before you end up under a pile of fruitcake

...consider some last minute holiday television specials. Honestly, it doesn't get much better than this. You thought Thanksgiving had good TV, well think again!

This time I went a little more personal. Besides the ones already discussed, these Christmas specials are really dear to me, I remember watching them repeatedly growing up. Each one can honestly make you feel pretty warm inside.



Full House -
S02E09 - Our Very First Christmas Show
CHRISTMAS IN AN AIRPORT. And also an epic speech by Uncle Jesse about the true meaning of Christmas. It also the first kiss between Jesse and Becky which is something most of us were living to experience in the late 80's.
S06E12 - A Very Tanner Christmas
DJ and Steve break up (and get back together) and Jesse gives Becky the gift of snow courtesy of sno-cone ice. Michelle and Stephanie also get a wonderful gift from their Uncle...they visit a homeless shelter and serve Christmas dinner. They finally realize it's not about what is under the tree.



The Golden Girls
S02E11 - 'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas
The girls decide to make gifts for each other. This is the unveiling of The Men Of Blanche's Boudoir Calendar. They are held hostage at the grief center before going their separate ways for the holidays. In a freak storm for Florida all of their flights are cancelled and they spend the evening in a diner, only to realize that they actually are celebrating with family.
S05E12 - Have Yourself A Very Little Christmas
The girls join Rose serving Christmas dinner to the homeless at her church. Dorothy's ex-husband Stanley is among the patrons after making some bad investments and being kicked out by his current wife. Dorothy gives him a handout which pays for some flowers to get him back into his house, but not before dressing as Santa and bringing some joy to the homeless kids.



Saved By The Bell
S03E24&25 - Home For Christmas Parts 1 & 2 *To be honest, the season/episode may not be right, I'm going off of IMDB because nowhere in internet land seems to know actual seasons/air dates of this show. IMDB, Netflix and the DVDs all have different listings.
In a super random two part episode, the gang gets jobs at the mall over the holiday break (so seriously for a few days). Zack meets a girl named Laura and tries to woo her. Zack, Slater and Screech also encounter a homeless man living in the mall. Turns out this man is Laura's father. They all reach out and try to help them get back on their feet, all while performing a Christmas play (A Christmas Carol, of course) in the mall.



Friends
S07E10 - The One With The Holiday Armadillo
Out of all of the Friends Christmas episodes, for me this one is the obvious choice. Ross wants to teach Ben all about Hanukkah this holiday but all he wants to do is talk about Santa Claus. In an effort to please his son he tries to find a Santa suit but comes up empty. Instead he poses as the Holiday Armadillo to try and teach Ben about the Jewish Holiday. Chandler obtains a Santa suit and Joey obtains a Superman suit so all of the mascots get to learn about THE MACCABEES.



Roswell
S02E10 - A Roswell Christmas Carol
This is the holiday special I will watch repeatedly. It's a great treat even if you haven't seen the entire series (WHICH YOU SHOULD). Max, Michael and Isabel are aliens from the New Mexican crash now hiding in plain sight as teenagers. A local girl they find out has a rare cancer and in an effort to rectify not saving a father from a car wreck Max tries to heal the little girl. The others are against it, fearing they will be caught but once Max starts he can't stop. He tries to heal all the little kids with cancer in the hospital and eventually all of the aliens are on board with his decision wishing they could have healed more. For a teen drama on the WB in the late 90's it is heartbreaking and magical all at the same time (and it's on Netflix). And not gonna lie, I couldn't look at screencaps for this without welling up.

And even though it's been done, if you haven't already, give The OC, Home Improvement, Family Matters, The Office and Doctor Who a shot, they could always use more love.

before the tryptophan takes over...

In case you're not sick of Thanksgiving television yet, I have a few other randoms that you can watch to keep yourself occupied while everyone else is watching football. Just a few of my other favorites that may not fit a specific category.



Gilmore Girls - Deep-Fried Korean Thanksgiving
No one can really eat like a Gilmore girl so of course they have four dinners to attend. I wish I had their metabolism.

Full House - The Miracle Of Thanksgiving
The family's first Thanksgiving after losing Pam. It's really touching even if the turkey didn't turn out. Poor DJ.

Grey's Anatomy - Thanks For The Memories
When this show started I really liked Izzie and felt really bad that no one wanted to show up at her Thanksgiving. I think she was shafted and they all knew of her cooking skills so it surprises me that people weren't begging for an invite.

How I Met Your Mother - Belly Full Of Turkey, Slapsgiving, Slapsgiving 2: Revenge Of The Slap, Blitzgiving
Next to Friends, HIMYM really gets it right when it comes to Thanksgiving episodes. Waiting for a slap (a few times), The Blitz ruining the holiday by keeping everyone away from Ted's dinner and Barney donning an apron to feed the homeless. That's warm and fuzzy right there. And of course there is still an active countown to Slapsgiving even if it is overdue.

South Park - Helen Keller: The Musical!
It's exactly like it sounds.

Roswell - Max In The City
There isn't a lot of Thanksgiving in this episode but the fact that aliens ditch their human families to travel to NYC with duplicates of themselves and risk missing a festive meal keeps it on the list.

The OC - The Homecoming
Seth running around trying to please two ladies, Caleb Nichol (THE ULTIMATE) bringing home a busty blond to seduce Ryan just for Marissa to see! NO, but yes. Oh and the start of Kiki's boozy adventure with, one of my favorite TV lines of all-time, "FRESH MARGS!"

Saved By The Bell: The College Years - A Thanksgiving Story
Overall not sure you can go wrong with helping inner-city kids eat a Thanksgiving dinner complete with cameos from Jonathan Brandis, Jenna Von Oy, Brian Austin Green and Mr. Belding, all of which are still totally relevant. I may be the only one that loves the college years, but oh I do.

Felicity - Thanksgiving
The story of a girl named Felicity. Wants to go home, stays and drama ensues, including her making out with her spoken for RA!

Happy Turkey Day, I'll be off doing whathaveyou for the next few days and since the next few days doesn't have much tv I'll do a lovely post about it all probably Friday morning so enjoy REBECCA BLACK FRIDAY (of course I'll be back for that, duh, best holiday).

lets watch roswell, mmkay

Time for episode two,The Morning After. If you need to catch up you can "watch" the pilot here.

We open yet again with Liz Parker writing in her journal...contemplating how she'll never look at the stars again ever since learning that Max Evans (and Michael Guerin and Isabel Evans) is an alien. She wonders if he is just as tortured and unable to sleep as she is...


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Well, is he?


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Nope. But, Max is awoken with Michael sneaking in through his window (which he seems more than comfortable doing). He too is tortured and unable to sleep (get with it Max, geez) and is upset at Max for being so...calm.

So Max offers him a sleeping bag.


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CREDITS.

Roswell season 1 opening credits from Alans056 on Vimeo.

Michael likes to investigate on his own, it seems he feels that Max is constantly dragging his heels because he's afraid of finding out where they come from. Michael, however, has hardly any ties to their earthly life and his foster dad that keeps him around for the monthly check, so he decides to look for access into the Sherrif's station.



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Maria and Liz are at the Crashdown. Maria is telling Liz how she does not trust the aliens, cough, "Czechoslovakians". I mean, are they good Czechoslovakians, bad Czechoslovakians? They don't know. For all they know they don't have their passports. Then Maria spots Michael...and informs Liz that he creeps her out (oh stupid Maria), however not before Alex perks up from behind a booth and questions who is from Czechoslovakia? No one gives him an answer.



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The next day at school, the usual Geometry teacher is absent and has been replaced by Darla from Buffy, Rita from Dexter, Ms. Topolsky.


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When she gets to Michael Guerin's name and he is not there she asks a lot of questions. Then she completely forgets attendance at all and proceeds to teach.

Sheriff Valenti walks into his office to find a burly African-American man parked on a folding chair in the middle of the station. Finding this odd (and also finding it odd that apparently no one else finds it odd), he asks him to leave.

Back at school, Maria (with her worst hair ever) proceeds to tell Liz that she thinks Ms. Topolsky is an alien hunter because she takes attendance.


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She also thinks it is important that they tell Alex, though they cannot come up with a good reason why (um, they're best friends)? She then tells Liz that Kyle Valenti is heading towards her (not just in her general direction) and even though Liz thought she was just a summer thing she was really wrong about that, Kyle is still in lurve.


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Liz then tells Max that Maria thinks that Ms. Topolsky is an alien hunter, and Max broods as he does best.


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Max insists that life is just like it is before and nothing needs to change. As Liz is walking down the hall she runs into Ms. Topolsky who was carrying Michael's file. She knows Liz by name (claiming photographic memory), and makes small talk. Well, Liz also must think that Max is just dragging his heels (seriously, even LIZ cares about where they come from more than Max), because she decides to visit ye olde Trailer Park to tell Michael that he is being investigated.



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She even asks about Hank. Look at Liz, trying to make friends.

It's now late at the Sherrif's office, and before Valenti calls it a day, he takes a small key from an envelope hidden in the depths of his desk and places it inside his thermos.


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After a quick stop at the gas station, who would show up that late at night selling candy for charity? Well, Michael of course.


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And they weren't buying (the candy NOR the story, see what happened there?) unfortunately, and so Michael's plan to infiltrate the Sheriff's station did not happen. So he heads over to his home away from home, Max and Isabel's to tell them of his plan, which of course, they do not agree with. Then Isabel goes on a date wearing a horrible leopard print jacket.


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Back at school Max witnesses a handshake between Ms. Topolsky and Sheriff Valenti being supervised by the principal. Stranger Danger!


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This causes Max to brood even more, but of course after some mulling about in that brooding head of his he decides to meet with Liz in the eraser room to do some spying.


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Within the eraser room Max and Liz do not make out, which is apparently what you do in the Eraser room (according to Maria it's not just kissing that goes on in the Eraser room, it can also steal your innocence, and I think Max and Lis are due to lose some of their innocence). They instead talk about Michael (excellent mood killer) and how Liz got him all riled up. Max doesn't appreciate a riled Michael.


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They strike gold and over hear Topolsky discussing Michael and how she's going to track him down to be interviewed. Huge red flag you guys! Max tracks down Michael who informs him that things are being taken out of the Sheriff's office so it's now or never, they gotta break in.

Liz goes into the Crashdown on what seems to be the busiest night ever and asks Maria to cover for her to help with Czechoslovakian business. Alex interrupts asking them for the umpteenth time who is Czechoslovakian because that country hasn't existed for ten years. They tell Alex that Czechoslovakian is code for cramps.


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Kyle sees Max and Liz take off to Michael's trailer to wait for Topolsky. He gets the wrong idea after Liz in seen dipping down toward Max's lap (maybe they lost a little too much innocence in the Eraser room, amiright?) so he confronts them.



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Liz explains that she dropped her ring, which is true. They see Topolsky come and go, and after waving off annoying Kyle, they drive away, but not before Topolsky get a good look at Liz.

Again, not wanting to wait on Max, Michael takes it upon himself to shimmy up the drain pipe and break into Sheriff Valenti's office. Isabel explains her distaste for this and then brushes her hair behind her shoulder. She has to play decoy again and she is not looking forward to it.



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Max follows Michael up the pipe and Isabel portrays the damsel in distress and asks Valenti to help her fix a flat tire on her unregistered jeep.


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While all of this is happening, Michael finds the key, and the key gives him a vision.



Is that a geodesic dome I see?
After Max and Michael escape, they all try the key. None of the other aliens have luck obtaining a vision.

For the closing monologue Liz talks about secrets.

Ever since I found out about Max and Michael and Isabel, I’ve been thinking a lot about secrets.
That for everyone who has a secret, there’s someone else who needs to know what that secret is.


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How sometimes secrets keep people from feeling like they belong.



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And sometimes secrets make you feel like you do belong. And now even I, Liz Parker, the smallest of small town girls with the simplest of lives-- even I have something to hide.

Basically Kyle feels alone, Topolsky is alone and nosy as she tells Liz she's actually a guidance counselor and is worried that Michael is going to be expelled, Valenti feels alone with out his key, Michael feels alone since he doesn't have a driveway to play basketball in. And Liz has her journal, the best of friends.


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Fin.

let's watch roswell, mmkay

I've decided I need more people to watch tv with. So what am I going to do? Once a week I am going to post a description of a fantastic episode of a show that I have watched. And I take requests! Why? Because this will be amazing.

First we are going to start with the pilot of Roswell. It's possible I may just do every episode of Roswell, we will have to see how this goes? I think it'll be amazing. Time consuming, true, but amazing nonetheless.

Just to get a feel...

Set in Roswell, NM, home of the infamous 1947 alien crash, three aliens (for now) are trying to blend in as teenagers. After their secret is uncovered it is a constant run from the law and those from another world...

Liz Parker (Shiri Appleby: Life Unexpected, Swimfan)
Max Evans (Jason Behr: Breakout Kings, a few episodes of Dawson's Creek and one of Buffy The Vampire Slayer)
Isabel Evans (Katherine Heigl: Just for fun, lets only mention Wish Upon A Star)
Michael Guerin (Brendan Fehr: Final Destination for one second, CSI: Miami)
Maria De Luca (Majandra Delfino: Men Of A Certain Age, The Tony Danza Show)
Alex Whitman (Colin Hanks: Dexter, Orange County which my husband can quote verbatim)
Kyle Valenti (aka the best character aka Nick Weschler: Revenge)
Sheriff Jim Valenti (William Sadler: The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and a billion other things because he's the best)

Okay, now that you're familiar with the cast, lets just jump right in shall we?

We begin with Liz Parker explaining to us via her journal that she passed away five days ago.

What?


Yeah. She said that.

It's September 23rd, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died...

We're off to a great start.

Rewind to a diner. A diner where Liz and her friend Maria are obviously working the lunch rush. Maria mentions to Liz that Max Evans is staring at her...again...because apparently this happens every single day? I guess it does, though Liz does not believe it and continues to serve coffee.


A fight breaks out, Liz falls to the ground, very dramatically, after being hit with a bullet. The gunmen flee and Max rushes to Liz's side.



There are flashes of them as children, playgrounds, cupcake dresses and as soon as we are back to reality, Liz is just fine.

Liz's dad (diner owner) shows up at the crime scene where shady Sheriff Valenti asks a bunch of questions not even pertaining to the incident but noticing several empty Tabasco sauce bottles. He talks to some UFO fanatics who advise him that there is no bullet to be found, yet there is a bullet hole in the dress! Zoinks! Liz assures them that all she did is spill ketchup.

The next day in class, Max shows up as Liz's lap partner like it ain't no thing. That is, until they have to scrape cells from their cheek to observe under a microscope. Max takes off using the bathroom as an excuse but luckily he left behind his pencil that he's been sucking on. Liz conducts an experiment...


Normal cells.


Max's cells.
So yeah, there's a problem. Liz confronts Max and shows him a silver handprint that has popped up on her stomach, and he explains that he is from another world.



How do you respond to that? Naturally you calmly decide that you're starting to have feelings for the alien, because that makes perfect sense...this is high school after all.

Now Liz is confronted with the task of explaining to her best friend Maria why she has been acting weird...she just explains again that she spilled ketchup, while she holds the blood-soaked dress in her backpack which miraculously disappears.

Max now has to tell his sister Isabel (another alien) and their friend Michael (also an alien) that he let Liz in on their secret. Michael wants to bail, as we find Michael ALWAYS wants to do, and Isabel begins to feel threatened. Typical Heiglism there if I do say so. The Sheriff pulls them over for absolutely no reason but makes a connection when he sees an empty Tabasco sauce bottle at Michael's feet. Spooky.


Max should probably explain himself a little more, eh? What better way to show up at the balcony of the chick you healed. Seems logical and not creepy at all. He tells her that he remembers her from when they were young and she wore a cupcake dress her mom made and that is enough for him to show her how he can see into her soul. It is tender, that's for sure, but if it were me I'd probably freak out a hell of a lot more.


Sup.

Meanwhile Liz is dating the Sheriff's son Kyle, and before he goes to kiss her goodnight on a date he see's that handprint. You know what he's going to do...run and tell daddy of course!

Remember the backpack? Of course you do! Well the next day Liz is looking for it while cornered by her other best friend Alex, and explains that Maria is a drama queen. Then the sheriff rolls into the school like he owns it and tells Liz that his son tattled and he needed to see her stomach.

Hold it. I wouldn't show the Sheriff my stomach, but Liz does it quite without hesitation. But of course it wasn't there anymore. The Sheriff explained that was typical, showed her some photos of dead bodies with handprints, marked 1959. First thoughts, wow Max is old!

Liz tracks down Max at school to ask him questions on a list of paper that she wrote down because the protagonist always has to be organized. She asked if there were others, which he explains Michael and Isabel. He has no idea who the bodies were or anyone from 1959 for that matter. Big help, Max. Max decides to pull a Michael and bail.

Max picks up Isabel (dressed as an alien, ironically, for that evenings Crash anniversary festival) and Michael (who only brings with him what he is wearing because he likes to point out at every opportunity that his foster dad is only keeping him around to collect the 'monthly check') and they drive off into the sunset in a jeep that probably isn't even registered.

By this point, Maria has been let in on the secret and I must say, she reacted like any sane human being would...and she is the least sane of the bunch, after maybe Michael.


Liz, you were on your way to be like a world renowned scientist...and I was going to be your wacky friend. Where does this leave me? You can't be a wacky friend to someone who's already wacky, it would be like, redundant.
So they flip out, take Maria's Jetta out to follow the aliens. Instead of fleeing, Liz cooks up a plan to get the aliens to stay and get Sheriff Valenti off of their case.

Liz tells her boyfriend Kyle to meet her at the podium at the festival in 30 minutes not including drive time. She takes this opportunity to sneak a peak at what he will be wearing at the festival. This is a key piece to their plan. It was assumed that the Sheriff would take Max into custody, so while he doe that, Maria donates the Jetta as the vehicle that will crash into her (DMB reference) and an unknown alien (played by Michael) will show up to heal her, just like Liz was healed) wearing Kyle's costume, thus throwing Valenti way off of their case. Too bad they used spray paint and the Sheriff got some on his hand. It was obviously a prank and the Sheriff had to let Max go.



And then the aliens watch the fake aliens get killed in a fake crash, this is their version of home movies I guess. Jonathan Frakes is there, too, but there weren't any screencaps of him.


Then as Dave Matthews Band's Crash Into Me soothes us in the background, Max crushes Liz by telling her that they cannot be together (well, duh, she's dating Kyle, did Max forget that?) because they're different. Again, duh, but that never stopped anyone before?


Heart shaped flames, booyah.
So that's what happened. Liz died and then all this happened and wow, she lived to tell the tale, only in the recap of her journal entry she gets the date wrong. September 24th. So I'm honestly unsure of which date this happened on.

This is one of my favorite shows of all time, and it's one of two of my favorite pilots of all time and I watch a lot of TV. Maybe this will encourage you to stop going outside and on vacations and to just watch more television because the WB circa 1999 is where it's at.

Next week? Hilary Duff's episode of Law & Order: SVU aka The One About Casey Anthony. That will be a really good one, you will not want to miss it.

*all caps courtesy of TheDDD.net which thank Buddah is still around! All caps except for the one that is given credit, via tumblr/google image search "Maria De Luca Pilot Green Outfit".