The Fight Before Christmas

Martha Stewart as herself
Katy Perry as herself

"The Fight Before Christmas" is the eighth episode of the twenty-second season of The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 5, 2010, and consists of four short dream segments that all take place during Christmas. In the first segment, Bart travels to the North Pole and sets out to get Santa into giving him the dirt bike he has wished for every year. In the second one, set during World War II, Lisa has to cope with the absence of her mother who has been deployed as a soldier overseas. Martha Stewart arrives at the Simpsons' home in the third dream segment, helping Marge save the family's Christmas. Finally, in the last segment the entire family has become puppet characters in a theater show that also stars Katy Perry.

Both Stewart and Perry guest starred in the episode as themselves. The segment featuring Perry, with the Simpsons as puppets, was filmed in live-action. It parodies The Muppet Show and Sesame Street—two shows that also feature puppet characters (The Muppets). The segment was inspired by the announcement that in September 2010 Perry would appear as herself on Sesame Street, though this appearance was later cut from that show because it became controversial. Since airing, "The Fight Before Christmas" has received mixed to positive reviews from television critics. It was watched by approximately 9.56 million viewers during its original broadcast.

The structure of the episode is similar to the structure of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, only that it is divided in four stories instead of three.