Our take
One of the show's most uncomfortable Christmas episodes, and deliberately so. It takes the most wholesome ritual of the season and turns it into an extended joke about a teenage crush on Santa, which will be too much for many. The plot is stranger than it is funny, though the Die Hard carol and the rare kind moment between Peter and Meg are worth a look. Strictly for grown-ups.
What happens
Meg is given the job of taking Stewie to the mall for his photo with Santa. When Stewie panics on Santa's lap, Meg sits there herself, holding him to calm him down, and the experience gives her a very public sexual awakening in the middle of the mall. From then on she is fixated on finding that particular Santa again, dragging Stewie from mall to mall in search of him, but none of them is the right man; the one she is looking for turns out to be the real Santa. Stewie, meanwhile, is left terrified of the man in the red coat, and Brian helps him work through the trauma by dressing up himself. Peter gets caught out working as a mall Santa along the way, and in a rare tender moment tells Meg to go and find the man if it will make her happy.
Can the kids watch it?
Strictly for adults: the whole plot turns on a teenager's sexual feelings about Santa, with an erotic dream sequence. Fox rated it TV-14; no BBFC rating was found.
Cast and crew
Starring
- Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Quagmire and Tom Tucker
- Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin
- Seth Green as Chris Griffin
- Mila Kunis as Meg
- Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown
- Patrick Warburton as Joe
Guest stars
- Gary Cole as Principal Shepherd
- Chris Parnell as Joe Paterno
- Jimmy Connors as Himself
Director
- John Holmquist