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Recap / The Addams Family S 2 E 14 Christmas With The Addams Family

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The Addams' neighbor Mr. Thompson threatens to make Christmas less jolly when he tells Wednesday and Pugsley that Santa Claus doesn't exist. To restore the children's faith, the adult Addamses decide to play Santa themselves.

This episode includes examples of the following tropes:

  • Bait-and-Switch Comment: For someone to play Santa, Gomez and Morticia figure they'll need someone fat, jolly, and able to talk on a child's level. As they're glancing right at him, Fester says he knows who they mean: Lurch.
  • Believer Fakes Evidence: In "Christmas with the Addams Family", Santa Claus exists, and the adults presumably know he exists. However, when the neighbour tells the children, Wednesday and Pugsley, that he doesn't, the adults all try to convince them that he's real by disguising themselves as Santa. Fester gets stuck in the chimney, Gomez fools the kids, but the rest don't, since not only are they meeting multiple "Santas", their disguises don't hide the fact that Lurch is tall, Itt is short and hairy, and Morticia and Grandmama are women.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: During the coda, Gomez and Morticia point over to the rest of the family sitting on the bottom set of steps. They start singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" back towards them until Gomez and Morticia join them, then the whole cast turns and sings to the camera/audience.
  • Christmas Episode: As the title says, the episode concerns the Addamses celebrating Christmas, including gift-wrapping, singing, and kissing under the mistletoe. Also, a neighbor shakes Wednesday and Pugsley's faith in Santa and the adults each dress up as Santa Claus for the benefit of the children... at the same time.
  • Continuity Nod: Gomez mentions that Mr. Thompson was the same one who told the children (incorrectly) that witches didn't exist, which occurred in "Halloween — Addams Style."
  • Help, I'm Stuck!: Uncle Fester gets stuck up the chimney while posing as Santa.
  • Santa's Existence Clause: What gets the ball rolling is Mr. Thompson telling the kids that Santa doesn't exist. Gomez and the other adults do believe in Santa, but they resort to subbing out of concern that Santa would skip their house since Wednesday and Pugsley already have much more than other children. Later, after the jig is up, Morticia notices that the tree is all decorated and has many presents underneath it. All of the adults insist they had nothing to do with this, and Thing points them to the snow on the ground (despite it not snowing outside). Gomez muses the real Santa was here while everyone was distracted, at which we hear an off-screen voice wishing them a merry Christmas.
  • Stuck in a Chimney: To reassure Pugsley and Wednesday there is a Santa Claus after their neighbor tells them there isn't, they get Uncle Fester to dress up as him. However, when Fester tries to descend the chimney, he gets stuck. He eventually gets unstuck, but not before several other people have taken over his role.
  • Subbing for Santa: After the children tell her and Gomez what Mr. Thompson said, Morticia declares that if the US astronauts can have backups, so can Santa Claus. Initially, she and Gomez have Uncle Fester play the part, but after he fails to arrive on time (having gotten stuck), all the adults join in. However, only Gomez seems to have any success. Continually seeing new Santa Clauses quickly lets the children guess what's happening.
  • Uncle Pennybags: Gomez walks up to a Santa requesting donations and asks to borrow his costume. The man would have been willing to let Gomez have it for twenty-five dollars; Gomez gives him twenty-five thousand.
  • Under the Mistletoe: Gomez hangs a mistletoe sprig in the doorway and waits behind the wall to kiss Morticia. He ultimately does, but only after catching Uncle Fester first.

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