10 Best Sitcom Holiday Episodes, According To IMDb

Like candy canes, stockings, gingerbread, and presents, festive TV specials are a staple of the season. As the weather gets colder and families gather for the holidays, our favorite characters gather to celebrate just like audiences. And because it’s TV, hijinks usually ensue.

This is especially the case in sitcoms. As they usually focus on themes like family, love, or just plain fun, they’re perfect for spreading Christmas cheer. But which holiday episodes do audiences love best?

10 Scrubs – “My Best Moment” (8.7)

Despite primarily being a comedy, the hospital setting of Scrubs makes heartbreak inevitable on occasion. In season four’s Christmas special, it seems like J.D. is setting himself up for failure when he promises a patient’s son that his father will make it back home before Santa arrives.

The patient is originally thought to have mono, but then falls unconscious and has to undergo surgery. J.D. is the one to realize he actually has a ruptured spleen, saving the day and fulfilling his promise to his son. It’s tense at times, but seeing J.D.’s relief – and hearing him refer to this as his “best moment” in medicine – makes this a heartwarming holiday treat.

9 Seinfeld – “The Strike” (8.8)

Most shows dip in quality by their last season. This episode of Seinfeld proves that isn’t the case. Like the rest of the show, there’s a lot going on in this well-received Christmas special. Jerry dates a woman whose looks keep changing, Kramer returns to his old job after a strike, and George avoids buying gifts for his colleagues by making ‘donations’ to a fake charity.

But the highlight is, of course, Festivus. This fictional non-secular holiday involves traditions such as the “airing of grievances,” and is hilariously used by Kramer to get out of working the Christmas crowds. It’s Christmas chaos at its best.

8 Frasier – “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz” (8.8)

In the sixth season of Frasier, the show’s titular character pretends to be Jewish so as to not be rejected by the mother of the woman he’s dating.

Admittedly, it’s not the most culturally sensitive of episodes. However, its climax – in which Niles arrives at the door dressed as Jesus – is such an awkward blunder that it’s hilarious. It’s tough to imagine a holiday episode more representative of the spirit of Frasier.

7 The Office – “A Benihana Christmas” (8.8)

With a grand total of 201 episodes, of course, The Office has its fair share of festive highlights. In this season three entry, Michael – fresh from his breakup with Carol – goes to Benihana for lunch with Andy, Dwight, and Jim, bringing several waitresses back to the office where there are two warring Christmas parties.

There’s a lot going on. Plenty of moments are so awkward that you want to look away but can’t, especially when Michael tries to tell the waitresses apart and convince one to come to Jamaica with him for the holidays. The best part, however, is definitely the final scene, where Dwight falls for a prank that leaves him waiting on the roof to be picked up by the CIA.

6 How I Met Your Mother – “Symphony Of Illumination” (8.8)

Like a lot of the best Christmas content, this episode of How I Met Your Mother is actually kind of devastating. Unlike the usual format, the show opens with Robin talking to her future kids. In the present day, she’s apprehensive over a pregnancy scare, but relieved when she discovers she’s not pregnant.

Then she discovers she’s unable to have kids at all and the show’s opening features her trying to come to terms with it. While she’s always been determined to stay childless, having the choice taken from her hits her unexpectedly hard. The scenes of Robin sitting alone in the snow, followed by Ted’s efforts to cheer her up with Christmas lights, are some of the show’s most moving – and proof that everyone needs friendship, especially at Christmas.

5 The Office – “Christmas Party” (8.9)

In The Office‘s first Christmas special, the show focuses on the time-honored tradition of the office Christmas party. The employees of Dunder Mifflin play Secret Santa, with Jim putting in extra effort to get Pam the perfect gift. However, Michael then decides they should play “Yankee Swap,” exchanging gifts freely.

What makes this episode so perfect is the fact it feels so real. This kind of awkward socialization happens in every workplace, and everyone knows someone as determined to force festive fun as Michael. But the heart of the episode is really Jim and Pam’s will-they-won’t-they tension, and the iconic teapot gift – namely the mysterious message Jim removes at the last minute.

4 Mr. Bean – “Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean” (9.0)

Considering the fact Mr. Bean is one of the highest-rated sitcoms of all time, it’s no surprise that it has a killer Christmas episode. In “Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean,” the character of the same name is as hapless as ever over the festive season. Over the course of its three arcs, he blunders through Christmas shopping, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day.

The stakes are low and the gags are relentless, making this one of TV’s most wholesome Christmas episodes. The moment most deserving of the loudest laugh is when Mr. Bean listens to a children’s choir and has the most hilarious reaction he could: absolutely nothing. He shuts the door in their faces, which is really the most telling scene of his attitude to everything.

3 Parks And Recreation – “Ron And Diane” (9.0)

“Ron and Diane” is definitively a Christmas episode, but it juggles several storylines. Ron plans on attending an awards ceremony with his girlfriend Diane, Leslie tries to save them both from Tammy (and herself), and the rest of the gang attend a Christmas party at Jerry’s house.

Like all of Parks and Recreation, it’s the character dynamics that carry this episode. The show excels at writing deep, meaningful relationships – even when people don’t show it. Case in point, the episode’s real holiday: Jerry Dinner. Every year, Tom, Donna, April, and Andy put $1 in a jar every time Jerry does something stupid, and use it to have a big, fancy dinner. It’s harsh but hilarious.

2 The Office – “Classy Christmas” (9.0)

The crowning jewel of The Office‘s Christmas episodes is “Classy Christmas.” As the name suggests, this sees Michael decide to throw a classier office party than usual to woo Holly.

When she arrives with a partner, however, Michael lashes out and vandalizes her Woody doll. It’s immature – and definitely not in keeping with the sophisticated image he wanted to project – but so typically Michael. Combined with Dwight and Jim’s overly-intense snowball fight and Darryl’s attempts to bond with his teenage daughter, the whole episode is a pitch-perfect cringefest.

1 How I Met Your Mother – “The Final Page: Part 2” (9.4)

Everyone knows that the most romantic TV moments happen at Christmas. In the second half of this two-parter event, it’s revealed that Barney’s unusual behavior is part of his grandest scheme ever: surprising Robin with a proposal.

It’s unorthodox, but very them. To finally make sense of how Barney has acted over the past few episodes is hugely satisfying – not to mention a big leap in his characterization, with him finally using a long con for a genuinely heartwarming deed. If it wasn’t for the show’s finale, this Christmas romance would’ve been part of HIMYM‘s most enduring romantic legacy.

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