Review: DVD collection of vintage Christmas sitcoms has real holiday charm

November 6, 12:00 PMTV on DVD ExaminerSteve Marinucci

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     (Credit: Shout Factory)

It's beginning to look a lot like ...

Nah, let's forget the cliches and say  "Merry Sitcom! Christmas Classics from TV's Golden Age" is a nice way to spread holiday cheer.

Christmas sitcoms are usually a departure from the usual fare in that the stories often take the sitcom regulars a little out of character. Sometimes, even characters who are at odds seem to find that holiday spirit. 

But if you get past that, you'll find some fun among the seven episodes from the vintage sitcoms featured here. The best, without a doubt, is "The Day They Captured Santa Claus" from "McHale's Navy," when the crew and Capt. Binghampton find themselves captured by the enemy while on a Christmas mission. When the usually crabby "Leadbottom" can find something agreeable with McHale, you know he's either lost it  ... or it's Christmas.

The strangest is "The Flying Nun" with "Wailing in a Winter Wonderland." Snow in Puerto Rico? Well, if a nun can fly ...

Other sitcoms featured are "Father Knows Best," "The Donna Reed Show," Bewitched" and "That Girl."

A special bonus is a holiday episode of the rarely seen "Window on Main Street," which starred Robert Young in a post-"Father Knows Best" role from the 1961-62 TV season. The single episode of the series, which starred Young as a widowed author, was no match for the family series and this episode shows why.