WHAT ARE YOU DOING NEW YEAR'S EVE?

Rhoda
Season 3 (1977)

While I grew up with the gospel of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, spinoff series Rhoda was virtually absent from our lives.  It wasn’t in syndication nor as popular as its predecessor so while I knew that Rhoda got married, moved back to NYC and got her own show I’d never seen any of it save for one depressing Christmas episode that was part of a Nick at Nite Christmas marathon.  Now four of Rhoda’s five seasons are available on DVD, allowing me to further explore the MTM universe (but still no DVD release of Rhoda’s last season or any of Phyllis).

Season 3 was something of a weird one for both Rhoda the show and Rhoda the character.  The showrunners had decided that marrying Rhoda off was a mistake (or at least marrying her off to the uninspired Joe was the mistake) so they spent this season splitting them up.  The character of Rhoda’s mom Ida, who originated on MTM, is also absent this season as Nancy Walker was off pursuing her own show (which failed, so she returned for the final season).  Divorce is depressing and Ida was one Rhoda’s best assets so Season 3 isn’t exactly a barrel of laughs.

I enjoyed this New Year’s Eve episode, however.  It follows in the grand tradition of The Mary Tyler Moore Show’s many disastrous party episodes, even if it doesn’t quite live up to them.  In this episode Rhoda plans on spending a low-key New Year’s Eve apart from her ex-husband.  Her efforts to avoid the holiday are waylaid when Joe reveals that he’s headed to a lavish party in Connecticut, so Rhoda decides to quickly throw together a party (at 5 PM on New Year’s Eve).

In this New Year's Eve party scenario I'm the old lady

Unsurprisingly the party doesn’t go well.  The only guests are Rhoda, her sister Brenda, a member of their weight loss group who brings his elderly mother, and two other friends (one of whom is played by always-welcome guest star Anne Meara).  Meara doesn't get all that much to do here save for wear a stewardess uniform and look glum.  Rhoda’s frantic attempts to keep the party going are pretty funny, especially a scene in which she does an enthusiastic, high-energy dance with an unmoving partner.  

Eventually Joe shows up, having ditched out on his party, and he and Rhoda quietly toast the new year together in the bedroom (keep it clean folks; nothing dirty happens).  One of the odder aspects of this episode is that in the final third the partygoers all don Halloween masks, which were the only things Brenda could find last-minute at the party store.  So you get scenes of Rhoda wearing a slightly terrifying clown mask and the infamous, never fully-glimpsed Carlton the Doorman wearing a Planet of the Apes mask, slow dancing with an elderly woman.

This picture probably satisfies at least one reader's weird fantasy

New Year’s Eve episodes are rather rare so I enjoyed this simply for its emphasis on the holiday.  While it never fully gels, there are some great one-liners and moments throughout, plus a dose of sheer weirdness.  And Valerie Harper, who had a rough year in 2013, is charming throughout.  Who wouldn’t want to spend New Year’s Eve with Rhoda Morgenstern?

New Year’s Eve Quotient: 4

See It, Skip It, Own It?

This quirky episode is worth a watch, especially for fans of MTM & Rhoda.

'TWAS THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Golden Girls
Season 2 (1986)

It’s obviously best to spend Christmas with your closest family and friends so in choosing my post for today I settled on the Golden Girls.  When I was in high school, bullied and closeted and utterly miserable, I would watch Golden Girls long into the night, putting off my dread of the approaching school day by escaping to Miami with the girls.  I seriously dreamed about being able to move in with Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia, living a life of leisure, sitting with them in the kitchen or on the lanai, nibbling on cheesecake and tossing around bitchy repartee.  It still seems like my idea of heaven.  The show really did help get me through some rough years and the characters really did (and do) feel like family.

The show offered up quite a few holiday episodes over the course of its run but this Season 2 Christmas offering is the standout.  It could be studied as a model of TV Christmas tropes but I mean that in the best, most comforting way possible.  It relies on the classic “everything goes wrong” scenario as the geriatric girls face various obstacles in their search for a merry Christmas.

Prior to departing to spend Christmas with their respective families, the roommates decide to exchange homemade gifts in order to escape the materialism of Christmas.  Dorothy receives a whittled maple syrup spigot from Rose, which she memorably misidentifies as a “carved brooch in the shape of a duck’s head.”  Blanche’s gift gets the most screen time and is perhaps one of the show’s best-remembered bits.  It’s a calendar called “The Men of Blanche’s Boudoir.”  In true Golden Girls style it’s very dirty and suggestive without really revealing anything.

Sophia checks out Mr. September

En route to the airport on Christmas Eve Dorothy and Blanche stop by the counseling center to pick up Rose.  What unfolds is one of my favorite moments of the entire show, a small instance that relies entirely on Bea Arthur’s brilliant facial expressions.  Dorothy (Bea Arthur) takes a seat by a patron of the center who earlier has been revealed as a pyromaniac.  He stares intensely at her and verrryyyy slooowwllly she notices, unsettled recognition registering on her face.  Bea Arthur was a comedy goddess, and let’s leave it at that.

Bow down to the Queen of the side-eye!

After this the tropes come fast and heavy.  Just as they’re about to leave, a gun-toting Santa Claus holds the friends hostage.  He’s a sad sack who’s forcing them to spend Christmas with him, but they’re rescued by Sophia (who was waiting in the car).  She casually snatches the pistol away from him and reveals it’s a toy.  They make it to the airport only for their flights to be cancelled due to inclement weather.  Their car breaks down, forcing them to run through the rain (sadly off-screen) and take refuge at a diner.

The kindly proprietor mistakes the girls for family and causes them to realize that their rotten Christmas doesn’t matter since they’ve been spending it with their surrogate family all along.   A light, unlikely snow beings to fall and Rose goes to the jukebox to play a Christmas song, but presses the wrong button, so they stand and watch the snow to the strains of “Surfin’ Safari.”

This episode is like a warm, cozy afghan you can wrap around you.   It’s true that it borrows just about every Christmas TV trope in the book, but it never feels tired thanks to the wonderful acting, lovable characters and hilarious small moments throughout.  It’s sad to think that three of the four girls are gone now, but it’s comforting to know that we can always spend Christmas with them.

Forever Golden

Recurring Themes: This episode is a trope bonanza!  We’ve got a Santa Crook, Unlikely Snow, a Blizzard/Stranded and an Easter Reference!

Christmas Quotient: 5

See It, Skip It, Own It?
Less of a see it and more of a “adopt it as a religion.”  The Golden Girls are your gods now!

A VERY BOO CHRISTMAS

Here Comes Honey Boo Boo
(2013)

I apologize for my lack of posts this past week but living takes precedence over blogging, so since flying home for the holidays I’ve been spending my time wrapping, eating, socializing, decorating and enjoying the holidays.  But never fear!  I’ve also been busy watching lots of Christmas movies and TV.  Along with the usual favorites I’ve been mixing in some new shows, including this TLC special.  

A lot of digital ink has already been spilled over the pros and cons of this controversial show.  I haven’t watched it much but I’ve always found it surprisingly fun and a not-very-guilty guilty pleasure.  This Christmas special reinforced my sense that in terms of the reality TV wasteland you could do a heck of a lot worse than the Boo Boo clan.  Give me Mama June and her brood over the Kardashians any day of the week.  They may be crude and feed into some of our worst voyeuristic tendencies but their family dynamic seems rooted in a genuine spirit of love and togetherness.

This hour-long special packs in a lot of Christmas activities for the Thompson family.  Some seem more staged than others but the Christmas quotient is high regardless.  They decorate their tree (only to have their pet rooster knock it over), go shopping at the flea market, ice skate and decorate their front yard for their annual toy and canned food drive.  
As Mama June carefully points out several times the family was doing the charity event years before the cameras started rolling.  

Santa and Elvis go together like peanut butter & bananas

The charity event involves lots of lights and inflatable snowmen, with patriarch Sugar Bear dressing like Santa Claus and Honey Boo Boo dressing like Elvis.  When a visiting child asks her why Elvis she replies “Because I’m Santa’s helper,” as if that somehow explains it.  It’s genuinely touching when the family drops off an impressive amount of donated toys to the charity organizer and Mama June explains that they were inspired to help after being recipients themselves during some lean times. 

Another favorite scene of mine involved Alana (aka Honey Boo Boo) shopping at the flea market, where each family member was given ten dollars to buy presents (had the TLC paychecks not come in yet or was this just a reenactment of Christmas budgets past for the camera’s sake?)  Alana shops just like a normal kid, in that she ends up buying the most bizarre present possible for her father: two mannequin heads that hairdressers use to practice on.  The gift is charming in its sheer randomness and in both this scene and throughout the episode Alana comes across as a pretty normal kid, despite the cameras and craziness around her.

Sugar Bear + Mistletoe

Later the family preps for Christmas Eve, which includes leaving out cheese balls for Santa’s reindeer.  Alana seems to still believe in Santa, or at least is gamely playing along, but her Christmas Eve excitement is palpable.  On Christmas morning the family opens their gifts along with their Uncle Poodle.  Openly gay, HIV positive and hailing from the Deep South, Uncle Poodle certainly provides a much-needed alternative representation of gay life.  The family’s easy acceptance of Uncle Poodle is another positive aspect of this much-maligned show.  

When writing about Here Comes Honey Boo Boo it’s hard to avoid getting into the many social and cultural questions it raises, and hard not to take a stance either for or against it (though clearly I lean towards supporting it, or at least not condemning it).  In terms of sheer Christmas enjoyment however, this episode is a win.  It’s funny, chockfull of holiday cheer and appeals to someone like me, who likes nothing more than watching people’s home movies of opening Christmas presents on YouTube.  I can’t resist a peek into people’s lives and houses come Christmas time and seeing how everyone celebrates the holiday both differently and yet somehow the same.

Alana cradles a decorative Baby Jesus. Let the outrage ensue!

Christmas Quotient: 4

See It, Skip It, Own It?
If you’re looking for a late in the game dose of Christmas cheer you could do a lot worse than this surprisingly charming special!  I say see it and enjoy!

LIVING KRINGLE

Living Single
Season 1 (1993)

When my sister was in the 5th grade she started to suffer from insomnia.  My parents tried everything to help her sleep, eventually making the ultimate concession: they let her have a TV in her room.  True, it was my great-uncle’s ancient television and it only got a couple of blurry channels but this was a big deal, as my mom was pretty strict in monitoring how much TV we watched.  Some nights I was allowed to watch with my sister as she tried to get sleepy and I only ever remember watching two things.  One was the shopping channel (sure to help induce sleep).  Endless descriptions of faux jewelry (it was always jewelry) may not sound too exciting but TV in the bedroom was such a novelty that I didn’t care.  The other thing we watched was Living Single.

An ugly Christmas sweater before it was an ironic hipster thing

I liked the show then and I love it now, as it encapsulates 90s nostalgia for me but it also stands on its own merits.  It’s got a great cast and a very catchy theme song but even better it’s got this terrific holiday episode.  In “Living Kringle” sunny Synclaire (Kim Coles) is feeling the Christmas spirit, as evidenced by some truly amazing holiday-themed outfits that she sports throughout the episode.  Her harried friends and roommates, however, are less enthusiastic about celebrating the holidays.  Synclaire throws a tree trimming party but one by one they leave early, to pursue boyfriends and work.  

A depressed Synclaire takes off (leaving behind a detailed note on how to find her).  She ends up at a seedy bar where she bonds with the grubby patrons, including a down and out Santa Claus.  Meanwhile her friends one by one discover the extremely thoughtful Christmas gifts that Synclaire left for them.  Each gift ties into a happy Christmas memory they shared earlier in the episode.  Max gets tickets to a dance recital to remind her of her childhood role as the Rat King in The Nutcracker.  Khadijah gets a starfish for the top of her tree, Regine gets a Barbie Corvette, Kyle a homemade Kwanza gift and Overton a VHS (it was the 90s, remember) tape of his favorite Christmas special, “The Little Elf That Could.” 

The Little Elf That Could and an Overton that can't

The friends all rush to Synclaire’s side and join with her and the bar patrons in singing carols. There’s also a nice play on the “Real Santa Shows Up” trope when the Santa Synclaire has been chatting with disappears. She starts a speech about how maybe he was the real deal when he suddenly reappears, as he was just in the bathroom.  It’s a nice little fake-out that acknowledges the clichés that pop up in episodes of this type.

This episode is just brimming with holiday cheer.  It’s equal parts heartwarming and humorous, as it plays with familiar tropes while remaining original and entertaining.  There are a couple of great song performances (including a memorable version of “Sleigh Ride” lead by Queen Latifah) and references to just about everything Christmas-related that you can imagine.  There's also a great bit in which Regine smashes one of those musical cards that won't stop playing that Synclaire gives her.  It’s a shame that the series as a whole doesn’t get more credit (and isn't fully available on DVD), as this Christmas episode alone proves that is a show worth watching!

Crimson velvet vest-dress and giant jester Santa brooch: She's got the look!

Recurring Themes: Nobody Likes Fruitcake & A Group Sing Finale

Christmas Quotient: 5

See It, Skip It, Own It?
Own this one, as repeat viewings, just like Synclaire’s thoughtful gifts, are guaranteed to get you in the Christmas spirit!

SPECIAL SPOTLIGHT: THE ELF WHO SAVED CHRISTMAS

I’ve previously mentioned that I used to love watching holiday-themed reruns of cartoons and sitcoms on the USA Network in the days leading up to Christmas.  Among them was The Elf Who Saved Christmas, which I saw just once as a kid and spent years thinking about and searching for (this was long before things like DVR, Netflix and even DVDs).  For years I remembered it fondly but vaguely.  I could only recall a few things about this 1992 live-action Christmas special: a female elf, a giant mailbox and a vulture villain.  Finally a year or so ago and a fair amount of time spent googling the search terms above and I figured out the title (and it turns out my memory was somewhat faulty—the villain wasn’t a vulture but rather a witch named “Mrs. Buzzard”).  

But even after figuring out the title I was frustrated to discover that this obscure little special was only available on VHS and nowhere else.  This morning some spirit of Christmas compelled me to google it yet again and lo and behold!  Some benevolent soul uploaded the entire thing to YouTube this past November.  So it was with great excitement that I settled down to watch this happy piece of my childhood.

The Elf Who Saved Christmas is what I would term “delightfully low-budget.”  It has a definite DYI feel about it that ranks it just slightly above a video you and your friends would have made for an 8th grade class project.  Santa’s Workshop looks like someone’s repurposed house and his entire staff is made up of only 7 elves (and at least one is incompetent).  It does feature actress Jo Anne Worley as Mrs. Buzzard, but unless you’re like me and enjoy character actresses of the 60s and 70s that probably doesn’t add much.

The plot is a tried and true formula, as Christmas and Santa are seemingly in constant need of rescue.  In this case Santa hasn’t received any letters so he decides to cancel Christmas this year.  A plucky (aren’t they all?) mailroom elf named Toby sets out to save the holiday, discovering that a witch named Mrs. Buzzard enchanted his mailbox and redirected all his mail.  Toby’s belief in Christmas breaks the spell, the letters are returned and Santa sets out to deliver the goods.  

The villains found in this type of special always fascinate me.  They tend to be rather wacky and their motives vague; Mrs. Buzzard is no exception.  She’s a witch but dresses kind of like Mother Goose.  She apparently wants kids to be disappointed by Santa’s failed arrival and therefore misbehave, but it’s never explained exactly why.  Does she derive dark eldritch energy from misdeeds?  Is she part bird, part woman?  I think I need to write a Mrs. Buzzard fan fiction origin story.  As witches go she’s pretty down on her luck: her lair looks like somebody’s backyard shed with a crystal ball on a folding table and somebody stuck a tiny vulture stuffed animal in one corner (hence my years of buzzard/vulture confusion?!).  I think most of the budget went into building the giant mailbox... 

After Toby the elf gets sucked into Mrs. Buzzard’s lair via the enchanted mailbox Mrs. Buzzard just sits in a chair and half-heartedly cackles.  Seriously, she sits and plays with a slinky while Toby tries to escape.  I like to think that Jo Anne Worley was like “okay, I’ll be in this but only if I can sit for 90% of the time and play with a slinky.”  When Toby escapes Mrs. Buzzard just sort of sighs in resignation.  As anti-Christmas villains go she’s pretty low energy. 

The same goes for Santa.  When Toby calls the post office to check on the missing letters (which she waits to do until Christmas Eve, for some reason) they tell her that the mail was indeed delivered (but, as we later learn, subsequently stolen by Mrs. Buzzard).  But Santa says “Oh, they’re just trying to make me feel better.  Nobody sent letters.  Christmas is over!”  Santa needs some self-esteem!  I think he secretly was just looking for an excuse to skip the sleigh ride that year.

Despite my poking fun, I wholeheartedly enjoyed re-watching The Elf Who Saved Christmas after all this time.  I'm grateful that we live in this internet age where you can track down these obscure childhood gems and so readily evoke a sense of nostalgic holiday bliss.  You best believe that when Toby turned to the camera and implored the audience to say “I believe in Christmas” with her three times in order to break Mrs. Buzzard’s spell my voice rang out loud and clear!

P.S. While doing some light research for this post I discovered that there is a second special featuring the same characters, including Mrs. Buzzard, called The Elf and the Magic Key, also up on your YouTube!

FILM FOCUS: MIXED NUTS

I hope that a lot of you are already familiar with Mixed Nuts, but I suspect that it flies somewhat under the radar, despite being directed and co-written by the notable Nora Ephron.  Certainly it was neither a box office nor apparently a critical success when it was first released.  I was first introduced to it one Thanksgiving when one of my aunts played it in on the TV in the den that we kids were confined to.  As a kid the movie just seemed odd but as an adult I’ve developed quite the love for this zany and very Christmasy movie.

The ensemble cast is a veritable who’s who of excellence: Madeline Kahn, Steve Martin, Juliette Lewis, Liev Schriber (in drag!) and, in small roles, Joely Fisher, Parker Posey, John Stewart and Rob Reiner, among others.  Victor Garber even provides the voice for an unseen neighbor in one scene.  Since this movie came out in 1994 be prepared to spend a lot of it marveling at how young everyone looks (or how old it makes you feel).  

Mixed Nuts is an adaptation of a French film and it’s a farce in the grand European tradition.  It’s set (almost) entirely on Christmas Eve and mostly in one location.  I’ve always been a fan of this format, which relies mostly on character to drive the story.  I know when a TV episode is confined to a single locale and timeframe it’s called a bottle show, but there must be a term for a movie of this type as well?  

Anyhoo, the action revolves around Lifesavers, a suicide prevention hotline office in Venice Beach, California.  Steve Martin plays the beleaguered, nice guy owner/director.  Madeline Kahn is Mrs. Munchnick and Rita Wilson is Catherine, his two employees.  They are to be evicted by the New Year by their greedy landlord and are surrounded by wacky neighbors, zany clients and oddballs in general.  Mishaps, slapstick and mayhem ensue.  By Christmas morning there will be a suicide, a murder, a serial killer will be exposed, a baby will be born, a miracle will occur and everyone will find new love.

Madeline Kahn owns this movie in her role as the irritable Mrs. Munchnick.  Every single expression she makes and word she utters makes me laugh; she truly was a comedy genius and I wouldn’t be surprised if several of her best bits in this were at least semi-improvised.  I don’t get why her performance here doesn’t get more critical love.  Her character is trapped in an elevator for a good portion of the movie, and she utilizes several wrapped presents in an effort to call for help, including a sort of electronic keyboard-beat box thing, resulting in one of my all-time favorite scenes in all of cinema:

That scene just kills me!  Liev Schriber also deserves a shout-out for his role as a lonely transgender woman.  It could potentially have been an offensive, one-note part but he brings a lot of humanity, humor and sweetness to it.  His character even develops a romance with a very young Adam Sandler and, I can’t believe I’m typing this, even Adam Sandler is quite charming in this movie in a goofball kind of way.

I remember at one time being a little put off by a scene between Chris (Schriber) and Philip (Steve Martin), in which they share an awkward dance.  Philip is freaked out by Chris’ romantic attentions and does his best to physically distance himself.  I’m sensitive to gay panic (or trans panic) humor just because it’s so pervasive in Hollywood and also just so lazy.  However Philip is genuinely sweet and kind towards Chris throughout the movie, telling him to never care what people think of him.  And Chris finds love by the end of the film, so all in all it’s a very positive portrayal.

As far as the Christmas quotient, Mixed Nuts does not disappoint.  One subtle aspect of the film that I love is how the office is slowly transformed and decorated over the course of the movie.  It starts with a tree and characters (mostly Juliette Lewis) add decorations until it’s a Christmas wonderland, with lights, garlands and stockings by the fire. I like how the holiday creeps in.  I also appreciate a Christmas movie that takes place in sunny California, since all of my own Christmas memories are rooted in the West Coast. You also get Anthony LaPaglia in a Santa Suit, several Christmas trees, and a soundtrack that features some of the best Christmas music around, including a charming original song also titled “Mixed Nuts.”  There's even a beagle (or beagler, as Nick would say), which has nothing to do with Christmas but automatically adds 10 extra credit points to any movie.

Despite its welcome touches of black comedy this is a very tenderhearted film, featuring a cast of characters who are all damaged or dysfunctional in some way but kind and good underneath, drawn together by the magic of Christmas.  So sit back, watch, snack on some of those salted, smoky almonds (which we always have around during the holidays), and enjoy!

BERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

Strawberry Shortcake
Season 1 (2003)

Being a child of the late 80s and early 90s of course I’m familiar with Strawberry Shortcake. I still covet a Berry Happy Home dollhouse of my own.  Strawberry is slightly less popular than some of the other 80s kid franchises and therefore has been revived, rebooted and remodeled several times over the past decade in an attempt to boost her popularity. She's kind of like Doctor Who; she keeps regenerating into new forms.  For reference, here is a side by side comparison of the original character and the current, sleeker and slimmed-down incarnation:

In 2003 Strawberry was revived (and thankfully looked more like her original self than she does now) with a cartoon series, from which this Christmas episode springs.  It has an extra-long running time, features several songs and a ton of characters with cutesy food names.  I have to admit I was pretty eager to watch this; nothing gets me more in the holiday spirit than Christmas-themed cartoons. It reminds me of those exciting childhood days when school was out and Christmas was around the corner.  Instead of trudging off to school I got to watch cartoons in the morning, usually reruns on USA Network. 

Strawberry in her 2003 incarnation.

In “Berry Merry Christmas” Strawberry Shortcake is obsessing over finding the perfect presents to get her friends, despite the fact that they show up and literally announce exactly what they want/need.  “I lost my COOKIE CUTTERS!”  “I love SUGAR PLUMS!”  This version of Strawberry was more than a little dim.  She spoke slowly in that irritating Dora the Explorer manner and constantly asked questions aloud: “What--should--we--do?”  Where--are--we?  What--is--happening?”  Clearly this is aimed at a very young audience (and gay adult male holiday bloggers, because I kind of loved it).

Ignoring their very obvious requests, Strawberry sets out with Honey, a self-centered horse, to Holiday Land to find gifts for her friends.  Holiday Land is the best part of the episode; it’s the sort of Christmas fantasy land I spent most of my childhood drawing, thinking about and trying to escape to.  One by one Strawberry figures the appropriate gifts.  She gets sugar plums from a Sugarplum Fairy, helps stop a crisis at a candy cane factory and gets cookie cutters in return, and so on and so forth.  

Somebody give Honey a  goddam saddle already

Ultimately a magic wind whisks Strawberry and Honey direct to Santa’s workshop where they chat up the jolly old elf and Strawberry randomly bursts into tears when he asks her what she wants for Christmas.  She and Honey make it home only to discover the snowballs they made as a gift for one of their friends melted and ruined all the other presents but—surprise!—Santa restores them, along with a gift for Strawberry (a quilt with her friends pictures on it).  Then everyone sings a song about friendship being the greatest gift of all.

Aside from Strawberry’s stupidity and slow talk, her singing was a bit painful.  She sings in this very childlike voice that isn’t very pleasant on the ears. But otherwise this was really charming, worth it just for the cute food-pun names and Holiday Land décor (such as an all-bell shop shaped like…a bell!).  It reminded me of a childhood favorite that I have on VHS, The Care Bears Nutcracker Suite.  The story is equally insipid but the backgrounds and images just scream Christmas.

Honey and Custard, my new favorites

I liked Honey, the vapid horse, who either asked for or suggested someone be given a saddle approximately every five seconds.  If I was a more ambitious person I would track how many times the words “saddle” and “berry” occurs in this episode, as I’m sure the results would be mind-boggling.   My favorite character, though, was Custard, the bitchy cat.  Custard told Strawberry that her singing hurt her ears, that she didn’t want any presents, and that she planned on hibernating from Christmas until New Year’s.  Custard don’t care!

Recurring Themes: Strawberry undergoes a Perfect Gift Search and the Real Santa Shows Up.

Christmas Quotient: 4

See It, Skip It, Own It?
Admittedly not everyone can stomach this type of kiddie fare, but if you’re feeling nostalgic or like cartoons in general give it a watch (it’s up on Netflix Instant).  Plus Custard and Honey make for a fun diva-bitch duo!