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Everyone remembers the same scenes from Mr. Bean: from his hilarious attempts at trying to sit an exam to causing havoc at the dentist, but this fantastic Christmas episode provides (arguably) the most memorable moment, and it is almost certainly the best episode overall. From the opening scene, it is clear that this is Mr. Bean on top form, with some ridiculously funny scenes. Each sketch is jam packed with visual gags that never fail to amuse, but it is the final one where he tries to stuff an enormous turkey that is, deservedly, the most treasured, and the closing moment with a Christmas cracker is wonderful. So for a good bit of honest, silly fun this Christmas, you couldn’t do much better than this.
As animated series’ go, I have always preferred Futurama; it balances the emotion of The Simpsons with the slapstick of Family Guy. The Christmas episode (‘Xmas Story’) perfectly elaborates my point. New New York 1000 years from now is terrorised by a robotic Santa, who considers everyone nasty and blasts them with a decidedly un-festive rocket launcher. However, along with this is Fry spending his first Christmas away from his family, a thousand years in the past. And to top it all off, there’s the song “Santa Claus is Gunning You Down.” A Christmas cracker.
As Jeff Winger reminds us, religion is a touchy subject. Community approaches Christmas in the same way that many people tend to... by being very politically correct and taking all the religious significance away from the holiday. ‘Comparative Religion’ sees the study group (who all believe in different faiths) divided as Jeff choses to fight Mike, the school bully. Shirley objects to all the violence at Christmas (although it’s actually the 10th of December!) and subsequently bans Jeff from her politically-correct/non-denominational party. The episode really proves what Community does best as it brings the group together with a message of tolerance and understanding. (Also, Jeff provides my favourite explanation of agnosticism - “To me, religion is like Paul Rudd. I see the appeal, and I would never take it away from anyone, but I would also never stand in line for it.”)
For me, this festive Frasier episode stands above the numerous others for one reason - it isn’t exactly traditional. The titular Mr Crane’s holiday is utterly ruined early on, so he volunteers to do his radio show on Christmas Day. What follows is a depressing tirade of misery from his troubled listeners. Long-suffering producer Roz ends up in tears. The mood only shifts at the very end; a number of less fortunate citizens believe Frasier to be homeless, despite protestations, and buy him Christmas dinner. Of course, awkwardness ensues when Frasier turns to leave in his BMW, only to find he dropped his keys in the diner…
This memorable episode is the one in which Bart gets caught shoplifting a computer game that Marge and Homer wouldn't buy him for Christmas. Not necessarily a laugh-out-loud hilarious episode, it is nonetheless very amusing and the story is very well written, with some genuinely poignant and touching moments included. The episode's references to the mid ‘90s computer game market make for some amusing harks back to a more innocent time, making the episode feel dated in a very nostalgic way, while the character of the security guard that catches Bart, Don Brodka, is a fantastic parody of virtually every tough guy cop from the movies. Even though I can virtually quote this episode verbatim, it is one I could never get bored of and makes me want to play "Lee Carvallo's Putting Challenge" even more every time I watch it.
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