Psychobabble’s 12 Days of X-Mas Episodes: Day 7

Does the mere idea of stepping into another mall, watching It’s a Wonderful Life for the zillionth time, or talking to your loved ones make you throw up? Then settle your bowlful of jelly into the La-Z-Boy® and deck your hall with today’s installment of Psychobabble’s 12 Days of X-Mas Episodes instead! Merry vegetating!

Series: Xena: Warrior Princess

Episode: “A Solstice Carol”, in which the magnificently goofy Xena: Warrior Princess reaches new heights of goofdom as all of the essential Christmas myths fall into place for the first time in history. Xena pretends to be a ghost to convince an ancient Scrooge to amend his ways (her plan B: “The plan fails, we punch faces”) and Xena’s chakram becomes the star atop the very first Christmas tree. Xena and Gabrielle also meet a bearded toymaker named Senticles (say it out loud), create a fake snowstorm with feathers, and even encounter wee baby Jesus. Xena resists the urge to do her battle cry thingy in his face.

31 TV Shows for 31 Days of Halloween Season: Day 15

Series: Xena: Warrior Princess

Episode: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”, in which fanged bloodsuckers terrorize a town and Xena and Gabrielle swoop in to save the day like a couple of Van Helsings. The twist is that the villains aren’t vampires; they’re the minions of Bacchus, the God of Wine (a dead ringer for the demon in Fantasia). The thing is, they’re totally vampires. I’ve always wondered how directly involved “executive producer” Sam Raimi was in Xena. This episode has a real Evil Dead feel with its babbling severed head, Army of Darkness-style Dryads, jerky editing, and heroes who get infected by evil forces. Nothing is as evil as the episode’s hip-hop bacchanalia, though. Try not to cringe yourself to death watching it. I always considered Xena to be the missing link between Batman and Buffy. Since yesterday’s show was Batman, you can probably guess what tomorrow’s will be…