Merry Christmas everyone! For this year's Christmas Day Special, I decided its time to list my personal favourite Christmas Specials when it comes to things like TV and some films. There are a lot out there and because its Christmas, the list will have twelve entries instead of the usual 25 or how ever many I can fit in at once. All the ones listed are things that I have watched and love very much. Any films on this list are only on here mainly because of the franchise they come from. One special per franchise and as long as it has something to do with Christmas in it, it can count. So let's get started:
12 - Road to the North Pole (Family Guy)
Anybody who knows
Family Guy well will know of the adventures that Brian and Stewie have. In all of the "Road to..." episodes which at times can be extended to a longer time than the average episode, Brian and Stewie both go on an adventure and leave the rest of the family behind (often with Stewie having made some kind of thing to make them believe that they are still with them). So in this adventure, Stewie goes to the mall with Brian to meet Santa only to be rudely brushed off when he leaves for the night. Outraged by this, Stewie then plans to kill Santa and asks Brian to take him to the North Pole. But in an attempt to trick him, Brian instead takes Stewie to a North Pole themed amusement park. But eventually after settling their differences, Brian then decides to help Stewie get to the real North Pole where they find out something they were not expecting. The special itself is pretty good with all the usual cutaway gags and jokes, but also does something that many specials up until this one never tried; making out that Santa is sick and tired of doing Christmas every year. A very funny special and one that could be seen as one of the show's strongest due to how it does something original about the holiday.
11 - For Whom The Sleigh Bells Tolls (American Dad!)
So in
American Dad! the special plays out like any other episode until a moment where (spoiler alert), a member of the family accidentally kills the real Santa and everyone around them starts to feel less festive about it. Then what follows is the family finding a new tradition and they quite possibly the most bizarre and over the top one they can do but I won't spoil it. A very funny special that shows that Santa may not be as jolly as we might think and that anyone who p***es him off will pay the price. Speaking of which...
10 - Xmas Story (Futurama)
While the future is uncertain,
Futurama's take on it sees Fry celebrate the festive season at a time where Santa has become a murderous robot who kills anyone on the naughty list. So apparently the idea of Christmas in the future is that its now called Xmas, palm trees are used instead of pine trees since they are extinct. The main three characters each have their own little adventure and way to celebrate the season and it all ends with Fry re-establishing the true meaning of Xmas. Like I say, the future is uncertain and many of us may not be around to see it as
Futurama depicts it, but its a funny take on it as well as heart warming too.
9 - Jingle Jingle Jangle (Ed, Edd N Eddy)
The Eds in this show have always done all sorts of schemes to get what they want, but in this special Eddy tries to get adopted by one of his fellow neighbourhood kids in an attempt to mooch off their presents. Most of the special sees Eddy going from house to house to get other people's presents while Ed and Double D get annoyed with Eddy's perspective of Christmas and the pair formulate a plan to show Eddy the true meaning of Christmas. In a way, the special can be seen as the Eds' take on
The Grinch with Eddy playing the role of the Grinch. But ultimately its a pretty dang good special that is only one story in what would otherwise be an episode of two stories. It shows that the meaning of Christmas isn't all just about presents (though for many of us it is) and it also ends in the most Eds way possible. Its great.
8 - Nan's Christmas Carol (The Catherine Tate Show)
We've seen a lot of versions of
A Christmas Carol and sometimes I get sick of seeing them myself. However there are a few good ones out there as well as ones that put characters in an almost identical scenario. As you all know, Catherine Tate is a well established comedian who has done a lot of things over the years such as being a companion to the Tenth Doctor, acting in a number of different films and TV dramas and so much more. But one show if any that we will all remember her doing is her own sketch show where she plays a number of characters. So in one Christmas Special, Tate plays the role of Nan who is traditionally known for being a foul mouthed grandmother who frequently criticises and swears and people almost all the time. So naturally she would be the perfect choice for being a "Scrooge" like character and that's pretty much what Tate did in a 2009 Christmas Special known simply as
Nan's Christmas Carol. It was a very funny take on the story and used some old and new characters from the show and all ending with Nan being back to her old ways despite what the spirits told her. Pretty much as expected but still very good.
7 - Dexter VS Santa Claws (Dexter's Laboratory)
Whether you believe him or not, there will be those who will try to prove that Santa either exists or doesn't. As with most of Dexter's shenanigans, here Dee Dee tells him about Santa while Dexter believes that this so called Santa is really their dad in disguise. And so begins a series of events where Dexter tries to catch his dad in the act only to later find out that he's been put on the naughty list possibly for good. It has all the usual goofiness that the show is known for and its overall a pretty good special done in pretty much the way many fans would believe it to go. Dexter inventing something, Dee Dee disturbing him and telling him stuff with Dexter wanting to prove that theory using science and a beard razor. This one is definitely for the fans like me and its great.
6 - Merry Christmas (Mr. Bean)
As many of us will know,
Mr. Bean is one of the few sitcoms out there that really doesn't need that much hard work to translate what is going on. Its all slapstick humour with very light dialogue which is possibly why the whole world loves him. So its Christmas and just like everyone else, Mr. Bean is making his own preparations for the big day itself. He tries to recreate the birth of Jesus Christ at Harrods, conducts a Salvation Army brass band, catches a pick pocketer, steals a Christmas tree when all the others at a tree stand had sold out, watches carol singing in the place of his TV, gets a Turkey on his head and upsets his girlfriend. So yeah its basically answering the question "How would Mr. Bean go about Christmas?" and doing such a fine job of showing that. Its very funny and just shows that Bean can do pretty much anything that is thrown his way.
5 - Voyage of the Damned (Doctor Who)
I won't say too much about this one as I have mentioned it a lot in other lists. What I really like about this Christmas Special is that unlike many of the other Christmas Specials, this feels like the most original one that Russell T Davis could think of during his tenure as executive producer. It starts off being very light hearted but quickly turns to something a lot more serious. It shows us the weight that The Doctor carries on his shoulders as far as those who he has come to care about and have died in his name. Its also possibly one of the rare times for the show to have at least one big name in it; in this case it was Kylie Minogue (and Tennant of course). Plus its also one of the rare times where our current Queen actually acknowledges the Doctor and his actions. I personally feel that it is a great special and one that may never be beaten though some of Matt Smith's adventures have come close.
4 - Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo (South Park)
In one of the earliest episodes of
South Park, the town are after their own unique mascot for the holiday season when it becomes apparent to the Jewish residents (except for Kyle) that anything to do with Christmas is offencive to them and as it goes with this little world, they all make a big fuss about the whole holiday season and how it can be seen as offencive to one side over the other. Eventually though, the town then has their own mascot for Christmas which turns to be Mr Hankey the Christmas poo. Yeah as you may guess, this episode came out at a time where
South Park was all too rude and crude for anyone to see unlike much much later episodes where its less of those but still over the top where it wants to. But for what the episode was, it was very bizarre, over the top and pretty much how a
South Park Christmas special can go. Also its was one of the earliest episodes where Kenny didn't die at all which became much more of a thing in later seasons as the creators didn't want to do that in every episode over and over again after a while.
3 - A Muppet Christmas Carol
I know I'm kind of cheating a little bit here as this was a feature film more than a Christmas special. But it features
The Muppets who at this point would've been more well known for their TV shows over their films. Nevertheless they too did their own take on
A Christmas Carol which this time is a musical done in the most Muppet way possible. You have Gonzo and Rizzo narrating the story with Sir Michael Caine as Scrooge, Kermit as Bob Cratchit with Miss Piggy and some other pig and frog like muppets playing his family, Fozzie as Mr. Fezziwig (though in keeping with his name, its Fozziwig in this film) and Statler and Waldorf as the Marley brothers (even though the original story has only one Marley). So yeah its not the most serious of takes on the story due to it featuring the
Muppets and it being a musical. But its one of the most beloved adaptations of the story due to the
Muppets influence in it and how it captures the spirit and heart of the original story. Plus thanks to this film, Gonzo and Rizzo would be promoted to actual characters in their next big screen adventure after this one which is great.
2 - The Christmas Lunch Incident (Vicar of Dibley)
The role of a vicar is pretty darn important in any Christmas celebrations. They are the ones that aside from the sales assistants at almost every known shop out there, do a lot of work in running different services to celebrate the birth of our lord Jesus. So in what I believe is either the first or one of the earliest Christmas Specials for
The Vicar of Dibley, Geraldine Granger goes about doing her Christmas Day sermon before quickly being invited to various Christmas meals all happening at once. Determined to not disappoint everyone as she feels sorry for them all, she goes to four Christmas meals each with a bizarrely big amount of food. What follows is a series of comedic shenanigans where she tries to not eat very much, but does so anyway at the cost of being carried everywhere and be fooled into thinking she was marrying Peter Capaldi. Its very funny and also has a bit of a moral to it. Try and keep promises as best as you can, but don't eat too much in the process.
1 - Roasting on an Open Fire (The Simpsons)
When it comes to
The Simpsons, many of us believe that its running out of steam and should stop. I mean the quality of the story content and the animation is a lot more stiff and losing steam. Its just not as good as it used to be. But what many of us may not remember all that well was that their first full length episode after previously making appearances on
The Tracey Ullman Show was in fact their first Christmas special as well and it was and always will be their best one to date. So in the special, Homer is facing financial trouble when Bart's tattoo gets removed at an expensive rate. Desperate to make money, he seeks out a job being a Mall Santa before going with Bart to a dog race to bet money. But what happens in the end is that the family in fact adopt one of the dogs, the dog being known as Santa's Little Helper. You know when I think about Christmas, its gifts like these that really make it a great holiday celebrated by all. It captures what Christmas really is all about and shows us that when times are tough, its being together that matters most.
So that's my Christmas Specials list. I hope you enjoyed reading it and please feel free to comment on your favourite ones. Apart from that, enjoy the festive day that today brings.
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