View Full Version : Your Pick for the Top 10 Best Sitcom Christmas Episodes


Adamantium
12-12-2005, 12:43 AM
1. The Honeymooners - "Twas the Night Before Christmas"
On Christmas Eve, Ralph is left without a gift for Alice and tries to find a way to get money and make it to a store.

2. Happy Days - "Guess Who's Coming for Christmas"
Fonzie's alone for the holidays and gets invited over to the Cunninghams.

3. The Monkees - "The Christmas Show"
The Monkees have to take care of a rich little boy, who doesn't know the true meaning of Christmas.

4. Bewitched - "A Vision of Sugar Plums"
Sam and Darrin take in a boy for the holidays, who doesn't believe in Santa Claus. So Samantha takes the boy to the North Pole.

5. NewsRadio - "Xmas Story"
For Christmas, Mr. James gets everyone at the station a new car. Everyone except for Matthew (Andy Dick), who's given a collection of Fibber McGee and Molly cassettes. Meanwhile, Bill believes the lobby Santa is out to kill him.

6. The Andy Griffith Show - "The Christmas Story"
Nasty old Ben Weaver gets on Andy's case about locking up a citizen of Mayberry during Christmas. Andy and the gang celebrate Christmas in the jailhouse, so the prisoner can be with his family.

7. That 70's Show - "The Best Christmas Ever"
While the adults are upstairs for Christmas, Eric and his friends are having a party in the basement.

8. The Brady Bunch - "The Voice of Christmas"
Carol loses her voice just before she's suppose to sing at a Church on Christmas morning. Cindy goes to the mall Santa and wishes for her mom to get her voice back.

9. Perfect Strangers - "A Christmas Story"
Larry's homesick for Christmas, so Balki tries his best to give him a great Christmas.

10. Boy Meets World - "Santa's Little Helper"
Cory finds out that Shawn's dad has lost his job, so he gives him a basketball. Shawn thinks of it as charity and doesn't want it. Meanwhile, Morgan thinks she killed the mall Santa Claus.

Those are my picks. What's yours?

treky
12-12-2005, 01:41 AM
the episode of "W.K.R.P. in Cinncinati" (I don't know the name of it) where everyone's mad because Mr. Carlson won't give them Christmas bonuses; instead he says he's spending the money on something for the station, but they all know he's just doing it to impress his mother. He falls asleep in his office, and dreams he sees the ghosts of Christmas past (Jennifer), present (Venus) & future (Johnny). The episodes a parody of "A Christmas Carol".

The "All in the Family" episode titled "The Draft Dodger" where Mike & Gloria invite over a friend who's a draft dodger, & Archie invites over a friend of his whos son was killed in Vietnam.

The "MASH" episode titled "Dear Dad" where Hawkeye writes a letter home to his father telling all about the latest goings-on at the 4077th, including Christmas goings-on.

vashti1999
12-12-2005, 01:58 AM
Six off the top of my head:


Brady Bunch, The - Season 1
Voice of Christmas, The

Honeymooners, The
Twas the Night Before Christmas

Three's Company - Season 2
Three's Christmas

What's Happening!! - Season 1
Christmas

Kenan and Kel - Season 1
Merry Christmas Kenan

Welcome Back Kotter - Season 3
Sweathogs Christmas Special

friendsfan77
12-12-2005, 03:57 AM
1. The Jeffersons - "The Christmas Wedding"
2. Mary Tyler Moore - "Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid"
3. The Golden Girls - "'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas"
4. A Different World - "For Whom The Jingle Bell Tolls"
5. Happy Days - "Christmas Time"
6. Charles In Charge - "Home for the Holidays"
7. Dick Van Dyke Show - "The Alan Brady Show Presents"
8. Friends - "The One With the Holiday Armadillo"
9. Night Court - "The Night Court Before Christmas"
10. Mama's Family - "Santa Mama"

btw treky, the episode of WKRP you mentioned was called "Bah, Humbug"

Chocoholic
12-15-2005, 08:47 PM
5. NewsRadio - "Xmas Story"
For Christmas, Mr. James gets everyone at the station a new car. Everyone except for Matthew (Andy Dick), who's given a collection of Fibber McGee and Molly cassettes. Meanwhile, Bill believes the lobby Santa is out to kill him.


Those are my picks. What's yours?

That's one of my favorite Christmas episodes too. I also love the MASH episode where Hawkeye writes a Christmas letter to his dad and the first episode of The Simpsons. The two Futurama Christmas episodes are both great too.

And Adam my friend, how could you NOT include any Wings episodes on your list? :eek: I thought for sure you were going to list one. My pick would be the one where Antonio was being held hostage by that angry air-traffic controller.

vashti1999
12-15-2005, 09:31 PM
I'm adding Everybody Hates Chris, Season 1 episode "Everybody Hates Christmas" to my list

A funny, new classic

gilligan fanatic
12-15-2005, 09:32 PM
#1 Father Knows Best - The Christmas Story
#2 The Dick Van Dyke Show - Alan Brady Presents
#3 Bob Newhart - Bob Has His Tonsils Out
#4 Welcome Back Kotter - Hark the Sweathogs
#5 All in the Family - Christmas Day at the Bunkers
#6 The Andy Griffith Show - Christmas Story
#7 Tiny Toon Adventures Christmas Special
#8 Happy Days - Guess Who's Coming to Christmas
#9 Mister Ed - Ed's Christmas Story
#10 Gilligan's Island - Birds Got to Fly Fish Got to Talk

Adamantium
12-16-2005, 12:56 AM
That's one of my favorite Christmas episodes too. I also love the MASH episode where Hawkeye writes a Christmas letter to his dad and the first episode of The Simpsons. The two Futurama Christmas episodes are both great too.

And Adam my friend, how could you NOT include any Wings episodes on your list? :eek: I thought for sure you were going to list one. My pick would be the one where Antonio was being held hostage by that angry air-traffic controller.

I wanted to, trust me. I liked all the Christmas episodes. But I couldn't decide which one was the best. I like the episode you mentioned, but I don't consider it to be Christmas-ee enough. Neither does N@N and USA, because they both showed that episode in the regualr rotation. I'm sure one of the "Wings" Christmas episodes makes it in my top 15 list. My favorite Christmas episode was most of the fan's least favorite "The Customer Is Usually Right."

I also wanted to include a "M*A*S*H" episode as well. I couldn't decide which one to include. I think for Christmas, the later years had the best ones. I was close to putting "Death Takes a Holiday" on the list.

I also wanted to include (at least) the first Christmas Futurama, but it just didn't make the cut. I wasn't going with the order of my favorite shows, just which shows had the best Christmas episodes. In retrospect, maybe the "Boy Meets World" episode isn't the best, but it's one I've always remembered and liked.

I also wanted to include "Ellen", but I really didn't like any of the Christmas episodes.

And hey, thanks for calling me "Friend." ;)

Kristen
12-16-2005, 02:13 AM
My picks....

The Mary Tyler Moore Show:"Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid"
The Dick Van Dyke Show:"The Alan Brady Show Presents"
Murphy Brown:"Murphy's Pony"
Wings:"Insanity Claus" ("That was Bob's jelly donut!" hehe!)

Chain Gang Member
12-16-2005, 10:34 AM
Three's Company

Sanford & Son

Night COurt

That 70's Show(The one where Eric finally gets the tape player that he's been wanting since the 2nd episode)

The O.C

ky24943
12-16-2005, 12:31 PM
1. Married With Children (It's A Bundyful Life)
2. Kenan & Kel (Merry Christmas Kenan)
3. Roseanne (White Trash Christmas)
4. Everybody Hates Chris (Everybody Hates Christmas)
5. Step By Step (Christmas Story)
6. Full House (Our Very First Christmas)
7. Step By Step (Too Many Santas)
8. Cousin Skeeter (Christmas Special)
9.The Simpson's (Christmas Special)
10.Eddie McDowd (Christmas Special)

Brian Damage
12-16-2005, 01:02 PM
I am not good with episode names, but...

Taxi- Get me through the holidays

Cheers- Christmas Cheers

Norm- Norm Vs Christmas

The Honeymooners- Twas the Night Before Christmas

Frasier- Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz

friendsfan77
12-16-2005, 02:48 PM
Night COurt

Was there one in particular or did you mean all of them?

Sal
12-17-2005, 07:10 PM
1. Family Affair - Christmas Came A Little Early - Dec. 11, 1968

Eve Plumb of "The Brady Bunch" plays a classmate of Buffy's who is sick with an incurable disease and spends all her time in bed. The Davises try to cheer her up by celebrating Christmas with her earlier than usual, with Mr. French dressing up as Santa Claus. It is only at the end when Buffy realizes the truth about her friend and cries uncontrollably and it is at that moment that you can't help crying along with her.

2. Bewitched - Sisters At Heart - Dec. 24, 1970

This episode was written by an elementary school class and won a special Emmy Governor's Award in 1971. Tabitha's friend Lisa spends Christmas with her at home and they get along so well that they think of themselves as sisters, until they realize that Tabitha is white and Lisa is black. To make them look more alike, Tabitha makes spots appear on both of their faces. They are then visited by a client of Darrin, who is a bigot. He believes that Lisa is the Stephens' daughter and considers cancelling his account with Darrin. Samantha uses her magic to make him change his ways for good and then tells Tabitha that she and Lisa can be sisters on the inside no matter what they look like.

3. Bewitched - A Vision of Sugar Plums - Dec. 24, 1964

Samantha and Darrin take a little boy to the North Pole to visit the real Santa Claus. In this episode, the real magic lies not in Samantha's witchcraft, it's when the boy, who was very cynical at first, starts to believe in Santa Claus and in Christmas itself.

4. Happy Days - Guess Who's Coming to Christmas - Dec. 17, 1974

The Cunninghams invite Fonzie to spend Christmas with them but he refuses by telling them that he's too busy. Richie finds out the truth when he sees Fonzie alone in his garage eating from a can.

5. The Brady Bunch - The Voice of Christmas - Dec. 19, 1969

Carol loses her voice just before she has to sing in church for a Christmas Mass so Cindy asks Santa to give it back to her as her Christmas present.

6. ALF - ALF's Special Christmas - Dec. 14, 1987

After being scolded by Willie for taking Christmas too lightly, ALF runs away and ends up in a children's hospital where he is befriended by a little girl who thinks he is a toy until she hears him speak. It is then when ALF realizes what Christmas on Earth is all about.

7. Family Ties - A Keaton Christmas Carol - Dec. 14, 1983

Alex has a dream where he is Scrooge and the rest of the Keaton family appear as ghosts to try to help make him change his ways.

8. Gilligan's Island - Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk - Dec. 19, 1964

The Castaways spend their first Christmas on the island by reminiscing about how they got there. Worth watching for the flashback sequence from the original pilot where Gilligan wakes up on the Minnow and realizes that he has reached land while in the background you can clearly see the actors who were first chosen to play the Professor, Mary Ann, and Ginger (here known as Bunny).

9. The Partridge Family - Don't Bring Your Guns To Town, Santa - Dec. 17, 1971

The Partridge Family are stuck in a ghost town for Christmas, where they dream about living in the old West, highlighted by an old-fashioned shootout between Danny and Reuben Kincaid. A change of pace for a series not known for taking chances --- and it works!

10. The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Alan Brady Show Presents - Dec. 18, 1963

The staff of "The Alan Brady Show" put on a special Christmas variety show filled with great musical numbers and comedy skits. Better than many of the real variety shows that followed it.

SD_Blaise
11-19-2012, 10:16 PM
My Top Ten Christmas Episodes:

1. Taxi: Get Me Through the Holidays
2. M*A*S*H: Dear Dad
3. Cheers: Christmas Cheers
4. The Odd Couple: Scrooge Gets an Oscar
5. ALF: ALF's Special Christmas
6. Family Ties: A Keaton Christmas Carol
7. Frasier: Miracle On Third Or Fourth Street
8. Mork & Mindy: Mork's First Christmas
9. Friends: The One with Phoebes Dad
10. Home Improvement: Yule Better Watch Out

mets82
11-19-2012, 10:59 PM
I would put The Simpsons Christmas episode where Santa's Little Helper debuted up there. Also, the Happy Days when Fonzie was alone for the holidays was particularly sad to see him all alone in the garage. The Wonder Years had a Christmas one where the Arnolds had a Christmas party but it wasnt like the ones of years past.

Regulus
11-19-2012, 11:35 PM
A couple more Goodies

Julia "I'm Dreaming of a Black Christmas"

The Ghost and Mrs Muir "The Ghost of Christmas Past"

I've been able to watch both episodes, thanks to ioffer :D

treky
11-20-2012, 04:03 AM
FRASIER-Miracle on 3rd or 4th street
MASH-Dear Dad
The Honeymooners-TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Zoneboy
11-20-2012, 07:54 AM
Most of my favorites have been mentioned but I'll add a few more.

All in the Family - Bogus Bills
Someone at the bar keeps passing phony ten-dollar bills

The Amos 'N Andy Show - The Christmas Story
Andy's Goddaughter, Arbadella Jones has her heart set on a walking doll but neither he nor her father, Amos can afford it so Andy takes a job as a department store Santa to earn some extra money.



Not sitcoms but I did want to mention these:

Batman - The Puzzles are coming/The Duo is Slumming
Andy Devine appears as Santa Claus during a window scene


The Twilight Zone - Five Characters in Search of an Exit
A clown, hobo, ballet dancer, bagpiper and an army major are trapped in a place with no memory of who they are nor how they got there,

The Twilight Zone - Night of the Meek
Art Carney stars as a department store Santa with a penchant for the bottle.

comedyfreak
11-20-2012, 09:43 AM
I like all Christmas episodes and don't have a particular favorite.

William Hogan Jr
11-20-2012, 05:37 PM
:) My 10 favorites(Not counting specials) 1. The Flintstones "Christmas Flintstone" 2. Bewitched "Santa Claus Comes, and Stays, and Stays" 3. The Andy Griffith Show "Christmas Story" 4. The Beverly Hillbillies "Christmas in Hooterville" 5. Bewitched "Humbug Not to be Spoken Here" 6. The Brady Bunch "The Voice of Christmas" 7. M*A*S*H "Dear Sis" 8. Bewitched "Sisters at Heart" 9. Burns and Allen "Christmas in Jail" 10. The Jack Benny Program "Shopping for a Wallet for Don"

UMFaninMD
11-20-2012, 08:12 PM
One of my favorites is the first Golden Girls Christmas episode, "Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas," where the girls make homemade gifts for themselves and it turns out to be a bust, Blanche confesses to having a thing for Santa suits and the girls try to make it to their families for Christmas but of course it doesn't work out.

Kristen
11-21-2012, 04:51 AM
I know I already posted in this thread, but I need to add one from Frasier: "The Fight Before Christmas." Even though Mel is in it (yuck!), I LOVE the N/D scene on the balcony! *sigh* I don't think I could ever get tired of that!

Edit to add: Can't forget "Perspectives on Christmas," from an earlier season of Frasier. So many wonderful moments, such as Martin's attempt to sing "Oh, Holy Night," and of course more N/D goodness! :)

AMackII
12-23-2019, 03:59 PM
1. Happy Days - Guess Whos Coming to Christmas
2. Threes Company - Three's Christmas
3. The Odd Couple - Scrooge Gets an Oscar
4. WKRP in Cincinnati - Bah Humbug
5. Taxi - Get Me Through The Holidays
6. Happy Days - Christmas Time
7. Cheers - Christmas Cheers
8. The Andy Griffith Show - A Christmas Story
9. ALF - ALF's Special Christmas
10. Saved by the Bell - Home for Christmas

Charley Knox
12-23-2019, 05:36 PM
1.The Andy Griffith Show: A Christmas Story
2.Mary Tyler Moore Show: Christmas & The Hard Luck Kid
3.The Bob Newhart Show: His Busiest Season
4.Happy Days: Guess Who's Coming For Christmas
5.Flintstones:Flinstones Christmas
6.Fraiser: Miracle on Third or Fourth Street
7.Wings:Twas The Heist Before Christmas
8.WKRP: Jennifer's Home For Christmas
9.The Bob Newhart Show:I'm Dreaming of a Slight Christmas
10.Wings:Insanity Claus

Top 3 Favorite Secret Christmas Episodes
1. Leave It To Beaver: The Haircut
2. The Twilight Zone: 5 Characters In Search For A Exit
3. Lost In Space: Return From Outer Space

treky
12-24-2019, 02:19 AM
THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW-A Christmas Story
WKRP IN CINNCINATI-Bah Humbug
WKRP IN CINNCINATI-Jennifer's Home for Christmas
MASH-Dear Dad
THE HONEYMOONERS-Twas The Night Before Christmas
TAXI-A Full House For Christmas
THE BRADY BUNCH-The Voice of Christmas
FRASIER-Miracle on Third or Fourth Street
TAXI-Get me Through the Holidays
THE ODD COUPLE-Scrooge gets an Oscar

stevea
12-24-2019, 10:18 PM
MTM - Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid. Other than the pilot, the is probably the best first-season episode.

Dick Van Dyke - The Alan Brady Show Presents. A classic.

Father Knows Best - Christmas Story. This is a classic, with veteran actor Wallace Ford. Unfortunately only exists in edited form, but the TV Land version of this first-season episode is a better-done edit, which is the only place where the tag scene exists.

Father Knows Best - The Angel's Sweater - another classic, better than the first. A German repairman's Christmas fantasy tale brings Kathy around to liking her un-likable aunt. Best on the unedited third-season DVD set.

Honeymooners - Christmas. Great comedy. Ralph's hand caught in a rat trap. LOL!

Bewitched - Sisters at Heart. Story by a high school class, truly a classic. Best on the DVD, complete with Liz Montgomery's intro, and original show bumper at the end.

Bewitched - Sam takes guest bah-humbug Charles Lane to the North Pole to meet Santa.

Lassie - multi parter where Lassis is lost. Provost sings Silent Night over the credits, and nails it.