Community: Where's Burl Ives When You Need Him

Community reminded me of something valuable tonight; Christmas can be whatever you make it. This is the time of year when things look different. Could be the time change, could be the cold, but whatever it is, the transition from fall to winter is hard. Community did what it does best tonight. The show took a classic pop culture Christmas tradition, the stop-motion animation movies, and turned it into something relevant for the modern audiences while adding humor without losing heart.

We can all connect with Abed because Christmas brings back some tough memories*, and watching movies with his mom was his favorite Christmas tradition that helped him through the season. So when she sends him a card telling him she has a new life now, it breaks his heart. Who wouldn't retreat into silicone based stop motion characters to find the meaning of the holiday? The core message of the episode is that even though he once defined Christmas as spending time with his mom, he can transform it into whatever makes him happy. He now has a tight-knit group of friends to spend the day with and they are even willing to stop a crazy Christmas Wizard while standing on top of a train.

Growing up is hard enough and adding on the loss of a favorite tradition doesn't make it any easier especially with the media cramming happy families in our faces. Community did a nice job of reminding us that the holidays don't have to be cookie-cutter to be as sweet as a gingerbread cookie. Not to mention they invented a Christmas pterodactyl.

Let's not forget Shirley as a diapered baby was pretty hilarious. Adults dressed as babies gets me every time. She also got some pipes on her, Shirley's Jesus-inspired solo during the final song was show stopping.

I love when television shows have Christmas-themed episodes because they remind you no matter how bleak life can look sometimes, when you are surrounded by people who love and support you, it brightens even the darkest winter day.

*If there's one thing every child in the world can agree on, it's that Christmas reminds us of betrayal. That was the first lie that ever made us question our parents and their sanity. I remember one year when I was about six or seven when my brother and I slept out in the living room waiting for Santa to bring our presents. He never did. So I woke up the next morning and knocked on my parent's door and said "There are no presents". We were hastily put in our rooms and "Santa" put the presents under the tree. That's how we found out. For the first ten minutes I was awake, I thought Santa had forgotten us. The horror of those minutes was like realizing the milk you are currently drinking is curdled.