"Doug's Christmas Story" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of Nickelodeon's Doug and the third and last full length episode of the Nickelodeon series.
Synopsis[]
When Porkchop has been mistakenly accused of attacking Beebe, Doug has to try and clear his best non-human friend out. Unfortunately, Bill Bluff and former Mayor White are determined to make sure that Porkchop never bothers anyone again by having him euthanized. After a trial in court, Porkchop is sentenced to a dog pound for bad dogs. Then, Doug convinces the court to let Porkchop return to the scene of the alleged crime to show them what really happened.
Recap[]
Intro[]
Doug's Journal Entry: Dear Journal. Funny how in the brink of the best holiday of the whole year, the worst thing that could possibly happen happened. The trouble had started a couple of days before Christmas.
Doug and his friends are playing ice hockey at Lucky Duck Lake when Porkchop slides through the middle of the game and encounters thin ice, which he escapes from instantly. When the pine cone the others were using as a hockey puck slides to the cracking ice, Beebe attempts to get it, oblivious to the thin ice. Porkchop notices and tries to save her from impending danger. He grabs her by the leg with his teeth, unintentionally biting her in the process. While Patti and Connie comfort a sobbing Beebe, Chalky who had witnessed the incident, tells both a surprised Doug (after being told but an accusing Connie about what happened) and Skeeter about what had happened. An angry Doug instantly reprimands Porkchop, who slumps guiltily.
Main Episode[]
Doug is back at his house, telling Porkchop how surprised and disappointed he is of him. Porkchop tries to reenact the situation to his owner, but it is not any more clear to Doug and he angrily orders his dog to go into his igloo. Doug later goes with Judy to go shopping.
Meanwhile, at K-Bluff, former Mayor White is now a radio host who gets calls from a number of people, including a girl that talks about Beebe getting attacked by Porkchop. During the shopping trip at the mall with Judy, Doug begins to regret about being to hard on his dog and decides to give him a hat as a Christmas gift to make it up to him. This talk about Prokchop's attack prompts the police to go to the Funnie house, where Doug finds that Porkchop is being taken away by them. (This theme is used as the same theme in the episode Doug's Fat Cat.) Doug later gets a letter from a Bluffington lawyer in the mail saying that Bill Bluff is pressing charges against the dog. Theda and Phil decide to implement a petition to prove to everyone what a nice dog Porkchop is.
So Doug tries to convince everyone that Porkchop is a nice dog by having them sign a petition. Although Mr. Dink signs the petition, nobody else is the least bit concerned and are too busy thinking about their own Christmas. Through Mel's Application shop, Doug views a television showing the exaggerated re-enactment attack of the dog to an innocent girl. Doug goes to the Mercy-Me Hospital to talk to Beebe, but Mr. Bluff (after appearing in Doug's Birthday Present/Doug's Fan Club) refuses to let him speak with her, by saying that his daughter is too traumatized to come out. Doug imagines how his three alter egos Quailman, Race Canyon, and Smash Adams would handle this situation.
Doug's imagination: The three superheroes meet each other in a room and Doug comes around and tells them that together, they will get Porkchop back.
Doug explains to his superheroes the directions to get to his imprisoned dog and what kind of powers he can use. Quailman suggests that he could fly inside and use his Quail eye to coerce the guard to let Porkchop out. But Doug says that he can't fly. So Race Canyon decides to beat the guards up as he walks in. But Doug refuses. So Smash Adams finally contrives the idea to obtain high-tech gadgets from someone.
So in reality, Doug goes to Al and Moo, who offer him a smoke bomb disguised as a cupcake, in which the person has to pull off the cherry and throw. Doug and Skeeter later go to the dog pound, where Skeeter distracts the prison guard by pretending to have a condition while Doug sneaks in to find Porkchop. He finally finds Porkchop's cage, but is caught by security guards, who take him away as a sobbing Porkchop watches from the cage waving goodbye.
A regretful Doug is later seen looking at the dog's igloo in despair reminiscing the first time he had Porkchop on his first Christmas and the Christmas years later when he gave him the journal, he uses to write down his experiences. As he reminisces, he begins sobbing over his dog's loss. (This theme is used as the same theme in the episode Doug's Halloween Adventure.)
The next day, in court, the trial begins and Porkchop is brought inside by the guards. The dog psychologist tells everyone that in his intuition, Porkchop's features resemble that of a "killer" dog. This gives time for Porkchop to plays charade with Doug, explaining to him what he was really doing. The dog psychologist views this and is convinced that Porkchop is acting crazy. Later, Beebe, now in a wheelchair and a cast on her left leg, takes the stand as Doug watches in shock.
Doug's imagination: While Doug is seen with his three alter egos, they learn about Beebe's infirmity and Race suggests that they should plead guilty, something Smash refuses. Quailman also agrees that Porkchop is innocent and soon, the three begin to argue. Doug breaks up the altercation and tells them that he is on his own with this situation.
So as Beebe explains the situation, Doug convinces the judge to let Porkchop tell his side of the story, for Porkchop is trying to tell everyone about what he was really doing at the lake, which the judge reluctantly agrees to do. So, Doug, Skeeter, Patti, and the gang go to Lucky Duck Lake and Beebe skates to the pond to show the judge where she was skating to. Porkchop tries to save her from falling into the water but is held back by the guards and Mr. Bluff thinks that Porkchop is trying to attack his daughter again. But when Beebe finally falls through the thin ice and into the water, Porkchop breaks free from the guard's grip and saves her.
Soon, as everyone now realizes that Porkchop was actually trying to keep Beebe from falling into the thin ice, Porkchop is considered a hero by Doug and the citizens of Bluffington and the charges against him are dropped. When Bill, along with Beebe, invites Doug, Porkchop, Judy, Theda, and Phil, he implements a fancy dinner for all the dogs of the pound. Former Mayor White uses his radio show to find homes for all of the dogs from the pound as well. During the dinner, Bill gives a toast to Porkchop and the other dogs of Bluffington.
Home Media[]
VHS[]
- Doug's Christmas Story
DVD[]
- Doug: Season 4
- Doug: The Complete Nickelodeon Series
iTunes[]
- Doug: Season 4
- Holly Jolly Holidays
Characters[]
- Doug Funnie/Quailman/Smash Adams/Race Canyon
- Porkchop
- Judy Funnie
- Theda Funnie
- Phil Funnie
- Skeeter Valentine
- Patti Mayonnaise
- Beebe Bluff
- Chalky Studebaker
- Connie Benge
- Al Sleech
- Moo Sleech
- Former Mayor Bob White
- Bill Bluff
- Bud Dink
- Judge Dave Peterson
- Mrs. Spindle
- Frizzy (in the background at Former Mayor White's radio show)
Trivia[]
- This is the only episode to feature all of Doug's alter egos - Quailman, Smash Adams, and Race Canyon - all appearing at once. This is also the last episode of the Nickelodeon series to feature Quailman and Race Canyon (Smash Adams would reappear in "Doug's Sister Act").
- The jacket Doug wears looks the same as the 2015 jacket that Marty McFly wears on all three Back to the Future movies.
- This episode re-aired on Nicktoons during 25 Days of Nickmas 2020.
- Technical goof: When Beebe was in the courtroom and at the lake on Christmas Eve, she had her leg cast from when Porkchop bit her out of trying to warn her. When she was with her father at the Funnies' doorstep on Christmas Day, her cast was gone. Usually, it would take weeks to heal a broken leg, and the cast would still be on.
- Moral: Don't jump to conclusions before figuring out the true facts.
- The title refers to the 1983 film A Christmas Story.