Undeck the Halls (9 Dec. 2009)

Phil and Claire cancel Christmas for their kids until they confess to wrongdoings at the house. Jay is hesitant to celebrate Gloria and Manny's holiday traditions. Mitchell and Cameron take Lily to meet Santa.

Director:

Randall Einhorn

Writers:

Christopher Lloyd (creator), Steven Levitan (creator),

Stars:

Ed O'Neill, Sofía Vergara, Julie Bowen

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
Ed O'Neill	...	Jay Pritchett
Sofía Vergara	...	Gloria Delgado-Pritchett
Julie Bowen	...	Claire Dunphy
Ty Burrell	...	Phil Dunphy
Jesse Tyler Ferguson	...	Mitchell Pritchett
Eric Stonestreet	...	Cameron Tucker
Sarah Hyland	...	Haley Dunphy
Ariel Winter	...	Alex Dunphy
Nolan Gould	...	Luke Dunphy
Rico Rodriguez	...	Manny Delgado
Brian T. Finney	...	Scott
Jeremy Scott Johnson	...	Andrew
The Greg Wilson	...	Head Elf
Fred Willard	...	Frank Dunphy

Storyline

Phil and Claire cancel Christmas for their kids until they confess to wrongdoings at the house. Jay is hesitant to celebrate Gloria and Manny's holiday traditions. Mitchell and Cameron take Lily to meet Santa.

---

Plot Keywords:

cigarette burn | fired from the job | videoconferencing | punched in the face | watching tv | 

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 2009 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Levitan / Lloyd, 20th Century Fox Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

28 min 28 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

16:9 HD

Did You Know?

Connections

References Deck the Halls (2006)

User Reviews

O Christmas tree!

The Dunphys are preparing for Christmas. Phil receives a Skype-type call from his father in Florida. The whole family is prepared for the show by wearing the holiday themed sweaters they got from the Dunphys in Florida. While talking, Phil notices a burnt section of the living room couch. He interrupts the call to take care of getting to the bottom of who caused the problem. The kids are all surprised to be questioned by their father, who gets worked up thinking any of the kids was careless enough to cause the damage. Since no one knows anything about it, Phil carries out his threat, taking the Christmas tree away from the living room, ornaments and all, outside the house.

Cam and Mitchell are seen at a department store with Lily. They have taken the toddler for her first Santa photograph. The line they are in is long. As their turn comes, the Santas are changed. Instead of the jolly man they saw before, they see a man that is obviously not interested in playing the part as he is clearly seen without the fake beard. The partners are shocked. They complain about the man, who is fired from the job. As they go to their car with all the purchases, the two feel badly. As they approach their vehicle, the fake Santa comes to give them a hand. Knowing they were the cause of the man losing the job, they invite him to have dinner with them at their home. Nothing is ever mentioned as to their complaint, but the man knows they were the ones responsible for being fired. Cam who had been connected with singing carolers, saw his former group at the store, so as the fake Santa is leaving, he finds the choir outside the house. Cam's revenge comes in the way of Santa punching the man who got him fired from the choir.

At Jay and Gloria's Manny wants to keep his Colombian tradition for Christmas, a sort of April's fool kind of playing practical jokes on people and shouting "innocent" as the person realizes he's been had. Manny wants also to have fireworks, part of the tradition, but Jay does not agree with the idea.

Back at the Dunphys, the three kids decide, one at the time to confess each was the one responsible for burning the sofa. Phil and Claire decide to bring back the tree to the living room. As they assemble around the living room, the couch catches fire again. They realize the culprit is a glass ornament that triggers that reaction as the sun hits it and sends a beam to the burnt cushion in question.

Randall Einhorn directed the episode. Written by Dan O'Shannon, who has contributed to this series, as well as some of the most successful ones on television. The episode emphasizes how traditions are kept within families, even newer ones some of the members of the clan has never experienced.