Bart faces a tough test at school when he gets a new teacher, Mr. Lassen, who vows to crush his spirit.

It looks like Homer won't be home for Christmas after he stays too long at Moe's Tavern on Christmas Eve and an irate Marge tells him not to return to their house, so he's left to wander alone around Springfield and lament the effects of Christmas spirits. Blackboard 'Reindeer meat does not taste like chicken'.