The Christmukk-huh?

For years now I have "harbored" a love for Fox's The OC (fans of the show will get my clever pun). At its best, it balanced smart writing and self-awareness with over-the-top melodrama in a way that made it more than just your average teen soap. I'd summarize the show and its major characters but if you're not already familiar with them, you must have been living in a cultural vaccuum for the better part of the 2000's (Spoiler alert: we also invaded Iraq, and Son of the Mask happened).

Every holiday season, The OC's Cohen family would celebrate Chrismukkah - a mashup that combines the secular aspects of both holidays, summed up by Seth as "eight days of presents, followed by one day of many presents." As the Onion AV Club points out in their excellent article, each season's Chrismukkah episode tends to reflect the overall quality of the season surrounding it. The first season's "The Best Chrismukkah Ever" was great, while season three's "The Chrismukkah Bar-Mitzvahkkuh" was utter shit (thanks, in no small part, to Johnny - the worst character in any television show ever). My favorite, however, has to be season four's "The Christmukk-huh?"

You see, by the end of season three, The OC was no longer the cultural phenomenon it once was. The writers had gotten lazy, starting to recycle old storylines and create crappy, underdeveloped, and just plain unlikeable characters (see: Johnny). They were told that season four was their last chance to stay on the air, which was just the kick in the ass Josh Schwartz and company needed. As a result, their last season was well-written, compelling, and funny. It also included "The Christmukk-huh?", a spin on It's a Wonderful Life which shows what would have happened if Ryan had never shown up in Newport. Kirsten is married to Jimmy Cooper, Summer is a bimbo, Sandy is a politician, and Julie - well, she's still pretty evil. The always excellent Chris Pratt, who would later go on to play lovable shoeshiner/Mouse Rat frontman Andy Dwyer on Parks & Recreation, takes a break from his hippie character to play an alternate reality thong-snapping frat boy, popped collar and all.