The 5 Merriest Christmas Episodes From Classic Sitcoms
Creating a Christmas episode is just part of the sitcom job description, but not all holiday-themed installments are created equal. Some sitcoms recycle lazy “Christmas Carol” or “It’s A Wonderful Life” rip-offs, while others — especially in the 1980s — used the holidays to deliver serious themes in depressing “very special episodes.”
Which classic sitcoms really knew how to jingle our bells? Here are five TV comedies that did it right when they put up their holiday stockings…
The Dick Van Dyke Show
One of the show’s all-time classic episodes, “The Alan Brady Show Presents” provided a showcase for the cast’s song-and-dance talents, all under the guise of an episode of The Alan Brady Show. While no highly rated variety show would actually turn over the reins to its writers, their spouses and the star’s brother-in-law, this Dick Van Dyke Show episode makes a good argument for doing so. Simple premises like a choral recitation of “Alan Brady” make for surprisingly good comedy — and it was the first episode in which Carl Reiner showed his face.
The only thing that keeps “The Alan Brady Show Presents” from being a perfect holiday episode is Ritchie Petrie’s tortured performance of “The Little Drummer Boy.”
I Love Lucy
The “I Love Lucy Christmas Show” was also known as the series’ lost episode. It was actually only missing from Lucy's original rerun package, left out for its Christmas theme (would it really be strange to watch this in July?), and because many of its stories are flashbacks to earlier episodes. Don’t let that stop you from catching this one, though — the throwback clips still deliver and the entire cast dressing as Santa to surprise Little Ricky continues to charm.
Plus, how many sitcom episodes feature an appearance from the actual St. Nick? (Quite a few, come to think of it — see below.)
Cheers
“Oh joy, Christmas Eve,” says the bar’s resident Grinch, Frasier Crane. “By this time tomorrow, millions of Americans, knee deep in tinsel and wrapping paper, will utter those heartfelt words, ‘Is this all I got?’”
But Frasier isn’t the only one having a terrible holiday. Rebecca is making everyone work on Christmas Eve, and Sam, in particular, is full of humbug. Can all of the bar’s drunken cynics discover the true meaning of Christmas? Even more importantly, can Sam convince Rebecca to take down her Christmas stockings? And hey look — it’s another episode where the real Santa makes a cameo.
The Office
The Office was a sorta-kinda hit before it aired its first Christmas episode. Steve Carell’s star turn in The Forty-Year-Old Virgin between Seasons One and Two goosed the ratings and the show had begun to find its comic rhythm. But “Christmas Party” took it to another level. “That episode really launched the success of the show,” Brian Baumgartner said this week on the Office Ladies podcast.
“Everyone was sort of featured in some way,” remembered The Office’s Kevin. “You can make an argument everyone except Meredith. However, she ends up having maybe one of the greatest moments on the show ever when she takes her top off and Michael snaps a picture of her at the very end of the episode.”
Community
Community really leaned into its meta era with “Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas,” mocking the stop-motion animation of cheesy childhood holiday specials. The Emmy-winning episode fulfilled one of creator Dan Harmon’s dreams — to open an animation studio. In fact, it’s the holiday episode that paved the way for Harmon’s Rick and Morty.
The animation adventure wasn’t a smooth one, however. Because Pierce started using a wheelchair halfway through the season, sections had to be reanimated. Production wasn’t completed until the day before it aired. “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” is one of the only holiday sitcoms that grapples with the season’s loneliness. “The episode’s acknowledgment of that,” wrote A.V. Club, “is what makes it a classic.”