Every Simpsons Christmas Special - Ranked
8. ‘Tis The Fifteenth Season
‘Tis The Fifteenth Season takes pieces from A Christmas Carol to create a storyline on selfishness without needing to go full parody. Homer buys an astrolabe with his Christmas bonus (for reasons that begin unclear and just get foggier), but is shunned by his family because of his actions.
He ends up watching Mr McGrew’s Christmas Carol, as well as parodies by the likes of Star Trek. Following this, he resolves to be much less selfish, ending up in a contest with Flanders to be the nicest man in town. It does seem slightly out of character for Ned to stoop to this, but in fairness the majority of the stooping is on Homer.
Ned buys everyone presents in town, which is as selfless as it is selfish. Homer, misunderstanding Lisa’s Buddhist teachings, then decides to steal everyone’s gifts thinking they’d be happier without possessions. What follows is a nifty Doctor Seuss sequence, much better than the god awful Lorax parody from a few Treehouses back. ‘You’re a bacon double genius burger, and just a little drunk!’ is just one of many great lines.
They seem to run out of ideas after this stunt though, and the ending just fizzles out.