It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of new releases every holiday season, but when you’re not in the mood for a full Christmas movie, 30 minutes of festive entertainment can still do the trick. From classic shows that first aired on broadcast TV to ones that have exclusively premiered on Hulu, there’s a variety of episodes to choose from when you’re sitting down with some milk and cookies or wrapping all of your gifts.
Over the years, Hulu has become a go-to for classic shows of the early aughts and more recent additions that we can’t get enough of.
In this list, we compiled a gift of our own for you: we collected some of Hulu’s best holiday episodes, flagging everything from rom-coms to animated series to reality TV, and everything in between.
Here are some holiday Hulu episodes, from the platform’s popular show tab, to cozy up to in no particular order.
This episode brings us back to the good old days when Modern Family had only debuted on broadcast TV. To truly feel all the nostalgia and how young the Dunphy kids were, “Undeck The Halls” gets you in the Christmas mood from Season 1. The mystery of the cigarette burn on the couch arm cancels Christmas at the Dunphy house, while Cam (Cameron Tucker) and Mitch (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) feel the guilt when they get a mall Santa fired, and Jay (Ed O’Neill) learns about some Colombian Christmas traditions from Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and Manny (Rico Rodriguez). The hidden lessons Modern Family tells truly makes your heart warm like a wintry cup of cocoa.
While adults enjoy holidays, kids go wild during school breaks. In New Girl, Jess’s (Zooey Deschanel) children wrap up the calendar year with a strange, Christmas-themed play, as she and Ryan (Julian Morris) make plans to go to his family’s home in London. The gang travels to the airport for “LAXmas” but when they arrive, disaster strikes. The nightmare scenario of not making it back home for Christmas comes true as a Midwest storm delays many flights. As Ryan waits for Jess to arrive, she second-guesses if she should go, but Schmidt (Max Greenfield), Cece (Hannah Simone), Nick (Jake Johnson), Winston (Lamorne Morris) and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) convince Jess to have her own Christmas miracle across the pond. If you have ever felt the holiday travel struggles, you can relate to this one with travel delays, vacationing, and those pesky intrusive thoughts about meeting your significant other’s family for the first time.
Futurama, Season 11, Ep 6: “I Know What You Did Next Xmas”
This episode of Futurama features the introduction of two new festive characters: Kwanzaabot (Coolio) and Chanukah Zombie (Mark Hamill). This episode of the sci-fi sitcom with a save the world complex includes a twist: there is an evil, violent Santa at large. But have no fear! Christmas is still on, as everyone’s stockings are up on the fireplace and the tree is being decorated, truly bringing the love and spirit of the holidays. We get the best of both worlds with quality family time and the making of the traditional turducken, and the warm and fuzzy feels come up as everyone includes the orphaned Bender (John DiMaggio) and Dr. Zoidberg (Billy West) for one big Christmas dinner.
After years on reality TV, The Kardashians gave us one of their best holiday episodes only recently. The Kardashians gifted us a perfect holiday show in 2022, when Kris Jenner brought the Christmas spirit to California. In ‘What Just Happened?’, Kris iconically hunts for six miniature dollhouses as Christmas gifts, but when she goes back to check in just days before Christmas, she loves the exteriors of the dollhouses … but her face shows that she’s not pleased with the interiors. The momager admits the gifts “are not exactly my vision,” before telling the designer straight-up, “this is a little messy.” Meanwhile, Scott Disick, Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner go on a walk with seven Italian greyhounds as they catch up Kylie’s recent drama. Kylie, a new mom-of-two, touches on her postpartum life and her son’s name change. And of course, Khloé Kardashian does not disappoint and surprises the family on Christmas morning with some magical snow and sledding fun.
One chef that feels the brunt of the holiday cooking is mama bear Donna (Jamie Lee Curtis). Her Feast of the Seven Fishes doesn’t go to plan as the toxic get-together goes downhill real fast. Chef Carmy (Jeremy Allen White), tries to help his mom on this Christmas Eve dinner flashback episode, but the intensity only worsens. But before we get in too deep, the Berzatto siblings spend a wholesome moment outside before they go into the house full of chaos. Everyone centers the day around Carmy being home from Copenhagen, and to top that, all the guest stars appear amidst the craziness. The yelling and the tension bubble up until eventually Donna breaks down. At the end of The Bear‘s longest episode, which runs a little over an hour, dinner is served.
Don’t let the holiday decor distract you from the constantly creepy vibe and bundle of secrets Pretty Little Liars brings. Rosewood is all decked out for the holidays as the girls and their significant others volunteer and carol across town. However, the big event this episode is Ali’s (Sasha Pieterse) ice ball, which stirs the pot. At this point, Ali has been exiled from the group because of her everlasting mean-girl persona and suspicious activity. Yet, all the girls show up in their sparkly, silver gowns, making us really feel like we’re invited to the holiday party, too. However, Spencer (Troian Bellisario), Aria (Lucy Hale), Hannah (Ashley Benson), and Emily (Shay Mitchell) are convinced Ali is “A,” and set themselves on a mission to search her house for clues and evidence during the ball. Even the girls can find holiday cheer — but of course “A” has to ruin every episode. “How The ‘A’ Stole Christmas” takes being a grinch to the next level.
Tune in for a little taste of caroling in the beginning of “Holiday Hookah” — that is, until Jacob (Chris Perfetti) stops the fun with his off-key singing. The ever-thoughtful Janine (Quinta Brunson) hands out Christmas, Kwanzaa and Chanukah cookies to her students, and the staff does a gift exchange in the teacher’s lounge, which everyone is content with … except for principal Ava (Janelle James), of course. After the school day, the romantic tension between Janine and Gregory (Tyler James Williams) thickens as they pull up to the club. Meanwhile, Melissa (Lisa Ann Walter) and Barbara (Sheryl Lee Ralph) are enjoying their annual Christmas dinner after school gets out, but Jacob joins and unfortunately ruins it. Melissa iconically walks out into the cold, saying her “liquor coat will make it a toasty 42 [degrees].” We’re left happy with a surprise guest cameo, but gritting through our teeth as Janine’s love life goes awry.
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Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
