Review: The Santa Clauses - Season 1

Scott Calvin is on the brink of his 65th birthday and realizes that he can't be Santa forever; Scott sets out to find a suitable replacement Santa while preparing his family for a new adventure in life south of the pole.

Tim Allen, Elizabeth Mitchell, Kal Penn, Elizabeth Allen-Dick, and Austin Kane

Tim Allen was the Santa I grew up with, his entire presence felt warm and joyous. The announcement of a series sent me spiraling in excitement. I said "what can go wrong"...and unfortunately everything went wrong. This show was a six-episode travesty. With only three of the six reasonably decent episodes that are carried by specific nostalgia. The rest of the show feels hollow, with no build-up to any event. Things happened, yet nothing productive happened.

The nostalgia was nice and it worked every now and then. However the new stuff was so uninteresting and comically unfunny, it overshadows the sweet moments. While I enjoyed Scott, Carol, Buddy Calvin & Noel, every other character is poorly developed, acted and far from being multidimensional. 

Despite the screenplay, the production design, costuming and other technicalities are an element I deeply appreciated and felt rather refreshing to see that kind of consistency. Especially because of its familiar tone with the original films. 

Overall, The Santa Clauses is a wildly disappointing & actively frustrating follow up to childhood classics. It’s poorly written & characters are far from fleshed out, offering occasional laughs and feel good moments due to its nostalgic charm. If the series is renewed, it definitely needs to step up on its writing & casting.