One of the most welcome resurrections in recent TV history has been the Futurama revival on Comedy Central, and if you missed the show’s brilliant comeback, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment is stuffing your stocking with Futurama: Volume 5 just in time for the holidays. That timing is key, not only because the set makes a great gift for the animation/comedy/Groening fan in your life, but also because it features the three-part “Futurama Holiday Spectacular,” in which the gang learns the true meaning of Xmas, Robanukah, and Kwanzaa. All of which got me to thinking about some other favorite sitcom viewing worth checking out at home this holiday weekend…
The Mary Tyler Moore Show: “Not a Christmas Story” (1974)
This classic show had several great Christmas-themed episodes, but my favorite involves a freak snowstorm trapping everyone at the station at the exact moment where no one is speaking to each other. “Happy Homemaker” Sue Ann Nivens tries to remedy the situation by making everyone eat her “Christmas in Many Lands” dinner, which doesn’t go all that well.
The Jack Benny Program: “Christmas Shopping” (1958)
While Seinfeld later got raves for staging an episode entirely within the confines of a Chinese restaurant, that sort of thing was common in TV’s early years. Here, the infamously cheap Jack spends the whole show in a department store picking out Christmas gifts, and literally driving a harried clerk (the great Mel Blanc) to suicide.
Family Ties: “A Keaton Christmas Carol” (1983)
Who better to fill the shoes of the greedy Ebenezer Scrooge than Reagan-era Young Turk Alex P. Keaton (Michael J. Fox)?
South Park: “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo” (1997)
South Park has made the holiday episode part of its stock in trade over the years, but this Season One entry about a singing piece of excrement who brings the holiday spirit to town let viewers know early that no taboo was going to be off-limits for this show. (This one’s about as un-Rankin-Bass as you can get.)
30 Rock: “Ludachristmas” (2007)
This one’s a winner for the title alone, but it also features the meeting of the terrifying Colleen Donaghy (Elaine Stritch) and Liz’s parents Dick (Buck Henry) and Margaret Lemon (Anita Gillette), as well as Henry uttering the immortal line, “It’s not a Lemon party without old Dick!” Alas, only Hulu Plus members can watch this entire show online, but here’s this year’s hilarious holiday episode, “Christmas Attack Zone”:
Share your own favorites in the comments section — and Happy Holidays!
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