Christmas is just around the corner which means it’s time to plan out your viewing schedule for the festivities.
While there’s plenty of classic Christmas movies to rewatch – looking at you, Elf – sometimes you’re just not in the mood for a full movie. Sometimes what you need is a little episode of TV, themed around the holidays.
Luckily plenty of iconic TV shows have produced numerous great Christmas episodes over the years. Take a look below at six of the best Christmas TV episodes to watch this weekend.
The Office – ‘Christmas Party’ (Season 2, Episode 10)
Say what you want about the U.S. remake of The Office but one thing it did fantastically well was a holiday episode. There was the time Meredith got so drunk she set her head on fire and Michael tried to admit her to rehab without her consent; there was the one where Dwight hosted a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas and it becomes, well, very Dwight.
There’s none better, though, than season two’s ‘Christmas Party’, drowning in awkwardness and sweetness. Secret Santa takes a bad turn after Michael gets annoyed at receiving a homemade oven mitt from poor Phyllis. He organises a game of Yankee Swap to compensate, everyone starts fighting, and it takes Michael buying a shocking amount of vodka to make up for his behaviour.
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It’s also when we find out about the love Michael has for Ryan – he buys him an iPod well over the spending limit – and the love Jim has for Pam – he gets her a teacup filled with little personal treasures. Honestly, it’s a tough call to work out which couple is best.
I Love Lucy – ‘The Christmas Show’ (Season 6, Episode 27)
There’s never been a better time to get into the seminal sitcom with Aaron Sorkin’s Nicole Kidman-starring biopic of Lucille Ball, Being the Ricardos, hitting Amazon Prime Video this month. It might be many decades old by now but – ignore what Sorkin himself said – it remains funny to this day.
‘The Christmas Show’ was a historic episode, the first time a flashback episode ever aired on TV. It sees Lucy, Ricky, Fred, and Ethel recall their favourite festive memories as they prepare the tree on Christmas Eve. We flashback to Lucy appearing in Ricky’s barbershop quartet, and the time Lucy went into labour and everyone rushed off to the hospital without her.
It’s schmaltzy, yes, but it hits that perfect note of sentimentality that we all usually feel at Christmas, no matter of it’s 1956 or 2021.
Gilmore Girls – ‘Forgiveness and Stuff’ (Season 1, Episode 10)
This episode of Gilmore Girls captures the true spirit of Christmas: the messiness of getting together with family, Lorelai and Rory are up against it as they deal with tensions and stress during the holidays. Emily and Lorelai have a squabble about Christmas dinner, while Dean and Lorelai patch things up.
There’s even a hospital visit as Richard collapses and is rushed to the emergency room. Everyone ends up massively relieved when Richard’s issue turns out to be just a bout of angina, leading the Gilmores to settle all of their differences.
This episode has fighting, crying, melodrama – everything that defines a Christmas with the family basically.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXzC-BXPACo
Friends – ‘The One With the Holiday Armadillo’ (Season 7, Episode 10)
Friends could have had several Christmas episodes on this list. How could anyone forget Rachel royally messing up her Christmas Day dessert (“it tastes like feet!”). It’s season seven’s festive episode that really sticks in the memory though. When Ross wishes to teach his son Ben about the wonders of Hanukkah, the little tike is only interested in the adventures of Santa Claus. He tries to rent a Kris Kringle costume but none are available.
Enter the Holiday bloody Armadillo. The only costume Ross can get his hands on at such short notice is Santa’s representative for all of the southern states and Mexico. Ross and Monica combine to teach Ben about Hanukkah anyway, which is going well until Chandler bursts into the apartment in a Santa suit. Joey, for some reason, dresses up as Superman -the sight of the three of them feels like a fever dream.
Black Mirror – ‘White Christmas’ (Season 2, Episode 4)
Sometimes we all need to watch some stirring drama on TV to distract us from the chaos of the holidays. A typical thrilling Black Mirror episode puts a dark spin on Christmas. Infidelity, artificial intelligence, and manipulation are all featured, with a light sprinkling of family and romance to balance it all out.
Jon Hamm and Rafe Spall play Matt and Joe who tell three stories from a remote cabin on Christmas Day. The first follows a man attempting to seduce a woman at a Christmas party while being guided remotely; the second sees Matt training digital clones of people; and the third focuses on Joe’s obsession over a former partner after the relationship comes to an abrupt end.
If you’re after some thoughtful mystery this weekend, this episode’s the one to watch.
The Simpsons – Marge Be Not Proud (Season 7, Episode 11)
One of the sweetest episodes the beloved animation series ever produced. Bart, the rascal, finds himself in trouble once again after he shop flits a video game from a store just before Christmas.
His behaviour threatens to ruin Christmas, with Marge feeling extremely disconnected from her child. This leaves Bart guilt-ridden during the holidays, leading to the emotional ending with the family all reconciled in time for Christmas.
