The other day I talked about Christmas episodes of sitcoms.
I love them! And I watch a ton of them every year. However, there have been a
couple of episodes I didn't love and hardly watch. These are episodes which
just rubbed me the wrong way, and I wanted to share them with you.
Now let me be clear, these are only episodes I have seen.
Even I haven't seen every Christmas show out there and that's especially true
for those series that I hate or just never watch. Also, this is just my opinion
so if you disagree that's cool. I just do not like these episodes.
#5. Happy Days, "Christmas Time"
It's hard to put any episode of this show on a worst list
because it is so beloved. But I saw this last year and wasn't happy with it.
The set-up is simply that Fonzie gets a package from his long lost father and
refuses to open. Ok, sounds simple enough. What's the problem? Richie goes too
far in his efforts to get Fonzie to open it. He practically starts a fight with
him. Nothing wrong with being a supportive friend, which Richie sure is, but
here he goes a bit too far and spoils the episode a bit. Fonzie should open the
gift, but when he is good and ready not because he feels pressure. Is it the
worst episode ever? No, not at all and all is well in the end. But something
about this show just didn't feel right.
#4. Home Improvement, "No Place Like Home"
If they weren't going to do an all-out Christmas episode,
they should have just made this a regular show. This half ass holiday episode
is just pitiful compared to the
fantastic Christmas shows before this. But what's worst, this episode is just
plain boring and dull. There is enough Christmas in the first five minutes to
make it a legit holiday show, but then it goes way downhill. I talked about it
a little yesterday but I wanted to elaborate a bit here. The premise is simple,
during Christmas week Tim has to move his mother out of her house. When he
learns what the new owners are going to do the house he is upset that his
childhood home is being changed. This brings us into a flashback of Tim and his
father which is so boring, words can't even describe it. I understand we need
the character development for Tim, but man is this episode terrible. It barely
feels like an episode a Home Improvement, never mind a Christmas episode. The
good news is that the next year they gave us a more traditional Christmas show.
#3.Charles in Charge, "Yule Laff"
Remember all those cliché’s I talked about? How about a show
that hits several of them and does it badly. I don't mind cheesy 80's shows,
really. Give me Saved By The Bell, Small Wonder, Silver Spoons, even Full House
and I love it. But this show is just to corny. This episode is a great example.
In the episode Charles has planned a Christmas getaway for the whole family to
the mountains. Of course it’s one disaster after another. The cabin is a mess,
a storm strands the family and keeps the father from getting there, and a bear
(in a snow storm, sure, and man does it look fake). I mean, didn't Charles even
attempt to check the place out before dragging the family up there? After they
sing a carol for literally no reason, Santa appears during the night and gives
them presents. Not sure why, usually when a show does this it has a bearing on
the story. Not here. Suddenly everyone is happy and they act like it was a
great Christmas. Why? Because they survived the night? The story is silly and makes
no sense, the situation is forced, and the moral is all over the place. And the
Santa thing is not needed, it literally serves no purpose. Just a bad episode.
#2.Becker, "Santa on Ice"
Ok if people didn’t disagree with me on the Happy Days one I
know they will on this one. This is totally my opinion, if you like it more
power to you, but I hated this because it was just too dark for a Christmas
episode. Becker has to identify the body of a man dressed as Santa in a morgue,
while Reggie ruins a tree while dragging it through the city. There’s more but
that’s enough for me to not like this one. I don't mind episodes that focus on
the more negative aspects of the holiday, but a morgue? Sorry, not for me.
About all I have to say about this one. I saw it once and will never watch it
again. To show I didn’t hate this series, the Christmas episode of Becker where
he gets stuck in a mall display was hilarious and one of my favorites.
#1.Step By Step, "The Fight Before Christmas"
Like Home Improvement, I enjoy most of the Christmas
episodes from this series. Here is the exception. I hated this episode when I
saw it! The problem with the episode is the B story. Here is the setup. JD is
working at a lot selling Christmas trees. At this lot there is a kid, and the
the owner is being protective of one certain
tree. Whenever a customer approaches it he defends the tree and scares
the customer away. Why is he doing this? It turns out that the kid wanted the
tree, but didn't have any money to pay for it. So the owner made him a deal,
work for the tree. And of course he was defending it so that it would still be
there when the kid had worked enough to earn it. Ummmm, what? Who wrote this,
the same guy who wrote "The Christmas Shoes?" JUST GIVE THE KID THE
DAMN TREE! Isn't it supposed to be the season of giving? Why is this guy making
the kid have to work for it? They make a point that the kid will not accept
charity, but I'm not buying that. Even if I did, have the kid do a small task
and then give him the tree. And what does the kid learn having the owner of the
lot almost violently defending this one tree? And why is this one tree so
special anyway, aren't there others? And what does JD learn exactly? I just don't get it. Maybe If this were just a
regular episode I might be ok with it, but as a Christmas show? Awful! And the
A story sucks to, but I am not even getting into that.
So there are five Christmas episodes I just did not like.
Does that mean there aren’t worst? Heck no,
I’m sure there are. And if I missed one you think should be on here,
please comment and let me know. Now, I think I will pop in an old episode I
love and forget these five.
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