Each Modern Family Christmas Episode, Ranked According To IMDb

With such a large family and each member with varying traditions and beliefs, it’s easy to imagine how diverse each Christmas episode in Modern Family is. As expected from a sitcom, no episode is without its mishaps, with the six Christmas episodes ranging from log cabins in hot weather to extremely last-minute Christmas celebrations. Regardless of what happens, each Christmas caper from the Pritchetts and Dunphys has bought joy and laughter to audiences everywhere.

Though, based on IMDb rankings, some Christmas episodes bought more joy than others. Some of these episodes saw individual endeavors of the family during the festive season whilst in the others, the entire family was together as one for the holidays. But which Pritchett-Dunphy Christmas proved to be the most popular by IMDb rankings?

6 Stuck In A Moment (Season 10): 7.5

Out of the six Christmas episodes in Modern Family, the lowest ranking is the penultimate Christmas episode, which is “Stuck in a Moment” from season 10. Jay, Gloria, Manny, and Joe are forced to leave their house when a highly venomous spider is found in Gloria’s package from her relatives in Colombia, while Mitchell and Cam try and figure out what Cal had asked Santa for Christmas. But the biggest moment of the show is Haley announcing that she and Dylan are expecting a baby.

Haley’s story keeps the episode going, especially with Dylan dressed as Santa and getting stuck up the chimney in a well-meaning yet failed attempt to tell everyone, and the episode ends with Phil and Claire learning they are going to be grandparents. With such a pivotal moment for her, this could be why Haley is considered to be Modern Family‘s main character.

5 The Last Christmas (Season 11): 7.6

Next is “The Last Christmas”, which, as its title states, is the last ever Christmas episode of the show. This is perhaps one of the most argumentative episodes of Modern Family, as each member is trying to avoid another for varying reasons. This includes Luke dating Manny’s ex-girlfriend Sherry, Jay trying to get Claire to join his dog bed business, and Gloria secretly interviewing for another real estate firm behind Phil’s back.

This episode is touching in regards to it being their last Christmas together, as well as the fact it’s the last Christmas episode, and it has some lovely scenes in it. One such instance is Gloria admitting she applied for another job because she didn’t want her work to affect her friendship with Phil, proving they have some of the best on-screen chemistry in Modern Family. However, it does bring out some rather unlikable sides to some of the characters, the most notable being Manny. While understandably upset at Luke dating his ex-girlfriend, Luke did feel guilty and genuinely cared for Sherry, so how Manny’s reaction was very out of line and prevented what could have been a great arc for Manny and Luke’s relationship.

4 The Old Man And The Tree (Season 5): 7.8

Season 5’s Christmas episode “The Old Man And The Tree” is an interesting one, as it has various misadventures happening during the holiday season. Claire bonds with Gloria’s mother, resulting in jealousy from Gloria, while Jay and Manny try and find the perfect Christmas tree. Phil tries to achieve his goal to walk the equivalent of Canada on his elliptical machine, Haley and Alex have an increasingly nightmarish time working as an elf and Mrs. Claus at a shopping mall, and Cam accidentally takes Lily to a charity Christmas event for the homeless when looking for gifts for Pepper.

Although the family does not come together for Christmas until briefly at the end, each individual plot is very entertaining in its own way. But it is perhaps the plotline with Claire and Gloria that is the strongest. It is normally Claire that has problems with Gloria, so to see it the other way around is refreshing. Furthermore, it brings out some rather heartwarming moments regarding mother-daughter relationships for both Claire and Gloria.

3 Undeck The Halls (Season 1): 8.1

Coming in at a joint second on IMDb, one of the best Christmas episodes of Modern Family is the first-ever Christmas episode “Undeck the Halls.” When a suspicious burn that looks like the result of smoking is found, Phil decides to cancel Christmas until the kids confess who did it. Gloria and Manny want to celebrate some Colombian holiday traditions, which the older and more set-in-his-ways Jay is reluctant to try, and Mitchell and Cam give a homeless mall Santa dinner after they accidentally get him fired.

Whilst there are some very funny scenes, such as the mall Santa punching Cam’s ‘nemesis’ for insulting Cam, this episode has some extremely heartfelt moments. But two particular highlights are Jay embracing Colombian traditions and Alex, who normally thrived on her siblings getting told off, confessing to smoking purely so they could have Christmas back. Both of these moments are not only selfless, genuine, and kind, but show growth for both of these characters. This episode is also one of the rare times where Phil is the stricter parent until he impulsively decides to take the family to Italy in an attempt to cover up his mistake of blaming the kids.

2 Express Christmas (Season 3): 8.1

Tied with “Undeck the Halls” in IMDb ranking is the second festive episode “Express Christmas” from season 3. This is the first Christmas episode of Modern Family that sees all of the family on-screen together for the holidays. When they realize that their plans mean that their last day together for the season is that day, Phil suggests they have an “express Christmas” and sends each team of family members to grab a certain item in time. Naturally, with such a short notice idea during the holidays, chaos ensues and the entire idea fails miserably.

This episode is a lot of fun, with the family’s individual madcap misadventures ending in disaster, and each one of these disasters interlinking with one another. One particular highlight is Phil trying to get Jay the perfect Christmas gift, which was a rare baseball card. Unfortunately, the card is destroyed when Phil is accidentally tasered. But it ultimately works out, as Phil gives Jay a backup present of dog antlers for Stella, which Jay absolutely loves. Even though it’s a post-credit scene, it’s a joy to watch as the audience never tires of seeing the normally gruff Jay dote upon his dog, which is one of the funniest running gags in Modern Family.

1 White Christmas (Season 7): 8.3

According to IMDb, the best ever Christmas episode of Modern Family is “White Christmas” from season 7. To celebrate her first Christmas as an American citizen, Gloria takes the family up to a log cabin in the mountains, only to find it is very unusually hot weather and a woman named Fig is residing there, as her own family, who were the last residents of the cabin, forgot about her.

There are some very notable highlights in this episode, such as Alex bonding with Fig over common ground, and singing a lovely rendition of “Silent Night”, much to Mitchell and Cam’s chagrin. But perhaps the episode’s biggest moment was Haley and Andy finally being able to become an official couple after Phil gives the latter a heart-to-heart (in one of their best bromance moments in Modern Family) and Andy learns that his fiance was in fact cheating on him. Andy is one of the show’s most likable supporting characters, so with this in mind, it’s little wonder this is the best Modern Family Christmas episode.

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