I talked the other day about sitcom characters dressing up as Santa. But that’s not the only trope that persists in these shows. How about Christmas Carol episodes? Course we all know Charles Dickens immortal classic, and it has been redone a million times on TV and in movies. The funny thing is that as hard as they try these episode never quite get the point of the book. That’s because the character getting the Christmas Carol treatment isn’t a miser who hates people like Scrooge was. He or she is usually someone who is usually kind and loving, but are having a bad day.
Doesn’t stop these shows though. Here are some examples :
Bewitched, “Humbug Not to Be Spoken Here”
Give this show credit, at least they thought outside the box. The Scrooge in this episode is a client of Darrin’s. The twist is rather than show the grumpy jerk is past, present, and future Samantha takes hin ot see Santa Claus. This was sort of a re-write of an earlier episode where she did the same thing to a disbelieving little boy.
Sanford & Son, “Ebenezer Sanford”
I guess this one makes sense since Fred Sanford was a grouchy characters. But I’ve never seen it nor do I want to. But it deserved a mention.
The Odd Couple, “Scrooge Gets An Oscar”
I actually did see this one, and while Oscar as Scrooge makes perfect sense the episode tries to be a little to close to the book and didn’t work for me. It’s more of straight A Christmas Carol parody than it is The Odd Couple’s spin on the tale.
WKRP, “Bah, Humbug”
This is an episode which makes no sense, Mr.Carlson isn’t really a bad guy even in the episode. But they do a good job with it, even having a “Jacob Marley” in the start which some versions skip. With Jennifer as Ghost of Christmas Past and Johnny Fever as Ghost of Future, the premise of Carlson caring more about a new control board then giving his staff bonuses seems forced but still works.
Family Ties, “A Keaton Christmas Carol”
I love this episode. I think it’s because the cast seems to be having so much fun with the idea. Alex is the Scrooge this time and he gets to see past and future thanks to Jennifer and Mallory. The past stuff is nice but the real fun is in the future segment where we see that Alex has left the family completely destitute. Alex is the bald miser who realizes what is really important and the scene at the end is great. I also love the later Christmas episode where Alex remarks he loves Christmas, which I swear is a callback to this episode.
A Different World, “For Whom the Jingle Bell Tolls”
This is one is more forced as we’ve seen Whitley is nice and likes Christmas. But she is having a tough time this year because her mother is going to France and she doesn’t want to bring Freddie home. The three ghosts show her that if Whitley doesn’t invite Freddie for Christmas, Dwayne will fall in love with her instead!
Golden Palace, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot (Less) Like Christmas”
This poorly conceived and not very long lasting Golden Girls spin-off did the Christmas Carol route with the cook, Chue, realizing the true meaning of Christmas. The three girls of curse fill in as the ghosts. The one thing I liked with this one is that the ghosts have different lessons, Past shows him that his father wasn’t so bad while present shows him that his friends care about him a little more than he thought. They also steal Family Ties Future segment with Cheu being a miser who leaves the others derelict. Hey did you know this is where Don Cheadle got his start?
Mr.Belvedere, “A Happy Guys Christmas”
This episode is, well, it’s a Mr.Belvedere episode. I love the show but man can it be corny. Mr.Belevedre turns into a grouch while trying to direct a local production of A Christmas Carol, until three ghosts show what will happen if he doesn’t direct the play. The future is really dark, with Belvedere realizing he will be stuck with the Owens for decades!
Boy Meets World, “A Very Topanga Christmas”
Much like Bewitched this episode doesn’t do a straight Christmas Carol parody. Instead all we get is the Ghost of Christmas Future, Feeney of course, who shows Cory what will happen if he doesn’t stop being a stubborn jerk and learn to compromise.
The Jetsons
When I was a kid I had a VHS which had Flintstones Saved Christmas, which I hated, and this episode of The Jetsons which is really pretty good. You’d think it would be about Mr.Spacely making George work late, but they actually do a Tiny Tim spin when Astro accidentally eats a toy and gets sick. In the future we see that Astro died and The Jetsons sued Spacely for millions. Nice touch.
Finally, even though its not Christmas I had to mention
Roseanne
I talked about this back in my favorite Halloween episodes, but man do I love this one. When Roseanne is in the dumps on Halloween, three ghosts show her what will happen if she continues to deny the Halloween spirit. Awesome!
Lots more from Blackadder to The Flintstones to The Real Ghostbusters with a very unique episode! I cant find a recent example, do they not do these anymore? Well if I did miss one comment and let me know.
Of course It’s a Wonderful Life is also a Christmas cliche in TV,but the problem with that is that the concept is so general that lots of TV shows will use the formula in a traditional setting having nothing to do with the holiday. Some do, like The Facts of Life episode which I love, but others don’t so maybe that will be a list for another day when it’s not Christmas.
No comments:
Post a Comment