MERRY CHRISTMAS, MRS. MOSKOWITZ

Frasier
Season 6 (1998)

Hanukkah episodes can be hard to find, and the few that are out there I don’t own yet on DVD, but I didn’t want the holiday to slip by without acknowledging it.  My compromise is reviewing this Christmas episode of Frasier, which hinges on a menorah and  a case of mistaken identity.

Frasier was one big comedy of manners but this episode displays some of the classic elements of the genre better than most: wordplay, mistaken identities, and hasty entrances and exits abound.  The episode begins in a department store when Roz stumbles upon Frasier as he’s in the midst of buying her a sweater fro Christmas.  He’s saved by a fellow shopper, the eponymous Helen Moskowitz, who pretends the sweater is for her daughter.  The delightfully pushy Mrs. Moskowitz then gets an indebted Frasier to agree to a blind date with her daughter.

Despite his apprehension Frasier ends up hitting it off with Faye (played by Amy Brennan, if there are Judging Amy fans still out there).  All is going well with their budding relationship until Faye and her mother, en route to the airport, stop by Frasier’s apartment on Christmas Eve.  Spotting a wreath on his mantle, Faye is surprised to learn that Frasier isn’t Jewish, as she and her mother presumed (while shopping he was also buying a menorah as a present for his half-Jewish son, hence the assumption).  To save her from her mother’s disapproval Frasier agrees to pretend to be Jewish—on Christmas Eve.

Everything that then happens naturally threatens to expose the truth.  Frasier’s brother and father have to be convinced to play along on the spot. Mrs. Moskowitz must be convinced that a cooking ham is really brisket.  A Christmas tree gets delivered and then stuffed into a bathroom.  It all leads to a disastrous conclusion, which involves Niles, dressed as Jesus for a Christmas pageant, being discovered in the bathroom with the aforementioned Christmas tree.

Jesus!

It’s laugh out funny, bolstered by guest performers Amy Brennan but especially Carole Shelley as Helen.  She’s a character and voice actress of the highest order (she played one half of the Cuckoo Pigeon sisters in the original Odd Couple movie).  The whole episode (and indeed the entire run of the show) harkens back to the great screwball comedies of the 40s.  Obviously because of the nature of the plot the scenery can’t be fully decked out with holiday décor; the one tree we get to see is extremely cheap and shoddy looking, which is weird since it’s supposed to be a designer tree Frasier specially ordered.  But as a Christmas episode this satisfies and offers up an original, hilarious story and admirable performances.

Christmas Quotient: Despite all of my praise I’m prevented from giving this a 5 just because it’s a bit shy on Christmas visuals, but it still ranks a solid 4.

See It, Skip It, Own It?
Worth owning for repeat Christmas viewings, and it even kinda sorta works as a Hanukkah episode!