This is without question my favorite Christmas episode of "Frasier". Everything from the phone call, to the office party, to the last minute mall rush shopping, to the revelations in act three.
Frasier, the masculine fop that he is, holds stalwart during another family holiday crisis; specifically what to get his son, and how to deal with his brothers marriage tumults and his father's misgivings and a- polar taste in holiday decor.
Challenges of holiday togetherness abound. The high brow quips and emoting are well timed and exceptional. The punchlines and deliveries that require a thought or two are delivered with a zest that makes the remarks condescendingly funny as well as true.
Our favorite snobs, Frasier and Niles, are brought back down to Earth from their self made high societal orbit when they must endure the unthinkable, mix with the rest of us commoners and brave the throngs of working stiffs who have rushed out for last minute Christmas shopping.
Things work out, but there is a price to pay. Literally. In the end everything works out, but not without the usual comeuppance that is suffered by both Frasier and Niles. Even so, a merry Christmas is had by all. But truly, the man who probably had the best time in this episode is the caller at the beginning of the episode.
Or, as Frasier so aptly put it; "Mele Kilikimaka, Bob!"