Back
at Halloween I talked about how very often a Halloween episode will
have little to noting to do about the actual holiday. The holiday
becomes a small B story, if that! Sometimes it’s just decorations in the
background. Of course, this also happens with Christmas episodes.
Usually Christmas episodes are fantastic, but once in awhile we get one
that has almost nothing to do with the actual holiday. So little at
times you almost have to wonder, why’d they even bother? Take for instance the Seinfeld episode "The Andrea Doria" which is clearly set at Christmas..based on the decor and nothing else!
Now of course there’s no rule that says what a Christmas episode has to be about. I just find it amusing that the creators would acknowledge the holiday for no real reason. What's the point? Anyway here are some examples:
NewsRadio “Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show”
It’s ironic that the word stupid is used in the title of the episode, because this is a really stupid episode. Not that this show went all out ith their Christmas episodes but this one just plain SUCKED. It’s pretty much exactly what the title says, and is really the excuse for getting Matthew his job back (long story).
Friends, “The One with the Creepy Holiday Card”
Actually there are two or three. Like The One with the Inappropriate Sister where the only Christmas is the minor Phoebe story about her running a charity box outside a store. This one has even less Christmas. It has a story line about Ross and his girlfriend discussing sending out Christmas cards together, even though they have only been dating a short while. And that’s about it.
Cheers, “Love Me, Love My Car”
Even the B story is barely a Christmas episode. It concerns Woody getting a pig meant as Christmas dinner. But Rebecca has problems with that. The A story involves Sam trying to get his car back from the woman who bought it. This is crappy episode, and is certainly not a Christmas episode.
Frasier,”High Holidays”
This isn’t the worst one you’ll see on this list, but as far as Frasier Christmas episodes go this is pretty weak. Sure the decor screams Christmas, but the stories don’t. We see Frederick visiting Frasier, and apparently Frederick is in a goth phase. Niles wants to prove he is a bad boy by getting high, only for Martin to get high instead. It’s pretty stupid.
Home Improvement “No Place Like Home”
I’m not going to pretend I’ve never mentioned this one before, but man do I hate this episode. It’s one of the worst episodes of the whole series, period. It’s just boring and depressing. To make matters worst it’s set at Christmas time, though you’d hardly know it especially as the plot gets rolling. What a disappointment considering how awesome this series Christmas episodes usually were.
Night Court, “Santa Goes Downtown”
Can you have an episode with Santa Claus that has nothing to do with Christmas? This one comes pretty close to succeeding. This was very early in the series run as a man claiming to be Santa shows up in the courtroom. Though it’s clearly set well after Christmas. The only thing that makes this episode are the guest stars, Jeff Corey and Michael J.Fox.
Big Bang Theory, “The Maternal Congruence”
Just in case you were wondering this still happens, we get this episode from 2009. The opening seems Christamassy, but then the plot abut Leonard’s mother gets going. And that’s about it for the Christmas portion of the episode! The plot involves Leonard and his mother. Oh except in the tag when Penny sings Jingle Bells in a desperate attempt to prove that this was a Christmas episode, really it was!
Fresh Prince, “I, Oooh, Baby, Baby”
The plot involves Hillary deciding she wants to have a baby. The b story is where the Christmas stuff happens including Ashley and Carlton fighting over the tree and the stupid arc of Geoffrey getting smashed on egg nog. Not the worst here since it certainly is Christmas but man you’d never tell by the main story.
Now of course there’s no rule that says what a Christmas episode has to be about. I just find it amusing that the creators would acknowledge the holiday for no real reason. What's the point? Anyway here are some examples:
NewsRadio “Stupid Holiday Charity Talent Show”
It’s ironic that the word stupid is used in the title of the episode, because this is a really stupid episode. Not that this show went all out ith their Christmas episodes but this one just plain SUCKED. It’s pretty much exactly what the title says, and is really the excuse for getting Matthew his job back (long story).
Friends, “The One with the Creepy Holiday Card”
Actually there are two or three. Like The One with the Inappropriate Sister where the only Christmas is the minor Phoebe story about her running a charity box outside a store. This one has even less Christmas. It has a story line about Ross and his girlfriend discussing sending out Christmas cards together, even though they have only been dating a short while. And that’s about it.
Cheers, “Love Me, Love My Car”
Even the B story is barely a Christmas episode. It concerns Woody getting a pig meant as Christmas dinner. But Rebecca has problems with that. The A story involves Sam trying to get his car back from the woman who bought it. This is crappy episode, and is certainly not a Christmas episode.
Frasier,”High Holidays”
This isn’t the worst one you’ll see on this list, but as far as Frasier Christmas episodes go this is pretty weak. Sure the decor screams Christmas, but the stories don’t. We see Frederick visiting Frasier, and apparently Frederick is in a goth phase. Niles wants to prove he is a bad boy by getting high, only for Martin to get high instead. It’s pretty stupid.
Home Improvement “No Place Like Home”
I’m not going to pretend I’ve never mentioned this one before, but man do I hate this episode. It’s one of the worst episodes of the whole series, period. It’s just boring and depressing. To make matters worst it’s set at Christmas time, though you’d hardly know it especially as the plot gets rolling. What a disappointment considering how awesome this series Christmas episodes usually were.
Night Court, “Santa Goes Downtown”
Can you have an episode with Santa Claus that has nothing to do with Christmas? This one comes pretty close to succeeding. This was very early in the series run as a man claiming to be Santa shows up in the courtroom. Though it’s clearly set well after Christmas. The only thing that makes this episode are the guest stars, Jeff Corey and Michael J.Fox.
Big Bang Theory, “The Maternal Congruence”
Just in case you were wondering this still happens, we get this episode from 2009. The opening seems Christamassy, but then the plot abut Leonard’s mother gets going. And that’s about it for the Christmas portion of the episode! The plot involves Leonard and his mother. Oh except in the tag when Penny sings Jingle Bells in a desperate attempt to prove that this was a Christmas episode, really it was!
Fresh Prince, “I, Oooh, Baby, Baby”
The plot involves Hillary deciding she wants to have a baby. The b story is where the Christmas stuff happens including Ashley and Carlton fighting over the tree and the stupid arc of Geoffrey getting smashed on egg nog. Not the worst here since it certainly is Christmas but man you’d never tell by the main story.
Full House, “The Perfect Couple”
It seems I keep saying this, but this isn’t just a crappy Christmas episode it’s also a bad episode, period. A new dating game show is being test piloted with Joey as a host. Joey gets to play a caricature of a game show host while our characters get insulted. Then Danny and Vicki break up. The ironic thing is that the teaser is very Christamasyy, which it turns out is very misleading.
King of Queens, “Santa Claustrophobia”
This is a tough one, since there is Christmas in the episode. Though it has zero to do with the main story. The B story is about Arthur trying to take a Christmas card. Most of the plot is about Carrie driving Doug crazy when she works with him. If you added up the Christmas in this episode I think it would be about five minutes.
There are lots more, if you know one I missed comment and let me know.
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