As with most Modern Family episodes, this one is filled with many funny individual stories, yet they’re all tied together.

Will Phil reach his resolution to walk to Canada on the elliptical machine he received as a Christmas gift the previous year or will the machine be banished to the garage, much to Luke’s chagrin, as he has been hiding the recyclables in the garage for months because he forgets to bring them out to be collected.

Can Gloria and her mother survive the holiday together or will Claire take Gloria’s place in the kitchen with her mother, whom Claire is liking more and more because at least Gloria’s mother doesn’t keep giving her slippers every year for Christmas like DeeDee does.

Jay and Manny take on the task of cutting down a Christmas tree, just like Jay and his father used to do. Minus the cigar and cigarette.

Haley and Alex risk their lives working at the mall as an elf and Mrs. Claus because Santa has gone AWOL and the crowd of kids is getting antsy.

Lily, who only wants a toy called a puppy pound for Christmas, misspelled it on her list and Cam blames Mitchell for not figuring it out. So while Mitchell has to go to the mall in search of the toy, Cam and Lily attend a charity event fundraiser for the needy which, unbeknownst to Cam, is actually not a fundraiser but is FOR the needy.

Cam: “I thought it was a charity event for the needy. Turns out it was a charity event FOR the needy!”

And Lily ends up getting a puppy pound toy from Santa.

Just as Mitchell appears fresh from the mall with gifts for Pepper’s party, Lily gives her puppy pound away to a boy who didn’t receive anything from Santa but wanted a puppy pound.

In the end, Claire and Gloria make up, Jay and Manny get their tree, Haley and Alex survive, Phil makes it to Canada and then goes to the mall to get a puppy pound for Lily and Luke owes six weeks allowance for not taking care of the recycling.

Always a good time with the Pritchett-Dunphy clan.

This episode has us experiencing the Brady’s first Christmas together as a new family and features probably one of the sweetest television scenes between a child and Santa Claus.

Everyone is excited about Carol Brady’s big solo in the church choir on Christmas morning. That is until Carol discovers she has lost her voice. A further diagnosis is that she has laryngitis, probably from all the rehearsing she has done.

So Mike, being the doting husband and Alice, being the handy-dandy housekeeper, go into action to help out. Alice makes a home remedy concoction for Carol to wear around her neck, one so smelly even Alice herself can’t tolerate it. Mike has the boys get the Christmas tree and takes Cindy to the mall to see Santa.

In a touching moment, Cindy tells Santa all she wants for Christmas is for her Mommy to get her voice back so she can sing for Christmas. Of course, Santa reassures her that her mother will get her voice back, much to Cindy’s delight.

She excitedly tells Mike that “Santa’s going to give Mommy her voice back for Christmas”.

Mike: “Oh, honey, how could he do that? He’s not a doctor.”

Cindy: “He’s better than a doctor. He’s Santa Claus”.

Mike goes to the mall locker room and berates Santa for promising Cindy that her mother would get her voice back.

We jump to Christmas Eve and Greg, Marcia, Jan and Peter can’t sleep. One by one they sneak downstairs and sit on the stairs moping. Alice discovers them and Marcia suggests they postpone Christmas until their mother can talk again. The others agree. Then Alice pipes in:

“Ok, it’s unanimous, we’ll cancel Christmas. Take the tree down, get the presents back to the store, I’ll throw the turkey away. Of course, it might disappoint your mother a little. She’s had one tough break already. She and your Dad were looking forward to us all having a wonderful first Christmas together. Well, why worry about how they feel?”

Of course it’s all Marcia’s fault. Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!

They all agree it’s a bad idea and march off to bed. Of course, when Carol wakes the next morning, she’s humming and realizes—miracles of all miracles—Santa has come through and she has her voice back. Halleluia!

In the final scene we are treated to a beautiful rendition of Carol singing “O Come All Ye Faithful”.

And all was once again right in the Brady household.

The episode opens with Laverne  and Shriley decorating their Christmas tree and singing “The Twelve Days of Christmas” off key and at least for Laverne, with the wrong lyrics. Then Shriley discovers Laverne has eaten the stringed popcorn and nibbled a corner off the gingerbread star that has been in her family for eleven years.

They are visited by Rags, a neighborhood bum who organizes a yearly get together at the Pizza Bowl. He’s looking for Frank DeFazio to discuss the plans but can’t reach him. Because he’s playing Santa down at the mall and hanging out with his sidekicks, Lenny the Fairy and Squiggy the Elf while Laverne and Shirley get mauled by shoppers.

One of the kids waiting for Santa calls Santa out when he arrives, attacking Squggy the Elf and Santa and getting Santa fired. This same kid brags to Shirley that he got Santa fired and then spits in her face. (FUN FACT: the kid dissing Santa is Scott Marshall, show creator Garry Marshall’s son).

Laverne learns that her father has been playing Santa for a few days to raise money for the dinner since the Pizza Bowl has been doing lousy business. But now that Santa’s been fired Frank declares there isn’t going to be any Christmas dinner for the bums.

Carmine, Laverne and Shirley decide to try to raise funds by singing Christmas carols on the street corner. Until they’re approached by a street corner Santa and a Salvation Army band. With the three groups vying for some charitable cash, ruckus ensues, a cop gets involved and it’s discovered that Carmine, Laverne and Shirley don’t have a license to solicit money unlike Santa and Sister Sarah and the Salvations do.

Meanwhile Frank is bummed that the bums won’t be coming to dinner. When all of a sudden, Laverne and Shirley rush in with the bums led by Rags. He states that all they want is to just be there at the Pizza Bowl, dinner or no dinner. Although they did bring a can of spam, a can of corn and a banana.

Frank is still disappointed because he wanted to do something special. But Shirley tells him, “Don’t you understand? They don’t come here for just the dinner.” Laverne adds, “That’s right, Pop. They come here so they can be with all of us. That’s what’s special to ‘em.”.

Lenny and Squiggy save the day when they come in with a turkey, stuffing and cranberry sauce. And now they can no longer date the butcher’s daughter.

And remember, Christmas ain’t turkey. It’s PIZZA!

It’s Chrissy’s first Christmas away from home and she’s feeling a bit down about missing her family. A fun fact about this episode is that Chrissy’s full name is revealed: Christmas Snow.

Jack: “Christmas Snow?”

Chrissy: “My father was a big fan of Bing Crosby.”

Anyway, what Chrissy is most upset about is missing the party that her family always has. Jack steps in and tells the girls that they’re going to have a Chrissy Christmas party. And Janet reminds him they won’t bother the Ropers with the noise since they’ve gone away to Mrs. Roper’s brother’s for the holiday.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to their upstairs neighbors, the Ropers come home early. And Jack, Janet and Chrissy are having problems getting anyone to come to their party. Because everyone is going to the Stevens’ party next door. Then Mrs. Roper comes upstairs and invites the kids down to their apartment for a get together. No sooner does she leave Jimmy Stevens calls and invites them to their party. But Chrissy reminds them they just agreed to go to the Ropers. Janet mentions that Mr. Roper will probably be asleep by nine-thirty and then they could leave and go to the Stevens’ party.

Meanwhile the Ropers aren’t overly excited about having the kids in for a visit either. The kids reluctantly go, have a little scotch, partake in a lame card trick from Mr. Roper and Jack tickles the ivories while Mr. Roper sings. Janet realizes that Mr. Roper is far from ready for bed when he pulls out his trumpet. The kids use the time as an excuse to leave and head out. And Helen gets angry at Stanley for being so boring. But he reveals that there was a method to his madness. That he had to get rid of the kids because they have been invited to the Stevens’ party.

The final scene shows Jack, Chrissy and Janet helping Mrs. Roper get Mr. Roper back to their apartment because it appears Mr. Roper had a little too much cheer at the Stevens’ party. Or maybe Stanley is just overcome with surprise at having seen the kids at the party as well.

In this second Christmas episode of “The Beverly Hillbillies”, the Clampetts experience their first Christmas at home in Beverly Hills. And discover artificial snow. Or “Beverly Hills” snow as Jed refers to it.

As Ellie May, Jethro and Granny begin to open their gifts, there seems to be a reoccurring theme to them: water. Ellie May receives a hair dryer, which she thinks is a hat with a hose attached to it to “let the water drain off” her hat when she’s walking in the rain. Jethro opens a “new suit” made of rubber, which is a skin diving suit. And Granny gets a new TV, which she thinks is a fancy electric washing machine and the antennas are the clothes drying rack.

The Clampetts give Mrs. Drysdale what she wants most for Christmas: a mink. A LIVE mink. Jed states that Mrs. Drysdale wanted a “full-length mink” and Ellie May replies that “it’s as long as they come”.

But the Clampetts have yet to see the biggest gift of all: a boat parked in their driveway, complete with a chimp for a “skipper”, much to Ellie May’s delight. All the gifts are a ploy from Mr. Drysdale to try to keep the Clampetts in Beverly Hills.

The Drysdales go over to visit the Clampetts and try to clear up all the confusion. Granny gifts Mrs. Drysdale a smorgasbord of hillbilly foods such as “candied catfish and owl burgers”. Ellie May then informs Mrs. Drysdale that she’s lost her gift, greatly upsetting Mrs. Drysdale, who is under the impression that the gift is a diamond. If only she knew.