| Log
line (1): |
Maurice,
dreading being along for the holidays, gets a big surprise when his
gift is an instant family of his own. Meanwhile, Maggie,
dreading being with her family, gets a big surprise when her parents
opt for a Cariibean Christmas without her. |
| Synopsis
(1): |
Maurice
gets a holiday surprise when a Korean family arrives in Cicely.
Bong Joo (guest star Chi-Moui
Lo) tells Maurice his father, Duk
Won (guest star James Song), is Maurice's son and his grandmother,
Yong Ja (guest star Kim Kim), is Maurice's former lover. When the
paternity tests check out, Maurice is deeply disturbed. He has always
dreames od a son to carry on the Minnifield name, but now that he
has one, Maurice is unsure he wants him - mainly because he's not
white. Just as the family is about to leave, Maurice decides to
make a real effort to get to know his son - despite the communicaion
barrier. Suddenly, Maurice begins to realize the greatness of the
gift he has received.
Maggie
dreads going home for Christmas where she will hear over and over
who got married to who and who has a new baby. But when she picks
up her parents' letter, expecting a round-trip ticket to Michigan,
she learns they are going to St. Thomas, leaving her to face the
holidays alone. Maggie claims she's relieved she won't have to face
the trials of family when she's really crushed that her parents
cancelled Christmas.
As
a child, Joel longed for a Christmas tree,
but his traditional Jewish parents would never allow it. So this
year, Joel decides to put a tree in his living room. However, once
the tree arrives, he doesn't know what to do with it. Despite his
affection for the symbol, Joel feels it just doesn't belong to him,
so he takes the tree fully decorated to Maggie's house as a surprise.
Shelly
misses her Roman Catholic roots and longs for a High Christmas mass.
So Holling fills Cicely's Unitarian church
with Catholic icons and sings a Latin mass for Shelly himself. |
Background
(Production
Bible): |
Joel
raised by Herb and Nadine Fleischman. Joel always envied Tom McGovern's
autographed Bobby Murcer gloves used to wateh the McGovern's trim
their tree. Establishing: Maurice forged his dad's signature in
order to get into the Marines at 16. At first, Mauriee only remembere
a Korean girl named Kija who was a favorite of his buddy Mike “Scooter”
Wilson. Establishing Shelly's Christnas past: midnight mass at Our
Lady of Refuge with Father Perone; a Charlie Brown, not a raven
Christmas. The O'Connell Christmas past: Mom: “When
are you going to qet married? When am I getting grandchildren?”
Fight with father; brother, the iceberg, fondles his old swimming
trophies. Last Christmas Joel was on a four-day house call and missed
the Raven pageant. Winter of '69 Chris' dad did a short term for
DUI: 7 year-old Chris had a dog named Buddy. Chris experienced a
personal Epiphany when Buddy talked. |
| Details
(Production
Bible): |
Duk
Won's son BONG wants to see the new sink hole on the “Canook”
(that's the way Ed says it; “Konoka” in
script) fault. Duk Won is an electrical engineer. Ruth-Anne is an
atheist (who reads the Christian Science Monitor?). Establishing:
Dave the Cook is a animist. Maggie meets his parents who are from
Barrow. Marilyn tells Joel the legend of the Raven and how it carries
the light so we don't live in darkness. Joel has a raven menorah.
[Can see the menorah when Ed and Bong bring in the Christmas tree.] |
| Guest
stars (9): |
Dave
the Cook - Bill
White (aka William J White Eagle)
Yong Ja - Kim Kim
Duk Won - Kwi Hyun (James) Song
Bong Joo - Chi-Moui
Lo
Peter Narssak - Ralph
Martin (Note: same actor plays "Ivory Springer"
in other episodes) [Not quite remembering this character? See
below*...) |
| Music: (Note music listed is from the original TV airings. The DVD may differ. * Indicates correct song on the DVD.) |
•
Santa
Claus Is Coming to Town- Booker T. and the MGs
[Chris whittles a raven; Maurice comes in depressed. Maurice comes
into town.]
•
Dig That Crazy Santa Claus - Oscar McLollie and the Honey Jumpers
[Ed and Dave bring in tree. Maggie enters and trips. Joel tells
Maggie to tell her parents she's too busy to go home for Christmas.]
•
Il Est Ne/Ca Berger - The Chieftans
[Shelly's bummed, tells Holling she musses a "real" Christmas.]
•
Christmas Time's a Coming - Petter Roloan
[Maurice talks to his family at the Brick. He thinks they have an
ulterior motives.]
•
Silent Night
[Maggie gets letter from her parents telling her they're headed
to St. Thomas for the for the holidays.]
•
Fly Me to the Moon
[Duk Won sings to Maurice.]
•
White Christmas - Allen Toussaint
[Shelly plays with the manger scene.]
•
O Come All Ye Faithful - The Chieftans
[Chris on the Air discussing the Raven. Maurice and Duk-Won eat
at the Brick.]
•
The Christmas Song - Tony Bennett
[Maurice and Duk Won talk at the Brick.]
•
White Christmas - Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters
[Joel invites Maggie over to help decorate his tree.]
•
Ave Marie (Schubert)
[Holling sings to Shelly.]
|
| Shelly’s
Earrings: |
Christmas
light bulbs, 1 green and 1 red (Maurice's son arrives outside KBHR
studios)
Christmas stockings (Shelly plays with nativity scene in Brick)
Christmas angels (at Raven Pagent) |
Marilyn
tells Joel the legend of the Raven: A long time ago,
the raven looked down from the sky and saw that the people
of the world were living in darkness. The ball of light was
kept hidden by a selfish old chief. So the raven turned itself
into a spruce needle and floated on the river where the chief's
daughter came for water. She drank the spruce needle. She
became pregnant and gave birth to a boy which was the raven
in disguise. The baby cried and cried until the chief gave
him the ball of light to play with. As soon as he had the
light, the raven turned back into himself and carried the
light into the sky. From then on, we no longer lived in darkness.
More
on Marilyn's telling of the
Legend of the Raven. |
|
|
| Additional
Notes: |
*Yup
- Peter Narssak is the character listed in the Final Draft of the
script. Joel treats him in the Doctor's office for an allergic rash
on his hands. Narssak tells him that he works in a factory ... due
north from Cicely. He doesn't have the money to pay Joel but Joel
tells him not to worry about it and gives him some hydrocortizone...
What, you mumble... I don't remember this?? No, it's not too much
mulled wine or egg-nog. This scene is in the final draft of the
script but didn't make the final cut. But Ralph Martin is still
in the final credits. There's a follow-up scene where Joel is sitting
in his cabin and here's scuttling feet on his roof. "Who's there?"
he calls with his golf club in hand. He bolts the door. Turning,
he finds a gift under the tree. "Okay Ed, you can come out," he
calls. He opens the gift and it's an autographed Bobby Murcer baseball
glove. There are some other smaller scenes here and there cut too.
See
Cicely's Quirky Xmas list.
The Raven dance is very similar to the dances performed at Tillicum Village, which is located on Blake Island outside of Seattle. |
Some
of the large Raven decorations seen around town in this episode
were in storage behind the old Memory Makers.
|
Things
I own from this episode:
There's one of the Raven ornaments on my Christmas tree in
2001.
|
Chris-in-the-Morning:
My Christmas wish for you tonight
- may your dog talk. (More on the holidays in Cicely). |
| Places
to find Raven ornaments: |
Taku Graphics-Ornaments, Cards and More
Old world style glass ornaments in the shape of a Raven
Tsimshain First Nations artist - Raven on a ball
Hand-stiched calico Raven (NW Indian style) from Alaska
Gitksan Native glass ball with ravens
Shows a current listing of Raven ornaments on ebay |
