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.

ST. PATRICK'S DAY

The Office
Season 6 (2010)

Once upon a time my office had a sort of optional snow day.  Early in the work day the head honcho gave everyone the option of going home due to an impending snow storm.  Of course everyone jumped at the opportunity and quickly abandoned ship—everyone but my then boss.  No, she decided to stay and work ALL day.  Meanwhile my absent co-workers were sending me pictures of them frolicking in the snow while I sat in the deathly-quiet office.  Even the receptionist had gone home and most of the lights were turned out, but I had no choice but to stay as long as my boss did.  It was AGONY.  This episode of The Office perfectly captures that very situation, and compounds it by setting it on St. Patrick’s Day.

We open on St. Patty’s Day, with the Dunder Mifflin employees wearing their best green outfits and notorious lush Meredith revering the holiday as the most sacred of days.  It’s also the last day in the office for new owner Jo Bennett (played by the always welcome Kathy Bates) and Michael is doing his best to cozy up to her.  Of course he goes way overboard in his efforts, taking her casual comment to stop by and visit her sometime in Florida as an invitation to book multiple plane tickets.  Michael is taken aback when Jo finally loses it and chastises him in front of his employees.

Michael displays the ubiquitous St. Patrick's Day green tie

When the clock hits 5 and everyone is preparing to hit the town to celebrate the holiday, Jo decides to stay and work late. A now-timid Michael feels that he and everyone else must stay as well.  Thus the agonizing waiting game begins; a few people attempt escape but only Jim manages to successfully slip out, stealing Dwight’s idea of claiming he has a business dinner (Dwight had it coming, as throughout the episode he attempts to drive Jim out by making him feel guilty over being away from his newborn daughter).

Michael finally reclaims his gumption and tells Jo he’s releasing the staff, saying that he’s satisfied with the work they’ve done.  Jo respects this show of managerial authority and everything ends happily, with the gang celebrating at a pub.  While it’s a great episode, the St. Patrick’s Day stuff is really just window dressing, via the green outfits (Andy wears a kilt!) and office decorations.  We do get a couple of brief scenes set at rowdy pubs but the emphasis is definitely not on the holiday—though kudos to The Office for even doing a St. Patrick’s Day episode in the first place.

Drugstore decorations and kilts = holiday magic!

My favorite moment?  Early on we get a brief glimpse of receptionist Erin picking through a bag of M&Ms and slowly filling a candy dish with just the green ones.  It’s a small but true-to-life moment—I once spent a significant amount of time picking out Halloween-colored M&Ms for a party only to realize that Reese’s Pieces are all the autumn-colored candy you need.  Moments like these show the lengths people will go to be on-theme, and that’s something I can only respect and admire.

St. Patrick’s Day Quotient: 3

See It, Skip It, Own It?
Despite the rather low holiday quotient, this is a fun episode that's worth seeing—but you don’t have to rush.

DWIGHT CHRISTMAS

The Office
Season 9 (2012)

The first Christmas episode of The Office is a real gem, and while the show offered up quite a few holiday episodes the quality dwindled with each subsequent season.  Dwight Christmas is from the final season of the show so my expectations were low, though apparently not quite low enough.  

My lack of knowledge of the later seasons’ storylines and characters also interfered with my ability to enjoy this episode.  Where is Kelly? Where is Andy?  Who is this random guy flirting with Erin?  I love you, Catherine Tate, but what are you doing here? Why is Jim leaving for a job in Philadelphia?  Angela was engaged and Oscar slept with her fiancé?!    Oh, Office Season 9, you disappoint me so.

We start with the staff of Dunder Mifflin suddenly realizing that today is the day for their office Christmas party, which apparently everyone forgot about.  I was instantly confused by this opening scene, as we get a shot of a paper turkey, so at first I thought it was November and the party was meant to be happening early.  But no, I guess it’s December and they just didn’t bother taking down the Thanksgiving decorations?  As a sort of parting gift for Jim (who is leaving for the aforementioned job in Philadelphia), Pam convinces the party planning committee to let Dwight take the lead and host a “traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas.”

Hark! Belsnickel draws nigh

Pam and Jim have fully morphed here from likeable underdogs to sneering cool kids, treating Dwight’s heartfelt efforts and traditions as fodder for their mockery.  They even rush to make fun of him when they spot him holding a candle and reading aloud.  Maybe he has it coming after 9 seasons of annoyance but really? Dwight, normally the antagonist, comes across as the bullied do-gooder in this episode.  His traditions, rooted in obscure-but-real German holiday festivities, involve serving pig stomach and dressing as Belsnickel, a sort of anti-Claus.  As Belsnickel he judges each co-worker either “admirable” or “impish,” respectively resulting in either a gift or a thrashing with a bundle of sticks.  Upset when Jim leaves the party early, Dwight gives him a hard thrashing in one of the episode’s standout moments.

Yeah, I'm not really feeling this party either.

After Dwight loses his shit the rest of the staff reclaims the party, transforming it into a more familiar office Christmas party (and a somewhat melancholy reminder of the show’s former Christmas glory).  There are like three other subplots also going on; like the current season of Parks & Recreation this episode suffers from subplot overload, with way too many characters running around doing way too many inconsequential things. Overall, it’s a mixed bag.  Belsnickel adds some spark and there are a few funny moments but overall it just isn’t very festive—and that can’t be blamed on the pig stomach but rather a show that didn’t know when to bow out gracefully.

Christmas Quotient: Not even the final scenes, which harken back to the Christmas Office episodes of old, can elevate this past a 2.

See It, Skip It, Own It?
December is flying by and there are lots of quality episodes to watch so skip this one.

COSTUME CONTEST

The Office

Season 5 (2010)

Nothing can beat The Office’s first and best Halloween episode but “Costume Contest” once again captures the awkward joys of celebrating the holiday in the workplace.  The premise is that the stakes have been raised for the Dunder-Mifflin (or is it Dunder-Mifflin-Sabre something?  Things got so freaking complicated on this show) Halloween party, as Pam has purchased one of those local coupon books as a prize for the costume contest.  A running gag throughout the episode is that everyone thinks the prize is actually worth $15,000 (rather than the $15,000 in savings that it promises), leading to some fiercer than normal competition.

Michael as MacGruber.  And an awesome black & white jack o'lantern.

Unfortunately the costume contest is actually a subplot and the main storyline is less interesting, concerning Michael feeling betrayed by Darryl after he goes over his head with an idea for corporate.  Layered on top of that is yet another storyline about Jim and Pam working with a guy Pam briefly dated (Jim and Pam’s journey from adorable to insufferably smug is one of the reasons I quit following the show; unfortunately they are in their smug “married with kids” phase here).

But back to the good Halloween stuff!  My favorite costume on display is a giant, creepy mask worn by secretary Erin.  Throughout the episode she’s seen sitting at her desk or in the background wearing her normal clothes and going about her normal business yet with this freaky mask on.  I find it way more hilarious than I probably have any right to.  I also got a kick out of seeing Gabe run a meeting while dressed as Lady Gaga, and we get a handful of creative costumes referencing other 2010 pop culture luminaries such as True Blood, Nicki Minaj and Sonia Sotomayor.

Don't ask me why I love this so much.  I just do.

Erin is robbed of her Best Costume award as Oscar ends up winning, despite having ditched his costume in favor of appearing as “The Rational Consumer” in an effort to remind everyone that the prize isn’t worth fighting for (a closing montage shows the varied reasons why everyone ended up voting for him despite his lack of costume).

Friends don't let friends apple bob.

The costumes and the comedy are the real draw here but you get a fairly long Halloween party sequence, complete with a good bobbing for apples bit, that will definitely help get you in the mood for your own upcoming awkward office shindig.

Halloween Quotient: 3

See It, Skip It, Own It?

The creative costumes alone merit a look-see but this is a genuinely funny episode with a lot of Halloween cheer.  Definitely worth a watch!