There are a lot of television shows that have done Christmas episodes. And many of them are so good that we keep coming back to them. Some of my favourites come from Futurama, Community, The Simpsons, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Recess, Blackadder, and even M*A*S*H (a little-known gem called “Dear Sis”). But there’s one animated show with a number of really good Christmas episodes to its name that never gets recognized for them, and that is American Dad!
By far the best of Seth MacFarlane’s shows (perhaps because he’s not as involved in the production), American Dad! is no stranger to slipping under the radar, either by being eclipsed by its sibling series, Family Guy and even The Cleveland Show for a while; or by its comic sensibilities being just more clever and surreal than its network competitors to achieve cult status, but not enough that it’s in anyway groundbreaking. Regardless, it’s a series that’s turned out some pretty funny and creative episodes, and among some of the best are the Christmas shows. American Dad! has done a Christmas episode almost every year, and like The Simpsons with Halloween, has made something of a tradition of using them as excuses for imaginative and bizarre storytelling, whether it’s in Stan hijacking his Christmas Carol experience to perform a hit or Steve being kidnapped by a hip-hopping Krampus. This is a series that’s had not one, but two Christmas episodes featuring the AntiChrist! -what other show would attempt that? Now in fairness, Christmas itself doesn’t always play a big part in these episodes, a few merely being set at the holiday and including some traditional themes; but they still count, and are more entertaining than a lot of other holiday shows.
The first of these episodes was “The Best Christmas Story Never Told” from 2006. Stan is feeling irritated with PC culture at Christmas (to show how little things have changed in the last eleven years), trying to force people to stop saying “Happy Holidays”. As a result of this he’s visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past voiced by a wonderful Lisa Kudrow; and just as it looks like the story’s going to embark on the familiar Christmas Carol route, Stan abandons her in 1970 to assassinate Jane Fonda, who through some convoluted logic, he believes is to blame for destroying Christmas. From there the episode takes a number of twists as the Ghost (really called Michelle) enlists Francine’s help, Stan’s mission frequently changes, and 1970 Roger takes advantage of a relic Stan leaves behind. But it ultimately does return to being about the importance of family at Christmas, albeit getting there through a series of weird turns and great jokes -particularly from Kudrow. It’s pretty fun.
Stan is often the focus of the episodes. A year later, “The Most Adequate Christmas Ever” had him force his family to find the perfect Christmas tree on a freezing winter night, only for him to venture off alone and die. In Limbo, upon learning his family will soon freeze to death, he tries to plea for a second chance with the help of a pathetic angel lawyer (coincidentally also called Michelle), voiced by Paget Brewster, who wants to earn her wings. This one was a little more creative, having fun with its interpretation of Limbo and Heaven, and giving this Michelle a delightfully insecure personality. It’s fault is in the sitcom trope of Stan having a sudden character flaw for the purposes of this episode and no other: namely being a control freak. Also, it’s a little on the nose that God is voiced in Seth MacFarlane’s regular speaking voice.
“Rapture’s Delight” is my favourite though, and is among the series’ best episodes. It’s the perfect example of the show’s penchant for growing insane concepts and executing them seamlessly. Beginning like any other episode, with nothing whatsoever fantastical about the Smiths rushing to church on Christmas Day and Stan and Francine subsequently having sex in the janitors’ closet; it takes a massive leap when out of nowhere, the Rapture happens. Stan and Francine are left behind, breaking up after he tries to sell her out, and without spoiling too much, the second half is set a year into Armageddon, going full Heavy Metal album cover, as a grizzled Stan helps Jesus in the war against the AntiChrist. As you can imagine, this episode rustled a few feathers of the religious right, being a parody of Left Behind and all. But what’s great about it is how fully it commits to its aesthetic, with visuals, action set-pieces, and one-liners characteristic of apocalyptic B-movies. It’s a lot like the concept episodes Community often did, with a consistent array of really funny moments, and it’s a hell of a lot of fun; even without factoring in the brief return of Michelle, Roger’s role in all this, and Andy Samberg playing the AntiChrist like a 60’s Batman villain. Despite being set on Christmas, it doesn’t have a lot to do with the holiday, but regardless, I still like to catch it if I can every year.
“For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls” however, definitely has a lot of Christmas in it, even if the episode spends most of its time subverting it. Stan buys Steve a gun with which he accidentally kills a mall Santa. The family bury the body, but it turns out this was the REAL Santa, he’s not dead, and he’s now plotting a violent revenge on the Smiths. There’s more Holiday atmosphere in this episode than its predecessors, being the first to spend the majority of its runtime in status quo Langley Falls…at least until the last act, which is a rush of epic action and violence. Your enjoyment of this episode depends a little on how much novelty you get out of subversive notions like a vengeful Santa Claus, candy cane weapons, etc. But I appreciate it for its creativity and theme of family acceptance, centred on the newest edition to the Smith family: Hayley’s husband Jeff –even if it does severely date itself with reminders The Golden Compass existed.
Easily the least impressive Christmas episode is “Season’s Beatings” which isn’t much more than a standard parody of The Omen. The main plot concerns an orphan boy Jeff and Hayley adopt named Nemo (get it?) who begins showing signs he might be the AntiChrist. This ties in with a subplot about Stan getting excommunicated after being seen beating up Roger in disguise as Jesus. The episode’s not awful, and has some good jokes in it, but is just uninspired and not as memorable as the others. There doesn’t feel like the same amount of effort put into it. But I do like the little reference they throw in connecting the baby seen here with Samberg’s iteration in “Rapture’s Delight”. One thing I admire about American Dad! is its conscious effort to keep a sense of continuity at least some of the time.
And it’s certainly apparent in “Minstrel Krampus”, which is a direct sequel to “For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls”. Steve is suddenly behaving like a brat due to the same character syndrome Stan had in “The Most Adequate Christmas Ever”. So Stan’s dad tells Steve the story of Krampus, and how he as a boy had trapped the minstrel in a bronze pot; but Krampus breaks free and steals Steve away to his castle. However Krampus may not be as bad as he seems, especially in contrast to Santa, whom Stan decides to seek out to defeat him. This episode is done in the style of a contemporary Broadway musical featuring hip-hop songs and both Danny Glover and Charles Bradley as the voice of Krampus. Once again, it’s a very unexpected episode, humourous, and even sentimental in a few moments, with consequences that in a minor way affect the series as a whole. It’s probably not as imaginative or as ambitious as some of its Christmas brethren (apart from the musical aspect of course), but is nonetheless entertainingly unique.
“Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas” was American Dad!’s first Christmas episode on TBS. In a variation on It’s a Wonderful Life, Stan wishes he had Principal Lewis’ carefree bachelor life, and by touching the star of his Christmas tree, he gets that wish, taking Roger along for the journey. Of course, he loves it at first, but upon discovering Lewis has in turn inherited his family, tries however he can to reverse things, with a couple unexpected results along the way. There’s cleverness to this episode, but it is marred by how cliché the set-up is, one that, among others, Family Guy had done years earlier. Though a few of the ideas work, its’ resolving joke is a bit of a tired one. But there are a number of other good jokes throughout that make it a decent episode of the show, but below average as far as the Christmas episodes are concerned.
The last one, “Ninety North, Zero West” made a trilogy out of the Santa episodes, returning to the weird and imaginative insanity of the likes of “Rapture’s Delight”. While the Smiths are attempting to hide out from Santa, Steve sneaks off to a theme park to regain a sense of Christmas joy, but is captured. In their quest to rescue him, the Smiths discover a conspiracy and a centuries-old plot of Santa’s to unearth an ancient power and take over the world. Very much like “Rapture’s Delight” and even “For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls”, there’s no telling where the episodes’ direction will go from how it begins. It’s utterly outlandish, and winds up having a grander scale and stakes than almost any episode of the series yet. Weaving in Mesopotamian classicism, the episode is also weirdly educational, and has a really great and funny subversion of the power of Christmas in its climax. For coming so late in the series, early into the thirteenth season, it’s a good showing that where the holiday episodes are concerned, American Dad! has still got it.
As you can see, these are a series of pretty fun episodes. They’re not classics by any means, but they are creative, funny, and while not always directly relating to Christmas, are still entertaining to watch around the holidays. The first three I really think can be enjoyable even for non-fans of the show, and it’s unfortunate they don’t get the attention they should. There are plenty of overlooked Christmas specials and episodes worth looking into this time of the year, and at least of few of American Dad!’s efforts should be included in them.
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