Getting into the holiday spirit is no easy task. Thankfully, television allows everyone to partake in fictional get-togethers and adventures. Some of these adventures include navigating crazy families and the holiday blues, which are relatable.
1. “Spongebob Squarepants” – Season 2 Episode 8, “The Spongebob Christmas Special”
Every kid was excited to see Spongebob (Tom Kenny) and the rest of Bikini Bottom experience their first Christmas. After finding out about the holiday and Santa Clause, Spongebob convinces everyone to write a letter and wish list to the jolly man. Squidward (Rodger Bumpass), the “negative Nelly” of a neighbor, tries to convince everyone that Santa is not real and that Christmas is bogus. Despite being silly, the episode was a great lesson to kids that mocking someone for their beliefs is not fun. This is true all year round, especially considering that everyone has different beliefs.
“Spongebob Squarepants” is streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Paramount Plus.
2.“Bob’s Burgers” – Season 4 Episode 8, “Christmas in the Car”
Heading toward more mature shows, this episode is great if you want to laugh at an otherwise terrifying situation. Since Linda (John Roberts) bought a real Christmas tree the day after Halloween and Thanksgiving, the latter tree ends up dead on Christmas Eve. So, Linda and a reluctant Bob (H. Jon Benjamin) go out to buy a new one. While out, they cut off a candy cane truck while driving, leading to the truck chasing the Belcher family out of anger. If you want to watch others obsess over holiday things like last-minute shopping, crazy families and kids catching Santa, then watch this episode.
“Bob’s Burgers” is streaming on Hulu.
3. “Friends” – Season 7 Episode 9, “The One with All the Candy”
The classic 90s sitcom perfectly encapsulates the message of holiday consumerism while making us laugh. Monica (Courtney Cox) is a people-pleasing chef, which really shows when she decides to make candy for her whole apartment building as a way to get to know them. Instead, Monica learns just how crazy people will go for candy, even if it means working someone to the bone. Another great storyline of the episode is seeing Ross (David Schwimmer) buy a bicycle for Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow), with the latter refusing to learn how to ride one. The episode perfectly sums up each character and how they would react to the crazy situations they create.
“Friends” is streaming on HBO Max.
4. “Friends” – Season 7 Episode 10, “The One with the Holiday Armadillo”
The long-running show has more than just one holiday episode per season, making it inevitable that two episodes are on this list. In this episode, Ross tries to teach his son, Ben (Cole Sprouse), about Hanukkah as it is part of their Jewish heritage but the latter only cares about Christmas. This leads Ross to dress up as the “Holiday Armadillo” to teach Ben about Hanukkah. The episode features more wacky situations such as Phoebe buying a drum set for Joey (Matt Le Blanc) and a tarantula for Rachel (Jennifer Aniston).
5. “The Amazing World of Gumball” – Season 3 Episode 26, “The Lie”
Ending with a post-holiday episode should help people feeling down in the dumps this season and instead resurrect their jolliness. This episode follows Gumball (Jacob Hopkins), one of the many kids missing the joyous feelings everyone gets with the holidays from October to December. Gumball deceives everyone by making up a holiday called Sluzzle Tag to cure those January blues.
“The Amazing World of Gumball” is streaming on Hulu and HBO Max.
No matter what holiday you are celebrating this season, these television episodes should get you into the holiday spirit. Or at least be glad that these fictional characters possibly have worse holiday get-togethers than you. This list of episodes and more should help you trudge through the rest of the month.