227: "Mary's Christmas"

Premiered December 14, 1985.

"This is gonna be the best pageant ever, the first Christmas at the new site!"

-Brenda Jenkins

This edition of "Oscar Takes A Holiday" focuses on actor/director Regina King, who played Brenda Jenkins on 227.  In 2019, King won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for If Beale Street Could Talk.  

It’s Christmas time in Washington, D.C.  Mary Jenkins (Marla Gibbs), and her neighbors in 227 Lexington Place Rose (Alaina Reed-Hall) and Pearl (Helen Martin) have a meeting with their minister Rev. Davis (Ron Richardson). 

He informs them that the corporation that owns the land where the church sits will not renew their lease.  On a more positive note, that same corporation has given the church a new lot that overlooks the Potomac River.  City Hall has given Rev. Davis permission to move the entire church building to the new location. 

Sandra Clark (Jackée Harry), the building’s resident busybody and troublemaker, has “volunteered” Mary’s husband Lester (Hal Williams) to supervise the moving of the church, since Lester owns a construction company.  Other companies would be unable to move the church before Christmas. 

Lester is reluctant to take on such a responsibility, but is pressured to move the church when Rev. Davis and the others literally pray for Lester to move the church!

Lester believes his crew can get the church moved in time for the congregation to perform their annual Nativity pageant.  Mary and Lester's daughter Brenda (Regina King), who is playing a shepherd in the pageant, believes it will be "the best pageant ever."  

Sandra is cast somewhat against type as an angel.

The pageant will be narrated by Santa Claus, played by Lester.  

However, disaster strikes when the church suddenly disappears!  Rev. Davis tells Lester that the church has been stolen!  

Will the church turn up in one piece?  Will the pageant be cancelled?  Will Christmas be ruined?  

J.A. Morris says:

227 was a fun sitcom that I haven't seen in a while and "Mary's Christmas" was a nice way to get reacquainted with the show and its characters.  It's a touching story about a neighborhood congregation working together to create a Christmas miracle.  That's consistent with 227 as a whole, since lots of episodes revolve around friends like Mary, Rose and Pearl helping each other.

Lester would have been well within his rights to walk away from moving the church, since he was forced into it by Sandra, yet he agrees to do so anyway.  The pageant rehearsal scenes are also enjoyable.  I played a shepherd in a Christmas play when I was 12, so "Mary's Christmas" brought back a lot of memories.  

Pearl's grandson Calvin (Curtis Baldwin) plays a "wise" man.

I found it particularly interesting that Santa, played by Lester, narrates the Nativity pageant, which was a nice touch.  This is not something I've seen happen in real life, since secular and religious Christmas traditions are usually kept separate.  

Jackée Harry, as Sandra, gets the bulk of the funny moments in "Mary's Christmas."  Sandra is the cause of consternation in this episode, but Harry was so great in the role (which won her an Emmy) that I never felt too angry at Sandra.  

Some notes about the cast:

Alaina Reed-Hall played Mary's best friend Rose on 227.  Children of the 1970s and 80s will remember Reed from her 12-year run on Sesame Street as Gordon's sister Olivia.  During that time, Reed appeared in the classic special Christmas Eve On Sesame Street.  

Rev. Davis is portrayed by Ron Richardson, who played the minister in two other episodes.  Richardson was primarily a stage actor vocalist and he won a Tony award for his role as Jim in the Broadway musical Big River: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn.

"Mary's Christmas" is a great Christmas episode that features a solid ensemble cast and a story that will likely remind viewers of Christmas pageants they've been part of, it gets my highest recommendation.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says: 

I remember watching and enjoying 227 when it first aired in the mid-to-late 1980s, but have no memory of this particular holiday episode.    It was nice to rediscover this series that I hadn't thought about much in twenty-some-odd years in researching for this blog post.   It's also enjoyable to revisit old sitcoms and see early work by actors like Regina King who have become better known as their careers progressed -  King's work as Brenda on the series is adorable.  

Regina King (l), with Curtis Baldwin, and Kia Goodwin (who plays Rose's daughter Tiffany in the series)

"Mary's Christmas" is a sweet episode from the show's first season. 

Although the "missing building" situation presented in this particular episode is perhaps not the most realistic, the interactions between the cast members conveys the inherent emotion of the scenario well .   Many of us can relate to families/communities coming together to solve problems -- particularly during the holiday season.   Many of us have also had the experience of being "volun-TOLD" to do something for a community group the way Lester is in this episode.  

J.A. Morris mentions Lester's turn as Santa/pageant narrator above, and although it might be a little unusual, I really like the way Santa ties the secular and religious holiday traditions together here.    

Resident troublemaker Sandra's against-type casting as the pageant's angel is funny and also kind of touching.   She gets quite upset when Mary threatens to snatch her wings.   

Rose and Pearl searching for "room at the inn"

Community Christmas pageants are a staple of holiday programming from A Charlie Brown Christmas onward and this episode of 227's  pageant presentation makes me think of my hometown's long running outdoor Christmas pageant which also features lovingly made sets and costumes and (often) sweet/amusing moments where things don't quite go according to plan. It also sometimes runs into complications with being outside (cold, weather, COIVD (most recently) and even issues having to do with building construction or repair.

I also appreciate that it appears that a real church choir called "The Visionaries" from Heavenly Vision Baptist Church helped to provide music and extra verisimilitude for our fictional sitcom pageant.  

"Mary's Christmas" is ultimately an episode about community and the holiday setting helps to bring everyone together to create the open air event.    It is likely that we will revisit this charming holiday story during future holiday seasons. 

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 candy canes!

Batman: The Brave and the Bold: "Invasion of the Secret Santas!"

Red Tornado:"I am lacking Christmas Spirit."
Batman:"It's overrated."

After a brief fight with some bad guys at a Christmas bowling tournament, Blue Beetle (Will Friedle) invites Batman (Dedrich Bader) to spend Christmas Eve dinner with him.   Batman rebuffs the offer saying, "Crime doesn't take a holiday, and neither do I." Batman is not a huge fan of the holiday season, since his parents were murdered in front of him on Christmas night.

Meanwhile, android superhero Red Tornado (Corey Burton) is also having trouble getting into the holiday spirit, despite extensive research and home decorating.   Red Tornado has never celebrated the holiday before and longs to experience the "tingling sensation" of good cheer.

Batman and Red Tornado's search for Christmas cheer is rudely interrupted when a villain called Fun Haus (Gary Anthony Williams) unleashes an army of evil robot Santas and dangerous toys on the unsuspecting citizens of Gotham City.

Red Tornando and Batman join forces to stop Fun Haus, but can even their combined might save Christmas, let alone their Holiday spirit?  

J.A. Morris says:

This is one of my favorite modern Christmas episodes.  I've always been a big fan of comic books and superheroes. Batman: The Brave and the Bold was a great show and a reminder that Batman doesn't always need to be grim and gritty.  There should always be room for "Fun Batman," and this episode is lots of fun.  Any Christmas episode that features Batman riding a reindeer while chasing down a sleigh driven by a robot Santa Claus is a classic in my book!

But it's not all laughs.  We learn that Batman doesn't celebrate Christmas because that's the day his parents were gunned down.  Their deaths are shown via flashback and it's a very powerful moment in for show aimed at children.

The Red Tornado's desire to learn about the Holiday season (and become more human) was very touching. The "robot who wants to be human" is a plot that's been done many times, but it's handled nicely here.  Veteran voice actor Corey Burton does a great job portraying Red Tornado.

There are also some nice references to other classic Christmas programming.  We get a cool piano jazz holiday tune on the soundtrack that's reminiscent of Vince Guaradi's Charlie Brown Christmas soundtrack.

Fun Haus is a new villain  (his appearance is based on an old comic villain named Toyman) and he makes for a great Christmas antagonist.  His "evil" toys and robot St. Nicks add to the Yultide mayhem.

One note of caution: Some very young children may be frightened or saddened by the robot Santas and their onscreen destruction.

"Invasion of the Secret Santas!" (yes, the title has an exclamation point!) is available on DVD & Blu Ray and also streams on Netflix and Amazon instant video.

It's been part of my annual Christmas viewing ever since 2008.  It contains a great mix of action, comedy and Holiday sentiment.

J.A. Morris' rating:

 

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says: 

This is a great Christmas episode of a great series.   Part of what makes the whole Batman: The Brave and the Bold series so fun in general is the sense of humor and fun that prevailed in and around the great action sequences.

This Christmas episode is no exception, and might even be a notch above the show's usual high "Fun Batman" standards.  

The sense of fun is underscored by the many meta-awesome references that are sprinkled like Christmas ornaments throughout the show.

Red Tornado is shown teaching archaeology at a local college a la Indiana Jones.  Fun Haus' first ploy to attract Batman's attention involves flying saucers and makes me think of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians.   The evil robot Santas evoke several holiday themed Doctor Who episodes.  The theft of Christmas presents angle is reminiscent of the Grinch.

But don't think that this is just an arch collection of references, this episode really has heart as well.  Red Tornado's quest to experience the "tingling sensation" brought on by the Christmas spirit is quite touching.  He even goes so far as to give Batman a "World's Greatest Detective" mug (referencing Batman's first appearances in Detective Comics as well one of the monikers by which he is known). This is probably my favorite moment in the whole episode.

Getting to see Batman riding a reindeer is pretty awesome too, though.  

The fun and heart are also mixed with pathos as we learn of the reason for Batman's dislike of the holiday season.  

The range of emotions, great action sequences and the sense of wonder underlying this episode make it well worth adding to your annual holiday viewing.  Highly recommended.

Rigbymel's rating:

4 candy canes!