4. The Flintstones A Flintstone Christmas (1977)
A Flintstone Christmas sees Fred and Barney tasked with delivering presents in Santa's place after he sprains his ankle on Fred's roof. This is a classic role swapping narrative with themes of self betterment and giving. No new ground was broken here, that's for sure, but that's what makes this such comfortable viewing. It's a classic. At the beginning of the episode, Fred makes numerous comments about not wanting to dress up as Santa. He even refuses to do so at the behest of Wilma and Betty for a charity event at the orphanage. Of course this changes when his employer, Mr. Slate orders him to do just that. This is interrupted by the incident with Santa and soon Fred and Barney are in the sleigh delivering presents. Getting caught up in the festive cheer of the role, Fred almost forgets about his prior arrangement at the orphanage. This leads to Mr. Slate announcing that he will fire Fred if he doesn't appear within the next minute. Of course, just then Fred and Barney arrive in the sleigh and this spectacular entrance is enough to make the curmudgeonly boss forget his previous rage. They then hand out presents to the children and all is well. It's a story that had been told before and has many times since, yet this version has always been a favourite of mine. Everything works out, everyone's happy and the final shot of them waving goodbye to Santa is pure Christmas joy.