Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Off The Top Of My Head: Every Christmas Episode Of Every TV Show I Can Remember Without Looking Them Up (and their plots)

The other day, I watched every single episode of The Office that dealt with Christmas, a task that was far harder than it ought to have been.  Why don't TV show producers put those out at this time of year, on Netflix or pay-per-view or something, all in a neat package?  And why, for Pete's sake, are we still not able to just watch any TV show from any era at any time?  Why, in short, can I not see Herman's Head online anytime I want?  Stupid future.  I hope the Mayans were right.  It would serve you all.

That got me thinking, though: How much of an impact on me did TV show Christmas episodes make? Are they lodged as firmly in my brain as the song lyrics to If I Had A Boat, by Lyle Lovett?  I love that song:


So here goes: all the episodes I can remember without researching:

1.  Modern Family: the episode where they hold Instant Christmas or whatever it's called because everyone's going to be away on the 25th.


2.  Friends: The episode with the Holiday Armadillo.  Also there was one where Rachel was giving stuff she could steal from the office and Ross said "Should everyone expect presents you can steal from your office?" and she said "You shouldn't," because they were fighting that season.

3.   Growing Pains:  They had a Christmas episode.  I don't remember the plot.

4.  Family Guy: the Christmas episode where Brian and Stewie fill in for an exhausted Santa and kill someone in their house is what got me to start watching the show again.  They also had that one where Peter wanted to watch A KISS Christmas which was about a pterodactyl.

5.  Seinfeld:  I can count Festivus, right? Because it was about Christmas, partially?

6.  Futurama did those episodes with Robot Santa terrorizing people.  I think there were two.

7.  The Simpsons:  They got their dog, Santa's Little Helper, when Homer bet the Christmas money at the racetrack, losing it but taking the dog he bet on as a present.  That episode changed the usual arc of a Christmas story by taking a family, making them worse off, then not quite putting them back exactly where they started and calling it a happy ending, because the Simpson family was a little worse off, if you ask me.  I don't want to own a dog.

8.  The Office which honestly I don't know why this wasn't first since I mentioned it in the header but they did a bunch of them including this years, with Dwight's weird Santa.  The best one was the classic Dutch Christmas episode where Michael got Ryan an iPod and they all kept trying to trade presents.  That was The Office at its greatest.

9.  Spongebob Squarepants:  I know he had a new special out this year but we started watching it and the first few minutes was a claymation thing that was boring (to me) and frightening (to Mr Bunches) so I'm not counting that one; I'm counting the one where Spongebob finds out about Santa and all of Bikini Bottom writes letters to Santa, who then doesn't show up and Squidward has to pretend to be Santa because Spongebob cries.  It had a really good song in it.

10.  Phineas and Ferb: Again, they had a Christmas episode and again I can't think of what it was.  How can I remember that a thing exists without remembering a single thing about that thing? Way to be on the ball, brain.

11.  Didn't Three's Company have to have a Christmas episode?  I want to say they did but my mind is a blank.  So the list is done and I'm going to go look that up...

 ...they did:  It was called Three's Christmas.  Wikipedia, which I am really starting to rely on despite my longstanding skepticism of it, says:

The trio decides to celebrate Christmas at home because they haven't been invited to any parties, even by their neighbors the Stevens. The Ropers invite them downstairs for a party, and they accept, but moments afterwards the Stevens call to reconfirm their invitation to the party, which must have gotten lost in the mail. Jack and Janet want to go, but Chrissy makes them go to the Ropers. The evening is spent listening to Roper sing silly songs, till finally the kids are able to excuse themselves. They go off to the Stevens' where they run into the Ropers, who also found out too late that they had been invited. Roper had spent the evening trying to bore them into leaving so he and Helen could go to the party. 

That sounds awesome.  It's the true spirit of Christmas: not being able to stand being around the people you are around.




PS:

Growing Pains DID have a Christmas episode:

"A depressed department store Santa consulting Jason decides to commit suicide by leaping down the Seavers' chimney."

FESTIVE!  I couldn't find it online, so here's a Kirk Cameron Ice Capades video I haven't watched:



13 comments:

PT Dilloway said...

American Dad has some epic Christmas episodes that involve things like time travel, angels, the Rapture, and a LOTR-style war with Santa.

I've been watching old King of the Hill Christmas episodes on Amazon's video service (free with Prime membership). Yesterday I watched the one where Hank goes blind after he sees his mother and new boyfriend screwing on the kitchen table. Ewww...that would make me go blind too.

Lara Schiffbauer said...

You've impressed me with your Christmas special recall. I only remember the big ones like Rudolph, etc...

The Phineas and Ferb one (since you mentioned it) has something to do with Danville not getting presents so Phineas and Ferb delivered them, but in the end the reason P&F had to deliver the presents was because Santa was giving Phineas his Christmas Wish. I checked with my 6 year old to be sure. :)

Briane said...

Lara, my list might be the LEAST impressive demonstration of memory, ever. But thanks for the compliment.

PT: On the contrary, I'm getting excited just thinking about it. Wait, we ARE talking about YOUR parents, right?

Michael Offutt, Phantom Reader said...

Festivus for the rest of us! I have grievances to air against you Briane Pagel!

Andrew Leon said...

Even though Star Wars wasn't a TV show, you left off Star Wars!

Anonymous said...

Hi www.blogger.com owner, are you interested in links exchange? Reply to my email
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3NW6jSSjmQ]Unlock Huawei H881c[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIHNgUYkPI4]Unlock Samsung Stratosphere[/url]
[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA4dnhedRE8]Unlock Sony Xperia T[/url]

Anonymous said...


Very little a lot higher over a minimal pleasurable sideline for the Location persons : it is precisely what distributed bet seemed to be, years close to in the last. Though steadily acknowledged in contrast to classic comment on interacting with Twenty five materials that are cut-throat in any a greater number of busy business, that maybe what your own dispense wagers is obviously nowadays. A variety of retailers own taken on given away online gaming pursuing tracking exactly how their own unique stock trading game pay for staff have done due to this fact desperately over the past handful of current market credit crunch. From the unpleasant cost reduction programmes a number of these therefore often known as specialists have seen, participants ordinarily priority the way in which most of these finance managers have completed gravely without having to devoid of main objective as well as professional traders today imagine that it wouldn't progress regardless of if individuals tried out employing a brand-new hands and fingers ourselves. Expanding duty and buying as well as offering charges and even last summer seasons 28% CGT go walking many obtain, as a result creating allocated having fun with seem to be & end up a growing range of traditional.

Visit [url=http://www.bonus-betting-offers.com]betting offers[/url]

By Gary Lester: niceguy44@talktalk.net

Anonymous said...

Activities gaming in the past was affiliated with attaching chance all over the outcomes of moose nationality. Normally indicate, making it this wager will truly expect your own player and help your protect a treadmill which may can come prime. Gambling moose flashing is seen as a well-known task for many global.

Visit [url=http://www.bonus-betting-offers.com]betting offers[/url]

By Gary Lester: niceguy44@talktalk.net

Anonymous said...

A lot of quality articles i see on your www.blogger.com
Unlock Nokia 7205 Intrigue
Unlock Nokia C7 00
Unlock Nokia 6555

Anonymous said...

[url=http://buygenericonlineviagrashop.com/#3878]order viagra[/url] - generic viagra , http://buygenericonlineviagrashop.com/#7167 viagra online

Anonymous said...

[url=http://buycialispremiumpharmacy.com/#lzrnb]buy cialis online[/url] - buy cialis , http://buycialispremiumpharmacy.com/#tgmbd buy cialis online

Anonymous said...

[url=http://buyviagrapremiumpharmacy.com/#wstwx]buy viagra online[/url] - viagra online , http://buyviagrapremiumpharmacy.com/#lunhv buy viagra

Anonymous said...

[url=http://viagraboutiqueone.com/#iaboj]viagra without prescription[/url] - buy generic viagra , http://viagraboutiqueone.com/#bjqfd viagra 150 mg