I think I satisfactorily presented my theory that even though the Santa Claus of the main Toobworld resembles an actor named Charles Durning, he still had the power to alter his appearance. And he did this so that no two groups of people could agree on what he actually looked like.
As the embodiment of the Christmas Spirit, Santa Claus wanted our belief in him to be based on faith, not fact. And as Dr. Miguelito Loveless (my all-time favorite TV character) once said, "All faith must have a little doubt mixed in. Otherwise it's just flabby sentimentality."
There have been countless TV episodes where we've seen characters who impersonated Santa Claus, most recently (in our timeline) Chris' Dad on 'Everybody Hates Chris'. (It actually happened back in the early 1980s.)
Yet nobody, except for maybe very small children, ever mistook these characters fro the real St. Nick. (For example - just picture Deputy Barney Fife as Santa on 'The Andy Griffith Show'.)
But there was a time when a Santa Claus impostor was believed to be the real deal, because of the magical things that happened because he was present......
Episode Number: 99 Season Num: 5
A fitting story for Christmas--Santa is arrested for freeing reindeer. He asks what each wants for Christmas. Jody wants a 'white' Christmas in spite of the current heat wave; Colt reluctantly says he needs a new truck. There is a child care center threatened with eviction and some crooks want the bonds Santa's cellmate is hiding.
Writer: Philip John Taylor, Doug Heyes Jr.
Director: Bruce Bilson
Show Stars: Nedra Volz (Pearl Sperling), Lee Majors (Colt Seavers), Douglas Barr (Howie Munson), Heather Thomas (Jody Banks)
Guest Stars: Bernard Fox (Santa [Chris Winter]) , Hakeem Abdul Samad (Leon) , Tom Hallick (Max Diehi) , Robert Donner (Edmund Trench) , Stephen Liska (Kane) , Connie Lew (Jenna) , Elliott Scott (Daniel) , Judith Barsi (Little Girl) , Lynn Whitfield (Jeanne)
He gave his name as "Chris Winter", which would seem to be an obvious alias for the real Santa to use. And magical happenings did occur because of him, so that the bounty hunters were left to ponder whether or not he was the true Santa Claus after he vanished.
He was able to perform magic all right, but not because he was Santa Claus.
He was actually Dr. Bombay from 'Bewitched'!
The celebrated witch doctor would just as likely know Santa Claus personally as did Samantha Stephens. It's likely that he introduced the younger witch to the jolly old elf.
We don't always see everything that occurs on Toobworld. (My favorite example - when Khan met Chekov on 'Star Trek'.) So there might have been a reason as to why Kris Kringle himself could not come to the rescue of those reindeer, which is why he probably called in a favor from his friend Dr. Bombay.
As to why he tried to pass himself off as Santa, the witch doctor probably wanted to protect his own identity. it's one thing to magically appear in a mortal's home wearing an antique diving suit; at least there he was in the presence of other witches. But if he was detected performing magic spells by the mortal majority, it would be better to mistaken for a universally beloved figure like Santa Claus.
Sadly, we've seen in the Real World what happens when mentally disturbed parents think they're children are possessed. Just imagine what would happen if some jerk in Toobworld discovered that there were witches among us. It would be Salem all over again!
So Dr. Bombay played out the escapade in the guise of Santa Claus, giving himself the double-blind alias of Chris Winter, and never let on as to who he really was.
BCnU!
Tele-Toby
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