"Penny's Christmas" is classic stuff, poignant and funny just as the show can be. Alice Ghostley returns as Hortense Dobbs, ready to finalize Penny's adoption after the trial period. Willona has taken Penny to the department store for Christmas shopping, encountering 'Santa Claus Lenny' (Dap Sugar Willie, fifth of seven) as he frightens women by displaying his wares: "my name is Lenny and I got some reindeer named Donner and Blitzen and Benny, I wish you joy and I wish you cheer, have a cool yule and a mellow New Year! Would you like some gifts to hang in your stocking, I take Master Charge and validate parking!" After a pickpocket deprives the child of the money she needs to buy her mother a necklace, she slips out with the necklace in her purse, caught by the ever present security camera. Although this complicates things with Mrs. Dobbs, the woman with the aching feet has such a good time at the Evans Christmas party, singing "A Peartridge in a Partree," that she acknowledges the loving environment needed for young Penny. Alice Ghostley enjoys one of her finest showcases in her egg nog euphoria.
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