Release: December 6, 2016
Tagline: Dr. Claw as Santa? Yep, this was a thing, and it’s just as crazy as it sounds.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: NC comes up with the idea that Dr. Claw makes a better Santa than the original.
- Celebrity Cameo: At the end, the original voice of Penny, Cree Summer, is shown in person at MomoCon handing the Critic the iPad on which she recorded her New Era Speech as Penny.Summer: Does that work?
Critic: (nervously) Yeah, but you were supposed to just say, "Ooh, I don't like that, Uncle Gadget."
Summer: (as Penny) Yeah, not anymore. - Earth-Shattering Kaboom: NC shows up on an alien planet to show that HE'S the one with the biggest Christmas spirit ever by blowing it up!
- Fridge Horror: NC has this upon realizing that while Santa's in a prison cell made to hold him, he wonders why Santa even has a prison cell in the first place!
- Harmful to Minors: A skit with Dr. Claw as a mall Santa has him sending kids into fiery death traps or siccing Mad Cat on them.
- Hostile Show Takeover: At the end of the review, Penny takes over the feed to deliver her New Era Speech.
- Mondegreen Gag: The elves singing Jingle Bells has the line "Rise and shine he says/From our elfin beds" has NC thinking they're dropping f bombs. Another one happens when Gadget tickles Santa thinking he's Dr. Claw and while he says he "failed to shake like a bowl full of jelly," NC is hearing "shit like a bowl full of jelly."
- Morally Ambiguous Doctorate: While Dr. Claw's working as a mall Santa, Malcolm asks just what he's a doctor of.Dr. Claw: ...Pediatrics.
- The Other Darrin: NC is upset with Cree Summer being replaced by Erica Horne as the voice of Penny for this special.
- Parody Assistance: The final sketch of the episode (which is Penny doing a hostile takeover of NC's video feed to deliver an "I am going to conquer the world with my Terminator-esque Gadget robot!" New Era Speech) had Penny voiced by Cree Summer herself.
- Saving Christmas: The critic points out that this trope is so overused that it seems like just about anyone can, and has, done it.
- Soap Punishment: After Penny turns off the elves' brainwashing and they start singing "Elfin Bells."NC: You are all getting soap for dinner!
- Shout-Out: The opening references many other specials where a character saves Christmas, such as Ernest Saves Christmas and Felix the Cat Saves Christmas.
- Swiss-Cheese Security: NC finds it bad enough that Dr. Claw can just casually walk into Santa's workshop, but gets upset when Gadget, Penny and Brain just let themselves in.
- Take That!: While most of the odder examples of Saving Christmas are presented with just the title, the one for Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas is described as "escaped mental patients".
- During Penny's New Era Speech, she mentions that, given with her technological achievements, in ten years' time, she could have created a Matrix, "complete with a Keanu Reeves that can actually act!"
- Thousand-Yard Stare: At the end when Gadget saves the day, one shot of the elves makes them look like they've seen things they can't explain nor want to know.
- Villain Decay: NC calls out Dr. Claw's idea of sabotaging Christmas a bit low compared to some of the crimes he's had committed in the original show.
