The holidays are now in full swing. With the season comes no shortage of great entertainment options, as it’s the perfect time to stay indoors and watch the snow outside from the comfort of your living room. Among those offerings are classic episodes of sitcoms that highlight the holidays.
Everyone has their favorite episodes that they remember fondly, no matter when you grew up. That’s why we wanted to take a look back at some of our favorites that never fail to put us in a good mood.
30 Rock - LudaChristmas
A good holiday episode has a mix of two crucial elements: festive cheer and family dysfunction. 30 Rock can check off both of those boxes with their season two Christmas episode, LudaChristmas. There’s a lot going on in this episode: Liz’s over-bearing parents are coming to visit, Jack is trying to avoid his parents, the staff is gearing up for their annual night of debaucheries - LudaChristmas -, Tracy has to wear an ankle bracelet, and Kenneth wants to teach everyone the true meaning of Christmas. Even with so much going on crammed into 22 minutes, 30 Rock manages to put a nice little bow on it, creating a truly unforgettable - and hilarious - holiday episode.
Community - Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas
As anyone that grew up in the 70’s, 80’s, and even 90’s knows, a staple of the holiday season was the old Rankin Bass stop-motion specials. In 2010, Community did their own tribute to those old specials with a claymation special. The special showed the gang trying to help Abed, who believed he was in the midst of a stop-motion Christmas special. It’s a mix of mostly animation and some live-action that really has all of the makings of a holiday classic. It’s a must-watch for any sitcom fan during the season.
Seinfeld - The Strike
Ah yes. The classic Festivus episode. This has gone far beyond just being a classic TV episode and effectively entered the pop culture lexicon. The episode revolves around George and his father celebrating Festivus - instead of Christmas. What is it? Festivus is a holiday that is an alternative to the commercialization of Christmas, where instead of a tree, you simply have an aluminum pole. It’s become a fun anti-Christmas classic that we definitely recommend watching this year.
The Simpsons - Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
There have been lots of spectacular episodes of The Simpsons that feature the holidays over the course of 35 years. But this one always has a special place in our hearts, as it was also the pilot for the half-hour series that broke the mold for bringing animation back to Primetime. The episode shows Homer as he’s trying to figure out a way to give his family the best Christmas ever without his bonus, which leads to him betting on a dog named Santa’s Little Helper. It’s not only the perfect pilot that gets you introduced to everyone, but it also is the perfect holiday episode that finds something a lot of people can relate to: Just trying to get through the holidays.
The Office - Christmas Party
Nothing says the holidays quite like a corporate holiday party. It’s the sort of thing anyone who’s ever worked in an office has experienced. They’re either pretty tame, or way more intense than you expected. This episode revolves around a party, and has everyone playing Secret Santa, with Michael making everyone play “Yankee Swap.” It’s become a classic episode of the series, and was even nominated for two Emmy Awards.