Frasier battles for airtime with his old protégé, Dr. Mary, when they host a Christmas parade.
Tropes:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Frasier had been hoping for years to host the annual Christmas parade. But when the planned co-host can't make it and replacement Mary completely upstages him despite not even being a real doctor, Frasier ends up having a fit.
- The Bus Came Back: Mary, last seen filling in for Roz one week before being hired at a different station, makes a return as Frasier's parade co-host.
- Christmas Episode: Frasier is co-hosting a holiday parade, while Martin, Niles, and Daphne are exchanging and opening gifts.
- Easily Forgiven: Frasier has an outburst at Mary on-air, accidentally hurting the parade's Santa in the process during an expressive hand motion and earning the hate of everyone watching. But at least Mary and Bob Vernon (who was supposed to be his original co-host before getting sick and Mary filling in) forgive him after he explains his frustrations.
- I'm Not a Doctor, but I Play One on TV: Mary has taken to referring to herself as "Dr. Mary" on her own self-help show, despite not actually having a doctorate. This, combined with how people (including the parade's Santa) respect her opinions more than his, utterly frustrates Frasier.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: One of the comments Frasier makes on-air is how his family respects Christmas traditions so much that they don't even shake their gifts for hints. Meanwhile, Frasier, Martin, and Daphne have just opened every single one of their gifts early, and upon hearing that, decide to quickly get some tape and wrap them back up.
- Present Peeking: Niles, Martin, and Daphne spend their parts of the episode indulging in this. When they hear Frasier commenting on how his family don't do this they look sheepishly at each other before rushing to put everything back.
- Rage Breaking Point: Despite his misgivings towards Mary and her seemingly-undeserved popularity as a therapist, Frasier manages to keep a straight face and have mostly friendly banter with her...until it's time for him to interview the parade's Santa, who ignores Frasier and gushes about how he's a huge fan of Mary. At this point, Frasier has an outburst, during which he swings his arm and accidentally hits Santa hard enough to require medical attention.
