Santa's Little Helper

Plot
As Mr. Feeny ends his reading of 'A Christmas Carol', Cody and Shawn make jokes and Mr. Feeny has Kelsey switch seats with Cody. With the two troublemakers separated, Mr. Feeny asks Cody 's opinion on the story and he summarizes "if you're a real butthead, then neat ghosts will take you to cool places." Suffice to say, Mr. Feeny is not amused.

Cody notices Shawn packed his lunch even though he usually likes the cafeteria fish sticks. Minkus drops by their table and Kelsey follows soon after. They all get into a small debate about the meaning of Christmas, with Cody placing value on gift-giving and Topanga informing them it's about celebrating the winter solstice. Cody and Shawn finally manage to get Topanga and Minkus to leave so they can brag about the presents they're getting. Cory is particularly excited about a new, authentic NBA basketball. Minkus returns one last time to get Shawn's five dollar donation for the class Christmas gift to Mr Feeny. Shawn lies that he spent it on lunch before quickly leaving.

Morgan and Amy return from the mall with Morgan upset, thinking she killed Santa Claus. Alan finds the whole situation funny and Amy goes up to check on her daughter. Cody rushes home to check on the newest presents added under the Christmas tree. When he tells his dad he's going to tell Shawn, he learns that Shawn's dad was laid off from work. Cody is sad that his friend won't get anything for Christmas and resolves to give him one of his own gifts. The gift he settles on is the basketball he was excited to get himself. Shawn is confused at first but when he finds out that Cody knows about his dad getting fired, he's embarrassed and upset. He refuses to take Cody 's supposed charity gift and he storms off.

Cody yells after Shawn and tries to complain about his lack of Christmas spirit to Mr. Feeny who seems to have heard the tail end of their argument. Mr. Feeny gives a small speech on friendship and how people shouldn't give gifts just to get gratitude and feel good about themselves. Inside the house, Morgan is finally able to come out of her room but quickly runs back, screaming when she sees the burly looking mall elf who blamed her for Santa's heart attack. The next day at school, Minkus badgers Shawn for the five dollars and Shawn would rather the whole class think he's a deadbeat than admit he doesn't have money to give. Cody talks to Minkus and gives the five dollars he saved for a basketball net, claiming he borrowed it from Shawn and that's why Shawn didn't have the money.

Minkus presents Mr. Feeny with a large, hard-cover dictionary and Shawn finds out his name is in the card. When he tries to thank Minkus for including him, Minkus reveals what Cody told him and Shawn sincerely wishes him a Merry Christmas. Shawn stops by Cody 's house, spotting him with his ball in the backyard. He gives Cody his dad's old basketball net as a Christmas gift and they get into a quick basketball game. When they come back to Cody 's place, Amy invites him to stay but Shawn would rather spend Christmas with his family. She gives him Christmas cookies to take home and before leaving, Cody asks if he'll be okay. Shawn assures him he will, "Hey, I got friends I can get through anything."

A certain gray-haired neighbor comes knocking dressed as Santa Claus and assures Morgan he was in the hospital because he ate under cooked figgy pudding. Morgan is relieved she didn't kill Santa but, as her mom grabs her camera to take a picture, she wonders why Santa looks like Mr. Feeny. In the post-credits tag, Morgan sings the Batman version of Jingle Bells while her mom plays the piano.

Starring

 * Peyton Meyer as Cody Matthews
 * Will Friedle as Eric Matthews
 * Rider Strong as Shawn Hunter
 * William Daniels as George Feeny
 * Betsy Randle as Amy Matthews
 * Lee Norris as Stuart Minkus
 * Lily Nicksay as Morgan Matthews
 * William Russ as Alan Matthews

Guest Starring

 * Nick Cataldo as Kelesy Lawrence
 * Tom LaGrua as Elf