The show uses so many Christmas conventions that one wonders just how the series could top itself and, watching Naughty vs. Nice, it's clear that it doesn't. For Naughty vs. Nice, the franchise seems to decide that everything worked so well in the first special that they may as well repeat it in the second. Consequently, our newly happy Wayne is returned to his former miserable state and Lanny is just as naïve and foolish. Because the entire episode can't operate in exactly the same manner, we're introduced to a new reason for Wayne to be miserable, his brother Noel (one syllable, not two, and voiced by Rob Riggle). Noel, like Lanny, doesn't quite realize the upset he causes Wayne. Perhaps unlike Lanny though, Noel is actually fantastic at his job working the Naughty List. The brothers (with Lanny) are tasked with retrieving a lost device that will allow a child to hack Santa's naughty list and clear his/her name, allowing presents to be delivered.
The second special truly manages to be ho-hum in the face of the first's ho ho ho. While the first special isn't the most tightly plotted of escapades, it has a bunch of little things that make it work, and, as stated, they use so many Christmas tropes that there are very few left over for the less tightly plotted sequel. Without all those bits of funny that work in the first to distract you in the second, the plot flaws are that much more glaring and that much more upsetting.
Perhaps it is foolish to speak of plot flaws in a child's cartoon such as this, but then again, perhaps not. The first special is a true Christmas gift, and the second more of a re-gift. It features the same voice cast (which includes Sarah Chalke), and adds Riggle, Chris Parnell, and more in order to make it seem bigger, but it feels much more like an idea that was rushed into production based upon the success of the first than an idea which was given the time it needed to flourish. Younger audiences will be very happy with both, and while the second will prove diverting for older audiences, the first is truly enjoyable.
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