The best Christmas TV episodes and specials on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock and more
The best Christmas TV episodes and specials on Netflix, HBO Max, Hulu, Peacock and more
The fourth dimension-honored tradition of a Christmas Idiot box episode or special ever brings the feels this time of the year (or in the terminate of the summer if you're Ted Lasso). Yep, the best Christmas movies are merely one half of the holiday streaming tradition.
The best office of these episodes is that they often tend to work out of context. Sure, Telly shows often fit in a flavour-long arc, but the medium is ofttimes written for maximum accessibility. No need to know what was happening on Seinfeld before we learned about the Festivus pole, just spring right in and lookout.
Similarly, anthology shows thrive in this season, as Black Mirror'due south "White Christmas" requires zero context (though it does have some easter eggs for previous episodes). And because we know not everyone has every service (oh if they were all as affordable as Hulu), we're organizing the all-time Christmas TV episodes and specials by platform.
Best Christmas TV episodes and specials on Netflix
While Dan Harmon's Community looked similar a traditional sitcom on newspaper, it was often truly inventive with episodes such as "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas." A stop-motion blitheness spectacular, this episode uses the fashion of a Rankin/Bass special to dive into Abed'southward depressing Christmas memories that he's repressed over the years. Memorable for many reasons, and not but the phrase "Christmas pterodactyl" and a riff on how disappointing the show LOST was, "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" is a heartfelt and funny slice of the Greendale Customs College study group's life, and how I choose to remember Community (let'southward all repress flavor 6). – Henry T. Casey
Watch it on Netflix
Seinfeld: The Strike
"The Strike" may or may not exist the best episode of Seinfeld, but it's arguably the most influential. That's because nosotros got a brand-new, real-world holiday out of it. Kramer learns that George's father, Frank, made up his own December vacation called Festivus. At first, Kramer wants in, and George wants out — but the younger Costanza changes his melody when he realizes he can use Festivus equally an alibi to avoid giving Christmas presents at piece of work. As Festivus proceeds, we learn about beloved traditions, such equally the Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Force. We likewise learn about the Festivus Pole: a plain aluminum rod, as Frank finds tinsel "distracting." While "The Strike" isn't technically a Christmas episode, yous can gloat Festivus yourself on December 23. — Marshall Honorof
Watch it on Netflix
GLOW: A Very GLOW Christmas
Memorable just for its pro wrestling — it'south a perfect medium for a retelling of A Christmas Ballad — GLOW's Christmas episode is a winner for the emotional drama at mitt. While the cast of Las Vegas's best (and likely only) all-female wrestling show enters the episode nearly at each other's throats, Carmen does her best to save the mood with a Cloak-and-dagger Santa, which actually helps mend fences. Meanwhile, Debbie realizes her human relationship with Tex is a farce, and decides to apply what she's learned for the good of the gals — working with a despondent Bash to purchase a new dwelling house for GLOW: the Orange County Idiot box station KXN. And while the return of Keith to reunite with Red gave folks reason to cheer, the episode ends on a downwardly note, equally Ruth declines Debbie'south offer to direct the revived GLOW — and leaves. A bloodshot goodbye for the serial, which would have its fourth season greenlit and then canceled. – Henry T. Casey
Watch it on Netflix
Downton Abbey: Christmas at Downton Abbey
Downton Abbey'south outset Christmas special ends with a magical moment between Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) and Matthew (Dan Stevens), one that fans had been hoping to meet for two seasons. But before you lot get to that, the special starts with a miserable Mary stuck in an appointment to Sir Richard Carlisle. The upstairs aristocrats and downstairs servants are besides feeling glum because Mr. Bates (Brendan Coyle) is on trial for murder. The effect leads Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) to push button his daughter to find true happiness, and Mary leaps at the chance to be with the homo she loves. - Kelly Woo
Watch information technology on Netflix
Black Mirror: White Christmas
You can block people online, but take you e'er wanted to block them in person? That's just ane of the succulent twisted premises in the core of Black Mirror'southward three-deed special "White Christmas." Information technology all begins with Joe Potter (Rafe Spall) and Matt Trent (Jon Hamm), sitting in a cabin on a snowy Christmas Day, going over how their lives went horribly wrong. Humans are being cloned and put inside "cookies" (digital eggs, non the files in your spider web browser). The behemothic twist at the end of the episode is likewise good to spoil, simply safe to say this is a must-see edition of the tech-focused anthology series. – Henry T. Casey
BoJack Horseman: Sabrina's Christmas Wish
BoJack Horseman is a dark, weird, and unsettling meditation on depression and addiction, wrapped up in the bright colors and clever 1-liners of a traditional blithe sitcom. If you lot guessed that the show's lonely Christmas special, "Sabrina'due south Christmas Wish," would exist every bit baroque, you guessed correctly. In this standalone episode, BoJack and his roommate Todd watch an sometime episode of BoJack's sitcom, "Horsin' Around," in which the young orphan Sabrina wants a very special present from Santa Claus.
Information technology's fun to see BoJack and Todd skewer some of the '90s sitcom tropes nosotros took for granted, from cheesy laugh tracks to worldbuilding that cracks under the slightest scrutiny. But toward the finish, the special takes a melancholy plow, when a chat about Santa Claus slowly morphs into a meditation on surveillance, morality and the nature of God. If y'all desire a hilarious Christmas special that still asks some big questions, this is the ane. — Marshall Honorof
Watch it on Netflix
Best Christmas Tv set episodes and specials on HBO Max
Friends: The 1 With the Holiday Armadillo
Friends' Thanksgiving episodes are more than famous, only the sitcom'south Christmas installments are besides some all-timers. The One With the Holiday Armadillo is one for the Ross highlight reel, right alongside "Pivot!" and the leather pants incident. Ross dresses upwardly in the hilarious outfit to show his son, Ben, that the holidays aren't only about Christmas. He invents Santa's friend, the Vacation Armadillo, to teach Ben about Hanukkah and Jewish traditions. Watching them light the candles is sweet, and seeing David Schwimmer's hangdog face in the armadillo costume makes me cleft upwardly every single time. And permit's not forget Joey showing up in a Superman costume, because … he'due south Joey! - Kelly Woo
Watch it on HBO Max
Fresh Prince of Bel-air: Twas the Dark Before Christening
One thing you lot don't notice in most streaming shows is the "result" episode, which brings in a big celebrity or musician as a guest star, like Fresh Prince's season four Christmas episode. It's told via flashback, from the advanced year of 1998, when Phillip tells his younger son Nicky about the origin of his four center names. Five years prior, his cousin Volition (Will Smith) panics after seeing the expensive gifts the family got for the baby'southward christening. Every bit a result, he goes over the top, promising a operation by Boyz Ii Men. Will sneaks into a radio station to invite them, but things go awry. It looks like the christening and Christmas are ruined — but, luckily for Will, that's not the terminate of the road. - Kelly Woo
Scout it on HBO Max
The O.C.: The Best Chrismukkah Ever
The O.C. flavour 1 episode introduces the world Chrismukkah, the bi-religious holiday created by Seth Cohen (Adam Brody). It'south a genius way to combine the traditions of his Jewish begetter and Cosmic mother. Equally Seth tells foster brother Ryan Atwood (Ben McKenzie), there's no need to cull betwixt a menorah and a candy pikestaff — you can take both on Chrismukkah! Of class, it doesn't solve all of Seth's problems, like the fact that he's ii-timing Summer (Rachel Bilson) and Anna (Samaire Armstrong). Getting them the aforementioned gift? Bad wait, dude. And then not in the Chrismukkah spirit. - Kelly Woo
Watch it on HBO Max
Physician Who: A Christmas Carol
Who doesn't beloved Doc Who Christmas specials? They're a chance to cut loose and tell standalone holiday stories with our favorite time-traveling alien and his cast of kooky companions. Every once in a while, though, the Christmas specials lean into the evidence'south darker, more than dramatic side, which is precisely what happens in "A Christmas Carol."
The Doctor's companions, Amy and Rory, are stuck on a doomed spaceship, and only wealthy industrialist Kazran Sardick tin can save them. The only trouble is that Kazran is a biting, miserly quondam man with no friends or family unit, and doesn't particularly care what happens to the young couple. The Doctor hops into the TARDIS to explore Kazran'south by, nowadays and future, in predictably Dickensian mode. Romantic, heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure, A Christmas Ballad is i of the finest episodes of Matt Smith's run as the Doc. — Marshall Honorof
Sentinel it on HBO Max
South Park: Woodland Critter Christmas
A notable difference for Southward Park, Woodland Critter Christmas swaps the gang's usual foul-mouthed antics for a delightful, child-friendly tale of… No, of course non. What did y'all expect? Really information technology'due south a very, very united nations-child-friendly tale of Satanism, ballgame, blood orgies and a shotgun-toting Santa. Information technology's also incredibly funny. Just don't let the kids scout information technology with you or they'll never expect at Christmas the same way again. – Marc McLaren
Watch it on HBO Max
Best Christmas TV episodes and movies on Hulu
Pinky and the Brain: A Pinky and the Brain Christmas
Even equally a grown man with a healthy grip on his emotions, A Pinky and the Brain Christmas makes me tear up every yr. Like most episodes of Pinky and the Brain, this Christmas special is full of artistic slapstick and slightly subversive "kids, ask your parents" jokes. But unlike nearly episodes of Pinky and the Brain, the Christmas special has an accented gut punch of an ending. It's sentimental, just not sappy.
Only as they do every night, Pinky and the Brain desire to take over the world. Their plan this time around involves tricking Santa Claus into distributing mind command devices along with his usual Christmas presents. The genetically altered lab mice set up out for the Northward Pole, and get up to all sorts of mischief in Santa's workshop. Merely when Pinky's quest to deliver a alphabetic character to Santa goes amiss, Brain has to choose between his ambitions and his best friend. — Marshall Honorof
Watch information technology on Hulu
The X-Files: How the Ghosts Stole Christmas
Great though The X-Files' conspiracy-focused 'mythology' episodes were, the monster of the calendar week episodes were e'er more fun, and season vi standout How the Ghosts Stole Christmas is proof of that. At a loose end on Christmas Eve, Mulder persuades Scully to investigate a supposedly haunted firm with him and the paid soon find themselves trapped in a creepy sometime mansion with a couple of mischievous spirits played past Ed Asner and Lily Tomlin. What follows is a glorious encapsulation of everything that made The X-Files so special at its peak, perfectly blending comedy and horror and throwing in some thoughtful meditations on loneliness into the mix also. In that location's a distinctly Dickensian Christmas feel to it — and there's not higher praise than that. – Marc McLaren
Watch it on Hulu
Lost: The Abiding
Calling loved ones during the holiday season is always emotional, but Desmond Hume's long distance punch in Lost's episode The Constant takes the block. Stuck on the island, Des has been mentally unhinged, and this episode shows united states of america exactly why he's similar that. He's without his "abiding," the lovely Penelope Widmore, who he'due south been separated from for far also long. While Sayid, Minkowski and Desmond chase downwardly answers on the freighter, nosotros encounter more than of her father Charles Widmore upwards to no practiced. The happy holiday ending, at to the lowest degree in the moment, does come for Des and Penny, when she gets a phone call from him on Christmas Eve. By this point, Lost had needed a large reason to stay interested, and their human relationship helped keep the island drama afloat. – Henry T. Casey
Scout it on Hulu
My So-Called Life: So-Called Angels
One of the best teen dramas ever, My So-Called Life didn't shy away from tackling serious problems, from sex to drugs to guns. The Christmas episode focuses on delinquent teens and homelessness. A concerned Angela (Claire Danes) goes looking for Rickie (Wilson Cruz) when he's forced onto the streets after a fight with his abusive uncle. Aided by a mysterious homeless girl (singer Juliana Hatfield), Angela finds him and wants to invite them both for Christmas dinner. But when her mother refuses, Angela herself runs abroad — causing Patty (Bess Armstrong) to reconsider her ideas of right and wrong. - Kelly Woo
Watch it on Hulu
Veronica Mars: An Echolls Family unit Christmas
Veronica Mars' kickoff season is ofttimes remembered as perfect long-form modern noir storytelling, and An Echolls Family Christmas is role of why. The episode begins with a poker party going wrong for rich kid Logan Echolls, who loses $five,000 to Weevil — or at least he did until the money wasn't in the pot. These being aroused high-schoolers who desire to prove their adulthood at every moment, things go very wrong very fast, and a laptop is stolen. Of course, it falls upon high schooler / wanna-be P.I. Veronica Mars to solve information technology all, every bit the episode spirals into a good tale of "who'due south conning who?". Extra points awarded for the usage of The Peachy Warhols' embrace of "Lilliputian Drummer Boy." – Henry T. Casey
Watch it on Hulu
All-time Christmas TV episodes and movies on Disney Plus
"Simpsons Roasting on an Open up Burn" wasn't but a Christmas special; it was a proof of concept for America's favorite blithe sitcom family unit. Up until this episode, The Simpsons comprised shorts on the Tracey Ullman Show. "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Burn down" would have to evidence that the testify could stand as a total one-half-hour comedy. Thankfully, information technology succeeded with flight colors. When Homer'due south Christmas bonus doesn't come through at piece of work, he takes a second job as a mall Santa to buy presents for the family.
While the animation and voices are still a piddling rough, this Christmas special has the Simpsons' signature mix of humor and heart. "It doesn't seem possible, but I guess Television has betrayed me" encapsulates the show's love/detest human relationship with sitcom tropes. When Homer brings habitation a family dog as a Christmas nowadays it feels sugariness, but not cloying, just like all the all-time Simpsons episodes. — Marshall Honorof
Watch it on Disney Plus
Best Christmas TV episodes and movies on Peacock
The Office: Christmas Party
The Office made something of a speciality of festive episodes with seven in all, but season's two's Christmas Party simply pips season three'south A Benihana Christmas equally the funniest. The plot revolves around the Dunder-Mifflin Secret Santa, only really (equally always) it'southward near Michael's ham-fisted endeavor to get his own way and the result it has on the residual of the team. In that location are archetype lines aplenty, some nice developments in the Jim'n'Pam plotline and 1 of the best endings of any Part episode. Buy yourself 15 bottles of vodka and an iPod and savour. – Marc McLaren
Watch information technology on Peacock
Best Christmas TV episodes and movies on Apple Goggle box Plus
If you're going to meet one Christmas special during the holiday flavour, brand it A Charlie Brown Christmas. Originally airing in 1965, information technology still remains a classic — and its bulletin however resonates today — equally Charlie Brown searches for the truthful meaning of Christmas amid all the commercialism surrounding the holiday. It's both melancholy and heartwarming, and has 1 of the best soundtracks for the flavour, too. Nosotros wait frontwards to watching it every year — sometimes fifty-fifty more once. — Mike Prospero
Watch it on Apple TV Plus
Ted Lasso: Carol of the Bells
Divisive in a weird manner — the folks who don't like Christmas episodes didn't expect one to arrive smack-dab in the middle of August — Carol of the Bells is a pretty great outing for the folks at AFC Richmond. The episode hits all the right notes about the spirit of the season: Higgins opening his doors to the squad's international players who aren't going domicile for the holidays, Rebecca making sure that Ted isn't lone wallowing in his depression and Roy puts in the piece of work to assistance his niece Phoebe to fight her bad jiff. – Henry T. Casey
Scout it on Apple Goggle box Plus
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/the-best-christmas-tv-episodes-and-specials-on-netflix-hbo-max-hulu-peacock-and-more
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