Release
"Grift of the Magi" originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 19, 1999. It was viewed in approximately 7.76 million households that night. With a Nielsen rating of 7.7, the episode finished 39th in the ratings for the week of December 13–19, 1999 (tied with an episode of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC)'s 20/20). It was the second highest-rated broadcast on Fox that week, following an episode of Ally McBeal (which received a 9.9 rating). On October 14, 2003, "Grift of the Magi" was released in the United States on a DVD collection titled Christmas With the Simpsons, along with the season one episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", the season four episode "Mr. Plow", the season nine episode "Miracle on Evergreen Terrace", and the season thirteen episode "She of Little Faith". On October 7, 2008, the episode was released on DVD again as part of the box set The Simpsons – The Complete Eleventh Season. Staff members Martin, Scully, Meyer, Matt Groening, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Matt Selman, Tim Long, and Lance Kramer participated in the DVD audio commentary for "Grift of the Magi". Deleted scenes from the episode were also included on the box set.
Since airing, "Grift of the Magi" has received generally mixed to negative reception from critics. While reviewing the eleventh season of The Simpsons, DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson commented that the episode "feels like an amalgamation of elements from prior holiday programs and never really elicits much humor. Christmas is commercialized and corporations use and abuse their customers? Those aren’t exactly rich insights, so comes across as a below average episode." In his review of the DVD Christmas With the Simpsons, Digitally Obsessed critic Joel Cunningham wrote that the episode "comes from Season 11, well past the point when the series had sacrificed character for absurdist humor. Unless you don't think evil toy marketers, sentient Furbys, and Gary Coleman qualify. Anyway, after the school nearly goes bankrupt, Principal Skinner signs a contract with corporate backers who use the kids to conduct market research. There are some good gags, but the story doesn't hang together very well." Adam Tyner of DVD Talk argued that the episode "has a couple of good gags (Gary Coleman chatting on the phone being my favorite) but is quickly forgettable". Brian James of PopMatters described Coleman's cameo as "hysterical" in 2004, and Meghan Lewit of the same website listed "Grift of the Magi" at number eight on her 2009 list of the "10 best holiday themed TV episodes."
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