Ho, Ho, Hogans

David takes a mall job as Santa to afford a ski trip; Lloyd's old Xmas traditions are driving Sandy and Michael crazy.

This was the last episode of the series and since CBS put THE HOGAN FAMILY on hiatus due to low ratings, it was not aired at holiday time but instead was burned off during the summer reruns in July 1991.

Not a particularly good or entertaining episode. Everyone seems miserable and bitter here. David's motives for taking the Santa job are purely financial as he refers to the kids as the "little maggots of Oak Park". The twins fight over buying the same sweater for each of their respective girlfriends. Their argument ends in the destruction of the Xmas tree and the favorite ornament in Sandy's collection. Michael is resentful of Lloyd imposing the Hogan traditions on everyone.

What snaps them out of it is a very heavy-handed plot device of a child stealing David's wallet to buy his poor, widowed mother a robe and slippers for Xmas. Unfortunately, it's all executed in a way that does not evoke any emotion in the viewer. Sandy Duncan seems to be the only one in the cast who's still trying. Even good ol' Mrs. Poole can't save this one.

Pretty lackluster episode and not a must-see unless you're a HOGAN completist. 5/10.

The family was bitter at Grandpa for trying to renew old traditions, which I thought was really nice. Willie & Mark were funny with their twin thing of buying the same thing for their girlfriends. What made me give this two stars is how unsympathetic they were to the needy family. They talk about how "blessed they are to be in a warm home with plenty of food at the holidays", but had no thought of the family in need. Sure, they gave them gifts, but why didn't they invite them to their home for Christmas? How inconsiderate! I would have invited them & given them a HUGE meal to boot! The Hogans made so much money, plus, this poor child didn't have a father to spend Christmas with. Otherwise, it was an okay Christmas episode.