Which is Christmas? Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Although many famous TV shows feature Christmas episodes, some of these are neither apparent from just their titles nor do their contents and genres beget the obvious. For instance, "The Husbands of River Song" and "Five Characters in Search of an Exit" lean into fantasy and sci-fi with the former being a traditional Christmas episode for the Twelfth Doctor on "Doctor Who" and the latter being a classic episode of "The Twilight Zone" taking place in a toy canister on Christmas Day.

The other TV episodes that fit the bill are all Christmas episodes from sitcoms with "The Maternal Congruence" being an early holiday episode of "The Big Bang Theory", "Regional Holiday Music" being a "Glee"-themed take on Christmas from NBC's "Community", "The One with the Holiday Armadillo" having all the trademark naming of "Friends" (and featuring Ross as a Hannukah-themed mascot), and "The Strike" being the classic Festivus episode of "Seinfeld".

As for the non-starters, "The Star Wars Holiday Festival", while meant to be a holiday celebration, was set during 'Life Day', a made-up event from a galaxy far, far away. While some of the "Treehouse of Horror" vignettes from "The Simpsons" have touched on Christmas, this one (VIII) was not amongst them. "Blackadder: Back & Forth" actually followed "Blackadder's Christmas Carol" while "Frosty's Winter Wonderland", unlike its predecessor, "Frosty the Snowman", was not a Rankin/Bass TV movie that took place specifically on Christmas.

On the movie side, the incorrect answers might seemingly lead to Christmas, but they're mostly near-misses. Both "Die Hard" and its first sequel took place (famously) on Christmas while Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" was set during the holiday (and not Joel Schumacher's "Batman Forever"). National Lampoon's Chevy Chase-led "Vegas Vacation" wasn't quite another "Christmas Vacation" (though that movie had a straight-to-DVD sequel starring Randy Quaid). Finally "The Lake House" wasn't a Christmas movie either, but other romcoms of the time, like "Serendipity", took place then.

Movies like "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" and "Gremlins" took place on Christmas (with "Home Alone" and "Gremlins II: The New Batch" being similar in that). "Edward Scissorhands", "Meet Me in St. Louis", and "Rocky IV" all led into Christmas by the end of their respective stories, and "Eyes Wide Shut", which might be a bit of a surprise, took place over the Christmas season, which informed Stanley Kubrick's eye for decoration and disdain for the holiday's symbolic promises throughout.