Greetings,
So there are two particular things that I have stated about myself in this blog. First, I don't really do the Christmas thing, and, second, I love Drake and Josh. However, when I did my TV movie review of A Very Brady Christmas, it got more views than I had expected, as did my list of top ten Drake and Josh episodes. So I thought today I would combine those two subjects and talk about the 2008 TV movie, Merry Christmas, Drake and Josh.
For those of you who are fans of the show, you'll know that it officially ended in 2006. But someone decided they should get everyone together again for a little holiday fun and make this movie. Of course, when I say "movie", I mean that it is pretty much an extended episode, much like the Drake and Josh Go Hollywood movie. So one should not expect a boat load of surprises here. It's why I don't feel too bad about giving a few spoilers. Okay, the story.
It all starts a few days before Christmas at the Parker-Nichols house, where Drake and Josh's parents are setting off on a tropical vacation. I hate to nitpick so soon, but that little fact has a positive and a negative attached to it. I get why they had the parents go out of town for the duration of this film, because, what with all the shenanigans that will take place, they would most likely be too helpful, thus costing us said film. However, while we try to follow the main plot, there are constant cutaways to what is going on with them on their vacation island, like storms and crappy living conditions. Look, I've said before that I really like the parents on this show, but their plot has literally nothing to do with the main plot. There isn't even a tie-in at the end. It's blatant filler to make the movie long enough to be a movie. There are funny moments, sure, because the actors are funny. I just don't get the point, so I'm not going to say any more about that.
After the initial opening, we go to the mall where the boys discuss a party that Drake is planning on the roof of the Premiere, with Helen the boss's permission. Because she loves Drake. Perhaps, THAT is the real reason for this divorce she says she is celebrating. Helen then hands Drake the suit he will be wearing to play Santa, something that Josh wanted to do. Unfortunately, it is pointed out that Josh is now too skinny to play Santa.
Anyway, Drake takes his place as Santa, while Josh is forced to play a giant sack of toys. Soon, Drake meets a little girl named Mary Alice. She thinks he's Santa, of course, but is satisfied to know that he merely works for Santa. So she asks Drake for the best Christmas ever for her and all the foster kids she lives with. He hastily makes the promise so he can get the heck out of there. Bad move, dude! Because you CANNNOT break a Christmas promise. You know how I know that? It's because they say it in this movie about 87 times!
And now it's time for Drake's party where we get a brief appearance by Allison Scagliotti as Mindy Crenshaw. Too brief, if you ask me. Why they chose to get my hopes up only to then dash them with this two minute cameo is beyond me? Oh, well. Bye, fantastic character! You are apparently too funny and awesome for us to want to give you a big part in this production! We do get some Crazy Steve, though, so that makes things a little better. After some shenanigans that lands Drake and Josh in jail, Judge Henry Winkler (Yes!) orders them to give Mary Alice and her family the "best Christmas ever". And if they don't, it's back to jail for them. Which, by the way, is a movie I would pay good money to see.
Anyway, the task is not easy, because these kids are hard to please. Plus, the boys have a parole officer named Gilbert, constantly on their tail, trying to keep them in line, but not exactly helping them either.And of course, their little sister Megan is there . . . being Megan. If you've seen the show, you'll know that's not a good thing.
But - Spoiler Alert! - everything works out in the end. Yeah, you can't possibly be shocked at that. What did you expect? We get bookended by everyone showing up at the Parker-Nichols house. Everyone, even Mindy! Yay, thirty more seconds. Don't spoil us. And we get presents and Christmas carols and - snow! Crazy Steve to the rescue! Instead of ice, though, in the chipper, he uses hard cheese. Well, that's innovative and touching . . . at first. But I'm guessing after that cheese spends a couple more hours in the slightly hotter than refrigerator temperatures of San Diego, no one is going to be happy anymore. Hurry up and end this on everyone making snow/cheese angels and having snow/cheese ball fights before the board of health shows up.
And so the final verdict on this TV movie. Is it flawed? Oh, yeah. Is it good? Well, believe it or not, I do enjoy watching this, though that may have more to do with my cougar crush on Josh Peck than anything else. I know I had a lot of complaints, but mostly that's because I think this would have worked better as a two part or hour-long Drake and Josh episode. I do understand that the show was no longer on at this point, which would make that impossible. Still, we fans are happy to take what we can get. After two years of nothing, it was nice to see our beloved Drake and Josh together again, and it seems that now this will be an annual holiday staple on the Nickelodeon channel. It's not the best movie ever, of course, but it's pretty fun. Not unlike the series from which it spawned. So, I can't really have a problem with that.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
