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Comedy Christmas Specials

Started by Mobius, December 01, 2021, 11:58:57 PM

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Magnum Valentino

I think last Christmas was the last time KMKYule was on Netflix so I suppose I may hoke the DVD out this year.

Seconding last year's Ghosts as well, it was really lovely and brilliant altogether.

notjosh

The I Love Lucy Christmas special is mainly a compilation show with a Christmas wraparound, but still worth watching, especially as it features one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen on the show.

I've never quite got into The Honeymooners, but the Christmas special is not bad if you want something simple and old-fashioned.

There are various Jack Benny specials, on both TV and radio which are good fun. Anything where he's Christmas shopping and Mel Blanc is there tends to be good.

Of the Community specials I've seen, Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas was the most fun.

Friends' The One With The Holiday Armadillo is a classic.

And from Britain, as well as the ones above I'll happily watch Rev and any of the Outnumbered specials, particularly the earlier ones.

I also really enjoy dipping into Christmas specials from shows I wouldn't otherwise bother watching - like Night Court or Family Ties just to see what they're all about.

Harpo Speaks

Other streaming services may well have done this too, but just a heads up if you have Now TV - they've got a handy 'Classic Christmas Episodes' section, about 70 episodes including ones from:

The Office (US & UK)
Blackadder
Royle Family
Peep Show
Parks & Rec
South Park
League of Gents
Porridge

Ornlu

Quote from: Ham Bap on December 02, 2021, 08:25:37 AMFrasier -  Has a couple of good Christmas episodes


Expanding this into S5e9 Perspectives on Christmas and S6e10 Merry Christmas, Mrs Moskowitz, both right in the middle of the golden period.

Oh and S11 High Holidays! Christmas is mostly incidental to Martin's brownie shenanigans but it's an absolute stormer

Noodle Lizard

Aside from some of the great ones already suggested, I remember an early Christmas episode of the UK Shameless being quite fun. Something to do with them knocking off a bunch of government contaminated turkeys and having to quarantine. Actually a rather silly plot now I think of it, but it captures the British Christmas essence.

Glebe

Quote from: icehaven on December 02, 2021, 08:34:05 AMBlackadder's Christmas Carol. I watch it every year, whether anyone else present wants to or not. Apart from the year I was at my then boyfriend's parents house and it came on, and they lasted about 10 minutes before saying "This is silly, what else is on?" and switched over. Genuinely think they'd never seen or heard of Blackadder, fucking philistines.
Anyway it always makes me a bit sad there wasn't a whole Victorian series, it could even have been a good start point as
Spoiler alert
he starts off virtuous and becomes evil by the end, which is a nice reversal of the original and of course fits the Blackadder character.
[close]
(I don't know why I'm spoilering a 33 year old show but no one's mentioned it yet so may not have seen it.)

Yeah, I actually think Christmas Carol is one of the finest episodes, the Scrooge-in-reverse concept works really well and the script is really sharp and absolutely zinger-laden.

"'Christmas' has an H in it, Mr Baldrick. And an R. Also an I and an S; also a T, an M, an A, and another S. Oh, and you've missed out the C at the beginning."

"Baldrick, you wouldn't see a subtle plan if it painted itself purple and danced naked on top of a harpsichord singing 'Subtle Plans are Here Again'."

"I was wondering if you had perhaps a little present for me? Or had found me a little fowl for Tiny Tom's Christmas?"

"I've always found you foul Mrs. Scratchit, and not a little."

Quote from: Brundle-Fly on December 02, 2021, 03:20:23 PMSteptoe & Son 'A Perfect Christmas' (1974) was the final ever episode. The 1973 spesh is a good one too.

Just watched both again on YT the other night, the '74 finale is particularly good.

Quote from: monkfromhavana on December 02, 2021, 05:28:27 PMI'm more of an old skool Xmas special fan, so,

Porridge
The Good Life
Ever Decreasing Circles
Terry & June

Then:

Father Ted

I've watched the entire series of Terry and June on YT/Dailymotion twice over the last few years, the Christmas episodes are quite cheering and nostalgia-tinged. Yeah 'A Very Christmassy Ted' is another good one, and of course the aforementioned Knowing Me Knowing Yule is pretty smashing.

Cuellar

Yes even though I know it backwards, the Ted one is a favourite and it's always nice to see it on some channel at Xmas. Just love pretty much everything Todd Unctious says.

I binged all of the Hardy Bucks at some point this year (I think, who knows what time is anymore), and I really liked their christmas episode. Had a nice sort of uncynical heart to it, all the lads just trying to scrape together enough cash for an Xmas knees up, the Viper revealed as a lonely Scrooge type figure and redeemed somewhat. Classic christmas tale.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Cuellar on December 06, 2021, 07:28:52 PMJust love pretty much everything Todd Unctious says...

... and does.

*belly punching motion* tss tss tss!

Cuellar

The flicking open of the cigarettes, then flicking one out of the pack, marvellous.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: Cuellar on December 06, 2021, 07:28:52 PMYes even though I know it backwards, the Ted one is a favourite and it's always nice to see it on some channel at Xmas. Just love pretty much everything Todd Unctious says.

"Ahh! That's completely unfair!"

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Quote from: The Mollusk on December 02, 2021, 08:48:17 PMAin't a patch on "Marge Be Not Proud" though. One of my all time fave Xmas speshies.
That's right. Uh huh.

Glebe


Video Game Fan 2000

Does Hancock's Half Hour - Erikson the Viking count? the miserablism and grot of the opening is a tone setter for Christmas specials decades after. Ten minutes of unparalleled squalor and some great corpsing

Glebe

#43
Here's the surprisingly-raucous 1989* 1984 Ever Decreasing Circles Christmas special which I just watched last night having not seen before:



*Thanks to Bad Ambassador for correcting me there!

Captain Z

Some great recommendations here, I have a few less-obvious ones from a scan of my collection:

Friday Night Dinner - Christmas (S02E07)
Harry Enfield's Festive Television Programme
Harry Enfield and Christmas Chums, Harry Enfield's Yule Log Chums
Ho Ho Ho Selecta
House Of Fools - The Bobble Hat Affair (S01E07)
Men Behaving Badly - Jingle Balls (1997)
On Cinema At The Cinema Christmas Special (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EDlcR4XYWM)
Screenwipe Christmas Special 2006
The Amelia Gething Complex - Merry Christmas Humans (S02E05)
The Brittas Empire - In the Beginning (S05E09), Surviving Christmas (S07E09)
The Eric Andre Show NYE Spooktacular
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! Chrimbus Special

Bad Ambassador

Quote from: Glebe on December 14, 2021, 10:42:00 PMHere's the surprisingly-raucous 1989 Ever Decreasing Circles Christmas special which I just watched last night having not seen before:



That's the 84 special, with the 89 special being the feature-length finale.

Noodle Lizard

Quote from: Captain Z on December 14, 2021, 11:06:30 PMOn Cinema At The Cinema Christmas Special (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EDlcR4XYWM)

Oh god, I wouldn't have even considered that one. But you're right. Gregg's dream about a Bilbo Baggins Santa Christmas commercial is one of my On Cinema highlights.

"That would be ... kind of my ultimate Christmas".

Glebe

#47
Quote from: Bad Ambassador on December 14, 2021, 11:22:34 PMThat's the 84 special, with the 89 special being the feature-length finale.

Oh bugger! I'll amend that. I've actually seen the '89 special and all, d'oh!

Here's that final episode as well! (Dailymotion, so not embedded):

Ever Decreasing Circles- 'Moving On' (Part 1).

Ever Decreasing Circles - 'Moving On' (Part 2).

Unfortunately a lot of Terry and June has been taken down from YT, etc. but's here's 1980 Christmas special 'The Mink Coat'.

I've only ever seen maybe a couple of episodes of T&J precursor Happy Ever After, but here's '77 Christmas special 'June's Parent's. Nice little meta joke at about 8.32!

SteveDave

The Homemade Xmas Video with Smith And Jones

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8MUHCDppcc

For years I thought I'd dreamed this as no-one else I knew had seen it when it was on but now, thanks to the good people at You Tube, it can be viewed again.

My dad still bangs a tray with a spoon and shouts "IT'S CHRISTMAS TIIIIIIME!" every Christmas morning because of this.

Featuring Dirty Den's son from Eastenders.

TheMonk


Also
The Goodies- Earthanasia
Only Fools- Christmas Crackers
Kenny Everett Christmas Carol
A Two Ronnie's Christmas Special


studpuppet

I had an inkling that Paul Calf's Video Diary was set at Christmas, but turns out it's New Years Eve.


studpuppet

Quote from: superthunderstingcar on December 02, 2021, 05:36:15 PMI see the Yes Minister special Party Games hasn't been mentioned yet.

It's not very Christmassy, I suppose, but was broadcast in December, is set around Christmas, and contains the lovely routine with Bernard and Hacker and the Christmas cards.


Oh shit, my first post!

I also consider the Party Games episode (where he becomes PM) to be Christmassy, because it was recorded on the evening I was given a guided tour of Television Centre by my sister's friend's boyfriend, and in the very next studio they were taping the Christmas edition of Blankety Blank. From the gantry I thought Les had a 'Wogan's Wand' mic with tinsel on it, but he'd famously snapped it on his first show and never used it. So it was gratifying to find that it was up on YT and I wasn't going bonkers, but it was an actual fairy's wand he was waving about rather than a mic.


Worth noting that the evening I went was in late summer (August or September).

Alberon

Right, CaB, sort yourself out!

How did we get this far down the second page of the thread without one mention of the greatest Christmas Special of them all?


shlug

Quote from: Alberon on December 15, 2021, 12:52:39 PMRight, CaB, sort yourself out!

How did we get this far down the second page of the thread without one mention of the greatest Christmas Special of them all?



I don't want to derail the thread given this has been discussed to death but staggers me how they weren't able to synchronise or agree on the beat they "fell down" in the toyland sketch.

Really sub-panto tripe for primetime TV

Glebe


Red Macadam

Most of mine have been mentioned. Steptoe especially, The League of Gentlemen always.
I have a soft spot for How Not to Live Your Life. It's hit and miss, and the Christmas special isn't the best, but Julia Davis is excellent, as she always is, so it's worth watching for her alone. The sex scene with Treacher is horribly good, too. I just feel a lot of  love for the characters.
I do always watch the Are You Being Served? specials, too. I enjoy the end of year am-dram nostalgia of them all, no matter how rubbish they may seem now.

Povidone

Don't think anyone's mentioned the Trailer Park Boys Christmas special yet, I usually like to chuck that one on this time of year. It's a fun episode set before the main series so it works nicely as its own wee thing, pretty much rattling through a standard season's story in one episode. Also I love the Hawaiian lap steel version of the theme tune, and any christmas songs done in that style.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth

Tales From The Far Side


Not actually a Christmas special, but it was broadcast one Christmas (1995, I think) and the association has been fixed in my brain ever since. Same with Wallace and Grommit.

Glebe

Quote from: notjosh on December 03, 2021, 09:18:32 AMI've never quite got into The Honeymooners, but the Christmas special is not bad if you want something simple and old-fashioned.

Yeah I never really watched it either but I do remember seeing the ending of that Christmas special where Jackie Gleason
Spoiler alert
breaks character to wish the audience a Merry Christmas!
[close]

And here it is!:


Steven88

Quote from: Captain Z on December 14, 2021, 11:06:30 PMSome great recommendations here, I have a few less-obvious ones from a scan of my collection:

Friday Night Dinner - Christmas (S02E07)


"Thanks for raping Grandma's dog!"