21 TV Episodes to Put You in the Holiday Spirit
Regardless of what holiday you celebrate, it’s hard to resist the appeal of a good old-fashioned TV binge each winter.
The fire is roaring, the outdoors are often blisteringly cold, and your couch is calling your name. Here are some of our favorite festive Christmas and Hanukkah-themed TV episodes to enjoy during a bout of epic couch-sitting.
Grab your favorite fuzzy blanket, a cup of warm cocoa, and get ready to tune in and lean into the holiday spirit!
21. Fresh Off the Boat Season 2 Episode 10, “The Real Santa”
Jessica, wanting her son Evan to have stronger role models, invents Lao Ban Santa, or Boss Santa, the female Chinese CEO who oversees all the white male Santa Clauses (those mall Santas? Simple middlemen).
Her attention to crafting a robust narrative is laudable, even if her execution is somewhat shaky. Lao Ban Santa’s face-off with Evan is hilarious and endearing, and it’s nice to see other cultural representations be part of the holiday merriment.
20. Frasier Season 6 Episode 10, “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz”
To some extent, many of us find ourselves playing a part during the holiday season — the ultra-dutiful daughter, the overly pleasant and accommodating grandson etc., but Frasier takes the idea of pretending to be someone you’re not to a whole new level. After being mistaken for Jewish at a department store while buying his half-Jewish son a menorah, Frasier is set up on a blind date with the daughter of a nice Jewish woman, Mrs. Moskowitz.
Inexplicably, Frasier commits to the ruse and frantically attempts to cover up the fact that he celebrates Christmas; the whole episode is a barrage of puns, close calls, and subterfuge. With the delivery of his Christmas tree and Niles running around his apartment dressed up as Jesus, it’s increasingly difficult to keep up the charade. Mayhem ensues as do many laughs.
19. 9-1-1 Season 2 Episode 10, “Merry Ex-Mas”
While there’s a dose of ominous drama underpinning the proceedings, 9-1-1 manages to deliver an surprisingly festive episode accompanied by an exceptionally strong soundtrack (kudos to the music supervisor who strategically uses some of our favorite Christmas tunes to both comment on and add to what’s happening on screen, often playing up anxiety or casting a warm, nostalgic, romantic ambiance).
This is a drama about first responders after all so there are some holiday mishaps but there’s also a sweet center to this Christmas-themed episode as well, with a class tree-side proposal for show favorites Bobby and Athena and a children’s Christmas concert bound to bring some tears to your eyes.
Ultimately, the season is about showing up for the people you love and this episode delivers on that premise over and over again (and in more ways than one…)
18. Downton Abbey Season 2 Episode 9, “Christmas at Downton Abbey”
Parts of this episode are heavy — storylines including incarcerated characters tend to do that — but for the most part, it is the perfect blend of Upstairs-Downstairs drama. The highlight of the episode comes in the last five minutes in the form of a long-awaited proposal between Lady Mary and Matthew.
That declaration of love taps into a Christmas wish so many of us harbor (why else have Hallmark/Lifetime/Netflix’s Christmas romance movie offerings ballooned?), and it all goes down amidst a dazzling, gentle snowfall.
17. Will & Grace Season 4 Episode 12, “Jingle Balls”
Jack is assigned the task of decorating one of Barney’s famed holiday windows and this goes about as well as can be expected. Grace manages to save the day (and Jack’s job) at the eleventh hour, creating a beautiful display, and Jack assumes Santa and his elves are behind the turnaround. The whole episode is silly and light with just enough Christmas references, big and small, to put you in a festive mood.
16. Bones Season 3 Episode 9, “The Santa in the Slush”
Bones has a bevy of strong Christmas entries but the most memorable is likely the third season entry featuring Brennan and Booth’s first kiss, which naturally takes place under some strategically placed mistletoe. It’s comical really, that something so joyful happens in an episode centered on a murder investigation of a mall Santa.
While there are crimes to solve, the episode is mostly a testament to the miracle of Christmas, and the role we all play in performing “miracles” for the people we love. Beyond that, it features some excellent moments with Sweets, who drops both puns and wise reflections about the importance of creating wonder at Christmastime.
15. The Mindy Project Season 2 Episode 11, “Christmas Party Sex Trap”
It’s abundantly clear that Mindy Kaling herself loves Christmas and special attention was paid throughout all of The Mindy Project to this special holiday. Her most enduring contribution to Christmas culture has been Wreath Witherspoon, a holiday wreath decked out in Reese Witherspoon photos that features in a season three episode.
However, the strongest overall episode is this sophomore entry. While the episode is constructed around Mindy’s efforts to woo Cliff, a man in her office building, by throwing the perfect Christmas fete (and an outfit complete with a bra that holds two bottles of wine), the most romantic moment occurs with coworker Danny gives Mindy her Secret Santa gift, a performance of the exact dance sequence of Aaliyah’s “Try Again” music video.
It is completely random and ridiculous — and a completely perfect gift for Mindy. I swoon.
14. Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 3 Episode 10, “Yippie Kayak”
Some debates are never truly over and one of those centers on the great question: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Brooklyn Nine-Nine has a clear point of view: yes, duh. Rather than a skyscraper, the action shifts to a big-box store in Brooklyn. While Gina and Jake attempt to purchase a last minute gift for Boyle, the store is overrun by robbers, who take the employees hostage while our Nine-Niners try to work through the situation unarmed and with few resources.
Despite the odds stacked against them, Jake is in heaven, living his Die Hard fantasy, and the episode is chock-full of references from the movie, even if it becomes abundantly clear that Boyle misheard the iconic catchphrase wrong and has been repeating it incorrectly for years.
Plus, like so many action films, including Die Hard, the antagonists have the most fun. Dean Winters, as The Vulture, runs away with the best lines of the episode. If you only know him as Mayhem, this is the episode to change that. Yippie Kayak, other buckets!
Cristina Iskander
Cristina is a Broadway enthusiast, book lover, and pop-culture fanatic living in New York City. She once won a Fantasy Bachelor contest (yes, like Fantasy Football, but for The Bachelor), and can banter about old school WB (Pacey + Joey FTW) just as well as Stranger Things and Pen15. She's still upset Benson and Stabler never got together and is worried Rollins and Carisi are headed down the same road, wants justice for Shangela, and hopes to one day walk-and-talk down a hallway with Aaron Sorkin.