TV Show Info:
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Lucille Ball, Desi Arnez, Vivian Vance, William Frawley, Richard Keith, JackieGleason, Audrey Meadows, Art Carney, Joyce Randolph, Andy Griffith, Ron Howard, Frances Bavier, Don Knotts, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Eve Plumb, Susan Olsen, Christopher Knight, Mike Lookinland, Robert Reed, Judd Hirsch, Danny DeVito, Marilu Henner, Tony Danza, J. Alan Thomas, Randall Carver, Michael J. Fox, Michael Gross, Tina Yothers, Justine Bateman, Meredith Baxter, Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin, John Mahoney, Moose, Enzo the Dog, Tim Daly, Steven Weber, Crystal Bernard, David Schramm, Rebecca Schull, Thomas Haden Church
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Paramount & CBS

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: December 24, 1956, December 24, 1951, December 24, 1955, December 19, 1960, December 19, 1969, December 12, 1978, December 14, 1983, December 16, 1993, December 21, 1990
DVD Box Set Release Date: October 7, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $9.99

I wasn’t alive when most of the television shows that are on this TV Sets: Holiday Treats DVD aired. I hadn’t seen most of them, especially since some of these episodes were lost until the debut of this DVD. I also wasn’t expecting much of TV Sets: Holiday Treats. I thought it was just one of those DVDs thrown together to make a few bucks at Christmas. Boy was I wrong! It actually made me yearn for the days of yesteryear, when Christmas was a time to celebrate and not a commercial holiday.

While this is a random collection of episodes from a variety of sitcoms, all of the shows have a heartfelt, warn, fuzzy feeling to them. There is a lot of substance in here. I hadn’t seen many of these shows since I was a kid, on Nick at Night. I’d never seen any of these Christmas specials though, so I’m glad I had the chance to review this DVD. This is a set I plan to watch this Christmas, with my family, and for many years to come.

It’s hard to dispute the lasting appeal of shows like The Honeymooners, I Love Lucy and even Family Ties, which is a show I grew up watching in the 80s. Something I never knew until reviewing this DVD was that Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz were divorced in their final years of life. For a moment, I had to pause and consider whether this had any real effect on the way I viewed the I Love Lucy show. I really cannot say it affected me all that much because Lucy always maintained that Desi was her one true love, and I feel that he truly felt that way about her. They had excellent chemistry together and their love for one another is apparent in the show, regardless of how they happened to live their lives off the air.

So, what exactly makes a show a “TV Classic”? It’d be interesting to hear people’s thoughts on the last two episodes on this DVD. The episodes are for Frasier and Wings. Both of the shows aired throughout the 1990s and I don’t really think of shows this recent as classics, but both shows aired for several seasons and both won and were nominated for several awards throughout their run. They both have relatively large followings, so I guess they’re both classics in the making.

Of course, nothing can truly compare to the classic television of the 1950s and 1960s. The 1970s and 1980s were also great eras in television, but nothing compares to these early shows. The actors truly played to their audience. You really just can’t put into words what the importance of these television shows was and still is today. Many of the future sitcoms of the world were based on or have used styles created by shows like I Love Lucy and The Honeymooners. It’s nice to be able to preserve their legacies today with DVDs like this.

The TV Sets: Holiday Treats Plot
There are a total of eight episodes on this disc. There is also a little sketch following the I Love Lucy episode. All of these episodes have CBS Seasons Greetings advertisements airing after them. There are only two or three different ads that repeat after each show. You can tell they aren’t current commercials though because they have that entirely retro feel to them.

Here is a list of each episode with a full synopsis for each.

I Love Lucy: “The I Love Lucy Christmas Show”
This show was lost for 33 years. It re-aired the year Lucille Ball died, on December 18, 1989 for the first time since it’s December 24, 1956 premiere.

As the show starts, Ricky is hanging up the stockings on the mantle. It’s Christmas Eve. When Lucy and Ricky tell a 4 or 5 year old Little Ricky that Santa is on his way, he gets out a little chair, sits it down and sits in it. When Lucy asks what he is doing, he says he is waiting for Santa. Ricky explains to him why he must be asleep or Santa can’t come. When Little Ricky agrees to go to bed, after accepting the hilarious explanation, he peeks up the chimney before he goes.

Little Ricky wants to know how Santa gets down the chimney since there are no steps. Lucy has to explain how Santa gets down the chimney, so you can guess how that discussion goes! Finally, Lucy takes Little Ricky to bed. Fred and Ethel bring in the Ricardo’s beautiful tree and Fred is his usual cynical self. The Mertz’s give the Ricardo’s the tree as a Christmas present and the two realize they’ve spent many Christmases together (15).

As they trim the tree and sing Christmas carols, the show flashbacks to happy moments in their lives, like when Lucy told Ricky she was pregnant, when Lucy claims she sang better, and moments during Lucy’s pregnancy, like when she’s about to give birth. After the tree is decorated, the presents are put under and around it, and everything is ready for Christmas, the four of them dress up as Santa to surprise Little Ricky. Of course, when the real Santa Claus appears, they can hardly believe their eyes!

Following this Christmas special is the I Love Lucy sketch “I Love Lucy Jingle Bells”. This is what the ending of the previous Christmas special was based on and it aired December 24, 1951 following the original show’s broadcast episode for that evening. This sketch looks the oldest and has a lot of noise, but not so much that you can’t celebrate this wonderful, never before seen since it’s aired, lost sketch.

In this sketch, all four of them (Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel) dress up as Santa Claus. They want to surprise each other. Lucy wants to sing, so Ricky sings Jingle Bells in Spanish. Then, they all sing it together in English. The real Santa is singing with them, but when they discover him, he disappears!

The Honeymooners: “Twas The Night Before Christmas”
Alice is trying to hide her gift for Ralph before he gets home. Trixie shows up to borrow some oranges. Ed has given her the present he bought her already, and it’s only Christmas Eve. It’s an orange juice squeezer shaped like Napoleon. Both of the women think it’s silly. When Ralph returns home and tries to hide the present he bought Alice, he finds the present that Alice hid when he hides his in the same place. When Alice comes back in the room he tells her she can trust him, so she doesn’t have to hide the present, but she catches him snooping and takes the present away.

Ralph uses the fact that she knows where his present is for her against her by saying he trusts her and she thinks she can’t trust him. So, Alice tells him where she re-hid the present. When Ralph goes off snooping to find it, his hand is pinched in a mouse trap Alice set for him. Ralph puts the trap in the place where he hid Alice’s gift right before Ed comes home. With Ed home, Ed and Ralph exchange similarly shaped presents. Then Ralph puts his hand in to get the present for Alice, because he wants to show Ed what he bought her. Guess what happens?

Ralph shows Ed the gift he purchased for Alice and is very proud of it. However, when Mrs. Stevens stops by to bring a present to Alice, it’s Ralph’s gift! Ralph makes a last ditch effort to buy Alice something else. He has to sell his bowling ball to get it, but the presents they end up buying each other are priceless.

The Andy Griffith Show: “Christmas Story”
Andy and Barney are at the jail. Andy gets a lot of Christmas cards (including ones from former prisoners who’ve moved on to other jails). Barney gets a private card and won’t share it with Andy, but Andy gets it out of him. Then he teases him about it’s contents (it’s from Hilda Mae)! Aunt Bea calls the jail and asks Andy to get Barney to play Santa Claus at their party. They let the prisoners out for Christmas because their crimes weren’t serious. This means Barney can come to the Christmas party and play Santa.

When Ben, a town citizen, brings a moonshiner in right before Andy and Barney leave, he threatens to shut down the jail and get Andy fired if he doesn’t arrest the guy. So, Andy decides to bring Christmas to the jail. When Ben gets jealous of the Christmas they’re having since he doesn’t seem to have any family, he tries to get into prison in any way he can.

The Brady Bunch: “The Voice of Christmas”
Alice and Mike are wrapping presents and talking about how wonderful Carol is. She has a solo for the Christmas service. When Carol comes into the room she is quite upset because she has lost her voice. She tries to do everything she can to get her voice back, but she has rehearsed too much and strained her voice in the process.

The doctor says she can only get her voice back if she doesn’t talk and rests until Christmas. This is also the family’s first Christmas together, which makes it very special. The boys bring home a beautiful tree and the family all pitches in to help decorate it. Alice makes a home remedy for Carol, guaranteed to work in 24 hrs, but it stinks, literally!

Mike takes Cindy to see Santa, and she waits in the line patiently while he goes to exchange a gift. Cindy asks Santa to bring her Mommy’s voice back for Christmas. He is hesitant at first, but Cindy is so adorable he tells her that her Mommy’s voice will be back by Christmas. He’s sure of it. Mike goes to ask Santa why he promised Cindy that and he says she’s so sweet it’s hard to tell her no. This puts Mike in a very weird position. At home, Mike tries to sit down with Cindy and talk to her. He tells her to be prepared that Mommy won’t get her voice back, but she doesn’t understand. Santa told her she would and Santa’s better than a miracle.

The boys hide their presents from the girls and the girls hide their presents from the boys. Alice tries to hide her presents, too but everywhere she looks to hide them, there are presents hiding already. That night, the four older kids are upset because their mom lost her voice. They want to cancel Christmas until their mom has her voice back. That is until they realize that will disappoint their parents even more.

In her sleep, the next morning, Carol makes noises and Mike realizes she has her voice back. She can sing, too. It really is the Christmas miracle Santa promised Cindy.

Taxi: “A Full House for Christmas”
Everybody is talking about their plans for Christmas. Elaine is spending her first Christmas alone since her divorce. Alex is sympathetic, but Louie is a jerk to her. Louie mentions his brother Nick is coming to visit him so his mom won’t have to cry about it this year. Louie is upset because Nick doesn’t want to visit her and he isn’t considerate to her.

Louie is hoping Nick will invite his mom to stay in Las Vegas. She’s not handling the cold too well. Alex thinks Nick doesn’t seem like the type to care, even though he’s just met him. Louie says he doesn’t have a choice. Louie lets a choir of young boys sing at the garage for a cut of the profits. This is no big surprise to anyone.

Elaine decides to have a Christmas party at the garage. She goes off to plan it when Nick returns having claimed he visited his Ma. Louie tells him off and finds out Nick won’t let her come to Vegas. He gives Nick an ultimatum, but Nick doesn’t take it. Louie promises his mom she’s going to Vegas. He tells Alex he has to keep that promise.

Louie decides to use his life savings in a poker game. He’ll be counting on Alex to take on Nick. Alex is nervous, but Louie wants to make Nick suffer. In the last hand, Alex finds out he’s not using Louie’s money. He is playing with the company receipts. All the money is up for grabs. Nick doesn’t have enough cash on him, so he has to bet his Ma (if he loses Louie says he has to take her to Vegas). Nick loses it all and Ma gets to go to Vegas. It’s a very happy Christmas for Louie.

Family Ties: “A Keaton Christmas Carol”
The Keatons are lighting their Christmas tree. It is also starting to snow. Everyone is excited but Alex. Alex is Scrooge. He thinks Christmas is silly and sentimental. Alex forgets to buy cough syrup for Jennifer, but he promises to buy it for her tomorrow, forgetting it is Christmas. Nothing will be open then. If her cold gets worse though, he promises to take her to the hospital.

Alex doesn’t want to buy or exchange Christmas presents. He tells the family they should forget presents this year. Jennifer is upset. She doesn’t want to suffer because of him, but Alex says they’re family. She has to suffer. Alex refuses to take his picture with the family in a pose they’ve been doing for years, because it’s stupid. He goes to his room to sleep, but can’t when he hears some carolers. He tells them off, including a Reverand and says they’re all crazy for even liking Christmas. Then he falls asleep.

The Ghost of Christmas past shows up and she looks like Jennifer. He doesn’t believe its a ghost until he tries to touch her and his hand goes through her. She’s not solid. He won’t follow her, so she makes him. They return to the past. They go back ten years to see little Alex at Christmas.

Little Alex is just like Alex now. He balances his parents’ checkbook. He loves the Republicans. He is smarter than Mallory. Just one difference. Alex learns that he wanted to see everyone open their presents. That’s the true joy in Christmas. The tree picture he thought was dumb was actually his idea. He also liked singing Christmas Carols. Then Alex returns to his room.

The Ghost of Christmas Future looks like Mallory. She forces him to go see his future. Alex lives in New York and is very wealthy, but the rest of the family is very poor. They fell on hard times when Steven lost his job. They can only afford a puny tree for Christmas. Mallory is pregnant, for the fourth or fifth time. Her husband is in debtors prison thanks to Alex. Jennifer has a very bad throat and talks with a rasp, due to that cold that never got cough syrup.

Alex flies in, in his helicopter, destroying a wheelbarrow, their only means of transportation. When Alex lost his spirit he lost his hair, too. He’s bald, which shocks regular Alex. Old Alex just stops by to drop off his laundry so his mom can do it for him, while he’s in Vegas. Alex doesn’t treat any of them like family. He’s ashamed of them.

Just like Scrooge, Alex learns his lesson. He goes shopping Christmas morning and gives a great speech much to the surprise of the family. Alex has to buy them presents from 7-11. It’s the only thing open. Of course, everyone is surprised, but Alex makes everything right and the Keatons’ Christmas is saved.

Frasier: “Miracle on Third or Fourth Street”
Frasier is at his office’s Christmas party. When the show starts he’s on air. Frasier wishes everyone a Merry Christmas through his show. He’s excited because this is going to be a good Christmas. Bulldog asks Frasier to take over his slot on Christmas Day, but Frasier can’t because his son is coming for Christmas. That’s why he’s so happy.

Frasier is convinced to drive Bonnie Weems home, but little does he know she drinks a few and gets drunk then refuses to take no for an answer. Roz tells him this, but he doesn’t believe he’s the typical man. He can get her to accept no. Roz and Frasier exchange gifts despite saying they won’t buy each other anything. He gets her a gag gift. She gets him a very nice gift. After Roz leaves, Bonnie shows up drunk. She carries Frasier out of the office, and boy is she a nut. He ends up putting her in a cab.

At Fraiser’s place, Dapne tries on an outfit so Niles can make sure it fits Maris, who is a similar size to Daphne. Niles and Maris will be going to a log cabin for Christmas and Frasier will be bringing his son and Martin to join them. Daphne is going to Florida to celebrate with her transvestite relative. Frasier gets a call from Lilith. She won’t be sending their son for Christmas. He has a once in a lifetime chance to see where The Sound of Music was filmed and he loves that movie. Frasier is disappointed.

Due to the Lilith phone call, Frasier fights with Martin about decorating. Both decide not to go to the cabin or celebrating Christmas. Frasier ends up taking Bulldog’s shift. Frasier and Roz host the show, and Fraiser is feeling cynical. He has people call in telling Christmas stories, and Frasier realizes Roz is upset by how sad the stories are. He sends her home, to be with her mother. Frasier asks for calls from people having a good Christmas. When someone mentions how good The Sound of Music makes them feel when they’re having a bad Christmas, this just makes Frasier more depressed.

Frasier heads to a diner to eat. Its the only one open. After realizing he’s misplaced his wallet, a poor man gets a collection going to pay for his meal. He attempts to convince them not to, but they do anyway. Frasier is very thankful to them. They think he is poor, even when he tells them he isn’t. He tries to sneak out to his expensive car because they were so kind to him. Unfortunately, he loses his car keys and has to go back in, but he can’t manage to tell them that he owns a car. He wishes them a Merry Christmas instead and walks home.

Wings: “A Terminal Christmas”
Fay collects large gifts that passengers cannot fit on departing planes. Some guy named Frank who used to annoy her husband George by winning a Christmas boat contest every year stops by to say hi to Fay, but he seems to just be there to brag about how he is in the contest. Since George died this year, she gets ticked, hoping he’ll lose the contest.

Brian and Joe agree to go to Vermont skiing if no one gets a reservation for a flight on Christmas. Brian makes up hotlines when he answers the phone (like the New Kids on the Block Hotline) so people won’t schedule a ride on Christmas. When Joe finds out he’s mad. They end up having to take one man on the flight and can’t go to Vermont.

Helen is excited because her parents are staying with her for Christmas. They won’t be in Hawaii with her sister, her sister’s rich husband, and their spoiled kids. Lowell’s mother in law is coming to stay, too. Fay says she’s throwing a big Christmas party at home. So, everyone seems to be having a good Christmas but Brian.

The next day, Brian thinks Christmas stinks. Joe and Brian are at the airport, but they cannot fly. They’re snowed in. Lowell shows up, because his family got into a fight and he is hiding out at the airport. Helen shows up. Her parents haven’t shown up, so she’s worried. They all head to Fay’s house, to celebrate at her party.

Fay is there alone in the dark. This is her first Christmas without George. She made up the story about the party so no one will feel sorry for her. They soon learn she hasn’t done anything in her house to move on from George’s death. She goes to change and she looks nice. They decide to have a Christmas dinner, and make due with whatever she has in her kitchen.

The gang decides to sing Christmas Carols because dinner is made up of rice cakes and croutons. They sing “Winter Wonderland” but Lowell cannot get the lyrics right. He thinks its “Walking in my Winter Underwear”. Fay is sad because Lowell starts to sing, “I’ll be Joan for Christmas”. George used to sing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” to her and she seems lost without him.

After they learn Fay hasn’t kept her promise to George to scatter his ashes over the sea, Joe tells her she needs to move on. They all go up in the plane to scatter his ashes. In the plane, Lowell breaks the jar with the ashes in it. He has to suck George back up with a dust buster. Fay ends up dropping the dust buster out the window. She only hopes it was the right thing to do.

Fay sees Frank again when he takes his daughter back to the airport, after Christmas. He asks her how her Christmas was. He said he had a worse Christmas than her. The judges were two boats away from his. Something fell out of the sky, hit his boat and sunk it. It just happened to look like a dust buster. Fay is sorry, but she thanks George and wishes him a very Merry Christmas after Frank leaves.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Considering the shows in this set were made across a 40 year period, the picture quality varies. I’m going to go out on a limb and assume most of these television shows are presented as 1.33:1 full frames. There was minor noise and dirt, especially on the older shows, like I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith. That being said, it looks like there were some touch ups done to these episodes. The touch ups might have been done when these shows were released in season packs, previously. Either way, they look decent.

The audio for TV Sets: Holiday Treats is pretty much on target. I didn’t have to strain to hear anything. I’m not sure of what kind of audio tracks were used, but I’d guess an English Dolby Digital mono track for the older shows and English 2.0 Stereo for the newer ones. That’s about standard and the music and dialogue both come through sounding great for the age of these episodes. I doubt a more dynamic 5.1 track would have fit or been worthwhile on such dialogue driven shows. Needless to say, the audio shouldn’t be a problem for anyone listening and watching TV Sets: Holiday Treats.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
While TV Sets: Holiday Treats has no bonuses, the selection of episodes stands so well alone that I’m removing the star system from this section. No sense in dragging the rating down, since this is such a great set.

Bottom Line:
I said it on Twitter and I’ll say it again. Every person should own a copy of TV Sets: Holiday Treats. These shows are fun for the whole family to watch over Christmas. If you love old sitcoms, especially classics from the hey days of television, then you need to pick up TV Sets: Holiday Treats on DVD before Christmas arrives. I can’t say enough good things about this set. I’m so glad CBS/Paramount put this DVD out. It’s been added to my family’s must-watch Christmas collection along with greats such as A Christmas Story, It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. I highly recommend this. Buy this DVD while you can!

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: TV Sets, Holiday Treats, DVD Review, TV show, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, Andy Griffith, The Brady Bunch, Wings, Frasier, Taxi, Family Ties, Christmas

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