The U.S. version of The Office ran on NBC for 9 seasons, from 2005 to 2013. If you’ve never seen the show, you’re missing out. The U.S. series has a total of 7 Christmas episodes. Based on the blog posts and articles I read before writing this, my opinions the episodes are not popular. That being said, here are my rankings- from worst to best.
7. “A Benihana Christmas” Season 3, 2006
I know this Christmas Episode is a favorite for a lot of people. For me, it’s just so… annoying. Season 3, while funny, is one of my least favorite seasons overall. The constant issues with Jim, Pam, and Karen becomes so repetitive and boring. I do appreciate the friendship that develops between Pam and Karen in this episode, but it doesn’t last long. Maybe if they remained on good terms throughout the season I would like the season overall. But the competition they end up in with Angela is annoying. If Pam really wanted to make it up to Karen, why doesn’t she stand up to Angela and insist that they use some of Karen’s ideas for the office party?
And then there’s Michael. I really don’t understand why Carol stayed with him after he proposes to her in a very public setting in one of the earlier episodes. I get that their relationship is for laughs, but it’s not even funny, it’s just sad. Come on, Michael put his face over her ex-husband’s face on a ski trip photo. If that happened in real life, people wouldn’t just laugh it off and say ‘bold move.’ I never found Carol to be a likable character, so I never cared about her being Michael’s girlfriend. I do wonder if Carol’s character is just Nancy Carell focusing on all of the aspects of her husband that she dislikes. (Michael and Carol are played by Steve and Nancy Carell- a real, married couple)
6. “Classy Christmas” Season 7, 2010
In this two-part episode, Michael cancels the office’s party when he learns that Holly is returning to the branch. At the start, the episode is happy, hopeful even. Michael’s attempt to make the office Christmas party “Classy” is funny. But once Holly arrives, and announces she is still dating AJ, it goes downhill fast. It becomes the same old drama that had played out multiple times before.
When AJ shows up for the party to surprise Holly, it gets even worse. Michael destroying the Woody doll (from Toy Story) is the same as when he chopped the sleeve off of her sweater. Also, how does no one ever question what happened to the sweater?
The best part of this episode is the ongoing snowball fight between Dwight and Jim, but even that gets old. The ending with all the snowmen in the parking lot? It just feels like they couldn’t figure out how to end the episode so they went for this bizarre ending instead. I know people love this episode, and this episode was towards the top of every list and article I looked at, but I just don’t get it. It’s the beginning of the end for Steve Carell/Michael Scott, and while he has a pretty perfect send-off, this was just boring.
5. “Secret Santa” Season 6, 2009
“Secret Santa” takes place in season 6. Pam is pregnant, Jim and Michael are co-managers of the office, and “The Wall” has been writing articles about Dunder Mifflin. Phyllis’ dream finally comes true when Jim agrees to let her be Santa at the office Christmas party (something that had never been mentioned before, which is interesting since the previous year she was the one in charge of planning the party).
As you can imagine, Michael has a conniption, and begins to spoil the party for everyone. Sure, when he pulls Kevin onto his lap and promises him 100 helium balloons it’s funny. Just like when he tells Stanley that “adultery is a sin… You’re going to H-E-L-L…. double hockey stick!” I can’t help but crack up. The episode is funny because of Michael’s commentary, and not much else. I don’t dislike it as much of some of the other Christmas episodes, but it’s not a great one either.
4. “Christmas Party” Season 2, 2005
Despite it not being my favorite Christmas episode, “Christmas Party,” is what I’d consider to be the ‘classic.’ The show still has that new quality to it where it’s still finding its groove, but it still is creating relationships and moments that last. The episode does pretty accurately describe the chaos and annoyance of any white elephant gift exchange. There’s always one or two gifts that everyone wants, and it drags everything out to the point where it just becomes boring. If you’re thinking about doing a white elephant exchange, don’t. Unless someone is going to pre-approve all the gifts to make sure they’re all on the same level, it’s just a recipe for hurt feelings.
But, to fix everyone’s hurt feelings where do you go? If you’re Michael Scott, the liquor store. And, don’t forget you need to ask the experts working there if 15 bottles is enough to get everyone hammered. Can you imagine what would happen if people didn’t get drunk at the end of the episode?
If you haven’t seen the full show, you may want to stop reading this part and skip to the next section. *minor spoiler ahead* Did anyone actually remember the note from the teapot was taken by Jim before Pam saw it? I hadn’t remembered it, so when I saw Jim pull it out in the show’s penultimate episode, I was surprised and excited. This small detail is one of the things that make The Office a great show.
3. “Moroccan Christmas” Season 5, 2008
Ah, “Moroccan Christmas.” Initially, this episode was not a favorite. But, eventually I grew to like it more and more. The theme is beyond weird (or am I just missing something?), but the entire episode has so much going on. Phyllis is busy blackmailing Angela because she finds out Angela is cheating on Andy. Dwight is now re-selling ‘Princess Unicorn’ dolls, and Michael is determined to get Meredith into a 12 step program after he gives her a ‘1 of everything’ and her hair catches fire.
Out of all of those, I would say Dwight’s money making scheme is my favorite. Perhaps it’s all the work in retail I did, especially the intense work around Christmas, but I just can’t help but wonder ‘how much money did he make?’ The little thing with Toby and Darryl at the end is annoying, I mean, really Toby? You’re supposed to be in HR and you couldn’t BS your way out of that uncomfortable interaction?
2. “Christmas Wishes” Season 8, 2011
My top 2 episodes is where I know people are really going to disagree with me. “Christmas Wishes,” is a pretty hated episode, as is season 8 in general. I, however, love it. I find James Spader as Robert California to be hilarious. Overall, the concept of the episode is a good one.
The Andy/Jessica/Erin love triangle situation is pretty boring to me, and I don’t really pay attention to it. But, I do really like the storyline Erin has in this episode. Some people may disagree with me on this, but I think the episode has a lot of growth for Erin. She starts off just angry and timid and someone that is easy to push around. But, she takes her first shot, and her confidence soars.
I am in no way encouraging alcoholism, but that shot represents something. Robert California does not force her to take the shot, he simply pours it. He even tells her that she can leave it and that “that’s fine.” But, taking the shot is her acknowledging that she isn’t a kid anymore. She’s an adult. She can make her own choices. She can take risks and speak her mind. Yeah, she goes overboard, but she doesn’t drive, and she was in a safe environment with people who would make sure she was ok.
You may say it was immature for her to hate Jessica, or send Kelly after her, or her to yell at Andy, but she was confident in herself to not just be pushed aside again. Perhaps this is why I like Erin and this episode so much. Maybe I need that too. (so hey…James Spader…wanna grab a drink?)
One last thing about this episode. When Dwight turns off the music and blasts “Carol of the Bells,” and starts playing air guitar, it’s impossible to not start jamming along with him. That scene goes with that music perfectly. It’s definitely one of the best montages in the show because it’s so relatable. If you’ve never felt like dancing around while that music plays, well why?
1. “Dwight’s Christmas” Season 9, 2012
After the party planning committee ‘forgets’ to plan the annual Christmas party, Dwight pitches the idea of a traditional Pennsylvania-Dutch Christmas. It starts off as a semi-prank that Jim wants, but eventually becomes ‘the perfect last Christmas party.’ And I agree. I don’t know if ending the show had been decided at the time of writing this episode, but it works. In the beginning of the show, Dwight is always seen as an annoyance. But around season 3 or 4, his quirks become more accepted as funny personality traits, not something to mock. And letting him share his traditions with the office is just another piece of that.
Honestly, there isn’t much else to say about this episode. But, to quote Jim, “That was the perfect last Christmas party.”
So, tell me in the comments- how do you rank The Office’s Christmas Episodes? Do you agree with me?
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I LOVED the Moroccan Christmas episode! Finally someone who agrees with me! Jim’s wrapping paper desk prank on Dwight was the funniest thing ever, I died laughing. Probably one of my favourite Jim/Dwight pranks of all time aside from “Asian Jim.” Happy Holidays!!
dwight’s christmas is my all time favorite!! loved this post!!
Thanks B!!! I’m finally glad to find SOMEONE who agrees with me on that episode!
It definitely took a few watches for me to fully appreciate that episode, but it’s so good! Dwight’s little ‘side hustle’ is my favorite! Happy Holidays and thank you for reading! xx
I agree with you on a lot of these! I found Micheal so annoying most of the series and it bugged me he was always doing something crazy in the Christmas episodes. I guess that’s just his character lol
Definitely. There’s times when his reactions and behavior is funny, and then other times when it’s so annoying to watch! xx