BIG JOY ON THE SMALL SCREEN
The top 10 holiday sitcom episodes of all time, guaranteed to warm even the Grinchiest hearts
CHRISTMAS episodes are basically permission slips for sitcoms to indulge a bit. The holiday season lets shows try out new storytelling techniques and lets performers perform — like, singing and dancing and all that jazz. And true to life, the holidays raise the stakes as our faves struggle to pull off the best Christmas ever, just like us. They sometimes even let sitcoms get serious, go quiet and ruminate. And we allow it because it’s the holidays, a season of heightened emotions. These episodes can be comforting and, in 2020, they can keep you company.
Here, the top 10 holiday shows of all time, available on demand now. These are the real deal, and streaming any (or all) of them is a fine tradition to start.
1 “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” (1970), “Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II”
This episode (at right) is pretty much the perfect combination of humor and humanity. It will make you giggle (Lou realizing he gave Mary a blank check for Christmas). Your heart will swell when you see how excited Rhoda is to give Mary a rotisserie (and one egg), and then it’ll break when Mary has to scarf down a sandwich so she can make it to the office in time to work the Christmas Eve night shift. The part that will stick with you, though, is the loneliest part — the stretch where Mary’s alone in the newsroom with nothing but the TV to keep her company. On Hulu.
2 “The Dick Van Dyke Show” (1963), “The Alan Brady Show Presents”
They don’t make them like this anymore — seriously. There’s no plot beyond “Pompous star Alan Brady (Carl Reiner) makes his writers (and one writer’s wife) perform in his Christmas special.” That’s it, that’s the show (below). And what a show it is! This is a series of song and dance sketches that will make you laugh while legitimately enchanting you. On Hulu.
3 “Community” (2010), “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”
Christmas is painful. The point of most holiday sitcom episodes is to either gloss over that pain with jokes or acknowledge them fleetingly . . . and then get to the jokes. This episode exists fully in the overlap of pain and joy, and does so via a flawlessly executed, vintage claymation style that will ping your nostalgia radar. On Netflix.
4 “That Girl” (1966), “Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid”
This holiday masterpiece is a must-watch every season (and the precursor to our No. 1 pick from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”). By going out of her way to keep a lonely little boy company on Christmas Eve, leading lady Ann Marie (Marlo Thomas) ends up sacrificing all of her traditions. What does Christmas look like when it doesn’t look like anything recognizable? How do you keep the magic alive? This episode will give you a hint, and it’ll make you feel all the emotions. On Amazon Prime.
5 “The Office” (2005), “Christmas Party”
No show captures the awkwardness of modern life (well, pre-pandemic life) quite like “The Office.” Even 15 years later, all the emotions in “Christmas Party”— Phyllis’ pain, Stanley’s boredom, Jim’s panic, Angela’s rage — still feel fresh. It’s also remarkable that no other workplace sitcom (other than the UK version of the same show) has come close to capturing what it’s like being forced to have after-hours holiday fun at work. On Netflix.
6 “New Girl” (2016), “Christmas Eve Eve”
This festive episode (above) of “New Girl” is hysterical in all the right places while never losing its big, sentimental heart. Seeing the look Jess (Zooey Deschanel) gives each of her best friends while Darlene Love plays and shredded receipts flitter from the roof like snow, encompasses the message of the series and the holiday: Family is everything, and sometimes your family is your friends. On Netflix.
7 “Family Matters” (1993), “Christmas Is Where the Heart Is”
What’s worse than getting stuck on a subway train on Christmas Eve? Getting stuck in that dirty, confined space on Christmas Eve with Steve Urkel! But y’know what? If anyone can turn a bad situation into a nice one, it’s this perpetually (often cluelessly) optimistic nerd next door. Urkel knows that all you need for a rad Christmas experience is a little faith and positivity. Jaleel White’s performance in this one is so good that it might convince you to spend an entire Christmas Eve on public transportation. On Hulu.
8 “The Golden Girls” (1986), “’Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas”
Ah, yes, the drama of trying to travel during the holidays. From a hostage situation to a freak storm, calamity after calamity ends up stranding the girls in a diner and away from their families. But like the best episodes of the holiday season, this one highlights what viewers knew all along: These four are family, in every way that truly matters. This episode also has the funniest punchline in the entire series. Wait for it. On Hulu.
9 “Frasier” (1995), “Frasier Grinch”
Christmas can be tough for everyone, and “Frasier” (above) — a sitcom about a divorced man living with his blue collar dad — spoke to how the holiday is difficult for fathers and sons. After all, gift giving can shine a spotlight on just how little a dad knows about his kid and vice versa. In addition to being quickwitted affair, this episode unpacks how hard it can be for parents to find common ground with their children. It’s especially hard when a son wants a stupid hunk of plastic called Outlaw Laser Robo Geek, and you don’t find out until Christmas Eve. On Hulu.
10 “Bewitched” (1965), “A Vision of Sugar Plums”
Since every episode of Bewitched (above) is steeped in the supernatural, the show had to go extra hard to make their first Christmas episode magical. The solution? Have Samantha and Darrin take in an orphan with an attitude for the holiday and when that kid says he doesn’t believe in Santa, have’ em pop up to the North Pole so St. Nick can set the kid straight. No sitcom does Christmas like “Bewitched,” because it’s the only sitcom in which Santa is a recurring character. On Amazon Prime.
— Originally published on Decider.com