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"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" is the 10th episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. This episode is the third Christmas-related story in the series' history.

Plot

Homer and Marge go Christmas shopping at the Try-N-Save, where frenzied shoppers are quickly snatching the holiday season's most popular toys. Homer, posing as a store 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 7 a.m. ... and just to make sure there's no cheating or unfair advantage, she's confiscated all of the alarm clocks.

However, Bart relying on an old Indian trick, has drunk 12 glasses of water, in order to wake up early to use the bathroom and get an early look at his presents. Sure enough, he awakes at 5:04 a.m. and - after a quick visit to the bathroom - unwraps his gifts. One of those presents is the coveted Inferno Buster 3000, a remote-controlled fire truck. Bart has fun playing with the truck, until it crashes into the Christmas tree setting it on fire. The flames immediately engulf the plastic Christmas tree 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 7:01 a.m., Bart lies to them. He makes up a story about how he caught a burglary in process, and the suspect 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. He admits the truth ... there was no burglar. He caused an accident that resulted in a fire that destroyed his tree and all of the presents. Soon, Kent 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's too little, too late for irate viewers, who feel they have been scammed.

It isn't long before the Simpsons are treated like outcasts, with huge sacks of hate mail arriving each day and people throwing rotten food at their home.

Marge decides the only alternative is to get another Christmas tree and the same presents, so she becomes a contestant on Jeopardy!; however, Marge performs very poorly. Eventually, everyone in Springfield decides to forgive the Simpsons' lies... in return for the pleasure of buying the Simpsons' house out of everything save for a tattered washcloth, which the family playfully fights over and going into A Touch of Frost for their insurance.

Cultural references

• Miracle on 34th Street – The episode title is a play on the Christmas film.
• "Jeopardy!" – Alex Trebek's comment that Marge owed the show $5,200 (based on her negative $5,200 score, which cannot happen in real life on the show) is a spoof of criticism concerning Trebek's sometimes stern rules enforcement of shows he hosted, particularly during the early years of "Jeopardy!" Marge's poor performance is akin to "Weird Al" Yankovic's ineptitude in the music video, "I Lost on Jeopardy!"
• It's a Wonderful Life - the scene where everyone rallies around to support the Simpsons is reminiscent of the last scene of the classic holiday movie. The scene where George Bailey tells his child to stop playing the piano is also spoofed by Homer telling Lisa to stop playing the piano.

Trivia

• Chief Wiggum took a Life in Hell doll from the Simpsons at the end. His son Ralph is later seen with it in This Little Wiggy.
• Homer calls Ned Flanders "Ted" at one point.

External links

• Capsule of this episode at The Simpsons Archive
• The Simpsons: Miracle On Evergreen Terrace from tv.com

• The Simpsons episodes, season 9
• Christmas television episodes