The Comic Strip, Part 34 - If I leave here tomorrow, would you still remember me?

"I am on this account not displeased that the figure is not known as a Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the truth the Turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, and withal a true original native of America . . . He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack a grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his farm yard with a red coat on."

--Benjamin Franklin

"Wild Turkey" - December 24, 1992

Ruby Wax and Paul Bartel are both American. Bartel was from Brooklyn and although studied in California and Italy, maintained the Metro New York area as his base for his entire (too short) life. Ruby Wax was born in the same Chicago suburb that I was.

I have no idea why either one of them didn't take a moment in the production of this episode to say "You know, Americans don't say 'Happy Christmas,' they say 'Merry Christmas.'" They also would know that Americans don't call turkeys "turks," don't use party poppers, and, more often than not, eat ham for Christmas dinner. (Because Christmas is just a month past Thanksgiving, when we do eat a gigantic turkey, the leftovers of which are just about gone when Christmas comes around and if someone wheels another big turkey at us we'll just get sick at the sight of it.)

I suspect that Bartel went along with whatever was thrown at him because he knew that this episode was a pastiche and was playing to the British stereotype. Ruby Wax, I'll be charitable for this fake Christmas and just say that, well, this is her stock in trade.

This is a one-off Christmas special, and it has a weird feel to it. Apart from a special effects shot at the end, the whole episode takes place on one set that's laid out like a stage play (we even get one of those immense fake skylines that has multiple light levels so it can change with the time of day, like in Rope). The episode itself feels like six people locked themselves in a room with a bunch of paper and a couple of bottles of tequila, and spent a fun weekend lobbing ideas at each other and sort of took notes. Then, after they had all passed out someone else came in, scooped up the notes and did their best to make sense of it. This is the only reason I can come up with for them to have (as an example) made the immense gun-wielding turkey a bacitracin addict. It's one of those details that is either complete genius or the result of some other idea that's gone completely haywire.