Best TV Christmas Episodes of All Time

Last Updated on 24 December 2023

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 200 best Christmas episodes of TV shows of all time.

I found 24 different ranked lists online of “best TV Christmas episodes of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to the 24 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list.

Greatest-TV-Christmas-Episodes-Viewing-Checklist Download

The Office – Christmas Party (S02 E10)
Friends – The One With the Holiday Armadillo (S07 E10)
Community – Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas (S02 E11)
Black Mirror – White Christmas (S02 E04)
Seinfeld – The Strike (S09 E10)
It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia – A Very Sunny Christmas (S06 E13)
Ted Lasso – Carol of the Bells (S02 E04)
Hey Arnold! – Arnold’s Christmas (S01 E20)
The Bear – Fishes (S02 E06)
The Office (UK) – Christmas Special, Part 2 (S03 E02)
The O.C. – The Best Chrismukkah Ever (S01 E13)
Doctor Who – A Christmas Carol (2010 – #213)
New Girl – Christmas Eve Eve (S06 E10)
The Simpsons – Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (S01 E01)
Parks and Recreation – Citizen Knope (S04 E10)
The X-Files – How the Ghosts Stole Christmas (S06 E06)
Mr. Bean – Merry Christmas Mr. Bean (S01 E07)
Lost – The Constant (S04 E05)
Downton Abbey – Christmas at Downton Abbey (S02 E09)
30 Rock – Ludachristmas (S02 E09)
Gilmore Girls – The Bracebridge Dinner (S02 E10)
The West Wing – In Excelsis Deo (S01 E10)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer – Amends (S03 E10)
The Mary Tyler Moore Show – Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II (S01 E14)
The Simpsons – Marge Be Not Proud (S07 E11)
New Girl – The 23rd (S01 E09)
Futurama – Xmas Story (S02 E08)
Grey’s Anatomy – Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (S02 E12)
The West Wing – Noël (S02 E10)
MAS*H – Death Takes a Holiday (S05 E09)
Veronica Mars – An Echolls Family Christmas (S01 E10)
Happy Days – Guess Who’s Coming to Christmas (S02 E11)
Community – Regional Holiday Music (S03 E10)
The Mindy Project – Christmas Party Sex Trap (S02 E11)
Mad Men – Christmas Waltz (S05 E10)
Just Shoot Me – How the Finch Stole Christmas (S03 E10)
The Golden Girls – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (S05 E12)
The Waltons – The Homecoming: A Christmas Story (1971)
Gossip Girl – Roman Holiday (S01 E11)
The Golden Girls – ‘Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas (S02 E11)
Frasier – Miracle on 3rd or 4th Street (S01 E12)
Crazy Ex-Girlfriend – My Mom, Greg’s Mom and Josh’s Sweet Dance Moves! (S01 E08)
Gilmore Girls – Forgiveness and Stuff (S01 E10)
Glee – A Very Glee Christmas (S02 E10)
The Twilight Zone – Night of the Meek (S02 E11)
The Big Bang Theory – The Bath Item Gift Hypothesis (S02 E11)
Cheers – Christmas Cheers (S06 E12)
Family Matters – Christmas Is Where the Heart Is (S05 E11)
Arrested Development – Afternoon Delight (S02 E06)
Supernatural – A Very Supernatural Christmas (S03 E08)
Frasier – Frasier Grinch (S03 E09)
Hart of Dixie – Blue Christmas (S02 E10)
The Brady Bunch – The Voice of Christmas (S01 E12)
Schitt’s Creek – Merry Christmas Johnny Rose (S04 E13)
Bob’s Burgers – The Bleakening (S08 E06-07)
ER – I’ll Be Home for Christmas (S08 E10)
That ’70s Show – An Eric Forman Christmas (S04 E12)
The Brady Bunch – A Very Brady Christmas (1988)
Virgin River – The More the Merrier (S05 E11)
Cobra Kai – December 19 (S03 E10)
South Park – Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo (S01 E09)
Batman: The Animated Series – Christmas With the Joker (S01 E02)
Peep Show – Seasonal Beatings (S07 E05)
Mad Men – Christmas Comes But Once a Year (S04 E02)
Friends – The One with Phoebe’s Dad (S02 E09)
Frasier – Perspectives on Christmas (05 E09)
The Sopranos – To Save Us All from Satan’s Power (S03 E10)
This Is Us – Last Christmas (S01 E10)
Boy Meets World – A Very Topanga Christmas (S05 E11)
Roswell – A Roswell Christmas Carol (S02 E10)
Everybody Loves Raymond – The Toaster (S03 E12)
Bewitched – A Vision of Sugar Plums (S01 E15)
Curb Your Enthusiasm – Mary, Joseph, and Larry (S03 E09)
My So-Called Life – So Called Angels (S01 E15)
3rd Rock From the Sun – Jolly Old St. Dick (S02 E12)
The Office – A Benihana Christmas (S03 E10-11)
Sherlock – A Scandal in Belgravia (S02 E01)
The Nanny – Christmas Episode (S01 E08)
Virgin River – Father Christmas (S05 E12)
Parks and Recreation – Christmas Scandal (S02 E12)
The Dick Van Dyke Show – The Alan Brady Show Presents (S03 E13)
Peaky Blinders – The Noose (S04 E01)
That Girl – Christmas and the Hard-Luck Kid (S01 E16)
The Office (UK) – Christmas Special, Part 1 (S03 E01)
Family Affair – Christmas Came a Little Early (S03 E07)
Full House – Our Very First Christmas Show (S02 E09)
How I Met Your Mother – How Lily Stole Christmas (S02 E11)
Doctor Who – Twice Upon a Time (2017 – #276)
American Horror Story – Unholy Night (S02 E08)
The Jeffersons – 984 W. 124th St., Apt 5C (S04 E15)
30 Rock – Christmas Special (S03 E06)
Abbott Elementary – Holiday Hookah (S02 E10)
The Bob Newhart Show – His Busiest Season (S01 E14)
Father Ted – A Christmassy Ted (S02 E11)
The Simpsons – Miracle on Evergreen Terrace (S09 E10)
Dexter: New Blood – The Family Business (S01 E09)
Friends – The One Where Rachel Quits (S03 E10)
Bob’s Burgers – Christmas in the Car (S04 E08)
Doctor Who – The Snowmen (2012 – #231)
Scrubs – My Own Personal Jesus (S01 E11)
The Vicar of Dibley – The Christmas Lunch Incident (S01 E08)
Superstore – Christmas Eve (S03 E07)
SpongeBob SquarePants – Christmas Who? (S02 E08)
Happy Endings – No Ho-Ho (S03 E07)
How I Met Your Mother – The Final Page: Part Two (S08 E12)
Sister, Sister – Christmas (S03 E12)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch – Sabrina’s Perfect Christmas (S05 E10)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – ‘Twas the Night Before Christening (S04 E13)
The Wire – Final Grades (S04 E13)
Stranger Things – Chapter Eight: The Upside Down (S01 E08)
The Addams Family – Christmas with the Addams Family (S02 E15)
King of the Hill – Pretty Pretty Dresses (S03 E09)
New Girl – Santa (S02 E11)
Dexter – Truth Be Told (S01 E11)
Friends – The One with the Routine (S6 E10)
NewsRadio – Xmas Story (S02 E10)
The Wonder Years – Christmas (S02 E03)
Everybody Hates Chris – Everybody Hates Christmas (S01 E11)
Gavin & Stacey – A Special Christmas (S02 E08)
The Andy Griffith Show – A Christmas Story (S01 E11)
Full House – A Very Tanner Christmas (S06 E12)
Lizzie McGuire – Xtreme Xmas (S02 E20)
The Jeffersons – George Finds a Father (S05 E12)
Grimm – 12 Days of Krampus (S03 E08)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch – Christmas Amnesia (S03 E11)
Sherlock – His Last Vow (S03 E03)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – Deck the Halls (S01 E15)
Two and a Half Men – Walnuts and Demerol (S04 E11)
Diff’rent Strokes – Santa’s Helper (S05 E12)
Bob’s Burgers – The Plight Before Christmas (S13 E10)
Sabrina the Teenage Witch – Sabrina Claus (S02 E11)
Malcolm in the Middle – Hal’s Christmas Gift (S06 E06)
Only Fools and Horses – Thicker Than Water (S03 E08)
Saved by the Bell – A Home For Christmas Parts 1 & 2 (S03 E24-25)
Daredevil – A Cold Day in Hell’s Kitchen (S02 E13)
Lizzie McGuire – Here Comes Aaron Carter (S01 E07)
The Real Housewives of New York City – December: Berkshires County (S08 E09)
The World at War – Pincers (S01 E19)
Only Fools and Horses – Christmas Crackers (S01 E07)
Euphoria – Trouble Don’t Last Always (2020)
Blackadder – Blackadder’s Christmas Carol (1988)
Doctor Who – The End of Time: Part Two (2009 – #202)
Top of the Pops – Christmas Special Part 1 (S16 E52)
New Girl – LAXmas (S04 E11)
Rick and Morty – Rattlestar Ricklactica (S04 E05)
The Office – Classy Christmas (S07 E11)
South Park – Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! (S02 E16)
Boy Meets World – Santa’s Little Helper (S01 E10)
EastEnders – Episode 194 (S07 E194)
Millennium – Omerta (S03 E09)
Morecambe and Wise – Christmas Show (S06 E07)
Mythic Quest – The 12 Hours of Christmas (S03 E06)
Porridge – No Way Out (1975)
Poirot – The Theft of the Royal Ruby (S03 E09)
The X-Files – Beyond the Sea (S01 E13)
Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge – Knowing Me, Knowing Yule (S01 E07)
Will & Grace – Jingle Balls (S04 E12)
Chuck – Chuck Versus Santa Claus (S02 E11)
Family Matters – Have Yourself A Merry Winslow Christmas (S02 E13)
Sesame Street – Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978)
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air – Christmas Show (S02 E13)
Warehouse 13 – Secret Santa (S02 E13)
The Decalogue – Dekalog, jeden (S01 E01)
Fresh Off the Boat – The Real Santa (S02 E10)
The Colbert Report – A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (2008)
Home Improvement – Yule Better Watch Out (S01 E12)
Black-ish – Black Santa/White Christmas (S01 E10)
Hawkeye – Ronin (S01 E05)
The Real Ghostbusters – Xmas Marks the Spot (S01 E13)
I Love Lucy – The Christmas Show (S06 E11)
All in the Family – Christmas Day at the Bunkers (S02 E13)
Doctor Who – The Husbands of River Song (2015 – #263)
The Office – Secret Santa (S06 E13)
Rev. – Episode #2.7 (S02 E07)
Pinky and the Brain – A Pinky and the Brain Christmas (S01 E08)
Doctor Who – The Time of the Doctor (2013 – #241)
Six Feet Under – It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (S02 E08)
Rick and Morty – Anatomy Park (S01 E03)
The League of Gentleman – Yule Never Leave! (S02 E07)
Malcolm in the Middle – Christmas (S03 E07)
The Sopranos – Kaisha (S06 E12)
The Office – Moroccan Christmas (S05 E10)
The Royle Family – Christmas Special (S02 E07)
Doctor Who – The End of Time: Part One (2009 – #202)
The BoJack Horseman Christmas Special: Sabrina’s Christmas Wish (S02 E00)
The Beverly Hillbillies – Christmas at the Clampetts (S02 E14)
Sherlock – The Final Problem (S04 E03)
Doctor Who – Last Christmas (2014 – #253)
Bottom – Holy (S02 E05)
Black-ish – Compton Around the Christmas Tree (S07 E08)
Doctor Who – The Christmas Invasion (2005 – #167)
Home Improvement – ‘Twas the Flight Before Christmas (S05 E12)
Hawkeye – So This Is Christmas? (S01 E06)
Rick and Morty – Never Ricking Morty (S04 E06)
Sherlock – The Abominable Bride (S04 E00)
Friends – The One with the Monkey (S01 E10)
The Middle – The Christmas Tree (S05 E09)
American Horror Story – Afterbirth (S01 E12)
Hannibal – Oeuf (S01 E04)
Doctor Who – Voyage of the Damned (2007 – #188)