The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever

I defy you to find me a better Christmas special than the Invader ZIM episode, "The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever." It just takes everything great about that series and multiplies it by a thousand. Plus it concludes with a horrific Santa monster (think Santa combined with Tetsuo at the end of Akira) duking it out with a giant robot. I'm trying to think what the funniest part is. Is it ZIM disguised as Santa, bellowing like a professional wrestler? Is it the woman screaming "My heart explodes with joy!" and then falling over dead? Is it Dr. Membrane's secret hatred of Santa? Is it Mini-Moose and how he only speaks in squeaks? It's too tough to call. Simply put, it is a condensed, 22-minute bomb of hilarity. It's on the third volume of the Invader ZIM DVDs. Go get it. Right now. Or come over to my place. I'll gladly watch it again.

Watching some of the unaired season 2 episodes on that third DVD volume, it's a damn shame that they cancelled that show when they did. The second season episodes are all so excellent that it's really apparent that the writers had finally found their footing and just started cranking out great stuff on a regular basis. There are also more full half-hour episodes, although the shorts are great too, particularly "Zim Eats Waffles," which features GIR putting a plate of waffles in front of Zim while screaming "These gots peanuts and soap in 'em!" Truly, MTV is the kind of dangling great shows in front of me, only to yank them from the schedule. (See: Clone High, Sifl and Olly, etc.)