Post by Don Quixote on Dec 27, 2008 0:39:50 GMT -5
I probably should've started this thread a week ago, but hindsight is always twenty/twenty.
Anywho, the season, having bore down on us as hard as it does any year, always gives me pause. On one hand, I think of the birth of Jesus and the somber religious nature of this time of year, and on the other hand, I think of all the great Christmas episodes of T.V. shows there are, since I usually have a Christmas Episode Marathon, courtesy of my truly elephantine DVD collection. So many great episodes, so many hours passed. I've always been a big animation fan, so a majority of my marathon features cartoon characters, but I'm sure there are gems out there that were missed by yours truly. Feel free to throw in, but first, here's a list of my personal favorites, in no particular order, plucked from the shelf:
1) MST3K - Santa Claus: Easily one of the best Christmas epsiodes of ANY T.V. show ever produced. The "Merry Christmas, if That's Okay" segment gets me every time, and the riffing is some of the strongest Mike brought to the table.
2) Invader Zim - The Most Horrible Christmas Ever: Another great Christmas episode. On the commentary for this episode, the staff remarked that they knew the show was cancelled at this point, so they did whatever they wanted. While in some cases, this may be bad, not so in this case. Just complete and utter insanity, culminating in Santa becoming an evil entity that lives in space and visits Earth once a year to try to destroy us all.
3) The Simpsons - Marge Be Not Proud: I have the very first episode of the series (where they get Santa's Little Helper), but I really don't care for that episode. This one, however, is very good. The Marge/Bart relationship is explored in this episode. It's not a Homer-heavy one, but this was really before the show became entirely about Homer. Bart gets caught trying to steal a video game by the gruff security guard, and in the process, ruins the family Christmas picture. The rest of the show is basically about Bart trying to get back on his mother's good graces. There is a happy ending, and Bart learns to choke back his revulsion at a gift given in earnest.
4) South Park - Mister Hankey The Christmas Poo: It started it all. The whole twisted world of South Park Christmas started with this episode. It deals with Cartman ragging on Kyle for being Jewish around Christmastime, and a school Christmas play that gets protested into inanity. Also, there's a talking piece of crap that jumps around, leaving his mark on South Park. Jesus sings himself "Happy Birthday" in an empty room.
5) Justice League - Comfort and Joy: This explores the meaning of the season for different members of the Justice League (except for Batman, who begged for monitor duty). We see Hawkgirl and Green Lantern get in an intergalactic bar fight, and Flash has a run-in with the Ultra-Humanite. All the stories end well, but the story about Superman taking the Martian Manhunter home to Smallville is probably my favorite part of the episode. It's really more of a story about Clark Kent going home for Christmas, since we don't see the big "S" on his chest at all the whole time. J'onn learns how Christmas tends to bring out the good in people, and even though he's the last of his kind, he's not alone.
6) Sealab 2021 - The Feast of Alvis: While not technically a Christmas episode, Alvinism is essentially a thinly-veiled Christianity, and it deals with the religious differences aboard Sealab. Captain Murphy, like in most episodes, carries the rest of the cast, and he tries to create the perfect Alvistime pageant. His focus on perfection makes it all turn to crap, and all the non-Alvians to get pissed off at him. In the end, he learns that the true meaning of Alvistime is drinking. Drinking and revenge.
7) South Park - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics: Hands-down one of the greatest Christmas episodes, right up there with Santa Claus, and even the old Rankin/Bass features I loved so as a child. It starts off as a parody of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, and is just a big Christmas sing-along with the South Park cast, including new songs, such as "Merry F**king Christmas". The soundtrack is equally awesome, and if you can find it, pick it up, it's got more songs from the rest of the cast, including Chef, Cartman, and extended versions of the songs already on the episode. Mister Mackey's rendition of "Carol of the Bells" is always a family favorite, as is Mr. Hankey's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". This is the second South Park episode on this list, and while the others are vastly entertaining, they shall be omitted from this list for the sake of brevity.
8) The Venture Brothers - A Very Venture Christmas: A series of images in the beginning leave you with the same feeling as Dr. Venture has when he awakes. The rest of the episode is about the boys running up Dr. V's diner's club card on a Christmas story hotline, and how The Monarch is going to use Tiny Joseph to blow up the Venture Compound. Also, the Krampas makes an appearance, and only the stroke of midnight wards him off.
I could go on, but it's nearing one in the A.M., and I'm getting tired. So, if you have any episodes you want to throw in, feel free to do so!
Anywho, the season, having bore down on us as hard as it does any year, always gives me pause. On one hand, I think of the birth of Jesus and the somber religious nature of this time of year, and on the other hand, I think of all the great Christmas episodes of T.V. shows there are, since I usually have a Christmas Episode Marathon, courtesy of my truly elephantine DVD collection. So many great episodes, so many hours passed. I've always been a big animation fan, so a majority of my marathon features cartoon characters, but I'm sure there are gems out there that were missed by yours truly. Feel free to throw in, but first, here's a list of my personal favorites, in no particular order, plucked from the shelf:
1) MST3K - Santa Claus: Easily one of the best Christmas epsiodes of ANY T.V. show ever produced. The "Merry Christmas, if That's Okay" segment gets me every time, and the riffing is some of the strongest Mike brought to the table.
2) Invader Zim - The Most Horrible Christmas Ever: Another great Christmas episode. On the commentary for this episode, the staff remarked that they knew the show was cancelled at this point, so they did whatever they wanted. While in some cases, this may be bad, not so in this case. Just complete and utter insanity, culminating in Santa becoming an evil entity that lives in space and visits Earth once a year to try to destroy us all.
3) The Simpsons - Marge Be Not Proud: I have the very first episode of the series (where they get Santa's Little Helper), but I really don't care for that episode. This one, however, is very good. The Marge/Bart relationship is explored in this episode. It's not a Homer-heavy one, but this was really before the show became entirely about Homer. Bart gets caught trying to steal a video game by the gruff security guard, and in the process, ruins the family Christmas picture. The rest of the show is basically about Bart trying to get back on his mother's good graces. There is a happy ending, and Bart learns to choke back his revulsion at a gift given in earnest.
4) South Park - Mister Hankey The Christmas Poo: It started it all. The whole twisted world of South Park Christmas started with this episode. It deals with Cartman ragging on Kyle for being Jewish around Christmastime, and a school Christmas play that gets protested into inanity. Also, there's a talking piece of crap that jumps around, leaving his mark on South Park. Jesus sings himself "Happy Birthday" in an empty room.
5) Justice League - Comfort and Joy: This explores the meaning of the season for different members of the Justice League (except for Batman, who begged for monitor duty). We see Hawkgirl and Green Lantern get in an intergalactic bar fight, and Flash has a run-in with the Ultra-Humanite. All the stories end well, but the story about Superman taking the Martian Manhunter home to Smallville is probably my favorite part of the episode. It's really more of a story about Clark Kent going home for Christmas, since we don't see the big "S" on his chest at all the whole time. J'onn learns how Christmas tends to bring out the good in people, and even though he's the last of his kind, he's not alone.
6) Sealab 2021 - The Feast of Alvis: While not technically a Christmas episode, Alvinism is essentially a thinly-veiled Christianity, and it deals with the religious differences aboard Sealab. Captain Murphy, like in most episodes, carries the rest of the cast, and he tries to create the perfect Alvistime pageant. His focus on perfection makes it all turn to crap, and all the non-Alvians to get pissed off at him. In the end, he learns that the true meaning of Alvistime is drinking. Drinking and revenge.
7) South Park - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics: Hands-down one of the greatest Christmas episodes, right up there with Santa Claus, and even the old Rankin/Bass features I loved so as a child. It starts off as a parody of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, and is just a big Christmas sing-along with the South Park cast, including new songs, such as "Merry F**king Christmas". The soundtrack is equally awesome, and if you can find it, pick it up, it's got more songs from the rest of the cast, including Chef, Cartman, and extended versions of the songs already on the episode. Mister Mackey's rendition of "Carol of the Bells" is always a family favorite, as is Mr. Hankey's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". This is the second South Park episode on this list, and while the others are vastly entertaining, they shall be omitted from this list for the sake of brevity.
8) The Venture Brothers - A Very Venture Christmas: A series of images in the beginning leave you with the same feeling as Dr. Venture has when he awakes. The rest of the episode is about the boys running up Dr. V's diner's club card on a Christmas story hotline, and how The Monarch is going to use Tiny Joseph to blow up the Venture Compound. Also, the Krampas makes an appearance, and only the stroke of midnight wards him off.
I could go on, but it's nearing one in the A.M., and I'm getting tired. So, if you have any episodes you want to throw in, feel free to do so!