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Most series' Christmas Specials
I've noticed that most Christmas specials of series tend to be:
a. The "Spirit of Christmas" type things: Something related to a character learning the REAL spirit of Christmas. Usually a Christmas Carol ripoff. It was heartwarming the first 3 times, but now it's just horribly cliche at best.
b. The ZOMG SANTA IS REAL type things: Like an episode of X-Files, only instead of the creature being Bigfoot or an alien it's St. Nick. Also rather tiring to see.
c. The Save Christmas! type things: Christmas is under attack by lawyers/naughty children/Emperor Zurg! You need to save it!
The only Christmas Special that really entertained me was Adventure Time's, where the backdrop was used to reveal Ice King's secret origin as a creature mutated gradually by a magic artifact that prolonged his life but destroyed his sanity. I found it an amusing take on the Christmas Special, as well as an opportunity to use the holiday backdrop as a way of giving Ice King some serious character development.
Comments
I guess you could count the start of Sam & Max Season 2 as a Save Christmas!, but that had...rather little to do with Christmas.
I'm kind of fond of Christmas stories that have the typical plot frame, but skewer it with the setting and details. Like Batman Noel, where Batman is visited by cast members filling in as the ghosts of Christmas (Superman, Catwoman and The Joker) and it's a look at Batman's characterization over the years.
Or the start of the new Hellboy in Hell arc, where it looks like Hellboy is doing the Christmas Carol plot, except IN HELL!!
I remember Central Avenue pointing out that for every Christmas Special that's about Christmas being about the giving and not the receiving there's one that declares that Christmas will be cancelled without Santa bringing presents.
It always bugged me that for every--
...
Yeah, that.
I really like the Justice League Christmas special; it's entirely about how different people celebrate the holiday in their own way; Superman goes home, Hawkgirl drinks and fights, Flash spends time with orphans, and Ultra-Humanite robs banks because nothing can fulfill the void in his heart left by lonesome youthful years.
I really -like- the Santa is real plots. It's even charming in Smallville to me. What can I say. Though it did kind of bug me how hesitant Superman is to deliver presents to orphans in that episode. "Help the less fortunate? But I was gonna play X-box!"
I generally hate the 'real world' ones with the belief in being nice and such.
Oh, I also like the Hercules episode where Iolaus turns out to be one of the three wise men.
And the grinch of course.
And the previously mentioned Justice League special.
Oh and Blackadder's Christmas Carol which is like anti-Dickens.
I am as shocked and offended as Alex is.
I mean, that quip about It's A Wonderful Life makes it all worth it.
Well, I mean that one goes without saying.
My personal favorite of that episode is the Joker's gift. It's silly but I enjoy it.
It's kind of telling that saving Christmas might actually be one of the less weird things that's happened in the long years of the Pokemon cartoon.
At least until it happened again.
Man Christmas is like the world - it's practically always about to be doomed and requires some group of folks to save it.
Preferably teenagers with attitude
Oh man! I need to rewatch the episode where the Power Rangers save Santa this Christmas!