The Simpsons - All 15 Christmas Episodes Ranked
7. Grift Of The Magi
When Grift of the Magi aired in season 11, it was met with heavy criticism. The plot seemed little more than a patchwork quilt of concepts, "Funzo" seemed way too obvious (and annoying) of a Furby parody, and did Gary Coleman really qualify as enough of a star for a Simpsons guest appearance at that point (remember, this was before every single celeb had been on the show)?
How time has brought clarity with this particular Simpsons Christmas outing. Grift of the Magi is now quotable, the late Gary Coleman turned out to be one of the show's better guest stars, and was praised for the appearance, and even Funzo ("writhing Funzos, in my sack, makes me happy, makes me hurt my back!") seems less obnoxious with age. Or, well, in the context of the episode, it's the perfect level of obnoxious.
It all starts out with a broke Springfield Elementary selling out to a toy company, who secretly use the students as a focus group to design the ultimate Christmas toy: Funzo. Tim Robbins also guest stars, and all these years later, maybe we were way to harsh on Grift of the Magi the first time around.