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December 16, 2025

Dec. 16 – The Nostalgia Spot Christmas Special Countdown #83 – 74

By Joe

I’ve been pointing out quite a bit as we move along through this countdown how I like to group similar shows together. I don’t want to go from The Smurfs to Beavis and Butt-Head if I can help it. Well, sometimes I can’t help it. Today is a little bit of a mix of adult shows and kid’s shows. I wouldn’t consider any of the children’s stuff to be particularly wholesome or anything, but could (or should) an 8 year old watch everything on today’s list? Probably not. It is a very Fox heavy lineup though of both Saturday morning and primetime stuff which is not by design, but kind of interesting to me. And these Christmas episodes are also interesting to me and most of them are pretty good. We also have some more tumblers from my very first list which is one of those things that’s going to happen again. A lot has changed since that first list ten years ago.

83 – Rick and Morty – Anatomy Park

Christmas is a time for awkward conversations.

Rick and Morty seems like an odd fit for Christmas, which is why it was so surprising to see the show go to that well so early in its first season. One would definitely expect the show to have a cynical take on the holiday, but that’s not really the case. Christmas is just a framing device for this episode and excuse for Jerry’s parents to show up for a nice, family, get-together. They just happen to bring along their new playmate. Yup, Jerry’s parents are in what the kid’s call a “thrupple” these days where Jerry’s dad likes to watch from the closet (often wearing a Superman costume) while Jerry’s elderly mom makes love to a young, African American, gentlemen. And the rest of the family enjoys watching Jerry squirm. Meanwhile, Rick is busy building an amusement park inside the guts of a homeless man who just so happens to be dressed as Santa. Crazy science things happen and soon it’s raining blood over all of North America. Yeah, it’s a weird turn. This is a B-tier episode of the show. It finds humor in putting the characters in awkward positions, but it’s certainly different and a unique addition to the Christmas special database.

82 – Bob’s Burgers – The Bleakening

Do you like a little horror with your Christmas?

Bob’s Burgers loves to churn out holiday themed episodes year in and year out. The show’s meat and potatoes is Thanksgiving as the writers have kind of staked their claim to that holiday, but the show’s collection of Christmas episodes is strong as well. “The Bleakening” is a really interesting one as it’s a two-part episode with a mystery plot, not really the sort of thing the show is known for. The second part especially has a suspense/horror vibe to it as the family tries to figure out who stole a mini Christmas tree from their restaurant which definitely gives this one a unique vibe. It’s only weakness is the plot probably isn’t dense enough to sustain the double-episode run length. It’s not a slog or anything, but the ending is a bit anticlimactic and feels a little dragged out. Not the show’s best Christmas episode, but a worthwhile watch each year.

81 – The Simpsons – Way of the Dog

He clearly is in need of some holiday cheer.

The Simpsons did a weird thing in 2020 when it decided to end Season 31 with a Christmas episode. If you know anything about network TV, then you know seasons typically end in May which is pretty far removed from the Christmas holiday season – which is pretty damn long as-is. Basically what happened is Carolyn Omine, longtime writer on the series, wanted to do an episode about the family dog, Santa’s Little Helper, and how do you separate a character with that name from Christmas? There was some talk of holding it over until the next season to air at Christmas, but that didn’t happen. Maybe COVID stuff made that a no-go or the network just said “Screw it” and aired the finished episode when it was ready. Either way, this is a solid examination of the pooch that answers some questions. Were they necessarily pressing questions? No, but it’s fine. There’s a B plot of sorts that doesn’t work for me, but the episode makes up for that in other ways. I just wish showrunner Al Jean stayed true to his word and let Santa’s Little Helper’s mom become a permanent member of the family (I don’t think she’s been seen or heard from since).

80 – The Cuphead Show! – Holiday Tree-dition

Cuphead and Mugman will risk life and limb for a tree.

For what I assume is The Cuphead Show‘s final season there was not one, but two, Christmas episodes. This is the one that came first and it’s a typical short subject episode where Cuphead and Mugman are entrusted for the first time to secure a Christmas tree. They basically screw it up by first trying to bargain too hard with the only tree guy in town and then by trying to cut down their own. The show is a throwback to old style shorts and the pacing and gags are very much in line with that. How many of those old Warner cartoons had characters nearly disemboweled in a saw mill? That’s practically what they’re for! It’s a great looking show and there’s some solid laughs and a good ending to be found. I like the longer special that follows more, but this one is pretty great too.

79 – Family Guy – A Very Special Family Guy Freakin’ Christmas

At least Lois gets to sit down this Christmas.

The first Christmas episode of Family Guy is still the show’s best. I liked it so much ten years ago that I ranked it all the way up at number 14 overall! That was clearly me overrating something I had watched a lot of in college, but I still think this is a good episode. It definitely has some of that old Family Guy DNA in it where it’s mostly a Simpsons knock-off, but with an even dumber father character and a liberal use of cutaway gags. In this one, Peter screws up and donates all of the Christmas presents to charity so the family has to brave the mall on Christmas Eve to rebuy everything. That’s one area where it does do things perhaps different from what The Simpsons would do as the family isn’t in financial ruin by losing all of those gifts, but they do end up taking Lois for granted and she goes berserk and runs amok in downtown Quahog. It is a relatable premise if you’re one of the adults who makes Christmas “go” each year. And especially so when your kids are at that age where they know how everything is supposed to go, but they don’t actually do anything to help out. It’s mostly funny and they even manage to shoehorn some Santa stuff in there via Stewie. This is the only Family Guy Christmas episode on my watch list each year, though “Road to the North Pole” is close. I just tend to fall asleep during that one since it’s a double length episode (which is why I never got around to covering it).

78 – Animaniacs – A Christmas Plotz

She’s the Ghost of Christmas Present – get it?

The other Animaniacs Christmas episode from 1993 is one I’m a little torn on. It’s hard to rank because it is pretty funny, the animation is superb, but it relies on some bad tropes of the Christmas special. I’m talking A Christmas Carol and too many fruit cake jokes. Fruit cake jokes are perhaps my personal pet peeve. Yeah, I think the holiday treat is pretty terrible, but I’m sick of hearing about it. No one gives that stuff out anymore. This episode puts the CEO of Warner Bros, the fictional Thaddeus Plotz, in the role of Scrooge. In the role of Bob Cratchit is Ralph, the dim-witted security guard whom Plotz fires at Christmas. Slappy Squirrel gets to play Marley while your trusty Warner siblings serve as the ghosts. The humor is your typical brand of Animaniacs humor which is a mix of topical, pop culture references, and old school gags. There’s no real twist which is perhaps the biggest criticism one could levy against this one. Well, if there is a twist it’s that Plotz is clearly acting out of kindness in the end because he fears damnation and figures he can go back to being a jerk on Boxing Day. The cartoon takes up nearly the entire length of the episode, but there is a “We Three Kings” cartoon short that follows for those who prefer a more secular celebration. It has some gag lines, but mostly plays it straight.

77 – Eek the Cat – It’s A Very Merry Eek’s-mas

You may not realize it right now, Santa, but you’re actually in pretty good hands with Eek. Or should I say paws?

Eek the Cat received quite a bit of attention from Fox back in the day and was sort of like a mascot for the kid’s programming block Fox Kids. He hasn’t had much staying power over the years, but he did contribute a couple of Christmas specials to the scene and both are pretty solid with this first one being the better of the two. In it, Santa’s reindeer go on strike and the big guy needs help delivering presents. Meanwhile, Eek’s girlfriend’s dog, Sharky, who hates Eek and never misses a chance to maul him, is depressed and misses his family. Eek vows to help out Sharky because that’s what Eek does – he is an eternal optimist who always does the right thing even if it means tremendous pain for him. They hook up with a scab reindeer named Elmo and basically have to be the elves, reindeer, and Santa in order to deliver Christmas to the world and reunite Sharkey with his family. There’s a lot of physical humor and even some dark stuff (the special ends with Eek about to become Christmas dinner) while also just some strange things like a cameo by the Barbi Twins who were basically famous for being in Playboy. And for being twins. That was Fox though and it wasn’t for everyone, but it sure was unique.

76 – Samurai Pizza Cats – The Cheese Who Stole Christmas

Christmas kitties to the rescue!

Samurai Pizza Cats is a weird show. It’s sort of like Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers in that it was imported from Japan and then “Americanized.” Only with an animated show like this one, there was no room for new shots or anything so it was just given the weirdest dub imaginable. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had been popular so the new title the show was given was an obvious play on that and since the characters did work in a pizzeria it wasn’t entirely out of left field. The actual show is more like a goofy version of Ronin Warriors, but with cats. There’s not much plot here. The main villain, Big Cheese, impersonates Santa and causes some mischief so the heroes go out and take care of business. It’s very comedic and made even more so by the dub. I’ve never sought out an undubbed version of this show, but I assume it too was fairly comedic in nature as well. The animation is fun and it’s the sort of offbeat Christmas special that feels quite refreshing among more traditional options. If you’re into anime, then it’s definitely worth a look.

75 – Married…with Children – You Better Watch Out

Not the Santa you want to see coming down your chimney.

What’s this? A live-action sitcom? Yes, I never set out to make my list exclusively animation, but it did mostly happen that way. There’s just way more Christmas cartoons out there and I tend to love cartoons. When it comes to live-action it’s mostly traditional sitcom stuff which, for me, never ages particularly well. There isn’t one sitcom I used to watch in the 80s or 90s with a Christmas episode I seek out each year. Well, with one exception, and it’s this one. Married…with Children was the first show I can remember my mom telling me she didn’t like me watching, and I can see why. She never stopped me from watching it, but she didn’t like it and hoped I just wouldn’t watch it on my own because of that. She was wrong. It is pretty sleezy and it was the type of show Fox was staking its reputation on. The Bundy family has little love for one another. The husband is miserable, the wife selfish and lazy, the daughter an airhead, and the boy basically spends all of his time lusting after women and jerking off. In this one, we see how shitty Christmas is for the Bundy family because they’re poor and because patriarch Al just doesn’t care to make an effort. Then a mall stunt goes wrong and a parachuting Santa lands in their backyard dead. It’s a plot that could only happen with this show. And even though Al Bundy is a pretty loathsome individual, he does at least try to assuage the kids in the neighborhood that Santa Claus is fine and the family has a Merry Christmas in the end when they discover the sack of mall gift certificates the now deceased Santa was supposed to give out. It’s pretty dark, but also pretty funny.

74 – The Adventures of Pete & Pete – Oh Christmas Pete

The Wrigley family yearns for Christmas every day.

Back to back live-action shows – this will not happen again in the countdown. I think this is actually the end of the live-action stuff, unless you include puppets in there. Nickelodeon had a ton of unique programming in the 90s and few shows sum up the vibe of the network like The Adventures of Pete & Pete. It’s just two brothers, both named Pete, and their day-to-day lives in an absurd world. It borders on cartoonish, but usually doesn’t quite go that far, especially in these later episodes where Artie is no longer around. In the Christmas episode, Young Pete refuses to give up on Christmas. Why does it have to go away when it’s so good? The interesting thing is, despite the fact that he’s a kid, he’s not hung up on the whole presents thing. He’s not looking to score a new gift every day, he just likes the overall feeling of the season. And standing in his way is the garbage man. He wants those trees, but Pete needs to rally the neighborhood to withhold them. Things get crazy as there’s a garbage strike and eventually people start to crack. Pete gives in since everyone else does, but then a final act of Christmas spirit thaws the garbageman’s heart and the magic of Christmas lives just a bit longer. It’s cute and fun and as someone who hates saying goodbye to Christmas every year I can totally empathize with Little Pete. If only we could feel that way the whole year round – wouldn’t we all be a bit nicer? Big Pete, via narration, claims the neighborhood was a nicer place after that even if they did eventually put Christmas away and that’s certainly a nice way to end the episode and today’s entry.

If you can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 16 – The Cleveland Show – “A Cleveland Brown Christmas”

We’ve taken a look at a lot of animated sitcoms this year and so far they’ve all been repeat visitors to The Christmas Spot. It feels like it’s time for something new, though it has a very familiar feel. The Cleveland Show is a 2009 spin-off of Family Guy created by Seth MacFarlane, Richard Appel,…

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by Joe

Dec. 16 – A Very Solar Holiday Opposites Special

Yesterday, we talked about South Park and its very first holiday special from the late 90s and today we’re talking about the Trey Parker/Matt Stone of the 2010s – Justin Roiland. Roiland was able to hook-up with Dan Harmon in the mid-2000s which put him on the path to comedy writer and actor, usually of…

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by Joe

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December 7, 2025

Dec. 7 – The Nostalgia Spot Christmas Special Countdown #157-148

By Joe

I can feel it, folks – we’re getting closer! Closer to the Christmas specials that are almost universally worth watching! That’s not to say the specials that have appeared in the countdown thus far are not worth it, they just might require more nuance. These are the specials that are watched year in and year out chiefly due to nostalgia. They’re the ones you grew up with that you just have to watch each year or the holiday just wouldn’t feel complete – even if they’re objectively bad. And I do think we’re beyond the objectively bad, well past that even, and just into the splitting hairs category. Yeah, you could watch the specials spotlighted today, but each moment spent with one of these could also probably be spent watching something superior. Take our first Christmas special of the day…

#157 – Alvinnn!!! and the Chipmunks – A Very Merry Chipmunk

Some redesigns are fine, while some are just “meh.”

Alvin and his chipmunk brothers Simon and Theodore are no strangers to Christmas. They had a stand-alone TV special in 1981 as well as a Christmas episode during their run in the 1980’s in a show with a very similar name. This particular Christmas episode comes from the most recent iteration of the franchise which aired on Nickelodeon in 2020. If you’re familiar with the 80s cartoon, then this one should feel very similar. It just looks different. Alvin and his brothers, while still not the size of actual chipmunks, are a great deal smaller than they have traditionally been depicted in cartoons, but also their features otherwise are a bit deemphasized. They look more like kids with weird noses. And it’s a CG-rendered show that while not as ugly as some of the CG shows from the early 2010s, is still far less pleasant than the 80’s cartoon. In this holiday episode, Theodore is feeling unwanted at home, and when he gets mistaken for an elf and brought to the North Pole, he thinks no one back home actually wants him. And Alvin kind of gave him to the North Pole because in most versions of this franchise Alvin is a selfish dick, but he learns his lesson, Theodore makes it home for Christmas, and everything is fine. It’s just why would you spend your time with this one when you could be watching the far superior A Chipmunk Christmas? I don’t blame you though for preferring this to the It’s a Wonderful Life parody that showed up in the 80s series.

156 – The Garfield Show – Caroling Capers

They must have made a plush toy of these looks.

By sheer coincidence, we have another CG program from the 2010’s that aired on Nickelodeon starring a character who was pretty popular in the 1980s: Garfield. And like Alvin and the Chipmunks, Garfield has a much better Christmas special from the 80s you could be watching instead. Garfield and his pals made an okay jump to 3D. The models are a bit texture-less, but not unpleasant to look at. Frank Welker takes over for Lorenzo Music as the titular fat cat and does a solid job of capturing the same tone as Music. He’s low energy, almost bored, and rarely genuine. This episode, which is a tidy 12 minutes, features Garfield caroling because he sees it as a path to free food only no one he carols for seems to enjoy his antics. Meanwhile, Nermal and Odie are caroling together and dragging a wagon full of food behind them because they’re just so cute! There’s a few moments of genuine humor and since it’s so short it requires a much smaller sacrifice of time than most, but in the end it might still leave you wishing that you watched the more famous Christmas special featuring the orange cat.

155 – Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper

I can think of something very wrong with that title. Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper is pretty light on comedy, as most Hanna-Barbera things are. What it is not short on are cameos. That’s the “All-Star” part as you’re going to see most of the classic Hanna-Barbera characters in this one, even Fred and Barney! That’s actually the only part that did get a little laugh out of me as Snagglepuss points out the absurdity of the situation. Anyway, this one is about a lonely, mistreated, girl mistaking Yogi for Santa and him being unable to come clean about it because he doesn’t want her to feel worse. They need to help her greedy, selfish, father see the error of his ways. It’s not very good, and if I’m being objective about it then I probably should have ranked this one lower, but I do have some nostalgia goggles for it. It did get a genuine reaction out of me when I was younger which is hard to let go of. And I am a sucker for big ensembles, just not enough for me to make it through Yogi’s First Christmas. That damn thing is an hour and a half and I refuse to ever watch it again.

154 – Space Goofs – Holiday Heave-Ho

Space Goofs is a Fox Kids cartoon that started airing when I started tuning out on Saturday morning. Once X-Men and Spider-Man finished their respective runs I was all done. After watching this Christmas episode though, I do think I may have missed out. This is a bit of an ugly late 90s cartoon, the aesthetic for the era is not one that I look back on fondly, but it was pretty amusing. The premise of the show is a bunch of aliens are hiding out in a house and they’re oblivious to human culture, save for what they can get on their television. When Santa shows up on Christmas Eve, they think they’re being invaded. This Santa is incredibly stubborn though and insists on delivering presents so he keeps trying to sneak into the house which results in him getting caught by the various traps inside. He takes a beating, but he keeps on coming. It’s a bit like Smokey and the Bandit in that Santa keeps absorbing more and more punishment until he’s in a full body cast by the episode’s end. It’s an easy one to watch these days and if you like that 90s physical comedy that was present in many cartoons then you probably won’t need the benefit of nostalgia to find some enjoyment here.

153 – New Looney Tunes – Tis the Seasoning/Winter Blunderland

If you didn’t like Bugs Bunny’s Looney Christmas Tales then it makes sense why you’d give New Looney Tunes and its Christmas episode a try. Unfortunately, it’s not that great. It’s not terrible, and I am ranking it ahead of that first one, but it doesn’t take advantage of the holiday very well. This one has two segments. In the first, Bugs is Christmas shopping and after a hot item, but so is Yosemite Sam. This means the two go to war in a Walmart-type store for the last item available. There are some decent gags, but nothing particularly memorable (except maybe Porky having to mop up spilled ham). The second segment features Bugs’ friend, Squeaks, misdelivering his letter to Santa to a guy called The Barbarian on account of the fact that he kind of resembles Santa Claus. Bugs has to get the letter back so he can get it to the real Santa, but Barbarian is apparently not interested in giving it back. It’s kind of stupid. Again, it’s just Bugs inflicting pain on his opponent (with some pain returned) through comedic means none of which is particularly memorable. You’re unlikely to hate it, but it’s not the sort of Christmas special you’ll be inclined to watch again. And there are better Looney Tunes specials to come.

152 – The Pink Panther in A Pink Christmas

The Pink Panther is basically a silent cartoon star. The cartoons are not absent sound, but there’s no dialogue from anyone. The story is moved along through animation and the object is usually to convey pretty basic emotions that almost anyone can understand. Like most cartoon stars, The Pink Panther is accustomed to short subjects, but this television special had to fill a half hour and it really hurts the pacing. In this one, Pink Panther is basically homeless and just wants a hot meal. He goes through all kinds of hoops to land one which also lands him in trouble with numerous people along the way eventually leading to him getting arrested. It has funny moments, and there’s a nice ending to it as well, but it’s the sort of special that just wares me down. I don’t have any particular affection for the Pink Panther. I don’t think there’s anything especially sympathetic about him in any of his cartoons, but even so I get sick of him constantly losing throughout this one even knowing it’s going to work out in the end. Had this been a cartoon short, I think it would have worked better. It’s a bit too miserable in this form, but some may find that the constant misery leads to a better payoff I suppose.

151 – SuperTed Meets Father Christmas

Don’t be fooled by his cuteness, he just kicked the crap out of Santa.

Here’s one for the British readers. SuperTed is a living teddy bear that’s also a superhero. I really liked this guy as a kid and had pretty much forgot all about him until I stumbled upon this Christmas episode a few years back. In this one, the villainous Texas Pete is out to steal Christmas and it’s up to SuperTed to stop him. The amusing wrinkle in this one is that SuperTed thinks he gets the drop on ole Pete only to find out it’s the real Santa Claus, err, Father Christmas. He actually beats him up pretty well too in what is an almost shockingly funny little bit. Outside of that, it’s a perfectly fine little Christmas episode that probably works better if you have some affection for the character.

150 – Merry Christmas Super Dave!

I swear it’s just a coincidence that SuperTed is followed by Super Dave.

Comedian Bob Einstein’s Super Dave alter ego actually had his own cartoon series in the early 90s. It was short-lived, but it’s one of those things that impresses me to this day. Super Dave, if you’re unaware, was a daredevil. Since this was a bit by a comedian, he was a terrible daredevil. None of his stunts go right and he often winds up in extreme pain. It makes sense to turn that type of guy into a cartoon since you can really do some damage to a cartoon character and he’ll always come back ready for more! In this Christmas episode, Santa is kidnapped and Dave has to rescue him. Why does a daredevil have to be the one to rescue him? Who knows? It has its moments, but mostly it ends up getting ranked this high because I remain tickled that this is a thing that exists. I also appreciate that it really has no moral. Sometimes we don’t need a preachy ending, we just need an ending.

149 Eek! The Cat – It’s a Wonderful Nine Lives

That is one ugly Santa.

Eek is the good-natured cat that roamed the Fox Kids Saturday morning lineup in the early 90s. He is an eternal optimist which makes him a great fit for a Christmas special. He can also scream like a bastard and take some serious punishment which makes him an ideal cartoon character. In this Christmas episode, Eek comes across a gift for Little Joey and takes it upon himself to make sure it reaches him. Along his journey, he’s going to get the snot kicked out of him. He’s also going to help people along the way which just in turn leads to more misery, but the cat comes through in the end and delivers the present to Little Joey. Who turns out to be a rat or something. It’s entertaining, it’s just not one of the better looking shows from the era. And since it doesn’t really invoke the “feels,” it comes up just a tad limp for me in the end. If Eek was your guy, or cat, when you were a kid then you’ll probably derive far more enjoyment out of coming back to this one than I ever could. I also think his other Christmas special is just a little bit better.

148 – Dexter’s Laboratory – Dexter vs Santa’s Claws

I apparently named this image “Dick Dexter.” I amuse myself sometimes.

Our final entrant for today is Dexter of Dexter’s Laboratory fame. He was one of the original Cartoon Cartoon stars for Cartoon Network and I have mostly positive memories of his show. In his Christmas segment, Dexter is confronted by his own ignorance for he gets into an argument with his sister about the existence of Santa Claus. Dee Dee insists that he’s real while Dexter insists that it’s merely their father in disguise. He seems to think his dad puts on an elaborate show to keep up the ruse indicating that while Dexter may be a boy genius, he’s also still a boy. Dexter then waits up all night and catches the real Santa in the act, only he still thinks it’s his dad and does horrible things to the big man in order to prove it. This just leads to injuries and destruction. Santa even loses his beard (coincidentally, the same thing happens to the Santa in Space Goofs)! Yeah, it’s kind of unsettling. What I love about this one is the continuity. This being a Hanna-Barbera Christmas episode that aired in 1998, it still made sure to have a Santa that looks exactly like the one from A Flintstone Christmas. That’s pretty neat, even if other versions of Santa have appeared over the years in other Hanna-Barbera productions. If you’re going to copy one though, that’s the one to copy. This Christmas episode is brief, but funny. A little dark, perhaps, but we need that from time to time out of our Christmas specials.

What’s not dark, is tomorrow’s Christmas special. Actually, it technically is dark, just not in tone or humor. You’ll see what I mean in short order, but tomorrow is a full write-up of a Christmas cartoon I never got around to. It’s one that has been on my “to do” list year after year and even pre-planned on at least one occasion, but I just never got around to it. That all changes tomorrow so come on back and see what ended up in slot number 147!

Can’t wait until tomorrow for more Christmas? Check out what we had to say on this day last year and beyond:

Dec. 7 – The Cuphead Show! – “A Very Devil Christmas”

I told you we would probably take a look at the other Christmas episode from The Cuphead Show!, though maybe you expected a buffer. I considered it, but why not pair them up just like the creators and Netflix already did? This second Christmas episode comes right after the first. Titled “A Very Devil Christmas,”…

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by Joe

Dec. 7 – Fox’s Peter Pan & the Pirates – “Hook’s Christmas”

When two billion dollar organizations butt heads, it can be hard to know who to root for. Take Disney, somewhat of an “evil” overlord when it comes to content, which seemingly owns everything these days and likes to throw its weight around when it comes to copyright claims. And then there’s Fox, owned by the…

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by Joe

Dec. 7 – Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (1970)

In 1964, Arthur Rankin and Jules Bass unleashed a Christmas Classic upon the world in the form of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The special basically put the company on the map and put it on the path to holiday domination for decades to come. Despite that, few of the specials that followed Rudolph truly hit…

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December 22, 2018

Dec. 22 – Eek! The Cat – It’s a Wonderful Nine Lives

By Joe

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Original air date December 19, 1992

For the second year in a row we are returning to Eek! The Cat, a Fox Kids property that’s probably not remembered by many. At least I never encounter anybody who has anything to say about Eek! The Cat, be it positive or negative. My lack of foresight means we’re working backwards in relation to last year’s post as this episode comes from season one and it’s the first Christmas special the show made.

If you’re unfamiliar with Eek, he’s basically a good-natured character that is always able to look on the bright side. He always tries to do the right thing and is unfailing in his optimism, and since this show existed during the very cynical 90s, it means misfortune befalls Eek at every turn. This is one of those loud cartoons where characters often scream as a result of intense pain being inflicted upon them. For the sake of voice actor Bill Kopp I hope they were able to re-use his screams as Eek for several episodes rather than force him to repeat them. Eek is otherwise a house cat, and his family largely doesn’t seem to care about him. He has a girlfriend named Annabelle who has a pet shark-dog that hates him, even though he tries to befriend the dog whenever he can. It’s a world where animals are able to communicate with humans when needed, though they still remain subservient to them.

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Eek! The Cat had a solid run of 76 episodes on Fox Kids from 1992-1997

“It’s a Wonderful Nine Lives” sounds like it’s going to be a parody of a rather famous Christmas movie, but I’m happy to report it’s not. Instead it’s a story about Eek coming across a gift intended for an orphan named Joey and his quest to make sure it reaches him for Christmas. Along the way he’ll meet some new faces and also lots, and lots, of misfortune.

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The subject of today’s episode, a little green gift bound for Little Orphan Joey.

The episode opens with a narrator. This show is terrible with its credits, so I don’t know who is voicing this narrator as they just list a principal cast at the end of each show. Needless to say, he introduces the story with a few call backs to other classic Christmas tales. The camera then settles on Eek looking up at the sky from inside his home as he sees Santa come speeding by. He has seven reindeer, including Rudolph, which is a Christmas tragedy. He has to swerve to avoid a 747, and as he does so a present falls from his sleigh to land in Eek’s front lawn.

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Eek has a neurotic appearance, but he’s actually a constant optimist who just happens to get hurt a lot.

So far, the narration and dialogue from Eek is following a rhyming scheme. Note to television producers, if you want to make sure your Christmas special is considered annoying and not re-watchable, have everyone speak in rhyme. Eek retrieves the gift, and seeing it’s bound for an orphan named Joey in Dudd City, he sadly imagines the poor lad waking up on Christmas morning to find Santa passed him over. This breaks Eek’s heart and he vows to make sure this present gets to Joey. He tries to go back inside the house first, but finds the window and door locked. When he tries to climb through an open window, Mom (Elinor Donahue) doesn’t notice him because she’s engrossed in some language learning tape and shuts the window on his fingers. At ground level, children Wendy Elizabeth (Elizabeth Daily) and J.B. (Charlie Adler) can’t pull themselves away from the television to notice Eek’s plight.

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Eek winds up on an out-of-control sleigh to get his journey started.

Eek is forced to set off on his own, and immediately he somehow winds up on a sleigh speeding through the snowy streets. He’s going to collide with skiers and attract the attention of a polar bear and even encounter a penguin on a ski jump. It’s an elongated scene meant to soak up time and allow Eek plenty of opportunities to scream. He loses the present for a bit, but it finds him when his sleigh comes to a stop eventually.

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Poor kitty.

Once that business is done, Eek dawns a festive Christmas outfit that’s very Dickens in its style. He boards a train traveling through, but not in a conventional sense and actually ends up on top of the train. The present gets jostled and comes to rest over a box car that is full of shark-infested waters. Why would a train be carrying such cargo? I don’t know – it’s a cartoon, dummy! Eek is forced to tightrope across the opening and, of course, he falls in, but actually jumps out rather unscathed. He retrieves the gift, only to be clothes-lined by a water tower. He winds up on the roof of a traveling truck and wonders where he is. He needs to find Dudd City, which he promptly smashes into a sign for. Unconscious, he slides off the sign to land in the back of a farmer’s pickup on a soft bed of hay.

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Oslo Piggy, who’s plight is far worse than Joey’s.

Eek wakes up in the same truck in a barn, and he overhears a pig playing a sad song on his harmonica. The pig is named Oslo (I think), and he’s pretty bummed that he’s on the menu for Christmas the next day. Eek decides to help him out by fetching the key to the shackles that bind him, but before they can leave the barn they’re met by the farmer himself (Brad Garret, who sounds like he’s doing a Rodney Dangerfield impression) who is brandishing a double-barreled shotgun. He’s not about to let Eek leave with his pig, but Eek takes notice of the farmers torn shoes and offers to trade his boots for the pig. The farmer tries on Eek’s red boots and finds them to his liking, but rather than let Eek leave with the pig, he decides he’d rather have ham the next day and a cat to make a new hat out of. The duo are forced to flee, and Eek pulls on a rope that opens a compartment in the ceiling for hay to fall from and crush the farmer, a rare act of (justified) violence on the part of our protagonist.

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I’m a bit down on the visuals in this show, but that’s a nice looking scream.

Free from the farmer, Eek and Oslo are walking alone on a long, empty, road. Oslo is thankful for Eek’s help and seems interested in Eek’s mission to make sure this gift gets to Joey. Oslo is concerned though that they won’t be able to find this Joey, but Eek assures him that if they have faith, and wish upon the Christmas star, they’re sure to find their way. Oslo alerts Eek that it isn’t a star he’s wishing upon, but the headlights from a truck! It’s the farmer, and he runs the two off the road. Eek comes to land on a block of ice in a fast-moving river. The present for Joey is floating in the same river, and Oslo jumps in to grab it. Eek winds up on the precipice of a waterfall, basically a repeat of a gag with the sleigh on a cliff from earlier, and Oslo and the gift smack into him knocking them over. Eek is able to grab onto a branch, but Oslo ends up in the water below. Wishing him well and a merry Christmas, Oslo tosses Eek the present as he goes over another waterfall. Eek catches it, but in doing so he releases his hold on the branch and ends up in the water too. He’s still rather upbeat, even though Oslo might be dead, as he gets sucked into a pipe and sent through the stinky sewers to arrive in (presumably) Dudd City.

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Worth pointing out that The Simpsons and Eek did share a network.

Once Eek emerges from the sewers, he encounters a mother dachshund who bares a strong, stylistic, resemblance to Santa’s Little Helper from The Simpsons. She has three puppies and a problem. She was supposed to spend Christmas with her sister but lost the address. Now she and her pups are out in the cold. Eek gives them his top-hat and scarf to sleep in, which is more than adequate. He wishes them well then resumes his search for Joey.

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This is where we say good bye to that jerk-ass farmer.

Now naked, Eek seeks out what everyone in the 90s would seek when lost – a phone booth! And lo and behold, Little Oprhan Joey is listed and Eek is overjoyed to finally have an address. When he turns to leave though he’s met by the farmer, who now without a pig because of Eek decides to take the gift instead. He chases him around, and arms himself with a swordfish (they’re on a dock). Things look bad for Eek, as Santa-hat wearing sharks roam the waters below. As the farmer closes in, he’s felled by some garbage and a banana peel. It’s Oslo! And he’s on a garbage barge eating and enjoying being a filthy pig. The farmer winds up in the water, where the sharks apparently gobble him up.

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Are cartoons still doing the rabies gag in 2018?

With that out of the way, Oslo and Eek bid each other farewell at a bus station. Only Oslo is riding in the back of a garbage truck. While Eek waves goodbye, the present goes missing. A line of people waiting for a bus all have gifts that look identical to Joey’s. Eek starts frantically searching each one which attracts the attention of a guard who kicks him out. He is sent flying into a root beer bar and collides with a woman, leaving root beer foam all over his face. She screams “Rabies!” and within seconds Eek is on the streets and fliers depicting his foam covered face are all over the city and the hunt is on. Eek is forced to take shelter in a dumpster where he sadly hopes for a Christmas miracle that gets that gift to little Joey before falling asleep.

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So that’s Little Joey.

Eek is woken when a garbage truck dumps a bunch of garbage on him (isn’t it supposed to work the other way around?) which just so happens to contain the present for Joey! Eek is delighted to be reunited with the package as he sets out for the Our Lady of Really Really Dumped On Children Orphanage. He gets hit by a few cars along the way, but he finds it. It’s Christmas morning though, so he has to be quick. He finds that inside the children have not awoken to find their gifts yet so he sneaks in. He gets caught in the window, and he’ll get squished by a door too, but he succeeds in placing the gift under the tree. He sees all of the children come running in and out like a tornado. One child is left, who looks just like how Eek imagined Joey earlier. Only, it’s not Joey and he calls for the real Joey to come get his gift. Enter Joey (Cam Clarke), who’s not a little orphan boy at all but a rat. He’s in clothes and stuff, so it’s kind of weird how he fits in socially, but whatever. The present ended up containing his family, so he’s not an orphan at all!

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And that’s what was in the present. They’re certainly a colorful looking bunch.

Eek is happy to have brought Christmas joy to Joey. As he readies to leave he runs into the big man himself – Santa Claus! Santa thanks Eek for delivering that gift for him. Now that Eek’s job is done, he succumbs to the trials of his long, long night and falls asleep in Santa’s arms. He then wakes up back at home, and assumes it was all a dream. He mistakenly moves over to the door to the livingroom and the kids Wendy Elizabeth and J.B. slam the door on him (really Eek, avoid doors) as they attack their tree and leave it barren and beaten. Having retrieved their gifts, they head for the TV while Eek notices a gift underneath the tree addressed to him. It has a letter from Santa affixed to it which thanks him once again for his efforts the prior night. Inside the box is another note which orders him to “open the door.” When he does he’s greeted by all of his friends, including Oslo, who are there to wish him a merry Christmas. Eek got what he wanted for Christmas as well, a Christmas with friends and family – how swell!

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We have to give Santa a little screen time.

So that’s Eek! The Cat’s “It’s a Wonderful Nine Live” Christmas episode. The title is certainly misleading, but I suppose Eek went through most of his nine lives during his harrowing night. The rhyming in the episode is certainly annoying, but at least Eek is so likeable it makes it hard to get mad at him or the show. More annoying is the script’s over-reliance on Eek’s catch phrase “Kumbaya!” which I could do without ever hearing again. In comparison with the other Christmas episode from this series, I feel like this one is a lot uglier. There’s not a lot of detail to the characters and everything looks really cheap. The reveal of Joey I suppose is supposed to be both surprising and funny, but I was mostly indifferent. The voice acting is good though, and the show has a real rock and guitar driven soundtrack which is probably its signature distinction when measured with its peers.

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Eek did a good thing and wound up having a merry Christmas. Mission accomplished?

Is this a good Christmas special? Eh. I suppose if you have fond memories of Eek! The Cat then you’ll probably enjoy revisiting it. I was never a regular viewer of the show, though I must be less cynical with old age as I don’t find the character as annoying as I did when I was younger. The show is not available really anywhere and it absolutely will not be shown on television this holiday season. If you want to give this one a look yourself, it’s easy to find on YouTube and elsewhere since no one seems to care about old Eek the Cat.

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December 8, 2017

Dec. 8 – It’s A Very Merry Eek’s Mas

By Joe

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I apologize, but there are not many high quality images on the internet of this one, so we’re making do with what we got.

For a pretty sizable chunk of the 90s, the Fox network really dominated the Saturday morning cartoon landscape. A network, at the time, more synonymous with “filth” somehow managed to corral the kid demographic away from the more wholesome ABC and CBS. Fox was largely able to do this by partnering with some big players:  Steven Spielberg, Warner Bros, Saban, and Marvel – all before a lot of them would go off and do their own thing such as Warner launching its own network. It was also rather impressive that Fox had a ton of original programming and it wasn’t relying on old standbys to fill air. Some of the shows it launched are still pretty beloved:  Tiny Toons, Animaniancs, Batman, X-Men, The Tick. Sure, not all of those shows debuted during the Saturday morning block, but they often ended up there and helped make way for more shows.

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Eek and his beloved Annabelle, who is voiced by Tawny Kitaen, of all people.

One show that probably isn’t remembered all that fondly is Eek the Cat. It’s not that Eek was a bad show by any means, it just kind of got lost in the shuffle of many hyper-active 90s cartoons. It was also usually one of the earlier shows in the block when some kids were just getting out of bed, and its star had no pedigree. Eek was a round purple cat who is pretty dim but has a heart of gold. He wants to help those in need, but often gets the short end of the stick leading to numerous instances of pain and misery. His girlfriend, Annabelle, is an obese pink cat that towers over him. She has a pet dog, the appropriately named Sharky, who hates Eek and bites him whenever he gets the chance. Eek’s existence is in many ways miserable, but he always finds the bright side which makes him a pretty likable cat.

Christmas is a holiday that should suit a fellow like Eek pretty well. He adores Christmas, as we would expect him to, and at the opening of his own Christmas special we find him carrying a stack of gifts as he remarks to himself how much he enjoys the holiday. He narrowly avoids mayhem as he works his way through the crowded, snowy streets and puts his gifts down to make a donation to charity. In doing so, his stack of gifts is gobbled up by a street sweeper, and we’re under way!

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Santa’s reindeer, lead by Blitzen (Bobcat Goldthwait) are on strike despite only working one day per year.

We’re soon taken to the North Pole. Santa’s reindeer are striking, despite Santa pointing out that they only work one night a year. Santa, voiced by William Shatner surprisingly competently, is distressed and voices his concerns to his reindeer assistant, Elmo. Soon his helpers go on strike, and even Mrs. Claus has left him. Who will save Christmas?!

Eek visits his beloved Annabelle and is surprised when Sharky doesn’t devour him. Annabelle is worried about Sharky, and the two enter his dog house which is typical looking from the outside, but inside it’s basically a mansion (I always loved similar gags in cartoons for some reason). Sharky is depressed and we find out it’s because he misses his family, who he hasn’t seen since he was a little pup. Eek, even though Sharky has never treated him well, resolves to help Sharky find his family for Christmas.

Due to a mishap with a discarded banana peel, Santa finds himself laid up in bed just two days before Christmas. He’s despondent, but Elmo the brown-nosed reindeer volunteers to head out into society to make people aware of Santa’s predicament and get help. Meanwhile, Eek and Sharky set out to find Sharky’s family with Eek deciding they need to consult a wise, all-knowing individual. Sharky, through guttural noises that Eek can understand, suggests Rush Limbaugh (apparently Sharky is a hardcore conservative) while Eek corrects him and suggests Santa Claus. They seek out all of the street corner Santas to no luck. While this is ongoing, Elmo appears on a call-in show to ask the public for Santa’s help. When no one calls, he’s booted out and happens to collide with Eek and Sharky in an alley outside the studio. They both reveal to one another how they need help, and they decide to set-off for the North Pole together. They have to take a commercial airline, since reindeer can only fly on Christmas Eve, and Elmo happily enjoys an issue of Play Doe while they ride.

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Not much is going to get this purple cat down.

When they arrive at Santa’s house, they find Santa is in a pretty low place. He’s depressed and even asks Eek to call him Mud at first. He has no help, the toys aren’t finished, and he can’t deliver them even if they were due to a broken leg. Eek, in an attempt to cheer him up, teases a song that Elmo and Sharky are eager to assist with, but Eek has to inform them he only prepared a speech. Santa finds his words nice and all, but they don’t change the reality of this grim situation. Eek volunteers to finish the toys and make the deliveries and a short montage takes place of Eek assembling numerous toys and piling them onto the sleigh. Elmo informs him they have no way of getting that sleigh into the air, and Eek tells him some stuff about bumble bees with his usual dose of optimism. We cut to Eek freezing in the snow, his optimism gone, as he realizes there’s no way he can get that sleigh to fly. They need to consult some serious minds if they want to pull this off.

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Santa is in need of some cheering up.

The Barbi Twins are those minds, and they end up being really smart because if they weren’t then the joke wouldn’t work. If you don’t remember or never knew who the Barbi Twins were, they were a pair of identical twins who were pin-up models in the early 90s. They were popular enough that their appearances in Playboy broke sales records. The twins devise a rocket, and the boys are eager to try it out. Their first flight only succeeds in destroying Santa’s house, but the second is more successful. In between launches, Santa is somehow able to rebuild his entire house. He can construct a home just fine in his condition but can’t fly around in a sleigh. The second rocket may be successful, but it also takes out Santa’s house. Poor guy can’t catch a break.

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The Barbi Twins are ready to help. Who knew they possessed such knowledge?

While flying around the world, Eek notices the island of shark dogs on Santa’s map and deduces that this must be where Sharky is from. Before they can check it out, he overhears a small voice calling for help and he steers the rocket-sleigh down to investigate. There they find a young girl who’s lost her bunny. Sharky is plenty eager to track a rabbit, and he and Eek are able to find him rather effortlessly. While doing this, the rocket-sleigh starts to slide and Elmo is unable to get it under control. It plunges off a cliff but Elmo is able to grab a tail fin and prevent it from falling to the ground. Somehow he’s able to hold the impossibly large rocket until Eek and Sharky show up to help. A Grinch parody takes over as Sharky’s heart grows three sizes and he’s able to lift the rocket high over his head. When Eek points out that this is the wrong Christmas special for that, Sharky’s strength vanishes and the lot of them fall with the rocket smashing as they hit the ground.

With the rocket destroyed, they have no alternative but to pull the sleigh themselves. Eek is able to make it budge about six inches, which is all the motivation Elmo and Sharky need to lend a hand. They start dragging the sleigh and delivering gifts montage style as news crews from around the world flock to take up the story. The coverage centers on how these three brave souls are willing to do what it takes to save Christmas, while no one else will as the camera pans to reveal hundreds, if not thousands, of people just watching the trio freeze and struggle to pull the sleigh. The montage ends and we find out they still have tens of thousands of houses to get to, so it wasn’t as effective as a montage typically is. Just then, the little girl who lost her bunny, Dolores, returns with some friends to help them. Better yet, her giant of a brother is with her and they all help pull the sleigh. This attracts more kids, then Santa’s elves, and finally even the reindeer pull themselves away from their new gig as wall ornaments to finally pitch in.

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Elmo and Sharky, even with all that’s going on, still find time for some TV shopping.

With things now running smoothly, there’s only one gift left which is to reunite Sharky with his family. Elmo gets them right on trajectory to Sharky’s home, and the reindeer then depart. As the sleigh speeds through the air it attracts a military plane which is advised to shoot the unidentified object down. We then are taken to the island of shark dogs, where Sharky’s family is saying it’s form of grace before Christmas dinner, remarking how they wished they had a cat for dinner and how they miss their favorite son (this is all done through subtitles as Sharky’s dad speaks in grunts like his son). In an answer to their prayers, Eek and Sharky fall from the sky and land in the giant cooking pot. Sharky is delighted to see his family, and even gives Eek a hug. Eek remarks on how this has been a wonderful Christmas, then hopes aloud they can stay for dinner because something smells good as the camera pans back to reveal he’s still in the pot and the other shark dogs are dumping salt and fixings on him. With a wave of his hand, Eek wishes us a merry Christmas and our special is concluded.

Eek the Cat’s first Christmas special is a solid entry. It takes an unoriginal premise but goes about it differently enough that it doesn’t feel too familiar. This was, after all, before The Santa Clause re-popularized this type of story and the most noteworthy before it was probably “Christmas Flintstone.” This episode is less manic, less loud, than I remember most Eek the Cat episodes being. It’s also longer as it takes up the full run-time of the half hour block. Also, to my surprise, this special debuted in primetime on Fox in front of Martin, which was pretty popular at the time. I never remembered Eek being that big of a star as to warrant a primetime debut, but maybe Fox was really pushing him. The show had a pretty decent run of five seasons, so it had staying power, even if it’s not remembered as fondly as its peers. Because of that, this special is a bit tough to come by these days. The show has not been released on DVD, and likely never will be at this point, so the internet is your best bet for seeing this one. If you don’t mind watching Christmas specials on YouTube, this one is actually worth the effort as it’s different and entertaining enough, though it does lack some real laugh-out-loud kind of moments and the animation is just so-so. If you just want something different though, it gets the job done.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , | posted in christmas, Television