| For the extended play, see Christmas (EP). |
Christmas is a real-life holiday that characters celebrate on the twenty-fifth of December every year. The first episode centered on the holiday is "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins," the ninth episode in Season 3 and the thirty-first episode overall.
Description[]
Christmas marks the birth of Jesus Christ, an important person in Christianity. Similar to Valentine's Day and Halloween, which are other Christian holidays, Christmas has become a holiday that people celebrate without needing to be aware of its religious history.[1]
The Belchers after opening their gifts. ("The Plight Before Christmas")
Gift-giving is a popular activity during the holiday, especially for children. People usually wait to open these gifts on Christmas Day, so people who give gifts try to keep them a mystery, usually by wrapping them. In "Better Off Sled," Bob and Linda knit scarves for their kids throughout the episode, not telling their kids about their presents and being secretive about them. Additionally, they also pretended that Gloria was the one who knitted them after their kids unwrapped the scarves because Linda was ashamed of the one she made. However, she reveals she made hers after seeing her kids appreciate hers the most.
While people commonly give gifts to children, adults giving gifts to each other is also an occurrence. In "Gene's Christmas Break," Bob, Linda, Teddy, Mort, and Mike the Mailman participate in an event that requires all of them to give a gift to another person in their group.
Linda decorating her family's Christmas tree. ("Christmas in the Car")
People often have a tree to adorn with string lights and ornaments.[2] The Belchers appear to usually get a real Christmas tree instead of an artificial one, like in "Christmas in the Car," when they drive to get a tree from a Christmas tree farm. However, in "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas," Tina, Gene, and Louise build an artificial Christmas tree after they lose the tree they attempted to bring to the Fischoeder hunting lodge. People often put their presents underneath the tree.[2]
Some people who celebrate the religious aspects of the holiday build a nativity scene—the moment when Jesus was born—using props and figures. People often build prominent ones for other people to view them.[3] In "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins," Tina, Gene, and Louise help Chet make multiple displays for Bob's Burgers that people can see from the restaurant's window. On Christmas Eve, they create a nativity scene. Linda creates a mini version in "Christmas in the Car" in her and Bob's car when she and her family get stranded in the vehicle during Christmas, though no one but the trapped Belchers could appreciate the display.
Particular songs becoming popular during Christmastime or near the holidays have become a tradition. The reason for their popularity could be their lyrics, but Christmas songs also tend to feature particular instruments, like jingle bells. Some of the show's original Christmas songs, like "Christmas Magic" in "Father of the Bob" or "Christmas of My Dreams" in "The Bleakening, Part 1" include the instrument.
Linda, her kids, and Teddy caroling. ("The Last Gingerbread House on the Left")
Christmas carols are songs with lyrics specifically about the Christian elements of Christmas or the religion itself. Most of these songs have multiple people singing them.[4] When people choose to sing these established Christmas carols, they often visit places to sing the carols with other people, singing the carols at the entrance.[5] "The Last Gingerbread House on the Left" has Linda, her kids, and Teddy visit houses in the Fischoeders' neighborhood. Consequently, the episode also shows the reception towards carolers, as it has become increasingly unpopular.[5] Throughout the episode, they significantly fail to inspire people to go caroling with them or have people offer them drinks for singing. However, they get Oscar to carol with them, and he also provides them with hot cocoa.
Christmas Eve[]
While people have time to prepare for Christmas days before the holiday, Christmas Eve is specifically the day before Christmas.
Santa Claus[]
Santa Claus is an imaginary character that many children believe in. Children expect that he delivers them gifts on the night of Christmas Eve as long as they have behaved that year. Tina, Gene, and Louise also believe in Santa ("God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins," "Christmas in the Car," "Father of the Bob," etc.). Anyone who has not kindly acted that year will be on the "naughty list" and end up receiving coal instead of regular presents.[6]
Teddy working as Santa for the Glencrest Yacht Club Christmas Yacht Parade. ("Yachty or Nice")
Some people portray Santa, usually during events. In "Nice-Capades," a character works as a Santa in the mall ("Mall Santa"), and Teddy works as a Santa in "Yachty or Nice" for the Glencrest Yacht Club Christmas Yacht Parade. The most common representation of Santa is a large, old white man with a distinct red suit and hat with a long, white beard. "Mall Santa" likely already had a beard, though he wears a Santa suit like Teddy, and Teddy wears a fake beard in "Yachty or Nice" to serve his role. The roles of people who portray Santa vary. In "Yachty or Nice," Teddy hands gifts to kids from donors, while in "Nice-Capades," "Mall Santa" acts as a representative of Santa, claiming that he is in charge of reporting which nearby kids have been naughty or nice, which the Belcher kids believe. "Mall Santa" also takes pictures of people who want one with him.
Bob suggests that Louise might be too old to still believe in Santa in "Christmas in the Car," consequently meaning that Tina and Gene are also too old, though no other kid their age has claimed to not believe in Santa.
List of episodes[]
| Screenshot | Title | Original airdate | Production code | Season Episode # | Total Episode # | Viewers in Millions # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
"God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" | December 16, 2012 | 2ASA18 | 3/9 | 31 | 3.09 |
| When Bob inherits a storage unit, his family is imagining that they will be receiving treasure that has been passed down. They soon discover that instead of treasure, they inherit Chet, a man who believes he used to be a mannequin. | ||||||
|
"Christmas in the Car" | December 15, 2013 | 3ASA17 | 4/8 | 53 | 5.567 |
| Bob gets upset when Linda buys a Christmas tree too early that dies too fast, so the Belchers go to get a new tree. While looking for a new tree, they notice that a man in a candy cane truck is stalking them. | ||||||
|
"Father of the Bob" | November 30, 2014 | 4ASA18 | 5/6 | 73 | 3.177 |
| Old feuds between Bob and Big Bob result in a competition in the kitchen at his dad's Christmas party while Bob's kids contest for the best present for their dad. | ||||||
|
"Nice-Capades" | November 15, 2015 | 5ASA18 | 6/5 | 93 | 2.274 |
| To change a mall Santa's mind about putting them on the Naughty List, the Belcher kids put on a show. | ||||||
|
"The Last Gingerbread House on the Left" | November 27, 2016 | 6ASA18 | 7/7 | 114 | 2.436 |
| Mr. Fischoeder tricks Bob into participating in his Christmas gingerbread house-building competition. Linda, her kids, and Teddy go caroling. | ||||||
|
"The Bleakening, Part 1" "The Bleakening, Part 2" |
December 10, 2017 | 7ASA16 7ASA17 |
8/6 7 |
135 136 |
3.173 |
| When Linda tries throwing a festive Christmas party at the restaurant, someone steals her ornaments, leading her to interrogate all her guests. Her kids believe the Bleaken is behind the crime. | ||||||
|
"Better Off Sled" | December 9, 2018 | 8ASA10 | 9/10 | 160 | 4.353 |
| Tina, Gene, and Louise must drive away the teenagers who took over their sledding site. Bob helps Linda knit three scarves for Christmas. | ||||||
|
"Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" | December 15, 2019 | 9ASA09 | 10/10 | 182 | 2.408 |
| Linda decides to volunteer at the post office, but when she learns about an undelivered package, she breaks the rules to deliver it. Bob and Tina must deal with Linda's family in the apartment, and Gene and Louise are running out of time to find a gift for Tina. | ||||||
|
"Yachty or Nice" | December 13, 2020 | AASA09 | 11/10 | 204 | 1.808 |
| Bob is surprised he and his family get to cater at the Glencrest Yacht Club's holiday boat parade. Louise pays attention to the present-loaded Santa Schooner. | ||||||
|
"Gene's Christmas Break" | December 19, 2021 | BASA07 | 12/10 | 226 | 1.604 |
| Tina and Louise help their brother find a copy of his broken Christmas record. Bob, Linda, and Teddy do a neighborhood Secret Santa. | ||||||
|
"The Plight Before Christmas" | December 11, 2022 | CASA10 | 13/10 | 248 | 1.464 |
| The kids have three simultaneous holiday performances. | ||||||
|
"The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas" | December 17, 2023 | DASA09 | 14/10 | 270 | 1.503 |
| The Belchers stay at Mr. Fischoeder's family's old hunting lodge for Christmas. | ||||||
|
"Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon" | December 15, 2024 | EASA02 | 15/9 | 285 | TBA |
| A family trip to go see Christmas lights turns into a rescue mission, in more ways than one. | ||||||
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is the holiday with the most episodes themed on it. It is also the only holiday to have an episode themed on it in every season since Season 2.
- A cutaway in "The Cook, the Steve, the Gayle, & Her Lover" featuring holidays that Mr. Frond and Gayle celebrate with the Belchers includes the holiday.
- The holiday gets mentioned in "Burger War," "Lobsterfest," "Synchronized Swimming," "Dr. Yap," "Full Bars," "An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal," "Turkey in a Can," "Sea Me Now," "There's No Business Like Mr. Business Business," "Like Gene for Chocolate," "Ain't Miss Debatin'," "Sleeping with the Frenemy," "Tweentrepreneurs," "Lorenzo's Oil? No, Linda's," "If You Love It So Much, Why Don't You Marionette?," "Long Time Listener, First Time Bob," "The Ring (But Not Scary)," "Now We're Not Cooking with Gas," "Flat-Top o' the Morning to Ya," "The Terminalator II: Terminals of Endearment," "Touch of Eval(uations)," "Frigate Me Knot," "What a (April) Fool Believes," "Fight at the Not Okay Chore-ral," "The Big Stieblitzki," and "The Lost City of Atlantic."
- A cutaway in "The Itty Bitty Ditty Committee" showing Gene spending time with his Casio shows Gene receiving it on the holiday.
- The holiday is the Belcher kids' second-favorite holiday. The first is Louise's birthday. ("An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal")
- Season 5 and Season 15 are the only seasons not to have an episode themed on the holiday to be the last to air in a calendar. The last episodes for each are "Tina Tailor Soldier Spy" and "Advice Things Are Ad-Nice," respectively.
- Excluding "Dog Christmas Day After Afternoon" in Season 15, episodes themed on the holiday are the tenth to premiere for every season since "Better Off Sled" in Season 9.
References[]
- ↑ https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christmas
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://www.britannica.com/plant/Christmas-tree
- ↑ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/what-nativity-scenes-tell-us-about-the-evolution-of-christianity-180981332/
- ↑ https://www.britannica.com/art/carol
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/12/21/christmas-traditions-caroling/19798071/
- ↑ https://www.rent-a-christmas.com/blog/article/why-does-santa-leave-coal-for-naughty-children
See also[]
External links[]
- Christmas on Wikipedia