History Main / MerryChristmasInGotham

* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'' [[DoubleSubversion doubly subverts]] this one: The episode "My Own Personal Jesus" has Turk, initially so optimistic about Christmas that he comes into work with Rudolph antlers on, being ground down and losing his faith as seasonal alcohol-related injuries and attempted suicides clog up the hospital. Just when it seems like Turk is ready to give up surgery, though, a star leads him to a missing girl who ran away from the hospital, and he helps her give birth beneath a Christmas tree, and the episode ends on a prolonged GoldenMoment played straighter than usual and with an unusually strong religious message for the show.

* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'': Ron tries to take on Drakken by himself so Kim can have a nice Christmas with her family. Ron and Drakken bond over an old TV show, whose theme they sing together. The story ends with a truce for holiday celebration. Now, ''Kim Possible'' isn't exactly dark and edgy to begin with, but this episode is considerably LighterAndSofter than usual.

* ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'': ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk1968'' [[http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-378.html #378]] dealt with Rhino and Hulk teaming up to be MallSanta and Helper.

* ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'': Frank is about to snipe a druglord, when suddenly there's a little girl pulling on his coat telling him she's lost her dad. Frank stares at her and puts the gun away. When they find her dad, he starts to thank him before recognizing his chest emblem and starting to panic. Frank tells him to calm down, that he should really teach his daughter not to talk to strangers, and then leaves.
* [[http://www.leaderslair.com/noexcuses/hulk2-378.html An issue]] of ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'' dealt with Rhino and Hulk teaming up to be MallSanta and Helper.
-->'''Daughter:''' This is my best Christmas ''ever!''\\
'''"Santa":''' Mine too, Ginny. Or at least -- the best in a long, long time.
* Though it is the TropeNamer, ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''-centered Christmas stories have a mixed record when it comes to this:
** The hilarious Franchise/{{Superman}}[=/=]Franchise/{{Batman}} {{Elseworld}} crossover ''Yes Tyrone, There Is a Santa Claus'' [[http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=135331]].

** In the ''DC Comics Holiday Special 2008'', the Gotham P.D. appear in the story "A Day Without Sirens". The principle behind the Day Without Sirens is that over Christmas, nobody in Gotham is going to do anything that requires the police's attention. No-one on the force believes this is going to happen, and the story is Commissioner Gordon getting more on edge, and then checking the phones are working, and finally acknowledging that sometimes miracles do happen. And then it turns out Oracle had all the emergency calls redirected to her system, and has had ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} running all over town cleaning things up.
* ''ComicBook/{{Hitman}}'' #22: ''The Santa Contract''. Tommy and Nat hunt down a radioactive killer loose in Gotham on Christmas eve. He's wearing a Santa suit and the whole issue is narrated InTheStyleOf ''Literature/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas''.

* ''Marvel Team-Up'' #1, where ComicBook/SpiderMan and the ComicBook/HumanTorch discover the Sandman (up to this point a one-dimensional CardCarryingVillain) makes a point of visiting his ill mother every Christmas Eve. Spidey is so touched he even gives Sandman the present originally meant for ComicBook/GwenStacy! Awww.

** Paul Dini's "Slayride" (''ComicBook/DetectiveComics'' #826) averts this entirely; it's Gotham, it's Christmas Eve, and [[OhCrap the Joker's loose]]. And he's got [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]] for a hostage. Murder and mayhem ensue.

* ''{{Series/Eureka}}'' has an episode like this.
* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' has LighterAndSofter Christmas episodes revolving around Christmas in some way.

* ''WesternAnimation/HeManAndTheMastersOfTheUniverse1983'' isn’t a particularly serious show to begin with, but the infamous Christmas special takes the sillier elements UpToEleven, with prominent focus on [[KidAppealCharacter Kid-Appeal Characters]] like Orko, Skeletor being redeemed by ThePowerOfFriendship, cutesy scenes like kids adopting an adorable RobotDog, and little of the show’s usual action and ParentalBonus.

* ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' did this in two of its three seasons. The first near-Christmas episode has only one holiday-related scene and is primarily about ParentalIncest, so that's the exception. Season 2 had a gentle, impressionistic episode where Frank Black reconciled with his elderly father. The final Christmas episode, in Season 3, featured a reformed gangster who's been brought BackFromTheDead.

[[folder: Advertising ]]

[[folder: Anime And Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''{{Comicbook/Hitman}}'' #22: ''The Santa Contract''. Tommy and Nat hunt down a radioactive killer loose in Gotham on Christmas eve. He's wearing a Santa suit and the whole issue is narrated InTheStyleOf ''Literature/TwasTheNightBeforeChristmas''.

* ''Marvel Team-Up'' #1, where Spider-Man and the Human Torch discover the Sandman (up to this point a one-dimensional CardCarryingVillain) makes a point of visiting his ill mother every Christmas Eve. Spidey is so touched he even gives Sandman the present originally meant for Gwen Stacy! Awww.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Theatre]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* In the days of czarist Russia, on Easter Eve, at midnight, a child killer escaped from prison. The sentry on duty raised his rifle to shoot the criminal, but then the church bell rang in Easter, the sentry's eyes welled with tears of Easter joy, he hadn't the heart to kill the fugitive and he threw his rifle to the ground.

Compare MoodWhiplash and LighterAndSofter. Contrast AnAssKickingChristmas. The opposite of TwistedChristmas.

** ''Batman Black & White'', "A Slaying Song Tonight": A hitman plans to get near his target by taking the place of a MallSanta hired to put in an appearance for the target's daughter. Batman figures it out in the nick of time and stops the hitman just before he reaches the house -- then puts the costume on and does the Santa appearance himself.
** Paul Dini's "Slayride" (''Detective Comics'' #826) averts this entirely; it's Gotham, it's Christmas Eve, and [[OhCrap the Joker's loose]]. And he's got [[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]] for a hostage. Murder and mayhem ensue.

* Subverted with the Christmas episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold''. The series is usually pretty whacky, but it takes on a darker edge with [[spoiler:the murder of Batman's parents occurring on Christmas Day because he threw a tantrum over not getting a toy he wanted--Thomas and Martha only took him to the movies in an attempt to cheer him up, and he was ''still'' a brat about it right up until their deaths]]. May also be a MidSeasonTwist.

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' has LighterAndSofter Christmas episodes [[CaptainObvious revolving around Christmas in some way]].