Secret Santa

Secret Santa

Everyone knows about the Christmas Episode where Arnold and Gerald help Mr. Hyunh by finding his daughter accompanied by Helga seeking out a present for "her beloved". But what about another Christmas or at least around that time of year where Mr. Simmons has a Secret Santa project where the students draw names from a Santa bag and they have to get a present (or two) for the person they choose. Helga, of course, draws Arnold's name from the bag and this year she's particularly keen on finding him the best present and nabs it for him immediatly.
Arnold, on the other hand, has no idea what he can get for his pick from the bag and asks Gerald for help. Helga--who was on her way to drop off Arnold's present on his doorstep--overhears the two talking and ducks behind the corner of a building; listening in on Arnold's concerns but unable to hear who the present is for. Gerald, who is of no help, says he doesn't know what he would get for "her" and they head inside.
Helga, paranoid that it could be Lila or some other "bimbo" in their class, dumps the present and scrambles off to find out who is Lila's Secret Santa. She spends the whole day seeking out the people gifting all of the girls but gives up when she finds out that only her, Phoebe, and Naedine are left. Meanwhile, Arnold looks through shops for a gift for his classmate and finally finds something. Feeling victorious, he buys it and runs off to drop it off. As he goes he runs into a very bummed out Helga and after--being the nice guy he is--making sure she's okay, he runs off again.
Feeling more depressed after seeing that Arnold is running in the opposite direction of her house, Helga returns home and goes to bed. After Helga is inside, Arnold pokes his head out from around the corner and returns to her building where he then sets a present onto the stoop then heads home with a secretive smile on his face. As many suspected, he was Helga's Secret Santa all along. Upon returning home, Arnold finds his present on his own stoop. He sits down on the steps and puzzles over the pink ribbon around it.
We close with Helga waking up on Christmas morning with Miriam appearing in her doorway holding up a present stating she tripped over it while taking out the garbage. Helga takes it still sitting in her bed, perplexed but not very hopeful. She opens it up and picks out a note looking down at the contents of the box. The final part is Helga gripping the note exclaiming, "Arnold?!" (Meaning she is surprised he was her Secret Santa the whole time, though we fans know better. xD)

lol... that is a cute idea. I'd be up for it, although there would be some revising.

thats a gr8 idea! I wonder who else would like it?

I agree with Iffy - the Secret Santa premise is a good idea, but it could use a bit of sprucing up.

I think it has a lot of potential as an ArnoldxHelga episode.

I like the idea too! I'm sure we could make this into a awesome HxA story

LOL, it would be so cute if Arnold would give Helga the shoe back that she left on valentines day, with a note 'I think this is yours' <3 Too bad we can't use that cause it would spoil the jungle movie ><

It would be great to see a little PhoebexGerald too ^^

Of course the idea would be fixed up, I am only making a suggestion. xD
A lot of things can be fitted into this story but there's the time line (Between April Fool's and October 7th) to consider so I don't know if the idea can actually be used at all...

But thank you for the support on the idea. Feel free to pick at it and spruce it up, I don't mind. It was just a story for a picture I drew one night.

I don't think the time line is a problem
The time line doesn't make a lot of sense in the real HA episodes, so we can cheat a little in the comics as well.

Yeah, since we're moving the HA! kids into the 5th grade, it'll be a fresh new year for them. So we can repeat Christmas, Thanksgiving, ect. if we want to. The order of episodes doesn't really matter as well (i.e. Christmas can occur before Thanksgiving, ect.). We're canonical that way. XD

I really do like the idea of a Christmas episode, and I don't think that the time line would be too much of a problem.

Just a couple of quick things that I noticed right off the bat (sorry I don't have time to delve too deeply into it right now).

1. We really should be careful about Helga shopping for Arnold. I don't think we want that scenario to turn out too much like the original "Arnold's Christmas".

2. I'm also not sure that putting in a HA! movie reference would be the best way to end the episode.

Again like shamonpretzel said, it's a great idea, but it needs some refining.

I think it might be interesting if the name Helga draws from the hat wasn't Arnold at all. Maybe she draws Gerald or Rhonda? If she drew one of the other classmates' name, the episode could still be HxA (because Arnold would still be drawing Helga's name) but this way, we would incorporate some of the other kids into our storyline. Helga could be like "Pleasepleaseplease, let me get my beloved Football-head!" *draws different name* "WHAT???" *stomps off angrily* LOL.

There should be some form of miscommunication that stirs up some unnecessary conflict (like Helga's switcheroo in "Arnold & Lila" and Arnold's premature haranguing of Helga in "Egg Story ".

Perhaps Helga purchases a brand new complete collection of "Purdy Boys" mystery novels, but at the last moment chickens out in presenting the gift to Arnold. So instead, EVERYONE ELSE in the class "suddenly" receives one book from the collection, but Arnold gets none.

This could repeat itself a few times (Helga buys baseball cards, cupcakes, Xmas sweaters, etc.) and at first Arnold doesn't mind, but then it starts to bug him. It also doesn't help that Helga rubs it in that he's consistently getting snubbed (but only so Arnold never expects HER of being so generous).

Finally the guilt gets to Helga and she goes over to give a sincere apology and a frivolous token gift (maybe a coupon that Pancakes n' Halibut restaurant)...

And Arnold calls it the best thing he's ever received from her.

Helga: What? A coupon?

Arnold: No. Hearing you say "I'm sorry".

Somewhat offended, Helga gives him an earful, but before she leaves Arnold just shakes his head and says "You're something else, Helga G. Pataki". Exasperated, she leaves, and when she's out of earshot he adds "...but you're a good friend. Merry Christmas."

I strongly agree we can use VeryVariable's episode idea. This is honestly one of the best ideas on here! I mean that! :-)

Also, I just realized; the other day was the 'anniversary' of Arnold's parents leaving for San Lorenzo and never came back! Also, wasn't Arnold's birthday supposed to be October 7th? And didn't HA premiere October 7th, 1996? 13th HA anniversary!!

Thank you, buckysbone. I'm flattered. ^_^

Like I mentioned, I am completely open to someone else taking over the idea even several people to refine the idea into something HA6S can use. <3

What about "draw trading"? Like, Helga draws Lila, and of course she hates it. But all the boys want to make a gift for Lila. So, she trades lots with one of them, only to trade it with somebody else later (with an additional fee), while other people are trying to change their lots as well. As the Christmas is coming closer, the situation becomes more and more chaotic: most lots have been bought and sold several times.

That's a good idea Hellerick. Wouldn't it be funny if Helga ended up with Lila anyway? Maybe she could get tricked, the person telling her ambiguously about the secret santa pick and Helga assumes it's Arnold.

I was thinking about this episode a little bit more today, and I had a very general idea.
How about a Christmas episode with a much deeper meaning/fuzzy feeling plot? Something that pays homage to the original HA! Christmas episode, without trying to copy it. An episode that rejects the commercialization and material things commonly associated with Christmas, and focuses more on family, friends...

I have no ideas specifically, but just thought I would throw this out there in case anyone is interested in going in a different direction.

I like the idea , but if we could it would be cool to conbine this with the "Stuck" episode. You know the one somewhere in General Discusion where (brainstorming or so) Helgas family have to stay with Arnold. I mean whats worse being stuck in a snow storm w/ Helga or being stuck in a snow storm w/ Helga DURING CHRISTMAS! Well this is my Idea.

Hmm... Well in the other episode that I mention is about Helga's family get stuck at the boarding house while theres a snowstorm. They stay there because Miriam and Suzie are friends and she would let them be there.

Oh ok. I forgot. >_<

It ok ,we forgive you.