MovieChat Forums > To the Manor Born (1982) Discussion > Christmas Episodes

Christmas Episodes

posted 19 years ago by richard.fuller1
5 replies | jump to latest

In the past year or so, I have seen the Christmas episodes for To The Manor Born, Vicar of Dibley and Only Fools and Horses.

Vicar of Dibley - A 1990s show, she says she will spend Christmas watching "Jurassic Park"

Only Fools and Horses - A 1980s-1990s show, one grown brother sits watching the circus on tv while his brother wears the Christmas crown and sleeps in a chair. The first brother grumbles about how he hates the circus.

Now on American tv at Christmas time, we don't have circuses, so this sounded very funny to me. We have parades. Better parades at Thanksgiving and New Year's, but Disney is throwing out a parade at Christmas time now.

The parades are cheesy, but they take place in the morning, so they are over by dinnertime.

To The Manor Born - Audrey and Margerie are bored, while Richard and his mother are equally bored. This was a 1979-81 show.

Now what surprised me about these was the dreariness that was attached to Christmas.

On American tv, Christmas episodes always end with togetherness, being with the ones you love, happiness, as the show fades out, we will hear "Noel" being played.

How precious.

Andy Griffith show had the cast in jail with the miserly Scrooge character who just wanted to belong. Awww. Actually it is a good episode for the season.

Gilligan's Island showed hilights, but again ended with being together.

No matter what the show, it will be the core cast together. I always puzzled why the Cunningham family spent so many holidays and vacations with the Fonzarelli youth (okay, he was semi-welcomed into the family), the Weber lad and the Malph kid. Later, they would include businessman Delvecchio.

" . . . . the first noel, the angel did say . . . "

American Christmas episodes will do variations of Scrooge (Family Ties, Sanford & Son) and in the end, the cast will be together. You will believe in Santa Claus.

Totally different feeling from these Christmas episodes on British shows I have seen.

Now granted, Vicar of Dibley did focus on other things in its Christmas episode, but that this had been Geraldine's plans; to watch "Jurassic Park".

Now I have seen the Christmas episode for "The Good Life" (called "Good Neighbors" in America) and I believe they were robbed, weren't they? Still, Tom wanted the neighbors to all be together. So this one is slightly different.

I have read about "Britta's Empire" and the staff of the center is chased by a psychopath wearing a Santa costume.

The only other ones I can honestly recall right now are "Are You Being Served?" but they were more lonely persons thrown together (or there was a bus strike AGAIN!) and they had to stay together.

It was just I recall those boring Christmases, fights with siblings, sadness when it was all over and it didn't quite live up to those expectations, and American Christmas episodes rarely reflected that.

Christmas always had to be special on American tv.

These English episodes reflected a different side that seemed more the case.

Now I'm not saying I expected the shows to have the characters going to church (altho this is what was taking place on To The Manor Born).

The Christmas episode of the Brady Bunch has them in church at the end, and this is the only episode in which they go to church.

Not many American shows take people to church at Christmas, or much any other time either.

And there may be, I'm sure, Christmas episodes of English shows that have the cast gathered, singing Christmas carols, thankful they are together. I just havent seen them.

Oh, yes. Mr. Bean's Christmas. He was happy in his dreariness, but all he had to do was watch tv and all that was on was horror, slasher movies.

I'm sure we have a quirky American Christmas episode, something like Married With Children, which truthfully, I wouldn't count because MWC would make a funeral outrageously miserable.

In America we do have unhappy Christmases, but we don't have it reflected on tv in comedy shows very often. Is it a bit more common on British shows to depict the Christmas holiday as a letdown?

[–] Shopgirl2069 19 years ago

American shows are far too cheesy when it comes to Christmas! They overdo the whole soppiness factor and I always end up peering at the screen from between my fingers, in agonies of embarrassment. Thank goodness for the dry, understated and subtle writing of British programming. Or should I just say 'Vive la difference'?

[–] paulwj 17 years ago

I think it should be pointed out at the time these show you mentioned were filmed they were making a comment about the state of the Uk's xmas shows - we had the sound of music on TV xmas day every year for over 20 years,while the other channel showed the circus etc thinks have now improved but also at the time we had a total of 3 or 4 channels in total to chose from (the 4th channel only started 25 years ago)

[–] richard.fuller1 17 years ago

paulwj: "I think it should be pointed out at the time these show you mentioned were filmed they were making a comment about the state of the Uk's xmas shows - we had the sound of music on TV xmas day every year for over 20 years,while the other channel showed the circus etc thinks have now improved but also at the time we had a total of 3 or 4 channels in total to chose from (the 4th channel only started 25 years ago)"
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Oddly enough, we are now contending with things like Sound of Music being on during the holidays. As you noted, we now have more channels, so one network, TBS usually, takes it upon itself to show Sound of Music on Easter weekends, Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night, as well as airing it at Christmas time, doing the same three-night airing.

ABC Family or even ABC itself will also air Sound of Music probably.

It has suddenly become the tradition that we watch these old favorites or wholesome specials, such as Sound of Music, It's A Wonderful Life, Charlie Brown and the Rankin-Bass puppet animated programs.

If they don't air, . . . . . well, then, something is wrong!!!!

Not complaining, I have all of these on dvd anyway.

The brakes were finally put on Wonderful Life (every station was airing it) and it gets about only one or two airings, once right after Thanksgiving (fourth Thursday in November in the USA) and the other perhaps at Christmas.

Before that, somebody like TNT would air Its A Wonderful Life 24 hours a day starting on Christmas Eve.

Now they do this with a 1983 movie called The Christmas Story, about a young boy who wants a BB gun for Christmas. Actually a very funny movie.

I thought I mentioned in my initial post (and I see that I didn't) how every general tradition and expectation of CELEBRATING the Christmas holiday (aside from the original contribution in the middle east) pretty much began in England or Europe. I think that, more than anything, is what surprised me about the various Christmas episodes.

Since then, I have obtained the 1969 and 1970 Carry On Christmas episodes, both of which aired on Christmas Eve. Not giving way to any poignancy, no (Hattie Jacques could have simply read A Visit From St. Nick and it would have been wonderful, but twas not meant to be), but I thought all the recognition of various forms of literature, from classical (Frankenstein, Treasure Island, and of course, Scrooge) to fairy tale (Cinderella), was interesting.

[–] catrionalowe84 17 years ago

I hadn't thought about this before, but it being Christmas I was looking through my sitcom collection for various festive episodes, & yes, so many of them portray Christmas as dull & boring, but I suppose that is the case for various people. Probably my favourite Christmas episode of anything is "Winter" in "The Vicar of Dibley" where Alice gives birth during the Nativity play, emphasising the true meaning of Christmas. But like I said, the dullness of Christmas in "TTMB" can be the case, even when you're with people you're close to, like Richard & Mrs Pou, & Audrey & Marjory. I had a rubbish Christmas last year, spent at home with my parents & brother rather than going up to Dundee to spend it with relatives as usual. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents & brother, but it was so boring, nothing much on telly & not a lot to talk about. When I first saw the "TTMB" Christmas episode, I just kept wondering why they were so bored - surely Audrey couldn't be THAT fed up because she wasn't playing Sardines at the Manor? But last year I watched it, "God, how right they are!"

Catriona x

"Fate shuffles the cards and we play" (Schopenhauer)

[–] richard.fuller1 17 years ago

My past two Christmases in America have been awful, because of family, and the hilight of the season for me was in watching old, forgotten Christmas episodes along with others I have saved over the years, a special here, a movie there.

What expecially struck me about the British shows I watched was the characters giving in to the perception that the holidays would be boring; Vicar of Dibley SAID she would be watching Jurassic Park, Manor Born, they were all literally sitting around SAYING how bored they were, same with Fools and Horses.

There really was nothing overly special in the American shows to make the Christmas episode any different from any other episode; the cast for some odd reason (because they wouldn't be related to one another) would have presents for one another and share dinner.

Slightly off the Christmas subject, as we had a show in America that didn't do this in their finale; Wings, about a small airport run by two brothers.

There was a rival airport run by a big man named Roy. In the final episode, the brothers' airport closed, so the cast, the two brothers, their secretary-receptionist, Fay; their good friend who worked at the diner and another lady, all said good bye, but the show made a point of excluding very much a castmember Roy, whose airport wasn't closing, so he wasn't in on the hugs and tears.

Just once, I owuldn't mind an American show doing this in their christmas episode.