There’s something special about that time of year when a show you love puts out a Christmas episode. No matter what show it is and whether it “works” or not, a Christmas special brings such a particular festive joy that’s hard to match.
To celebrate this, we’re ranking our favourite Television Christmas Specials, from the shows we love and the episodes that we revisit year after year until we know every frame. We’ve got everything covered; from the blatant, scathing satire of another show to a dinner packed with surprise guest appearances and the desire to lob cutlery across the table at an annoying pseudo-relative because you’ve had enough. We can all relate.
Just so that we’re not here until next Christmas, we’ve selected one episode from each of the following fifteen shows that represents how they do Christmas best – let’s do it!
15.
Supernatural
3.08: A Very Supernatural Christmas
When the writers of this show knew a Holiday special was on the (Christmas) cards, they sat down to write it with one goal in mind: to make it ”the most violent Christmas special in the history of television“. Alongside the gruesome yet light-hearted mystery of the week; the episode more memorably features some somber flashbacks of Sam and Dean’s harsh childhood with their neglectful father, that lacked almost any Christmas magic at all. With both the fun seasonal adventure and the bittersweet backstory, it ticks all the boxes for a decent Christmas special.
14.
Bones
3.09: The Santa In The Slush
The actual crime featured in this forensic show is delightfully festive: the body of a man dressed in a Santa Suit, whose legal name turns out to be Kris Kringle, is found in a sewer! Ah, nothing says Christmas like a corpse. Lovely. More importantly, however, is the other element to this episode. In what is, in hindsight, still early days in the Bones/ Booth slow burn, this mistletoe moment is a monumental moment in these protagonist’s storyline! And the gum?? If you know, you know. If you don’t, read the rest of the post, then go watch Bones, then come back and scream with us about it.
13.
Gilmore Girls
2.10: The Bracebridge Dinner
Gilmore Girls has a unique phenomenon of always feeling Christmassy, without actually featuring all that much Christmas content: it’s the whimsical small town, ‘found family’ juxtaposed against actual family drama that seals that deal. Could it be the festive season without wistfully looking at the sky and whispering “I smell snow” to yourself? If nothing else, what other show includes a snowman styled like Björk?
12.
Doctor Who
2005: The Christmas Invasion
Doctor Who, particularly in Tennant’s era, did a Christmas special right. It’s their very first year after reviving the show, in Tennant’s first full outing as the Tenth Doctor, however, that we think truly has it all: scares, iconic lines, an exceptional and seamless character introduction, AND a takedown of a corrupt political figurehead. That’s everything a British Christmas should be.
Honourable mention: The Runaway Bride
11.
Glee
2.10: A Very Glee Christmas
The less said about the chaos of Glee’s other Christmas specials, the better. While we also love Season 3’s Extraordinary Merry Christmas) which features a rare original Christmas song no less!), Season 2’s A Very Glee Christmas is a standout among the holiday episodes. Featuring Glee’s very first attempt at Christmas songs, the episode allows Glee’s insane characters to be let loose with nothing but their personality during the festive season…
Honourable mention: Extraordinarily Merry Christmas
10.
Friends
7.10: The One with the Holiday Armadillo
While there’s a Christmas episode in most seasons of Friends, we think there’s none that represents the show better than this Season 7 episode. Featuring three strong storylines that all combine well at the end, the episode captures different aspects of Christmas: the religious/spiritual aspects of Christmas and Hannukah, the busy commercial rush that inspires large crowds and wait times, and the idea of gift-giving (albeit not in a serious way). The episode’s worth it for Phoebe’s final line: “I understand why Superman is here, but why is there a porcupine at the Easter Bunny’s funeral?” An all-around Christmas classic.
Honourable mention: The One With the Routine
9.
Schitt’s Creek
4.13: Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose
Acting as something of a bridge between the show’s fourth and fifth seasons, “Merry Christmas, Johnny Rose” makes you wonder why Schitt’s Creek only did one Christmas episode because the tone of the show lends wonderfully to the holiday itself. The Rose family had been used to the glitzy decadence of rich-people Christmas, and now are forced to navigate the holidays without all of their luxuries. This creates a very organic way to pull off a “figuring out what’s really important” narrative while also imbuing the Christmas season with the typical Schitt family whimsy that we know and love.
8.
Community
3.10: Regional Holiday Music
Some Community fans might go for the singular slice of fun Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas, but as diehard Glee fans, we like to veer towards Season 3’s Regional Holiday Music. Spawned from creator Dan Harmon’s public dislike of Glee, the episode creates a satire in which the core study group are recruited one-by-one to perform at the Christmas pageant after the actual Glee club had nervous breakdowns. The musical numbers are fun and we enjoy the satirical elements but it’s all worth it for Britta’s contribution to the final performance (and of course, “Oh, Britta’s in this?” which should’ve earned Jim Rash a Nobel Prize for Line Delivery. Despite the unabashed criticism of Glee, there’s still room for Community’s typical offbeat sentimentality.
7.
The Office US
2.10: Christmas Party
The Office US excels at the Christmas episode, with every one of its seven celebrations as memorable as the last. But the first has a special place in our hearts, with Michael at some of his most-Michael throwing strops in response to the team Secret Santa swap; Jim fighting to gift Pam an overtly thoughtful gift in their adorable ‘just friends’ era; and other general madness from a brilliant cast of characters.
6.
Ted Lasso
2.04: Carol of the Bells
Many criticise Ted Lasso for its overt optimism, but it’s that optimism in the face of hardship that makes a Christmas episode work so wonderfully. Aside from the frankly off-putting claymation opening that inexplicably gave Juno Temple’s very-blonde character very brown hair; Richmond F.C.’s take on Christmas is a realistic but wholesome one that also throws in a couple of nods to classic Christmas movies. We particularly love the gathering of cultures from the football team eating goat meat off a surfboard.
5.
The Simpsons
1.01: Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
It’s fitting that the Simpsons began with a Christmas episode: what better way to introduce a family than at what is simultaneously the most stressful and most loving time of year? Though the Simpson’s most enjoyable heyday is now behind us, it’s clear from this initial episode why it’s such a beloved show that’s still running now, with it’s characters that are as easy to love as they are to laugh at and be infuriated by, and the simple premise of unexpectedly getting a family dog is brilliant sitcom writing. Of all the shows in this ranking, it’s also the one with the most Christmas specials, and there’s something to that.
Honourable mention: 12.08: Skinner’s Sense of Snow (HONK!) ((this is the camel from that episode))
4.
The West Wing
1.10: In Excelsis Deo
The West Wing isn’t typically the sort of show that would sensationalise a Christmas special, but it manages to turn in one of the show’s most powerful and memorable episodes with a few simple plot points that coordinate well with the show’s tone. The central, and most emotional plot doesn’t even have much to do with the holiday at all, but it works. The cast all do wonderful jobs, particularly Richard Schiff, and it manages to mix solemnity and joy in a very commendable way.
And now for our top three…
3.
The Office UK
Christmas: 1&2
Are we right in feeling this re-launched the concept of Christmas specials in modern television? The two-part special served as a grand finale to the original series and tied up loose ends in a grounded but unbelievably satisfying way that honoured every single character arc in the short-lived but groundbreaking show.
2.
The Bear
2.06: Fishes
An hour-long, relentless anxiety attack that demonstrates the specific stress of all your family gathering in stunning television at its best from both a technical and acting perspective. It’s a bold move to insert a sixty-minute flashback episode in the middle of a season that’s already established a timeline (in this case, the opening of the restaurant) but it works while not being overtly Christmassy. Considering the season dropped in the summer, it still manages to capture Christmas in a way that isn’t jarring for the viewer, which is a pretty big accomplishment.
1.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
3.10: Amends
In its sole Christmas episode, Buffy beautifully captures the deep, crushing pain that Christmas can bring by introducing literally the greatest Evil – and yet, still, it gives us a soft, sweet Christmas miracle that is so delicately played it avoids Hallmark cheesiness. Sarah Michelle Gellar puts her heart on the line in what is a pivotal moment for Buffy Summers, and in doing so provides the biggest comfort for any fan by standing alongside us and saying ‘Christmas is hard, but it has its beauty’.
The Christmas spirit can come in many forms, as evidenced by the above choices which show a mixture of melancholy and festive silliness, both of which are quite welcome when they come in the form of a TV episode like those we’ve listed. There’s something quite telling about how characters approach Christmas that can tell you things about them that you otherwise wouldn’t know outside of the season.
Do you agree with our ranking? Do you enthusiastically disagree and want us to be stopped?
Let us know if we’ve been naughty or nice on Twitter, and have yourselves a merry little Christmas!
the blueprint. 