I just watched the Christmas episode again-"Twas the Night Before Christmas" from 12-24-1955. Even though it's 54 years old, I think it is one of the best Christmas episodes ever filmed. It has a warm, cozy feel to it and the story is classic: the Gift of the Magi theme.

Ralph buys Alice an inferior gift because he selfishly spends his money on a bowling ball. After a neighbor gives Alice the same cheap gift on Christmas Eve, Ralph feels ashamed and sells his bowling ball to buy Alice a better gift. The ironic twist is that Alice buys him a bowling ball bag for his new bowling ball.

Then Ralph delivers a touching speech about Christmas.

There is an added bonus at the end of the skit. Jackie Gleason turns around after kissing Audrey Meadows, wipes his mouth, and stops the curtain from closing. He steps out of character and addresses the audience holding hands with Audrey. He calls Art Carney and Joyce Randolph in to help say Merry Christmas to the audience.

A priceless and unique moment in television history.

You're right about the Christmas episode having a warm, cozy feel to it. I look forward to watching it every year when they show it on TV in December.

...did Jackie have his cast take a "curtain call" in the filmed episodes [most of the time, he appeared before the curtain, after the end of the episode, in his dressing gown, making a 30 second "pitch" for his sponsor, Buick (usually next to a Buick sign), and saying "Good night, everybody!!" before the closing credits appeared; that's why those curtain calls don't appear in syndicated prints of the filmed episodes]. But for the Christmas episode, he does have one, and rightly so. However, I remember, before 1984, WPIX in New York used to cut the "curtain call" out of their prints of the episode because they kept airing the Christmas episode, along with the 38, about every month and a half....

:tv:

Very interesting tidbit of information! I didn't know about that before.