Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

We are all used to watching our favorite TV series and catching their "Christmas episode."
Not every series did one, but many did, and many still carry on the tradition. The Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Simpsons, even Gilligan's Island, all had their classic (or semi-classic) Christmas shows.

I guess it is hard to choose the single strangest Christmas episode. But how does a TV show do a Christmas special if it's set in the days before Christ?

In 1995, a new TV series with a very strong female hero took to the airwaves. It was a spin-off from the series Hercules: the Legendary Journeys. The series was to run for six seasons, through 2001.

Xena: Warrior Princess starred a gorgeous dark-haired New Zealand actress named Lucy Lawless. Xena's friend and co-heroine in the show was Gabrielle, an Amazon queen, played by Renee O’Connor. The "Xena" character was originally evil, but she turned good and valiantly did combat with evil forces. Xena and Gabrielle's adventures fighting the forces of evil proved an inspiration to women and young girls around the world.

For men and young boys, Xena and Gabrielle were inspirational too. As a man, believe me, these two inspired me greatly. They inspired me to take many a cold shower! Gabrielle only wore seven different outfits during the entire run of the series, including those two warrior bikini outfits. And Xena had that sexy, scowling face and those collagen-filled lips and...  Ahem... okay, let's get my mind back down to business.

The “Before Christ" dilemma was one that Xena: Warrior Princess had to face at holiday time in 1996. This was, of course, a problem most TV series did not have to deal with.

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YouTuber Dan Zaleski uploaded this sweet video of a zoo visitor who showed an orangutan a "magic trick" that made the contents of a cup seem to disappear. The reaction of pure enjoyment from this intelligent creature is a reminder of its being a sensitive and observant species, so like us in many respects.

Via Tastefully Offensive

A few decades ago, a family allowed their son and daughter to select their own names. The son, who was eight or nine years old at the time (accounts differ), chose the name Loki Skylizard. You have to admit that’s an awesome name, and many nine-year-olds would have done much worse. Skylizard kept that name ever since, all the way through medical school. Dr. Skylizard is now a prominent cardiac and thoracic surgeon in Missouri. He does not mention the origin of his name in his biography. 

Dr. Loki Skylizard was a #1 seed in the 2014 Name of the Year tournament, but he was defeated by Shamus Beaglehole. -via reddit

(Image credit: Webrbandz)

Haydock High School in St. Helens, UK, had a skeleton for about 50 years. It was first used in the science lab, and later went to the art department. When the skeleton was replaced by a new plastic model, it was put in storage. Only this year, when the skeleton called Arthur was rediscovered in a school cupboard, did the school find out that Arthur was made of real human bones! Specifically, it had belonged to a small malnourished Asian man with curvature of the spine, believed to have been between 25 and 30 years old at his death decades ago. The school consulted with authorities and found that it could not be disposed of without a proper burial. So the school held a funeral.  

Mrs Dixon said: “We learnt a lot from the skeleton, drawing his anatomy, then when I found him looking a state, we needed to do something about him.

“The children are just elated to have the service because he has been part of us for so long.

“It gives him the send off he deserves for all his years of service.”

Haydock Funeral Services donated the coffin, provided the hearse, and directed the service. Arthur was buried at Greenacre Woodland Burials. There’s a video of the funeral service at the Liverpool Echo. -via Arbroath    

A mother cat has two kittens. In this sequence brought to us by Ignoramusky, her dog friend offers to occupy the kittens for a while so the mother cat can take a break. Before it’s over, the dog is teaching the kittens to play pat-a-cake. At least that’s one interpretation.

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Another interpretation is that the mother cat is showing the kittens how to slap a dog in the face. I prefer the more pleasant explanation. You notice after the kittens get bored and wander off, the dog and cat have their own little play tussle.  -via Tastefully Offensive

His stepdad declared he could balance a glass of beer on his forehead, and then drink it without using his hands or arms. Can he?

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Yes, he did, and didn’t spill any, either! Don’t you wish your family holiday get-togethers were like this? -via Daily of the Day

som1 edited our wiki 2 say he was our family. showed security, got in2 the green room and had a beer with the boys.. pic.twitter.com/DUZfki9hFS

— peking duk (@pekingduk) December 3, 2015

David Spargo is a fan of the Australian band Peking Duk. Wednesday night in Melbourne, he went to the backstage area of a concert, where he was stopped by a security guard. Spargo told him he was band member Reuben Styles’ stepbrother. The guard demanded proof, so Spargo pulled up Peking Duk’s Wikipedia page on his phone and pointed out his name. The name he added only a few minutes before. The security guard let him in.  

“It was probably the most genius, mastermind move that I’ve ever witnessed,” said Adam Hyde, Styles’ bandmate. “It’s crazy. He just did it on the spot, in a second on his phone.

“He told the security guard he was our stepbrother or something, and showed them the Wikipedia page and his ID.”

It goes to show, said Hyde, “never trust Wikipedia”.

Spargo introduced himself to the band, who were more impressed by his ingenuity than concerned by the security breach.

The band shared a few beers with Spargo and later told the story on Twitter, using the Anchorman catchphrase “I’m not even mad.” -via HuffPo

Narcolepsy is one of those conditions people constantly joke about because they don't understand it at all, or they think "So you constantly take little naps, what's the big deal"

Well, according to this video by Sleepy Sarah Elizabeth that began as an accidental recording of a sleep attack, narcolepsy can be a really big deal since it shuts your body down, no matter where you are or what you're doing.

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This video may give us a better understanding of what narcolepsy looks like, but it can never really explain how it feels to experience an uncontrollable sleep attack, which is clearly no laughing matter.

-Via Laughing Squid

A snowman in a store window is not all that uncommon at Christmas time. This one is firmly in the 21st century, with a smartphone and a text conversation. He’s obviously conversing with another snowman. I like the way the glass itself is used as a medium for captions. The scene has nothing to do with the clothing being sold in the store behind him, but this would get me to stop and look, and that’s what counts. -via reddit

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Black Friday isn't always an apocalyptic affair, some cities are full of sensible people who actually remain relatively calm while shopping for what are supposedly the "best bargains of the year".

If you're lucky enough to live in one of these calm cities then you've probably found Black Friday to be no big deal, but if not then you may have witnessed something like this video. (Warning: fights)

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Did retailers intend to make Black Friday a gladiatorial free-for-all, or are people simply so uninformed they still believe those deals are worth becoming a part of a battle royale?

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It's hard to believe there are people who still think Black Friday offers unbeatable deals, especially when Cyber Monday has been proving them wrong for a few years now. Maybe people just feel better about a bargain they had to fight to get?

See more of the Black Friday 2015 madness at Cheezburger

The poor tortoise got himself high-centered on a rock. What can he do? He can’t get enough leverage on any side to walk himself off.

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But a larger, and probably older and wiser, tortoise comes to save the day. Tortoises look out for their friends, after all. And a wise tortoise knows he might need to call in that favor someday. -via Tastefully Offensive

Your winter wonderland of snow is cold, wet, and slippery. The sleigh skids off a cliff and everyone dies. Or else you get pneumonia and frostbite, too. That’s the mood of this version of "Jingle Bells."

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The Gregory Brothers took a happy, upbeat little ditty usually associated with Christmas and put it into a minor key. The result is pretty grim. Creepy. Sad. It may as well be a funeral dirge. They have a whole playlist of sad songs if you’re in that kind of mood. -via Tastefully Offensive  

Have you ever tried to direct your dreams? Think of something wonderful as you are falling asleep to see if it stays in your brain. Well, your brain has different ideas. Sarah Andersen illustrates that terrifically in the latest comic at Sarah’s Scribbles.

You never imagined the Orcs from Lord of the Rings to be the dancing type, did you? When an unexpected dinner appears, they do a victory dance. But you know how it is when you celebrate too early!  

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Scott Winn brings us dancing Orcs with a special appearance by the Elf Legolas. The song is “Through the Flame” by Scott & Brendo. -via Geeks Are Sexy

This quiz from mental_floss is driving me nuts. It’s a simple concept: just recognize all the U.S. states by their names. Easy, huh? But the names are scattered among words that are not U.S. states. Some are cities, some are places in other countries, and some are just a bit mangled. And if you pick the wrong one, the quiz is over and you have to reload to try again. But the hardest thing about it is that you only have one minute to go through them all! If you read too fast, you’re liable to click on a wrong name. If you go too slow, time will run out. And you will have to stop and scroll a couple of times. The best I’ve gotten so far is 41 of them when time ran out. I hope you can beat that!