Sitcom: That Girl
Episode: Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid
Year: 1966
Story line: Ann recalls when she spent Christmas with a lonely boy.
Details: We start with Ann the ever-struggling actress playing a Christmas elf at a shopping mall. But this isn’t David Sedaris playing Crumpet the Christmas elf. This is Marlo Thomas, vaguely hot but squeaky clean and oozing goodness and good cheer. She flashes back to a Christmas three years earlier, when she was teaching at a boys’ school and stayed behind to be with Tommy Phillips, who was destined to spend the holiday alone at school. Ann does what Ann does and in her goofy way manages to place Tommy with a local family for the holiday. It isn’t till after the fact that she realizes the family is Jewish …
Killer quote: “Jewish people don’t have a tree, and they don’t celebrate Christmas.” Tommy, after returning to school from the Greene’s home and informing Ann that it wasn’t Christmas they were celebrating.
Ebenezer alert: The insurance company, which won’t let Ann take Tommy to her father’s house for the holiday because it’s too far away. Even then, insurance companies sucked.
Childhood memory: I’m not sure why, but I remember this one vividly. I’m pretty sure I first saw it in reruns and I think I was home sick as Christmas approached. The scene the really struck me was where they were playing basketball in an empty gym. For some reason, I thought that would be really cool. Maybe it’s the beginning of my fascination with end-of-the-world movies, where no one is around and you have everything to yourself — highways, stores, even gymnasiums.