I got this dvd called TV Guide Spotlight: TV's Merriest Episodes!
In order on the disc are Christmas episodes of these series: Bewitched, The Flying Nun, The Partridge Family, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, Married With Children, 3rd Rock from the Sun, The Ellen Show, Just Shoot Me, The Nanny, NewsRadio, That '70s Show.
I did not watch Bewitched or The Flying Nun this year as I already have them, but I watched the rest.
In order of best to worst, here's what I thought:
The Ellen Show / The Nanny: I couldn't decide. The Nanny made me laugh more and was jam-packed with humor, but The Ellen Show had a sentimental touch to it that I loved. If you're confused as to this Ellen episode. Ellen first had a sitcom titled These Friends of Mine that premiered the same year as Friends. To avoid confusion with Friends, seasons 2-5 were named Ellen. This episode is from The Ellen Show, a 2001 sitcom she had which aired 13 of the 18 episodes they produced. I remember watching it a few times, but not this episode. A year later Ellen began her long-running talk show.
Roseanne: Good middle class family Christmas story and the humor to go with it.
The Partridge Family: This one I watched first and never thought I'd rate it this high. The title of the episode was "Don't Bring Your Guns to Town, Santa" and with that title I couldn't imagine what it would be about. The basic plot synopsis is: After performing in Vegas on Christmas Eve, the Partridges start the drive home. The bus breaks down in a western ghost town with one inhabitant. Disappointed about being away from home for Christmas, the prospector tells them a Christmas story.
It's basically a fantasy story where the Partridge's play the roles in the story the prospector tells. It's not a bad episode, but it sure is hokey. Growing up I was never interested in this series. Until the end credits, I didn't know the prospector was played by Dean Jagger, who'd won a Supporting Actor Oscar for 12 O'Clock High twenty years earlier. Two Oscar winners in the episode!
They spent a lot of money on this episode. They filmed it on a western street that High Noon was filmed on, a set on the then called Warner Bros. Ranch then called the Columbia Ranch and now demolished this year. It had to be dressed twice, once for the 1880s and then as a ghost town. Lots of extras in colorful costumes were added.
Married With Children: I do recall seeing this back in the day when it aired. It was good once for it's alternate looks at Christmas episodes, but not something one really wants to revisit.
3rd Rock from the Sun: I never got this show and the episode is what it is.
That '70s Show: This was more annoying than I thought it would be. It had the Married with Children type laugh track where the studio audience is hyper and every little sexual innuendo by the cast gets the audience screaming. Annoying. The cast was also over-acting, I thought. It was only the 12th episode they did. Did subsequent years get better? I did kind of enjoy that Marion Ross played their grandmother and I wondered if she did any more episodes.
The Cosby Show: This wasn't really a Christmas episode. It was about Claire having a room in the house built and remodeled just for her and in this episode it's done and she moves in. The Christmas part is that during the episode they're decorating and putting up the lights. It's probably the only episode of this show I've ever seen. None of it seemed amusing to me.
NewsRadio: Too many people in the cast made this problematic. Was not particularly amusing either.
Just Shoot Me: Similar problems as NewsRadio, but this one was very badly written. A running gag with David Spade wanting to travel with the photographer for a swimsuit model photo shoot turns amusing with a twist, but then they don't do the obvious payoff to it at the end. I waited for it and just got end credits. It was like giving you the premise of a sitcom episode and not following through and it made me mad.
Did you ever watch any of these series?
