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"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" is the third Christmas episode of the animated series The Simpsons, aired as the tenth episode of the show's ninth season.

Synopsis[]

Homer and Marge go Christmas shopping at Try-N-Save, where frenzied shoppers are quickly snatching the holiday season's most popular toys. Homer, posing as a cashier, announces the opening of a new check-out lane, where he manages to sneak away with several toys for his children. At home, the family makes its last-minute Christmas preparations. At bedtime on Christmas Eve, Marge tells everyone no one may open presents until 7am, and to make sure that there is no cheating or unfair advantage, she confiscates all of the alarm clocks.

However, Bart, relying on an old Indian trick, drinks 12 glasses of water, in order to wake up early to use the bathroom and get an early look at his presents. He awakes at 5:04am and—after a quick visit to the bathroom—unwraps his presents. One of them is the coveted Inferno Buster 3000, a remote-controlled fire truck. He has fun playing with it, until it crashes into the Christmas tree and sets it on fire. The flames immediately engulf it and all of the presents beneath it. Bart manages to extinguish the fire before it spreads, and hides the burned evidence outside beneath the snow in the front yard.

When the family comes downstairs at 7:01am, Bart lies to them. He makes up a story about how he witnessed a burglary in progress, the suspect having made off with the tree and all of the family's presents. The police investigate, and Kent Brockman decides to do a human interest story on what he believes is the Simpsons' yuletide misfortune.

As a result of Brockman's report, everyone in Springfield shows their community spirit by giving them a new Christmas tree and $15,000. With the donations, Homer buys a new car (which the dealer marked up from $12,000 just for him), which he promptly drives into a lake, causing the car to blow up.

The next morning, Bart's conscience finally gets to him and admits the truth to his family. Soon, Brockman and the Channel 6 news crew conveniently arrive to do a follow-up story. Homer slaps on a plastic smile and tells the "burglar" that he will be caught, but the story quickly unravels when a cameraman, with help from Santa's Little Helper, finds the burned remains of the Christmas tree. The family is forced to explain, but it is too little too late for the viewers, who feel they have been scammed. The citizens demand the Simpsons pay back the $15,000, lest they be treated as outcasts.

Marge decides the only alternative is to get another Christmas tree and the same presents, so she becomes a contestant on Jeopardy!, however, she performs very poorly. Eventually, everyone in Springfield (including Alex Trebek), having grown tired of waiting for the debt to be repaid, decides to steal everything in the family's house to sell (including Snowball II); on the bright side, everyone forgives them for their lies. In the end, they playfully fight over a tattered washcloth, the only thing they have left and going into A Touch of Frost for their insurance.

Songs[]

Uncredited, aside from the theme music.

Availability[]

The episode made its home video debut on the Christmas with the Simpsons DVD, released in 2003. It was later included on The Simpsons: The Complete 9th Season DVD set in 2006.

Notes[]

Cast[]

Voice actor/actress Character(s)
Dan Castellaneta Homer Simpson
Abraham Simpson
Barney Gumble
Krusty the Clown
Sideshow Mel
Julie Kavner Marge Simpson
Nancy Cartwright Bart Simpson
Ralph Wiggum
Yeardley Smith Lisa Simpson
Hank Azaria Chief Wiggum
Lou
Moe Szyslak
Apu Nahasapeemapetilon
Kliff
Store clerk
Carl Carlson
Jeopardy! judge
Comic Book Guy
The Sea Captain
Harry Shearer Jasper
Dr. Hibbert
Kent Brockman
Mr. Burns
Ned Flanders
Principal Skinner
Alex Trebek Himself
Marcia Wallace Edna Krabappel
Pamela Hayden Milhouse Van Houten
Patches
Tress MacNeille Poor Violet
Maggie Roswell Miss Hoover

See also[]

External links[]

20th Century
Movies
Miracle on 34th Street (1955 remake) (1973 remake) (1994 remake) • Die HardDie Hard 2Home AloneHome Alone 2: Lost in New YorkGeorge Balanchine's The NutcrackerTrapped in ParadiseJingle All the WayHome Alone 4The Family StoneDeck the Halls12 Men of ChristmasHome Alone: The Holiday HeistJingle All the Way 2Home Sweet Home Alone
Television episodes and specials
20th Television
M*A*S*H "Dear Dad" • "Dear Sis" • "Death Takes a Holiday" • "All About Christmas Eve"
Tracey Ullman "Santa Baby" • "Kay's Gift" • "Merry Catnip"
The X Files "Christmas Carol" • "Emily" • "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas"
Malcolm in the Middle "Christmas" • "Christmas Trees" • "Pearl Harbor" • "Hal's Christmas Gift
Bones "The Man in the Fallout Shelter" • "The Santa in the Slush" • "The Goop on the Girl"
How I Met Your Mother "How Lily Stole Christmas" • "Little Minnesota" • "False Positive" • "Symphony of Illumination" • "The Over-Correction" • "The Final Page, Part 1" • "The Final Page, Part 2"
Glee "A Very Glee Christmas" • "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" • "Glee, Actually" • "Previously Unaired Christmas"
New Girl "The 23rd" • "Santa" • "LAXmas" • "Christmas Eve Eve"
The Mindy Project "Josh and Mindy's Christmas Party" • "Christmas Party Sex Trap" • "Christmas" • "When Mindy Met Danny"
Last Man Standing "Last Christmas Standing" • "Putting a Hit on Christmas" • "Elfie" • "Wedding Planning" • "Gift of the Wise Man"
Other shows "Christmas Story" • "The Worst Noel" • "Haus Arrest" • "Amends" • "Blue Christmas" • "A Christmas Story" • "Cookies for Santa" • "In God We Trust" • "Road to Tradition" • "Afternoon Delight" • "Christmas" • "The Glitch That Stole Christmas" • "Secret Santa"
20th Television Animation
The Simpsons "Simpson Christmas" • "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire" • "Marge Be Not Proud" • "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" • "Grift of the Magi" • "Skinner's Sense of Snow" • "She of Little Faith" • "'Tis the Fifteenth Season" • "Simpson Christmas Stories" • "Kill Gil, Volumes I & II" • "The Fight Before Christmas" • "Holidays of Future Passed" • "White Christmas Blues" • "I Won't Be Home for Christmas • "The Nightmare After Krustmas" • "'Tis the 30th Season" • "Bobby, It's Cold Outside" • "The Way of The Dog" • "A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas" • "Manger Things" • Feliz Navidad
King of the Hill "The Unbearable Blindness of Laying" • "Pretty, Pretty Dresses" • "Hillennium" • "'Twas the Nut Before Christmas" • "The Father, the Son, and J.C." • "Livin' on Reds, Vitamin C and Propane" • "Ms. Wakefield"
Family Guy, American Dad!, and The Cleveland Show "A Very Special Family Guy Freakin' Christmas" • "The Best Christmas Story Never" • "The Most Adequate Christmas Ever" • "Rapture's Delight" • "A Cleveland Brown Christmas" • "Road to the North Pole" • "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls" • "Murray Christmas" • "Season's Beatings" • "Die Semi-Hard" • "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" • "'Tis the Cleveland To Be Sorry" • "Minstrel Krampus" • "Christmas Guy" • "Dreaming of a White Porsche Christmas" • "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin" • "How the Griffin Stole Christmas" • "Ninety North, Zero West" • "Gifted Me Liberty" • "Don't Be a Dickens At Christmas" • "Santa, Schmanta" • "Christmas is Coming" • "Yule. Tide. Repeat." • "The First No L" • "Christmas Crime" • "The Return of the King (of Queens)"
Futurama "Xmas Story" • "A Tale of Two Santas" • "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" • "I Know What You Did Next Xmas"
Bob's Burgers "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins" • "Christmas in the Car" • "Father of the Bob" • "Nice-Capades" • "The Last Gingerbread House on the Left" • "The Bleakening" • "Better Off Sled" • "Have Yourself a Maily Linda Christmas" • "Yachty or Nice" • "Gene's Christmas Break" • "The Plight Before Christmas" • "The Nightmare 2 Days Before Christmas"
Other cartoons "Hook's Christmas" • "A Christmas Surprise for Mrs. Stillman" • Olive, the Other ReindeerIce Age: A Mammoth Christmas • "The War on Grafelnik" • "Miracle on Culpepper Slims Boulevard" • "A Very Solar Holiday Opposites Special" • "Dip the Halls Adventure" • "Xmas with The Skanks Adventure"
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