TROPE TRACKER: RAG DOLL, TINA TURNER & CLEOPATRA COSTUMES

One of the things I love about obsessively watching and re-watching holiday-themed TV episodes is that patterns start to emerge. Rather than fault it as a lack of creativity on the part of sitcom writers, I find these tropes oddly reassuring, as if all sitcoms take place in a shared universe and are linked by their similarities. Obviously most Halloween-themed episodes feature characters in costume. Sometimes the episode is merely a showcase for elaborate or clever costumes and sometimes the costumes are a mere afterthought to the storyline. Witches, pirates and vampires abound, but over the years I’ve noticed a few costumes that tend to crop up over and over again.

The first of these, which I've written a bit before in previous posts, is the Rag Doll Costume. We all know Raggedy Ann and Andy, whether from the original dolls or their various animated TV incarnations. They even have their own Halloween special, The Pumpkin Who Wouldn’t Smile. But despite her place in pop culture, Raggedy Ann can hardly be called part of the zeitgeist. She belongs to an earlier generation and yet she makes for a surprisingly popular costume choice in TV sitcoms (whether the costume is meant to be Raggedy Ann specifically or just a generic rag doll is open to debate).

The character of Ann Perkins wears a Rag Doll Costume in the first Halloween-themed Parks and Recreation episode. Ann is hosting a rather lame Halloween party and her choice of costume is obviously intended to echo the dorkiness of the event (plus the whole Ann Perkins = Raggedy Ann thing). Usually the Rag Doll Costume is used in this way, as an example of a lame or embarrassing costume choice.

The grandmother dresses as a rag doll in an episode of Family Matters, but she is the rare exception where the costume doesn’t have a negative connotation. For that we can turn to episodes of both Home Improvement and The Big Bang Theory. In both of these shows the Rag Doll Costume is part of a couple’s costume gone wrong. In Home Improvement Brad’s girlfriend convinces him to dress as Raggedy Andy to her Raggedy Ann, only to show up at the party in a totally different outfit, leaving him trapped in the lame ensemble.

 In a Halloween episode of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon and his girlfriend argue over their choice of couple costume, resulting in a weird compromise of a Raggedy Andy-C3P0 hybrid:

Another costume that pops up a lot, but specifically on sitcoms with predominantly African-American casts, is that of Tina Turner. The African-American sitcom saw its zenith in the 1990s, which helps explain why Tina Turner was a popular choice (as opposed to now, when her place in pop culture has faded a bit). The Tina Turner costume also gives its wearer the opportunity to do their best Tina Turner impression, which makes for some memorable moments.

Those characters who don the Tina Turner attire include Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show (and yes, I feel icky even mentioning The Cosby Show these days):

(Side Note: when researching images for this post the first one to pop up was actually from my own blog, which tickled me to no end.)

The character of Gina (center in the photo below) on the show Martin is played by actress Tisha Campbell, who is also an accomplished singer. She makes for an especially good Tina Turner impersonator, seen below in the center:

And finally we’re back to Family Matters once again, with Tina this time filled by the character of Laura, seen here with Urkel as Superman:

But Rag Dolls and Tina Turners pale in comparison to the prevelance of another costume: Cleopatra.  Cleopatra costumes abound in sitcoms from across the decades.  So far I’ve identified 7 different episode/shows that featured a character dressed like Cleopatra for Halloween, including Caroline in the City, Full House, Living Single and Two of a Kind. Denise dresses as Cleopatra in the aforementioned episode of The Cosby Show that also features Claire dressed as Tina Turner: 

The Cleopatra costume has even crossed over to reality TV, as one of the Gosselin girls chooses it as her costume on a Halloween episode of Kate Plus 8.

The most impressive of all of these Cleopatras comes, not surprisingly, from the sitcom Roseanne.  Roseanne is known for its Halloween episodes, and its portrayal of a Cleopatra costume takes the cake.  It’s worn by minor character Vonda Green at a lodge Halloween party in the excellent episode “Trick Me Up, Trick Me Down.”  Besides just being a really great costume with an especially colorful and sparkly headdress, what puts this particular version over the top is the rubber snake dangling from the bodice:

That concludes our look at some of the most popular Halloween costumes in TV Land. As I continue to watch and keep track I’m sure I’ll discover more. Little Bo Beep is fast becoming a contender…

TROPE TRACKER: GOTTA HAVE IT TOY

Watch as many holiday-themed TV episodes as I do and you’re bound to start noticing some recurring themes.  When I started to actually keep track and notate my holiday viewing, I created my trope tracker, identifying the shared plot points that crop up from show to show.  You could view these tropes as sheer laziness on the part of TV writers, but I’ve always found them rather comforting, lending a sense of continuity and familiarity to decades worth of TV programming.  Rather than just update the blog’s trademark trope tracker as I always do, this Christmas season I’ve decided to spotlight and more closely examine a few of the biggest Christmas TV tropes.

Definitely in the top 25 Christmas TV Tropes list is the “Gotta Have It Toy.”  This plot point is simple and well-trod (because duh = trope): a child desires the season’s hottest fictional toy, leading their parent/guardian/aunt/uncle/whoever to go to great lengths (usually at the last minute, on Christmas Eve) to acquire it.  This is a trope that springs from real life; in the recent past Cabbage Patch dolls and Tickle Me Elmos have inspired toy store stampedes and countless news stories both decrying and feeding into the idea of an annual must-have Christmas toy.

Perhaps the most infamous example of this type of holiday story is the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger film Jingle All the Way.  Jingle All the Way is by no means a good Christmas movie, but it’s not the worst way to spend 1 hour and 35 minutes this December, either.  The story is one improbable slapstick scenario after another, as Arnold attempts to get his hands on a Turbo Man action figure for his son (played by notoriously terrible child actor Jake Lloyd, of Anakin Skywalker fame).  At the time of its release the filmmakers were criticized for releasing a real-life Turbo Man tie-in toy, the sort of cheap commercialization that the movie was meant to be spoofing.

Over the year many TV shows have also embraced the Gotta Have It Toy storyline, some more successfully than others. I’m always especially interested in seeing what toy sitcom writers come up with to be the star of the season. In the short-lived Gene Wilder sitcom Something Wilder, it’s a “Mr. Monster” doll that’s in demand.  For Family Matters it’s a “Freddy Teddy”—apparently the most popular toys are also the most alliterative. 

Just Shoot Me! offered up “How the Finch Stole Christmas,” a fabulous episode with just about every tried and true Christmas storyline, including a battle over a “Sneezing Charlie” doll.  Mya wants one of the hard-to-get dolls for a poor child she mentors, but her rich dad has bought them all up for his equally rich clients.  Mya gets her revenge by rigging up a hidden microphone and convincing her dad the talking dolls are possessed and angered by his lack of Christmas spirit, leading him to hand them over to needy kids (except for one, which he has disassembled and buried in the desert).

In the Frasier episode “Frasier Grinch,” the titular Frasier Crane jumps through hoops on Christmas Eve to buy educational toys for his visiting son, only to learn at the last minute that what Frederick most desires is the season’s hottest item, the Outlaw Laser Robo Geek (which Frasier was snobbishly dismissive of earlier in the episode).  All seems lost until Frasier opens his own present from his prescient father, Martin, which is an Outlaw Laser Robo Geek for him to gift to Frederick.

“Moroccan Christmas,” a Season 5 episode of The Office, is not a particular favorite of mine, but it does put a nice O. Henry twist on the Gotta Have It Toy trope.  The episode’s B-story involves Dwight buying a stockpile of that year’s top toy and then re-selling it to desperate dads for outrageous prices at the office Christmas party.  The toy in question is “Princess Unicorn,” a Barbie-esque princess with an ungainly unicorn horn protruding from her forehead (and yes, this is one Gotta Have It Toy that I fully see the appeal of!). 

Sad-sack office worker Toby plans on buying one of the dolls from Dwight for his daughter, but by the time he tries Dwight has just sold his last one to warehouse worker Darryl.  In a slightly uncomfortable scene rife with genuine emotion, a desperate, despondent Toby begs Darryl to let him have the doll.  Darryl happily sells it (at an even greater mark-up, naturally), only for Toby to discover that the doll he purchased is the African-American version.  It’s a great moment in which Toby struggles to keep his disappointment from registering lest he offend Darryl, and another hollow victory for the very Charlie Brownish character of Toby.

As you can see, TV shows have long utilized the Gotta Have It Toy trope to provide fodder for their Christmas episodes.  As tropes go it’s generally a successful one, as who among us hasn’t at one point in our lives longed for that one special toy upon which an entire Christmas’ success rests?  For me it was the Mighty Max Skull Mountain playset, which I coveted more than anything one Christmas. I can still summon up that “all is well in the world” feeling expressed by Ralphie in A Christmas Story when he finally lays hands on his Red Ryder BB Gun, a mixture of relief and joy I too felt upon ripping off the wrapping paper of my very own Skull Mountain.

DARK AND STORMY NIGHT

Family Matters

Season 6 (1998)

Family Matters is one of those shows that I normally find too stupid-silly to sit through, but the schmaltz factor pays off in several really excellent Christmas episodes.  The Halloween episodes unfortunately aren’t quite as good. 

The first scene of this Season 6 offering is excellent: the house is insanely decked out for Halloween and one by one the family members reveal their costumes.  Laura is dressed as Batman Returns-era Catwoman, forever rooting this in the 90s (in the best way possible).  When a thunderstorm and blackout instantly erupts the family’s trick-or-treating and party plans are scuttled.  Instead they (and Urkel, of course) play a game of “pass the ghost,” passing a flashlight around as they each tell part of “scary” story.

Unfortunately the story then takes up the rest of the episode.  It recasts the family as medieval vampires and Urkel as their unwitting houseguests/slayer.  It’s a lot of sight gags and distractingly cheap props: a vase falls on the ground with a tremendous breaking glass sound only to roll away, completely intact. The vampire story doesn’t even take place at Halloween so there’s nary a pumpkin in sight (but there is, for some reason, a bowl or oranges and a tray of croissants laid out on the banquet table).

The episode’s scariest moment is when Urkel discovers a chained-up Laura who says she’s completely helpless and he leers at the camera, creepily repeating “Completely helpless!”  Nothing says Halloween like implied rape.  Weirdly, the only picture I could find of this episode online is of Laura in chains.  Ick.

She is wise to fear the Urkel.

Let’s move past this episode quickly and hold out for the better “Dog Day Afternoon.”

Recurring Themes: The grandmother wears a Rag Doll Costume (what is it with TV writers and rag doll costumes?!). Plus we get a Dark & Stormy Blackout.

Halloween Quotient: A 3 for the first scene and a 1 for the rest of the episode.

See It, Skip It, Own It?

Due to the disappointing lack of actual Halloweeness, this is an easy skip.  Unless you’re really into overly long, goofy swordplay sequences, in which case this is the episode for you!