<\/p>\n
Honorable Mention: The Constant (Lost<\/em>)<\/h3>\n![\"LostXmas\"](\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/LostXmas.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOkay, I\u2019ll admit it: this one is kind of a stretch as far as a \u201cChristmas episode\u201d goes, hence its status outside the actual countdown. The fact that it\u2019s Christmas plays little to no part in the plot of the episode. Despite this, the traditional messages of comfort, joy, family, and love are abundant in this bizarrely touching time-travel story where everyone\u2019s favorite British castaway Desmond Hume must find a link between his past and present before the stress of what\u2019s happening to him literally blows his mind. Spoiler alert: it\u2019s his long-lost love Penny. Not only is it the best Christmas episode of Lost<\/em> (probably because it\u2019s the only one, really), but it\u2019s also arguably the best episode of the entire series. Just do yourself a favor and watch it with someone you love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
#5: Xmas Story (Futurama<\/em>)<\/h3>\nSpeaking of time travel, this episode of the animated sci-fi sitcom Futurama<\/em> is worth a watch just for the absurdity of its premise. Apparently by the year 3000, an attempt to create an actual robotic Santa Claus gone wrong has resulted in Christmas (now called \u201cXmas\u201d) becoming the most terrifying day of the year. Watch Fry, Leela and company flee through the streets to avoid the wrath of Robot Santa, who has determined that the entire human race is \u201cnaughty\u201d and consequently needs to be exterminated. Worth a view if you\u2019re up for a laugh this holiday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
#4: Night of the Meek (The Twilight Zone<\/em>)<\/h3>\nIn one of the most sentimental entries in his darkly ironic fantasy series, Rod Serling delivers the tale of the stereotypical drunken, penniless mall Santa that gets thrown for a loop when the man discovers a magical sack that can give anyone the gift they most desire. Of course, there are some problems when cops suspect him of stealing the goods, but by the end of the show old Mr. Corbin\u2019s own secret wish is fulfilled as a sleigh complete with elves whisks him off to the North Pole to become the real-life Santa Claus. It\u2019s sort of a mini-Miracle on 34th Street that\u2019s sure to give the Grinches and doubters in your family some pause.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
#3: The Strike (Seinfeld<\/em>)<\/h3>\nOf course, no holiday countdown would be complete without the most famous tradition of all…Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! Jerry, Kramer, and the rest of the gang all become embroiled in the celebration of the fictional holiday, created by George\u2019s father, leading to the predictable misunderstandings and shenanigans that make Seinfeld<\/em> so funny. A must-see if you take the holidays with a grain of salt: just don\u2019t forget to get the airing of grievances out of the way before you move onto the feats of strength.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
#2: The Snowmen (Doctor Who<\/em>)<\/h3>\n![\"DocWhoXmas\"](\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/DocWhoXmas.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nIn a show famous of its Christmas specials, the question of which is the best Doctor Who<\/em> has to offer is largely a matter of opinion. While it has its detractors due to a more-ludicrous-than-usual plot and a somewhat cheesy ending, \u201cThe Snowmen\u201d will always hold a place in my heart. The story picks up with Matt Smith\u2019s normally cheerful and happy-go-lucky Eleventh Doctor hiding out in Victorian England, where he has become reclusive, disillusioned, and downright unpleasant following the deaths of his best friends. A chance encounter with a sassy and enigmatic barmaid\/governess, however, soon lifts his spirits as he and a group of lovable recurring characters must stop an army of evil snowmen from bringing about eternal winter. Even though there is a bit of tragedy in the finale, expect this installment to make your Christmas a little bit brighter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
#1: Blackadder\u2019s Christmas Carol (Blackadder<\/em>)<\/h3>\n![\"BAXmas\"](\"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/BAXmas.jpg\")
<\/a><\/h3>\nGoing in the completely opposite direction, in \u201cBlackadder\u2019s Christmas Carol\u201d British comic Rowan Atkinson once again assumes the delightfully horrible mantle of the cynical and foul-mouthed Blackadder family in this side-splitting holiday romp. The plot twist? In contrast to all his previous incarnations, Ebenezer Blackadder (yes, they\u2019re ripping off Dickens) is known far and wide as the nicest and most generous man in England…a fact that is promptly taken advantage of by everyone he meets. That is, until a Christmas spirit accidentally gives him a glimpse of his cunningly devious ancestors that proves to him that in reality, crime actually does pay and \u201cbad guys have all the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Channel Chaser is written by Kyle Robertson. You can check out more of his work on his\u00a0<\/span>website<\/a>. Check back every Wednesday\u00a0for new articles.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome back to Channel Chaser! I know it\u2019s kind of late to bring up the holidays at this point, but with my column on hiatus for the past several weeks I really didn\u2019t get a chance to cover them the way I wanted to. Let\u2019s fix that. A lot of TV shows out there are [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1647,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/1647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/a><\/p>\nOkay, I\u2019ll admit it: this one is kind of a stretch as far as a \u201cChristmas episode\u201d goes, hence its status outside the actual countdown. The fact that it\u2019s Christmas plays little to no part in the plot of the episode. Despite this, the traditional messages of comfort, joy, family, and love are abundant in this bizarrely touching time-travel story where everyone\u2019s favorite British castaway Desmond Hume must find a link between his past and present before the stress of what\u2019s happening to him literally blows his mind. Spoiler alert: it\u2019s his long-lost love Penny. Not only is it the best Christmas episode of Lost<\/em> (probably because it\u2019s the only one, really), but it\u2019s also arguably the best episode of the entire series. Just do yourself a favor and watch it with someone you love.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Speaking of time travel, this episode of the animated sci-fi sitcom Futurama<\/em> is worth a watch just for the absurdity of its premise. Apparently by the year 3000, an attempt to create an actual robotic Santa Claus gone wrong has resulted in Christmas (now called \u201cXmas\u201d) becoming the most terrifying day of the year. Watch Fry, Leela and company flee through the streets to avoid the wrath of Robot Santa, who has determined that the entire human race is \u201cnaughty\u201d and consequently needs to be exterminated. Worth a view if you\u2019re up for a laugh this holiday.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In one of the most sentimental entries in his darkly ironic fantasy series, Rod Serling delivers the tale of the stereotypical drunken, penniless mall Santa that gets thrown for a loop when the man discovers a magical sack that can give anyone the gift they most desire. Of course, there are some problems when cops suspect him of stealing the goods, but by the end of the show old Mr. Corbin\u2019s own secret wish is fulfilled as a sleigh complete with elves whisks him off to the North Pole to become the real-life Santa Claus. It\u2019s sort of a mini-Miracle on 34th Street that\u2019s sure to give the Grinches and doubters in your family some pause.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Of course, no holiday countdown would be complete without the most famous tradition of all…Festivus, the holiday for the rest of us! Jerry, Kramer, and the rest of the gang all become embroiled in the celebration of the fictional holiday, created by George\u2019s father, leading to the predictable misunderstandings and shenanigans that make Seinfeld<\/em> so funny. A must-see if you take the holidays with a grain of salt: just don\u2019t forget to get the airing of grievances out of the way before you move onto the feats of strength.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a show famous of its Christmas specials, the question of which is the best Doctor Who<\/em> has to offer is largely a matter of opinion. While it has its detractors due to a more-ludicrous-than-usual plot and a somewhat cheesy ending, \u201cThe Snowmen\u201d will always hold a place in my heart. The story picks up with Matt Smith\u2019s normally cheerful and happy-go-lucky Eleventh Doctor hiding out in Victorian England, where he has become reclusive, disillusioned, and downright unpleasant following the deaths of his best friends. A chance encounter with a sassy and enigmatic barmaid\/governess, however, soon lifts his spirits as he and a group of lovable recurring characters must stop an army of evil snowmen from bringing about eternal winter. Even though there is a bit of tragedy in the finale, expect this installment to make your Christmas a little bit brighter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Going in the completely opposite direction, in \u201cBlackadder\u2019s Christmas Carol\u201d British comic Rowan Atkinson once again assumes the delightfully horrible mantle of the cynical and foul-mouthed Blackadder family in this side-splitting holiday romp. The plot twist? In contrast to all his previous incarnations, Ebenezer Blackadder (yes, they\u2019re ripping off Dickens) is known far and wide as the nicest and most generous man in England…a fact that is promptly taken advantage of by everyone he meets. That is, until a Christmas spirit accidentally gives him a glimpse of his cunningly devious ancestors that proves to him that in reality, crime actually does pay and \u201cbad guys have all the fun.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Channel Chaser is written by Kyle Robertson. You can check out more of his work on his\u00a0<\/span>website<\/a>. Check back every Wednesday\u00a0for new articles.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome back to Channel Chaser! I know it\u2019s kind of late to bring up the holidays at this point, but with my column on hiatus for the past several weeks I really didn\u2019t get a chance to cover them the way I wanted to. Let\u2019s fix that. A lot of TV shows out there are [Read more…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1647,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/1647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sharkpuppet.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}#5: Xmas Story (Futurama<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
#4: Night of the Meek (The Twilight Zone<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
#3: The Strike (Seinfeld<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
#2: The Snowmen (Doctor Who<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n#1: Blackadder\u2019s Christmas Carol (Blackadder<\/em>)<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/h3>\n