24 December,2023 05:25 AM IST | Mumbai | Neerja Deodhar
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In Mumbai, Christmas - and winter - is the ideal time to go sailing, or explore a new neighbourhood. But if you want to pick comfort over adventure this year, it's also a great time to wind down, get cosy on your couch and watch your favourite shows. And what can match the warmth of a cup of coffee or hot chocolate like a rerun of a Christmas-themed episode can? Our picks for this festive season are for everyone, from the sit-com fan to the discerning legacy TV viewer. There are gags and laughs, family drama, and tradition.
Even the most ordinary-seeming exchange in this aristocratic show is memorable, but this season finale has the twists and turns of a Bollywood film. Taking the best that the show offers - the controversies that shake polite society, and the well-etched lives of its housekeeping staff - Downton Abbey seals Lady Mary Crawley and Matthew Crawley's love in this episode.
If your friends think you're the Grinch, and you want to revel in some of your cynicism and bitterness while the world merrily spins about, there could not be a better episode. Festivus or the anti-Christmas celebration depicted in The Strike has become part of Seinfeld lore. It's also like George's origin story in the show. A pole takes the place of a decorated tree, and prayer is replaced with the Airing of Grievances - where relatives take umbrage at each other.
A stocking stuffer for TV nerds: This Christmas special takes inspiration from Charles Dickens' classic novella of the same name, about a miserly Mr Scrooge who is reformed into a kinder person. In the hands of actor Matt Smith, who plays the eleventh Doctor, and writer Steven Moffat, the Dickensian tale is adapted into the story of Kazran Sardick and his refusal to let a space liner land safely. A chilling rendition of Silent Night plays in a scene where Kazran is shown the consequences of his actions in the form of a hologram. Thanks to the Doctor, something in the antagonist shifts and he changes his fate by becoming a better person - a proper Christmas story!
When it's time to spin an old classic, look no further. This episode features a drum set and tarantula gifted to Joey as part of a long con by Phoebe. But it is the scenes featuring Ross, dressed as an armadillo, that remain funny 23 years later. As he attempts to teach his son Ben, who loves Christmas, about Hanukkah he is interrupted twice - once by Joey dressed as Superman, and once by Chandler in a Santa suit. Come for the comedy of errors, stay for the Halloween-like scene where Monica has to call this unique cast of characters to the kitchen for a quick chat.
