the book is the only available fragment of the special that is readily available online, the full 1-hour special isn't available anywhere ins any streaming services or video-sharing sites.

An image of a unique 20th Century Fox "Auction" logo, possibly only used for this special, can be seen online as well.

Gallery

Gillian Anderson reading 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.