Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas

Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas is the twelfth episode of Season 5 of The Golden Girls TV Series. It was directed by Terry Hughes and written by Susan Harris. The episode originally aired on NBC-TV on December 16, 1989.

Summary
After Dorothy returns from Christmas shopping for her grandchildren, her ex-husband Stan arrives at the door informing them of a small get-rich-quick business scheme in which he asks for money from each of the girls. The girls refuse and quickly shove Stan out.

After he leaves, Dorothy tells Sophia and Blanche a new way for the girls to get each other presents since she says it's way too hot and crowded in Miami to go shopping for everyone this year. The new plan is for everyone to choose a name out of a hat and only get a present for the person whose name they choose, however, Blanche, Sophia, and Dorothy are worried about whose name Rose would pick since she notorious for her bad gift-giving. After informing Rose of their plan, she is at first hesitant because she actually enjoys shopping but eventually comes around because she says she will get her Christmas spirit from volunteering with the Church this year. They all agree to do this new way of gift buying this year and begin picking names from a hat. We see that Blanche will gift for Dorothy, Dorothy for Sophia, Sophia for Rose, and finally Rose for Blanche.

Fast forward to Christmas, Rose actually gifts Blanche a beautiful golden blouse. As Rose leaves to get ready to volunteer, the rest of the girls offer to come with. At the church, the girls begin preparing the food for the homeless when they spot a man dressed as Santa in the crowd. Blanche explains that charities will often give poor people a few bucks to dress as Santa and do work for them every holiday. Soon it is revealed that the man in the Santa suit is actually Stan. Shocked, Dorothy goes off to talk to him and asks what happened with his business plan. Stan explains that he was just trying to get some quick money from them, that all of his business plans were failing, and he had been kicked out of the house by his wife, Katherine, for infidelity. Stan begins wallowing in self-pity while Dorothy tries to get him to realize that he isn't alone in his situation and that he should be considerate when the other people at the church are not as fortunate as him. Stan refuses to see the situation as anything but terrible, despite his situation not being the worst of it all.

Back inside, the Pastor is talking to the girls about how Stan's situation is not uncommon and how many people are only a couple of paychecks away from being out on the street. They talk about the unfairness to the government towards the unfortunate and the difficulty there is with picking yourself up financially once you've already been pushed down. Unfortunately, Stan had become a downer in the church and Dorothy takes him out to talk again and cheer him up by saying how he's always been able to get out of financial dumps. They share a memory of one of their past Christmas, but Stan insists that the situation is way different. He again asks Dorothy for money, she gives him $60, and he leaves.

Inside the church, the girls talk about how they wish they could help the families and their children more than just on Christmas day. Suddenly, Stan dressed as Santa bursts into the church with a bag of presents for the children. The girls praise Stan for realizing his privilege as someone that was not as unfortunate as he was allowing himself to believe. Stan begins listing off his new business plans and tells that he's apologized to his wife (with flowers bought with Dorothy's $60) and that he's allowed back home now.

The episode closes off with the girls still wishing that they could help the unfortunate on more days than just Christmas.

Guest Cast

 * Herb Edelman as Stan Zbornak
 * Matt McCoy as Father Avery

Notes/Fun Facts

 * According to Sophia, Christmas food in Sicily includes eels and larks.

Trivia

 * This is the last Golden Girls TV Series episode of the 1980's.