Our take
A small, affectionate Christmas episode about loving something nobody else can stand. The search for a replacement copy of a deeply odd seventies novelty record gives the youngest boy a rare lead, and the family's homemade cover versions are both terrible and touching. The grown-ups' gift-swap subplot is the funnier half, and it all ends on a soft note.
What happens
Every December Gene appoints himself the family's Christmas DJ, playing his favourite album almost non-stop: Percy McTinsel-bud's Tinsel Machine, a trippy 1973 Christmas record he rescued from Bob's closet as a small child. Everyone but Linda is sick of it. Then Gene breaks the record, discovers that it is extremely rare and all but impossible to replace, and sinks into gloom. Tina and Louise join him to hunt for another copy, and when that fails the family try to remake the songs themselves, with mixed results; Gene hates the attempt at first but comes round. Meanwhile Teddy is determined to organise a neighbourhood Secret Santa with Bob and Linda, and the gift swap among the grown-ups has a funny, sweet pay-off of its own.
Can the kids watch it?
Rated TV-PG in the US for mild language; one of the gentler Christmas episodes, fine for children from about 8.
Cast and crew
Starring
- H. Jon Benjamin as Bob Belcher
- John Roberts as Linda Belcher
- Dan Mintz as Tina Belcher
- Eugene Mirman as Gene Belcher
- Kristen Schaal as Louise Belcher
- Larry Murphy as Teddy
Guest stars
- Dana Snyder as Percy McTinsel-bud
- David Wain as Courtney
- John Michael Higgins as Dog
- Ron Funches as Clerk
- Tim Meadows as Mike the Mailman
- Andy Kindler as Mort
Writer
- Katie Crown