Couch Potato: Holiday favorites
By Casey Gillis on Dec. 23, 2009
There’s plenty of comedy and drama to be mined from the holidays.
It’s something certain shows excel at, so I’m getting into the Christmas spirit this year with a list of my favorite holiday-themed episodes.
Coming up with this list was harder than I expected. Only a few, listed below, came to mind immediately, none of which aired before 2003. I’m sure there are many more (from shows like “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” etc.) that have done great episodes over the years; I just can’t remember enough about them to write something up.
So forgive me (and feel free to e-mail) if I’ve omitted something you deem a classic.
Here goes:
Modern Family — Undeck the Halls (2009)
It’s only fitting that the best new comedy of the season would have an instantly classic Christmas episode, which found each branch of the family in a typically funny predicament.
Patriarch Jay struggled to incorporate his own Christmas traditions with those of new wife, Gloria, and her wise-beyond-his-years son, Manny, who had my favorite quote of the night: “OK, but if this so-called Santa Claus doesn’t bring me a burgundy dinner jacket, we’re going to have a big problem.”
In Colombia, Manny and Gloria informed him, baby Jesus delivers the presents, something that stymied Jay.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he said. “How could a newborn baby carry all those presents? They don’t even know where their hands are.”
Elsewhere, Phil, who so desperately wants to be a cool-yet-tough dad, cancelled — then reinstated, then cancelled and reinstated again — Christmas when he and wife Claire suspected one of their three children of smoking. The images of him storming in and out with the huge Christmas tree were priceless.
But it was Cameron and Mitchell’s storyline that was most entertaining.
While waiting in line to see a mall Santa, who they later got fired for not being fat enough, the couple ran into Cameron’s former caroling group, who’d kicked him out the year before.
Cam’s outrage was exactly what you’d expect from the drama king, with some lines that had me howling, none more than when he compared himself to another diva: “This group was my ‘Dreamgirls,’” he explained. “I was Effie.”
As usual, the episode ended in a sweet, but not too sappy way, as the entire family ate dinner together.
“We talk a lot about tradition this time of year,” Jay said in a voiceover. “But as much as we love our traditions, sometimes our best memories come from the times that are the most untraditional.”
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
The O.C. — The Best Chrismukkah Ever (2003)
There was no way I wasn’t going to include this one, which introduced everyone’s favorite blended holiday: Chrismukkah, created by Seth Cohen, one of my all-time favorite television characters, to reflect his parents’ faiths.
In this season one episode, Seth tries to teach houseguest Ryan about the magic of what he calls “the greatest super holiday known to mankind, drawing on the best that Christianity and Judaism have to offer. … Eight days of presents, followed by one day of many presents.”
I remember watching the episode way back when and thinking Seth’s made-up holiday was hilarious. I screened it again recently — thanks to the magic of Hulu, not Chrismukkah — and it totally held up. It also revived the college crush I nursed on Cohen; nobody can rock a Christmas sweater quite like he can.
Bones — The Santa in the Slush (2007)
The writers on this Fox series certainly have a sick fascination with hurting Santa Claus. This year’s holiday episode featured one exploding and, two years ago, a mall Santa was found dead in a sewer.
Despite the goriness of that episode, “Santa in the Slush” remains a favorite because it featured the first real kiss between will-they-or-won’t-they (but you know they eventually will) partners Booth and Brennan.
I don’t remember how they solved the case, or who the culprit was, but I do remember their sweet smooch underneath the mistletoe. It was the perfect Christmas gift to dedicated fans.
The Office — A Benihana Christmas (2006) and Moroccan Christmas (2008)
Maybe it’s overkill to include two “Office” episodes on this list, but I simply couldn’t pick between these two.
“Benihana” makes the cut because it included a classic Michael move — Photoshopping himself into a picture with his girlfriend, Carol, and her kids (with his face over her ex-husband’s, of course) and sending it out as his Christmas card.
“Moroccan Christmas” is equally as funny and gives each character a moment to shine, whether it be Phyllis blackmailing Angela about her affair with Dwight, Andy learning to play the sitar, or Michael organizing an impromptu intervention for Meredith.
I particularly loved Dwight’s storyline, which had him reselling that year’s most popular toy, a doll called Princess Unicorn that thoroughly confused him.
“It’s such a genetically improbable one,” he said. “How does that happen? A king has sex with a unicorn? A man with a horn has sex with a royal horse?”
This show knows how to celebrate the holidays.
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