Advance Review:

One might find it difficult to pull off a holiday special when your series runs during the summer months, but not Futurama . Months after airing their last episode from their return season, the series is back for a one-night only (and countless reairs) "Holiday Spectacular." And, oh, it's worth it. This special episode delivers three great holiday tales sure to bring a smile to the season.

The first installment of Sunday night's special takes place during the future's deadly celebration of Xmas. And it had to, really. The Xmas episodes from the original run of the series are beloved, so it was inevitable that a holiday special would have this included. Unfortunately, this is the weakest of the episode's three segments. Robot Santa makes an appearance to help sing about the traditions of the holiday, but it's brief. The focus then turns to trying to bring back the extinct pine tree. This is where things drag a bit and then quickly and anticlimactically end.

Check out a scene from "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular":

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But the slow start is more than made up for in the remaining two segments. The second segment follows Bender as he attempts to honor the Robanukah traditions. Again, a song let's us know all about the holiday. The songs in this special are absolute highlights, with the song in the final segment topping the two that preceded it. Bender's Robanukah storyline moves quickly to fit a complete tale into such a short amount of time, and this serves the jokes well as they are forced to come hard and fast.In the final segment, we join Hermes as he hosts his annual Kwanzaa celebration. Again, this segment's Kwanzaa-explaining song is a riot. And it sets the rest of the storyline in motion as we learn of a need for candles made from beeswax to truly honor the holiday. This takes Hermes and the rest of the Planet Express crew on a search for beeswax that turns into a holiday adventure they won't soon forget.Overall, it is well worth having this episode air so separated from its summer season. A holiday episode in August, funny though it may be, just isn't going to have the same effect. Futurama's holiday spectacular, though a one-off with consequences that won't effect anything when the series returns next summer, was smart to reference things we already love in this universe. Besides Robot Santa, Kwanzaabot makes an appearance, and we also return to familiar locations of past adventures. All tie in appropriately and are not referenced simply for the easy gag of referencing them. No matter your religious and holiday viewpoints, we can all agree that checking out this "Holiday Spectacular" will be a mini gift to you in this season of giving."The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" airs Sunday, November 21st at 10:00pm on Comedy Central.