User Reviews

Ann tells Don about the time she spent Christmas with a lonely little boy 3 years ago.

A pretty good Christmas episode. It seems Ann was teacher at a boy's boarding school before she became an actress. One boy Tommy is left alone since his actor parents are working on a movie. He is played by Christopher Shea, who was the voice of Linus on "A Charlie Brown Christmas" the year before. Ann tries her best to make Tommy's Christmas merry by staying with him at the school. She arranges for him to spend the holiday with another boy's family, though it turns out they celebrate Hanukkah.

Santa's helper Ann meets Donald for lunch and recalls how she once sacrificed her own Xmas so a lonely boy named Tommy would not have to stay at boarding school by himself over the holidays with nobody but the janitor for company.

I've always wanted to like this series more than I do, but the truth is, many episodes - including this one - are just too plain boring for me to rate it higher. The best thing that can be said is that Ann looks adorable in her Santa's helper costume. The bulk of the episode is her trying to entertain Tommy in an empty school. She gets an idea to ask a family living close by to take the boy since he still seems depressed despite all her efforts. The script has a cute twist at the end in which Tommy has a great time despite the fact the family are Jewish and do not even celebrate Xmas.

It didn't help that Chris Shea was not a very charismatic child actor and Ann spends most of the episode interacting with just him. Donald merely appears in the wraparound scenes and Ann's Dad is onscreen only when she is talking to him over the telephone.

Better to skip this one and watch Season 2's Xmas episode instead. 4/10.