Season two and three of "The Office" Christmas episodes are highly recommended views for fans of comedy and December's holiday.
"Christmas Party," the 10th episode of "The Office," season two lures the laughs with the shows patented soliloquies and timely humor. Like many work places, including mine, the "Christmas Party" has the employee's in the office doing a Secret Santa. There's a $20.00 maximum price-tag for your co-workers gift. The boss Michael shakes things up when he spends $400.00 on his gift. When Michael receives a home-made oven-mitt from Phyllis, he turns Secret Santa into Yankee Swap, aka, White Elephant or Nasty Christmas.
Yankee Swap is simple, a person can steal someones gift or pick a new gift that's wrapped. If your gift gets stolen, you can steal someone else's present or pick a new gift.
Before Michael received his oven-mitt, Jim got an old shirt from the Creed. In Jim's soliloquy, Jim states that Creed obviously forgot to get him something and went into his closet and dug up an old shirt and gave it to him. Creed responds, yep, that's exactly what happened.
Once Secret Santa has transformed into Yankee Swap, things immediately go awry in a laugh out loud way. Ryan opens his random gift, and receives a flowery desk name-plate with 'Kelly' etched on it. That was meant for Kelly, Stanley said.
The "Christmas Party" is sentimental without being sappy. At this point in the show, Jim and Pam have still not gotten together, even though it's clear there meant for one another. Jim's gift to Pam winds up with his office nemesis, and often prank recipient, Dwight. Jim is clearly distraught.
Kevin reignites the laughs when he gets the foot-bath he bought himself. Kevin got himself for Secret Santa, and didn't tell anyone, so he could buy himself the foot-bath. The look on his face is priceless when he realizes he could have gotten the $400.00 video iPod Michael bought.
The office party is disastrous until Michael purchases $166.00 worth of booze for his workers. Upon the purchase, Michael asks the cashier if 15 large bottles of booze is enough to get 20 people plastered!
This episode to me is an over and over watch for the holidays. "Christmas Party" is funny and fits the season.
"A Benihana Christmas," the 10th episode of season three gets going quick with the laughs when Dwight brings in a dead goose he ran over on the way to work. Dwight's plan is to cook the goose in the office for a Christmas dinner.
Michael's Christmas joy turns to sorrow when his girlfriend leaves him. To help cheer him up, he's taken to Benihana's restaurant with some of the guys from the office for drinks and food. Pam and Karen team-up against Angela to rival her Christmas party with the remaining crew in the office.
Kevin wants to go the party Pam and Karen are having in the break-room, buts decides to go to Angela's party in the conference room because Angela has made home-made double fudge brownies. Kevin has seconds on dessert, and Angela tries to stop him because, not everyone has had a first helping. Kevin tells her, she's got to be kidding (there's tons of food) and Angela looks down at Kevin's stomach and says, you've got to be kidding; Kevin then takes a bite of the chocolate.
This episode of the office illustrates the spirit of Christmas, and its signature office humor is fantastic.
Izzy Schurr, aka, Mark Schurr
