21 TV Episodes to Put You in the Holiday Spirit

21 TV Episodes to Put You in the Holiday Spirit (continued):

13. The Goldbergs Season 3 Episode 10,  “A Christmas Story”

Don’t be fooled by the title. Hanukkah is at the center of this story. First, there’s the Goldbergs’ tradition of watching A Christmas Story on TV every year (me too!). 

Determined to step up the holiday and get her family excited about Hanukkah, Beverly decides to launch what she calls Super Hanukkah. So is Super Hanukkah actually super? It mostly looks and feels like Christmas with a slight Hanukkah spin on it. Not to be deterred, Beverly “invents” a magical entity who will deliver presents, Hanukkah Harry, hangs Hanukkah socks above the fireplace, and decorates the Hanukkah bush, all while insisting this is laced with cultural significance. 

Beverly’s commitment to her own convoluted mythology is hilarious and she vamps a story about the “finding of the Hanukkah bush” that includes Aquaman and tchotchkes much to the chagrin of Pops. It all comes from a good place: a desire to have tradition that her family can be committed to and excited about.

Ultimately, Beverly learns that Hanukkah doesn’t have to be super to be important, and the most important aspects of the holidays aren’t flashy bushes or mystical men bringing gifts; they are the traditions that we put meaning in and establish ourselves, like the annual watching of our favorite holiday movie.

12. Grey’s Anatomy Season 2 Episode 12, “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer”

The second season of Grey’s Anatomy is one of its best and this Christmas episode manages to blend both comedy and drama, which seems appropriate for a holiday-themed episode as the season tends to bring us equal amounts of both. The holidays mean different things to different people.

For some, they’re a whimsical, merry distraction from everyday life; for others, they’re a season centered on faith and religion; yet there are also people who find them an inconvenient backdrop to the stressors they are already experiencing. 

There are examples of all three in this episode, as the interns, residents, and attendings try to navigate the season, surgeries, and their relationships with one another. Izzie’s in a decorating tailspin, trying to overcompensate after her breakup with Alex; Christina and Burke face their differences in faith, and Alex is desperately trying to keep his head above water as he studies until Izzie finally acquiesces and helps him because “it’s what Jesus would freakin do.”

The episode is about finding our respective tribes and loving them (begrudgingly, even when we’re frustrated with them, or don’t agree with them). That’s what Christmas and Hanukkah are really all about.

11. Doctor Who Season 5 Episode 14, “A Christmas Carol”

While many shows have toyed with the Christmas Carol structure over the years, few have done so as successfully as Doctor Who. Michael Gambon, known to many as the second Dumbledore of the Harry Potter films, plays the “Scrooge” figure, a wounded, grumpy miser named Sardick.

The natural time travel structure of the Dickens novel and the treasured BBC classic blend nicely, and the result is a riff on the limited nature and preciousness of time, a feeling all too familiar during the holidays. Oh and have I mentioned there’s also flying fish? Just roll with it.

10. New Girl Season 6 Episode 10, “Christmas Eve Eve”

Given how much lead character Jessica Day loves Christmas, it’s no surprise that New Girl‘s Christmas episodes shine year after year. Selecting the right gift for the people you love is stressful.

When the gang approaches Jess with the idea that they forgo gift giving that year, she cringes, crying “Christmas gifts are how you show the people you love that you care in a very special, magical, and highly mandatory way!” No pressure, right? While she’s not thrilled, she does begrudgingly compromise, agreeing that everyone will draw just one name for the exchange this year.

This solution has the opposite effect of de-stressing the holiday, and in fact, only serves to raise the stakes. While Cece, Nick, Winston, Schmidt, and Jess exist in a heightened reality, the anxieties that accompany buying gifts for the people you love and trying to make sure it’s the most perfect representation of how you feel about them and how well you know them, is very relatable.

There are a few bittersweet twists along the way, but the makeshift snowfall at the conclusion of the episode is pure magic even if it is, just, errr, scrap paper. The best gifts aren’t necessarily things — they’re a sign you’ve been paying attention.

9. The O.C. Season 1 Episode 13, “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”

It’s not every day that a simple phrase or concept from a TV show permeates pop culture so much that it becomes a generally accepted term but that’s exactly what happened with Chrismukkah, the super-holiday Seth Cohen invented “drawing on the best that Christianity and Judaism have to offer.”

The crux of Chrismukkah is simple: 8 days of presents, followed by 1 day of many presents, and because this is The O.C. we’re talking about here, you can expect plenty of drama to be served as well. The O.C. had Chrismukkah episodes almost every year, but the first one is the best and most festive. There’s drunkenness, showdowns, bad Sylvester Stallone impressions, mall sequences. It really is the gift that keeps on giving.

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 3 Episode 10, “Amends”

While some shows choose to lean into the nostalgia and buoyancy of the season, Buffy the Vampire Slayer takes a more somber and reflective turn, and there are trace amounts of It’s a Wonderful Life in the DNA of this episode. Angel the character and Christmas in general both come with considerable baggage and that is amplified when they intersect here.

Melodrama aside, it is refreshing to see a holiday episode that leans into the despair that comes with the holidays as people come together with their loved ones and reflect on the year past and the days ahead. What happens when you don’t have people? What happens when you look back and don’t like what you see? How do you even begin to move forward and make amends?

Buffy doesn’t pretend this time of year, or this kind of reckoning is easy, but does focus on forgiveness — of ourselves and of others — and the importance of taking it all one step at a time. 

7. The Office Season 2 Episode 10, Christmas Party

The Office tackled Christmas almost every season it was on, but its first holiday-themed episode is by far its strongest — and its sweetest. Like so many of the early episodes, there are completely cringeworthy moments, mostly courtesy of Michael and his misguided management and relationship style.

After Michael breaks the spending limit and gifts Ryan an iPod and is disappointed in his own gift in the office exchange, a homemade oven mitt, he institutes Yankee Swap (does anyone like those?). It’s one uncomfortable, bumbling moment after another, given the high demand for the iPod and the other highly personalized gifts, including a teapot stuffed with inside jokes that Jim got for Pam.

Luckily, the teapot ends up going home with the right person. Overall, the episode gives a chance for each of the quirky Office mates to shine, but most importantly, it effectively channels the delicate awkwardness of Yankee Swaps and Secret Santas.

6. Parks and Recreation Season 4 Episode 10, “Citizen Knope”

Parks and Recreation had one of the strongest comedic ensembles of our time and almost every core character gets a moment to shine in this Christmas episode.

Despite being temporarily suspended from government work, Leslie manages to give every single one of her colleagues a lovingly chosen, personalized Christmas gift and facilitates their delivery via best friend Ann. Ron calls the group together, determined to find something to pay back the “emotional debt” and address the imbalance in gift giving between them and Leslie. 

After her campaign advisers withdraw their support, inspiration strikes. Leslie, so accustomed to being the supreme gift giver and problem solver of the group, finally gets to be the on receiving end of not one, but two, lovingly personalized gifts: an elaborate gingerbread house decorated to look like the Parks office and a commitment from each one of their colleagues to manage a portion of her city council campaign.

When watching each of her friends step up and explain their new role, your heart may just grow two sizes. Am I joking? Knope.

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