King of the Hill – “’Twas the Nut Before Christmas”
Original airdate 12/17/00
In this terrific episode, Bill is depressed at Christmas. Unlike Hank and Dale, he doesn’t have children with whom to share the holidays. (Note that Bill is usually depressed. This episode just gives him a specific motivation.) Hank takes him to the Post Office to cheer him up (“You can put a five dollar bill in the change machine and pretend you’re in Las Vegas.”), and Bill brings home a stack of undeliverable letters to Santa. He buys presents for the needy kids who sent those letters, which cheers him up considerably.
In fact, Bill likes it so much that he turns his house into Santa’s Village, puts on the costume, and gives gifts to the neighborhood kids. As Bill revels in his new popularity, a single mother offers to make him a home-cooked meal after the holidays. Meanwhile, Santa’s village gets ever more extravagant. Bill’s friends live with the inconvenience, since he’s finally enjoying Christmas, and it’ll be all over by the New Year.
