I Need a Little Classic TV Christmas – Right This Very Minute

 

When I watched my usual line-up of classic TV Christmas episodes over the last couple of years, it sometimes felt like just going through the motions.

 

Oh, I still enjoyed my favorites, and found moments in the rest that brought some Christmas cheer. But after 20+ viewings of some of these episodes, I began to wonder if they were beginning to lose their holiday magic.

 

That won’t be the case this year. I’ve already been delving into my list of about 40 shows with unforeseen eagerness. After a year of such turmoil and tragedy, when we’ve all had so much taken away, I felt a new and tremendous sense of gratitude that here was one source of holiday joy that could not be outlawed.

 

These are the three that I most look forward to watching again.

 

“Humbug Not To Be Spoken Here”

Bewitched

 

 

 

While “A Vision of Sugar Plums” will always be my favorite Comfort TV Christmas show, this year I find myself drawn to another Bewitched classic, albeit one with a very similar premise. Here, instead of Samantha bringing young cynic Billy Mumy to meet the real Santa Claus, she takes crotchety old Charles Lane instead. 

 

 

 

Lane plays Jessie Mortimer, president of Mortimer Soups. He doesn’t care about Christmas, and resents people who wish to celebrate the holiday with their families. There’s a lot of that going around these days. When Darrin responds that he’d rather trim his Christmas tree than deliver an advertising presentation on Christmas Eve, he is threatened with an ultimatum – cancel Christmas or lose the account.

 

That’s where Sam steps in, of course. After she brings Mr. Mortimer to the North Pole, they stop outside the home of Mortimer’s browbeaten servant, Hawkins – and watch as he and his family laugh and dance around their tree. 

 

 

 

Mortimer: “What are they so happy about? Don’t they know they’re poor?”

Samantha: “Mr. Mortimer, you’re rich – are you happy?”

 

In the tradition of Scrooges everywhere, Mr. Mortimer finally discovers the true meaning of Christmas, and celebrates the holiday with Sam and Darrin and Tabitha. The close-up on Elizabeth Montgomery at the end of the episode is one of the most beautiful shots this series ever broadcast.

 

“Too Many Christmas Trees”

The Avengers

In the wake of Diana Rigg’s passing earlier this year this will be a bittersweet experience, but it’s an episode that deftly folds the holidays into the series’ brilliant blend of sophistication and whimsy. The story has Steed haunted in his dreams by a scary, misshapen Father Christmas – could this be part of a plot to steal classified information? 

 

 

 

Most of the story takes place at a Charles Dickens-themed Christmas party on a sprawling country estate. “I hope it’s Little Nell,” Emma tells Steed when his costume arrives for the occasion. I love that casual assumption that the audience will be literate enough to recognize a reference to the waif in The Old Curiosity Shop. And who doesn’t love that moment when Steed opens a Christmas card from Mrs. Gale?

 

 

 

“I’m Dreaming of a Slight Christmas”

The Bob Newhart Show

 

The Bob Newhart Show is one of the few television series to feature a Christmas episode in each of its six seasons.

 

The story in their season two entry is one that sadly will be shared by many this year – making plans for a warm, festive holiday celebration, and then having them disrupted by factors beyond your control. Here, Bob is called back to the office on Christmas Eve by a panic-attacked Mr. Peterson, then gets stranded when a blizzard strikes. Emily’s “We’ll get ‘em next year” may speak for many in 2020. But if you can’t do what you’d like this year, sharing the misery with the Hartleys is at least a reminder that you’re not alone.