So to the TV shows of Christmas present!
Now when selecting what would make this post, my criteria was not so much when they telecast the episode as whether the show itself is still on the air, which I can happily say is definitely the case with all these wonderful shows.
(My PVR however may not agree as it groans and struggles to keep up with all the recording that must be done.)
Thankfully our Christmas Present is nowhere near as bleak as Ebeneezer Scrooge’s – he didn’t even have a PVR poor guy but then to be fair he didn’t have TV either; right, moving on … – with the added bonus that we get to spend quality holiday time with our favourite TV characters, eggnog, and a big old sparkling Christmas tree in the corner.
So onward Sheldon and Howard, Jess and Nick, Coach Sylvester and Rachel
BIG BANG THEORY – The Santa Simulation
In “The Santa Simulation” which goes to air on December 13 US time, almost all the guys get together for a festive game of Dungeons and Dragons – which fairly screams deck the halls with … dragon entrails? The mind boggles – while Raj and the girls get all gussied up and head out for big night on the town where maybe, just maybe, everyone’s favourite nerd bachelor will finally find true love … or at least a yuletide facsimile thereof.
I am not entirely certain what makes Dungeons and Dragons an appropriate choice for a Christmas get together – I normally stick to Christmas tree-shapped shortbread and re-runs of The Vicar of Dibley – but it obviously has meaning for Sheldon who revisits some old memories of Christmases Past.
Please let there be nerdy ghosts! Please.
Meanwhile out on the town, the girls and Raj bond over Christmas drinks especially Amy and Raj who apparently get to know each other better over the course of the evening.
All in all it sounds entirely like what you’d expect from everyone’s favourite nerds during the holiday season and I look forward to seeing what a Santa-influenced game of D & D actually looks like.
NEW GIRL – “Santa”
I have to admit that I haven’t laughed so hard in quite a while as I did when I watched the promo for this episode.
Watching Jess (Zooey Deschanel) desperately trying to avoid an awkward moment with her ex Sam (David Walton) at one of the many parties and she her housemates attend on one night, and in her own inimitable style make things a thousand times worse was hilarious.
Thing is Sam is full of regret about the way he ended things with Jess – that’s sweet since he did seem like a nice guy and only play the emotionally-neutered cad to keep himself from getting close to anyone – and it looks Jess decides to make some grand declaration to Sam, once the window-crashing-into is done because she ends up dragging the entire gang to the hospital where Sam works.
And it looks like it ends happily. They look approvingly happy right? (Do I sound a tad too invested in the happiness of Jess?)
In the secondary plots, Nick declares his feelings for Angie over the radio and in the middle of a work Christmas party if the following photo is any guide, and Winston, poor Winston, who seems to vex the show’s writers who appear unable to grant him a decent storyline even at Christmas (if ever there’s a time you should get a decent plot line it’s then right?), gets a … wait for it … cranberry stuck in his ear, presumably from stringing them a tad too enthusiastically … who knows?
It does sound funny though …
Overall it looks this episodes embodies that winning formula of goofy hilarity and sweet-but-not-sickly sentimentality that has made New Girl such a fan favourite.
GLEE – “Glee, Actually”
In an affectionate nod to that wonderful British Christmas movie, “Love Actually” where a series of disparate stories all weaves together, after a fashion, to present a poignant picture of love and longing in the festive season, Glee will broadcast “Glee, Actually” on December 13 in the USA (and hopefully soon after in Australia, please channel 10; yes I am not begging commercial broadcasters to telecast shows).
In a series of story threads Sam and Brittany (who mysteriously are shown in full wedding regalia in the photo below) go all out celebrating the season convinced that the world is ending as the Mayans supposedly foretold on 21 December while Jake and Puck mark the Jewish festival of Hanukah with some special sibling-centric celebrations of their own.
Kurt meanwhile has a very special Christmas – could it possibly involve a reunion with the dashing and handsome Blaine? – and Artie finds his life changed by a very magical festive dream.
It all sounds like a very merry and romantic Christmas indeed (and I have even read hints that Coach Sylvester will undergo a partial de-Scrooging of sorts).
And of course, there is lots and lots of music with the album landing in iPods everywhere a day or two before the show airs.
SUBURGATORY – “Krampus”
It’s all happening in this episode of Suburgatory, the delightfully loopy sitcom that skewers the pretensions of suburbia and then roasts them on an open spit (with the appropriate wine, of course; c’mon we’re not Philistines).
The biggest news is that Ryan Shay (Parker Young) discovers he is adopted and reacts in an understandably emotional way, tearing off his shirt, accosting passersby in the street and even giving a piece of his (limited) mind to Santa.
It makes for a very interesting Shay family portrait especially when Ryan makes it clear he wants nothing to do with his family.
Tessa (Jane Levy) meanwhile is given the best possible Christmas present, at least in the eyes of dad George (Jeremy Sisto) when she is packed off to New York to spend the big day with her mum, Alex (Malin Akerman).
But to her surprise, Christmas in New York isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and she finds herself pining for her dad and yes, dear lord god above, even Chatswin.
And is it possible that Dallas (Cheryl Hines) and Dalia (Carly Chaikin) are enjoying a special family moment with George. Why yes, yes I believe they are.
* Here’s a great review of the show on avclub.com.
HAPPY ENDINGS – “No Ho Ho”
Jane (Eliza Coupe) has been lying about her birthday!
She is actually a – gasp! – Christmas baby, a spawn of Santa if you want … haha! Thank you, I will be here all week.
Once the truth is out, the entire gang – Dave (Zachary Kingston), Max (Adam Pally), Alex (Elisha Cuthbert), Brad (Damon Wayans Jr) and Penny (Casey Wilson) – rally to give her a birthday she will never forget untaninted by tinsel, Rudolph, or any hint of the man in red.
But can they hold off the desire to break into “Deck the Halls” or avoid the temptress lure of that stray piece of mistletoe?
Odds are it will prove increasingly difficult and much hilarity will ensue.
After these guys are not the most together people in the world … and that, dear readers, is why we love them.
And for your unending enjoyment, here’s the link to more Christmas episode photos from more shows than Santa and his reindeers can pull a sleigh to. You have been warned.