To make a list of the best Christmas episodes of every show ever made would be darn near impossible. Here’s a starting point, with all my favorites!
Some have said my knowledge of the American sitcom is “encyclopedic.” To that, I would say it’s “encyclopaedic.” All jokes aside, I would agree that sitcoms are my area of expertise! I grew up on them. In fact, I’ve studied them at length. They hold a reverence in my heart that remains mostly unmatched. As a result, I have a high standard for quality “Christmas episodes.” Can this episode be funny? Can it warm the heart? Can it celebrate the holiday season with equal parts family and fun? If they can do it well, it’s on my watch list!
Honestly, because so many shows know how to nail the “Christmas episodes”, I tend to take full days during the holiday season to watch my favorite shows, one by one, going through each season’s “Christmas episodes.” Naturally, I have my favorites! As a result, I’ve compiled a list of the episodes that I think are the best ones to watch when looking for a bit of holiday cheer.
Note: I have not included any episodes of “Bobs Burgers” nor “The Simpsons” on this list. I happen to think that both shows have made many high quality “Christmas episodes”, and I intend to break down and score them individually this and next year (spoiler alert for Christmas 2022). So, if you notice they are MIA, know they will receive further recognition!
MY TOP TEN LIST OF FAVORITE CHRISTMAS EPISODES
- Express Christmas – Modern Family, season 3. The Dunphy-Pritchett family has all made plans for the holidays. Unfortunately, these plans include trips that will take them away from each other on Christmas. The whole family realizes this on a day weeks ahead of Christmas. As a result, they decide to plan an “Express Christmas,” in which they will celebrate the holiday together that afternoon. Each sect of the family gets divided into certain tasks to prepare. As “Modern Family” standards dictate, it’s a farce. I find that “Modern Family” has a funny way of making me laugh and cry out of sentiment in almost every episode. This episode has it’s funny moments, and a sweet, family fun ending. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: fake snow is the move. It’s just nice, okay?
- Christmas Wishes – The Office, season 8. People who stop watching “The Office” after Steve Carrell leaves miss out on a lot, and this episode is one of them! Andy acts as the office Santa, granting wishes to everyone in the branch. This includes getting Dwight property on the moon and driving Meredith home after she drinks too much at the office party. However, Meredith isn’t the only drunk redhead at the Christmas party, as Erin tries to cope with seeing Andy’s pretty new girlfriend in attendance. Laughs ensue, as does one of the best Christmas montages I’ve ever seen.
- Regional Holiday Music – Community, season 3. Do you like “Community?” Do you love to hate on “glee?” Boy, do I have the “Christmas episode” for you. As Greendale’s glee club suffers another horrific tragedy, Abed wallows over not celebrating the holidays with his friends. Glee club teacher Mr. Rad encourages Abed to persuade his friends to perform the school’s Christmas pageant in the Glee club’s place. After that, it’s onto regionals… right? The episode is filled with all the makings of a “Community” episode — pop culture homages, satire, and a little bit of heart. The ending is sweet, but filled with laughs. Good “Christmas episodes” have to have both! Also, if you’re a fan of Childish Gambino, this is a deep track.
- Secret Santa – The Office, Season 6. What can I say? “The Office” knows how to do a good musical montage when it wants to do one! Along with that killer karaoke moment (that does not exist on Youtube — I tried), this episode cracks the funny with a solid battle of the Santas. In one corner, we have Phyllis Lapin-Vance, who vollied to put her temperament and figure to good use to play Santa. She’s even got her own Santa suit! However, as the boss, Michael Scott is horrified at the shocking lack of traditionalism. The two butt heads until Michael switches tactics, transforming into… well, the REAL Christmas hero.
- A Benihana Christmas – The Office, Season 3. This is not to say that the first Christmas episode of “The Office” doesn’t warrant a watch this time of year. It does. I mean, the teapot? However, “A Benihana Christmas” really ratchets up the laughs. After getting dumped by his new girlfriend, Michael drinks his sorrows away with Andy at Benihana, with Dwight and Jim in tow. While the four are at “lunch,” Angela inadvertently starts a war with Pam and Karen, who decide to host a second office Christmas party. The newly formed “Committee to plan parties” will feature margaritas, karaoke, and a Christmas raffle. Sounds way more fun than a booze-free Nutcracker Christmas, right? There’s plenty here to put this as my favorite “Christmas episode” of “The Office.” Also, I love Pam’s red turtleneck sweater. I want one.
- Citizen Knope – Parks and Recreation, Season 4. Every year, without fail, Leslie Knope provides perfect Christmas gifts to all her friends. After a few devastating setbacks, Leslie finds herself unable to work and unable to continue her run for city council. To cheer her up, the Parks department sets out to give her a true Christmas miracle. This episode is a pivotal moment for Leslie’s trajectory as a woman in politics. To boot, it’s a great display of how the greatest gift of all is friendship.
- Christmas Special – 30 Rock, Season 3. I started watching “30 Rock” as it aired in season 3. It was during my big Tina Fey appreciation era (okay, I’m still in my Tina Fey appreciation era). I already knew I liked this show, certainly. But at the time, this was the episode that really sold me on the writing behind it! Jack Donaghy accidentally hits his overbearing mother with his car, forcing her to spend Christmas under his care. As a result, he decides that Liz Lemon’s show, TGS, should host a Christmas special, so he can stay at work longer to avoid his mother more. Meanwhile, Liz decides to donate presents by way of the “Letters to Santa” program. However she finds herself feeling sufficiently “scrumped” when she comes to the conclusion that the Glover family, the alleged recipients of her charity, is a scam. The episode is filled with laughs, and was the highest rated episode of the series at that point in its run! Elaine Stritch portrays Jack’s mother, Colleen. Her legendary presence on Broadway is felt in this episode (and in all her appearances in the show, honestly), as she joins Jack for a soft serenade of “The Christmas Song”. It makes me cry every time!
- My Best Moment – Scrubs, Season 4. “Scrubs” was one of the first shows I ever truly loved/used as a coping mechanism. It is a masterclass at balancing humor, heart, and medical accuracy! In this episode, JD gives a lecture to pre-med students, who ask him about his “best moment in medicine.” The episode is filled with each character’s “best moment,” ranging from a meaningful “thank you” to nurse Carla to Todd’s life saving high five. The whole hospital comes together to help a patient who arrives with a medical issue that no one can diagnose. To add to the trouble, it’s Christmas, and the patient brings along his ten-year-old son, whose mom is no longer around to care for him. Dr. Cox points out that in a hospital, this is just how it happens: an otherwise healthy patient, Christmas, potentially orphaned kid… seems like a tragedy wrapped in a bow. I won’t spoil things, but a really good cover of “Joy to the World” plays at the end of the episode. It’s a good ‘un.
- The 23rd – New Girl, Season 1. I think that “New Girl” will receive further recognition as the years pass for it’s quality improv and writing. While “Friends” may have been the first to hype up Christmas Eve Eve, “New Girl” dedicates a whole episode to it. Jess feels things getting serious with her new boyfriend, Winston is struggling to find a new job. Schmidt invites the entire apartment to his company’s holiday party, where things take a dramatic turn for everyone. The episode is a great foreshadowing to how the rest of the show will play out for each major character. The lesson from the episode rings true for all occasions. To quote Professor Albus Dumbledore, “Happiness can be found in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”
Before I provide my number one favorite of all the “Christmas episodes,” I think this list deserves a booster by way of most “honorable mentions:
- Symphony of Illumination – How I Met Your Mother, Season 7. This episode, ultimately, focuses on a more darker time for the Maclarens gang. However, Ted Mosby provides Robin with the Christmas display of a lifetime.
- Comparative Religion – Community, Season 1. It’s not Christmas, it’s December 10th! Shirley struggles to provide the study group with a Christian Christmas party, as the Greendale 7 consists of a Jehovah’s Witness, a Jewish girl, and an agnostic who plans to fight a guy before the Christmas party.
- Christmas Attack Zone! – 30 Rock, Season 5. Jack plans to spend Christmas with his girlfriend, Avery, who is pregnant with his child. Liz plans to show up last minute to her family Christmas, to miss all the drama of a Lemon Christmas. However, plans change when Liz figures out that Jack hasn’t told his mother about Avery’s pregnancy! Jack invites Liz to his house for Christmas, where he will not only rub his happiness in his mother’s face, but also reveal he knows the truth about his father. The episode is filled with the witty, irreverent dialogue that one can expect from every episode of “30 Rock”. However, you won’t find this episode on most streaming platforms. A subplot with Jenna has her planning a costume party appearance with her partner for New Years Eve. Their ultimate decision: two “Black Swans.”
- Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas – Community, Season 2. Could this be a true list of best “Christmas episodes” without a little bit of stop-motion animation? Abed wakes up shortly before Christmas break realizing that the entire world is suddenly claymation. The rest of the “Greendale Seven” don’t see the world as Abed does, and invite school psych professor Ian Duncan (a delightful John Oliver) to offer Abed some therapy. As the group help Abed discover the true meaning of Christmas, they encounter all the Christmas cliches, filled with songs, candy canes, and… a cave of frozen memories? If you haven’t picked up the overarching theme of all these “Christmas episodes,” this one makes it plain: the real miracle of Christmas is love.
These “Christmas episodes” bring the true meaning of the holiday season. I know that for a lot of people, this time of the year can be sad, and almost unbearable. These twenty minute bursts of fun can provide a spark of hope or happiness to those who need it most. Some call it Christmas magic, and they’re not wrong. However, I think that ability to provide laughter and love is just the magic of television.