While Christmas specials are often very hit and miss, they’re low-key my favourite episodes from some television shows. I’m a huge fan of Christmas episodes but I’ve narrowed this list down to the top five I go back to rewatch every year.
1. Gossip girl Season 1 episode 11 ‘Roman Holiday’
Starting off strong because Gossip Girl is already a completely over-the-top show so of course, their Christmas episode is one of the most dramatic episodes. This episode really glamorizes Christmas time in New York and absolutely gets me in the Christmas spirit. Not to mention, the absolutely insane scheming from Blair and the plot twists that make little to no sense but are what ultimately make Gossip Girl great.
2. Glee Season 5, episode 8 ‘Previously Unaired Christmas’
This Christmas episode is one of Glee’s most controversial but to be honest I think nearly every episode of Glee is a bit controversial. The warning from Jane Lynch at the start saying they had to edit the episode definitely puts a glee twist on the classic Christmas episode,, the plot lines are absolutely insane but it always puts me in the Christmas mood and has a heart-warming ending. What’s not to love?
3. That 70s show season 1 episode 12 ‘The Best Christmas Ever’
There are quite a few Christmas episodes of That 70s show but this one stands out as my favorite. I think it does a great job of catching the quintessential tone of that 70s show while also being a holiday special. The classic tropes of That 70s show such as Eric defying Red’s orders are shown in this episode with Eric using money meant to buy a tree to throw his own Christmas party.
4. Community, Season 2 episode 11 ‘Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas
In true Community fashion, this episode takes inspiration from a well-known classic film that I used to watch every Christmas growing up, the stop-motion movie Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. This is by far one of my favourite Christmas episodes as the movie already is a Christmas favourite but having the Community characters (which is one of my favourite tv shows) in this style and parody of the movie has made it one of my favourite Christmas episodes to watch.
5. New girl Season 2 episode 11, ‘Santa’
The first two seasons of New Girl are my absolute favourite and this Christmas episode is definitely up there as one of my top ten all-time favourite episodes of the show. This episode really shows why New Girl is a great show as the roommate’s party hop to multiple Christmas parties together and the love triangle that is Sam, Jess, and Nick plays out throughout the entire episode, which is my favourite love triangle from the whole show.