Suffering The Benz – Page 233 – Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right

Wishing you a sitcom Christmas

Post author By Bob Benz
Post date December 23, 2006

Through the magic of Tivo, I’ve been recording the ghost of Christmas past in the form of sitcom Christmas episodes. Not sure why, but I felt a compelling need to do this. I was definitely a TV kid. I remember the thrill we felt when a UHF station launched in Pittsburgh, adding hours of sitcom reruns and cartoons to our limited viewing options. And it’s not unusual for strange commercial jingles to bubble up out of my subconscious and strangle me for hours at a time. (He’s the mystical magical Burger King, he can do most anything …)

Christmas was always a special time for us. Mom and Dad pulled out all the stops. I remember watching Christmas specials on a little black and white TV that was perched on a “TV cart” on wheels so it could be rolled around the house. The holiday crunch at the Post Office kept my father working late, and I remember trying to stay up till he got home. We’d bide our time watching Christmas specials and wearing, sorry to say, outfits much like the ones my brother and I don in the 1967 photo above (that’s Blackie with us; even then I was a dog nut). Even more embarrassing is that my most vivid TV image from the time is that Norelco spot where Santa rides and electric razor through the snow. I thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever seen.

There’s no method here. Just madness. I’m not trying to list all of them. Just the ones that for one reason or another, struck a chord with me. I’m steering clear of Christmas specials, preferring instead to focus on sitcoms with a Christmas theme of some sort, however tenuous it might be.

So here’s an index of the shows. I’ll expand it as I upload new ones. Use the comments to let me know what I’ve missed or where I completely missed the symbolic significance of Fred Sanford’s Christmas diatribe.

Beverly Hillbillies (misfire)
Beverly Hillbillies (direct hit)
Beverly Hillbillies (direct hit II)
Happy Days
The Andy Griffith Show
Sanford and Son
The Monkees
The Partridge Family
That Girl
Dragnet
Pee-wee’s Playhouse
Adam-12
Good Times
Married … with Children
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Seinfeld
Green Acres
Three’s Company
Index/Main post

Sitcom Christmas

Sitcom Christmas: Dragnet

Post author By Bob Benz
Post date December 23, 2006

Sitcom: Dragnet

Episode: The Christmas Story

Year: 1967

Story line: The infant disappears from the church creche at Christmas.

Details: Someone has godnapped the Baby Jesus from a church manager display, and Sgt. Friday and Officer Gannon have to track down the villain. This is a cool episode, complete with an unrelated stop to investigate a domestic dispute. Despite Friday’s efforts to bring peace to the couple, they end up fighting anyway. Then the duo gets called to the San Fernando Mission, where someone has absconded with the baby Jesus from the manager. In a cool twist, Barry Williams (Greg Brady, to Brady Bunch fans) is the altar boy who fingers the suspect. But the suspect turns out to be a dead-end and it looks as if the Mission will have to celebrate Christmas without baby Jesus. As Friday and Gannon are explaining to Father Rojas that Jesus might not be back in time for Christmas, little Paquito pulls a red wagon down the Mission’s aisle, and in the back is baby Jesus. After an exchange in Spanish between Paquito and the priest, we learn the child prayed to Jesus for the wagon and promised him the first ride if he got it. So baby Jesus got to go for a spin around the block. And all is right with the world.

Killer quote: “Paquito’s family, they’re poor,” the priest tells Friday, explaining that the toy wagon the child received was a second-hand gift from firefighters and that’s why he got it the day before Christmas.

“Are they, Father?” Friday asks in his cop staccato. No answer needed. That little Paquito is rich in Christmas spirit.

Ebenezer alert: Capt. Mack, Friday and Gannon’s shift boss, who tries to send them on another case in Bakersfield instead of back to the Mission to find baby Jesus. Crafty Friday manages to get the hard-nosed captain to let them go find baby Jesus instead.

Childhood memory: I was a fool for these corny crime dramas, and Dragnet fit the bill. I remember my father joking about Friday’s stiff demeanor. We used to watch this as a family while we ate our evening “treats” of pop and ice cream, but I have no recollection of this episode.

Sitcom Christmas Index

Sitcom Christmas

Sitcom Christmas: Pee-wee’s Playhouse

Post author By Bob Benz
Post date December 23, 2006

Sitcom: Pee-wee’s Playhouse (I know, it’s not technically a sitcom; but my obsessive blogging, my rules.)

Episode: Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

Year: 1988

Story line: Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello join Pee-wee to celebrate Christmas.

Details: This hour-long special has it all, including awesome cameos from Grace Jones, Whoopi Goldberg, Magic Johnson, Joan Rivers, Cher, Little Richard, k.d. lang, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dinah Shore and Santa. The secret word is “Year.” The animation is amazingly cool. And the Pee-wee induced antics are hilarious. This is what Christmas is all about.

Killer quote:

“You’re the best Santa there is,” Pee-wee tells Claus.

“I know you are, but what am I?,” Santa responds without missing a beat. Nice.

Killer quote II: “Meka Leka Hi Meka Hiney Ho. Meka Leka Hi Meka Ho Ho Ho.” Jambi the Genie, riffing on his usual chant to reflect the holidays.

Killer quote III: “This was supposed to go to the White House, not the Playhouse.” Reba the letter carrier, who notices the box containing Grace Jones was delivered to the wrong address. Grace jumps out anyway and sings a bizarre version of the Little Drummer Boy for Pee-wee and friends.

Ebenezer alert: Randy the red-headed bully, of course. He spends much of the special dissing Christmas. But a special Ebenezer shout-out also goes to Pee-wee, who forces poor Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello to create and mail hundreds of Christmas cards, turning the Playhouse into a Christmas sweatshop. He also plays a cruel trick on poor Dinah Shore as she sings the 12 Days of Christmas via videophone.

Childhood memory: Well, this is more of a 20-something memory, but I vividly recall rushing to get the Albuquerque Tribune typeset so my friend Juliette Torrez and I could sneak into the conference room on Saturday mornings to watch Pee-wee’s Playhouse between editions. No specific recollection of this special, but if I missed it the first time around, I’m glad Tivo gave me this second chance. I still laugh out loud every time I watch Pee-wee.

Sitcom Christmas Index