Commentary with a Co-ed: Favorite holiday TV episodes

by Ashley Gouveia

Every family has Christmas traditions, like going to the tree lot to pick out a nicely spruced, but slightly tilted tree. Or arguing over whether or not we want colored or white lights. Blinking or not blinking? Ah, the memories. Another tradition in my house is sitting down with our favorite holiday episodes of television past and present. Here are my picks that hopefully you and your family can enjoy.

Smallville. Season 5. “Lexmas”: I like to call it Smallville’s version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ with a twist. Lex pulled a George Bailey. But instead of seeing a bleak future, he saw a better one. One where he was happily married to Lana with a son and a baby on the way. Lex’s mother was the Clarence in the equation. She told him that he could have this life if he made the right choices. There was a B plot to the episode with Clark talking a drunk Santa off a roof, but the Lex storyline was much more interesting.

Why this episode? : It had all the potential to be a filler episode that no one really remembers. But seeing Lex get everything he ever wanted and still decide to make the wrong choice in the end was great TV to me. It sent chills down my spine when he told one of his minions that the secret to living happily ever after is power and money. That was Michael Rosenbaum at his sexy best. Plus, I actually liked Lana in this episode. The dream part anyway. Shocking, I know. Also, it seemed like in Lex’s “future” Clark and Chloe were together. That made it even better.

The O.C. Season 1. “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”: It was Ryan’s first holiday season with the Cohens and his introduction to the blended holiday that swept the nation. Seth’s enthusiasm for it cracked me up. With Ryan not being much of a holiday person, and Seth’s determination to convert him, had me laughing out loud. This was also the episode that had Seth coming to a decision between Summer and Anna.

Why this episode? : It started a tradition in the series that I always looked forward to every year. This one had to be my favorite of the four. So dip a toe in the Chrismukkah pool, and watch this O.C. classic.

Roswell. Season 2. “A Roswell Christmas Carol”: Before Katharine Heigl was Izzie on Grey’s, she was Isabel ‘Christmas Nazi’ Evans. She managed to organize every holiday activity and still have time to save Michael from giving Maria an electric toothbrush for Christmas. Then we had Max, the alien with a heart of gold, who tried to heal a little girl who was dying of cancer.

Why this episode? : Every time I watch this episode I cry. It’s definitely an episode that pulls at your heartstrings. There are plenty of places to laugh, too. Whether it be Isabel trying to make every little detail perfect, or the Valentis’ being pressured into having a Christmas without TV dinners and football. I miss this show!

Those are my holiday favorites that I will be watching. Let me know if you’ve got any to add. Happy Holidays!

Commentary with a Co-Ed is a weekly column at Tube Talk new every Thursday.