Our 13 favorite Christmas specials range from heart-warming to hilarious

While the calendar says 365 days, 2016 has felt like an extra-long year. No matter how many pine needles we’ve sniffed or twinkly lights we’ve gazed upon, a year like this can make it hard to get that warm Christmassy feeling. Luckily, as always, our glowing companion Mr. TV has come to the rescue.

To get your Christmas kick-started this year, we’ve compiled this list of some of the best Christmas episodes ever made. Some of our choices are universally traditional, while others are decidedly untraditional (South Park, Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Black Mirror, we’re looking at you), but all of them are sure to help you get in the mood for the season of lights.

A Muppet Family Christmas, 1987

The Muppet Christmas Carol gets all the glory, but this little-known classic from 1987 (a banner year for Christmas specials, by the way), is one of Jim Henson’s crowning TV achievements, and a whole lot of fun for the Muppet fan in all of us. The setup has all of the core Muppets — Kermit, Fozzie, Animal, etc. — on their way to Fozzie’s mom’s house to surprise her for the holiday. Unbeknownst to them, Mrs. Bear is already halfway out the door for a nontraditional holiday in Malibu but when the entire clan descends on the house (including even the Fraggles and the Sesame Street gang) a wintery Christmas full of “weirdos” simply can’t be denied. The special is funny, sentimental, and manages to slip in just about every major carol — with an impressive ensemble of dozens of Muppets on screen at once for the finale.

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Amazon

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, 1967

This 1967 stop-motion classic is even weirder than you remember it, offering fun for the kids alongside a clear and sustained shout-out to the 1960s civil rights movement — all while staying impressively close to the plot outlined by the titular Christmas tune. Rudolph’s journey to prove that even red-nosed reindeer can have a purpose in society manages to stay fun and compelling, even as it offers campy songs and dialogue. Burl Ives leads the show as the snowman narrator, and, somehow, an elf dentist saves the day in this bizarre tale that’s chock-full of nostalgia.

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Amazon iTunes Google Play Microsoft

Christmas in the Car — Bob’s Burgers (s4, e8), 2013

A modern Christmas favorite, Christmas in the Car sees the Belcher family on a last-minute pilgrimage for a replacement Christmas tree, thanks to matriarch Linda’s penchant for buying a Christmas tree on November 1. On the way home, however, the gang becomes entangled with a menacing truck driver who’s piloting a giant candy cane and is out for revenge. An homage to Duel, the frightening directorial debut from Steven Spielberg, this one has all the Christmas classics you need for a good time: laughs, scares, Bobcat Goldthwait, and even Dutch Babies.

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Amazon iTunes Netflix Google Play VUDU Microsoft

Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics — South Park (s3, e15), 1999

You might think any Christmas episode from the South Park crew would be unrelentingly subversive — and you’d be right — but, as seen through the lens of Trey and Matt, this one is as traditional as it gets. A take on the holiday jingle specials of old, Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics is as Christmassy as it gets in this small Colorado town – it perfectly synthesizes all the best characters, while offering both traditional and original tunes. There are plenty of fantastic South Park Christmas specials to choose from (including the original Mr. Hankey episode), but if you want your uproarious laughs mixed with some merry music-making, this episode is the ticket.

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Amazon iTunes Hulu Google Play VUDU Microsoft

Woodland Critter Christmas — South Park (s8, e14), 2004

South Park has made so many instant-classic Christmas episodes, we couldn’t choose just one. And while each of the eight gems has something fantastic to offer, Woodland Critter Christmas is arguably the most outrageous, and thusly, the most South Parkian. Told in rhyming narration in the vein of Sunday School stories and Little Golden Books for children, the episode explores the inner workings of one of the darkest minds in South Park, while telling a captivating story starring the “boy in the red poof-ball hat.”

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Amazon iTunes Hulu Google Play Microsoft VUDU

A Charlie Brown Christmas, 1965

“Christmas time is here,” as the tune so helpfully reminds us in this classic from the mind of Charles Schultz. While the story is nostalgic, if not particularly captivating, it’s the music from piano-jazz great Vince Guaraldi that makes this tale of Christmas with the ever wishy-washy Charlie Brown a timeless treasure. Just try and watch this without getting the warm fuzzies — we dare you!

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Amazon iTunes Google Play ABC Go Microsoft VUDU

Christmas Party — The Office (s2, e10), 2005

Part of The Office’s genius is that it’s just enough like your own daily grind to be relatable, but weird and ridiculous enough to let you revel in it without feeling like you’re actually at work. Season 2’s Christmas Party rides that line beautifully, while also serving as the beginning of the American version’s departure from the equally brilliant British series from which it spawned. In this one, Michael Scott has ruined yet another holiday for his intrepid staff, alienating everyone after he turns Secret Santa into White Elephant on a whim. The show has plenty of great Christmas episodes, but this one is the quintessential example. Best quote: “Is this enough to get 20 people plastered?” “Fifteen bottles of vodka? Yeah, that should do it.”

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Amazon iTunes Netflix Google Play VUDU Microsoft

Ludachristmas — 30 Rock (s2, e9), 2007

What, you’ve never heard of the time-honored tradition of Ludachristmas? Another non-traditional take on the season of joy, this episode from NBC’s classic SNL parody sees the staff of Liz Lemon’s variety show prepping for their yearly drunken extravaganza. But Kenneth the page’s insistence that they remember the “true” meaning of Christmas, namely faith and charity, nearly ruins it for everyone. Meanwhile, Jack’s crazy mother is determined to prove that Liz and her family’s seemingly perfect relationship is nothing more than veneer, which is just an attempt to make her own son feel better about how awful she is. If that’s not the spirit of Christmas, we don’t know what is.

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A Very Sunny Christmas — It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (s6, e13), 2009

Any Christmas episode from Always Sunny — the show that makes Seinfeld’s characters look like monks — is bound to be an all-out mess. But a Very Sunny Christmas is even more violent, sacrilegious, and outright offensive than you probably remember. It’s also possibly the funniest episode on this list. From Christmas hookers, to maimed Santas, to feats of brutal revenge, this one will have tears running down your face from laughter, even if you feel a little bad about it.

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Amazon iTunes Netflix Hulu Microsoft VUDU

Xmas Story — Futurama (s2, e8), 1999

Fall asleep for a millennium and everything changes, including Chris … ahem, Xmas. In this brilliant episode from Matt Groening’s wild sci-fi comedy, Christmas has transformed from a day of peace and love into a time of fear and horror, thanks to a maniacal Santa robot who short circuits, but still takes his job very seriously. Fry’s 20th century mind barely has time to process the new order before he’s running for his life from Santa’s bazooka. Can the gang escape from the big, red robot killer? Yes. But it’s still really funny watching them do it.

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Afternoon Delight — Arrested Development (s2, e6), 2005

Yeah, like the guy in the $5,000 suit is gonna watch some stupid Christmas episode! C’mon!! Gob is in full form in this one, insulting and otherwise offending every office staff member he comes into contact with, as Michael hopelessly tries to raise morale by throwing an office Christmas party. The show that got caught up in the streaming revolution was never quite the same when it moved to Netflix for season 4, but this episode is vintage AD, and its recurring karaoke hijinks make it nearly impossible not to laugh.

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Amazon iTunes Netflix HULU Google Play Microsoft

Seasonal Beatings — Peep Show (s7, e5), 2010

If you’ve been looking for the most awkward Christmas dinner ever (ding! ding! ding!), you’ve found it. A perfect introduction to the deliciously awkward splendor that is Peep Show, this episode sees the ever-uptight Mark and his laid-back roommate, Jez, hosting Mark’s family for Christmas dinner. On tap are Mark’s liberal and overly sexual mother, his conservative and borderline abusive father, his girlfriend (whom his parents know nothing about), and his sister (whom Jez slept with and then tossed aside). The table is set, the pieces are all in place — now sit back and enjoy the mayhem of the funniest dinner party you’ve ever encountered. Next to this, Christmas with the in-laws is a piece of cake.

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Amazon iTunes Netflix HULU

White Christmas — Black Mirror (s2, e4), 2014

While it’s impossible to prepare you for a full-bore, science-fiction mind blow, we’ll do our best to do so here. Don’t let the wine and potatoes or the musty kitchen laid out in this episode’s introduction fool you; Charlie Brooker has, to borrow from Pink Floyd, set the controls for the heart of the sun in this one. Jon Hamm’s utterly charming mannerisms are no match for the eerie adventure contained within, which explores the very essence of humanity itself in the form of a flashback over Christmas dinner. Leveraging the time-honored tradition of dramatic British Christmas specials, White Christmas takes everything up a notch (or 10) for an experience you’ll not soon forget. (Note: You’ll want to save time for another pick on the list after this one.)

Watch it now on:

Netflix

from Planet GS via John Jason Fallows on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2i0Bo8Y
Ryan Waniata