If you’re struggling to work up some holiday cheer because the stress of adulthood has you in a chokehold and not the sexy kind, binge-watching your favourite sitcom Christmas episodes can help save you from that not-so-loving embrace.
So I’m here today to suggest some for you. Because all I want for Christmas is for you to catch a fucking break and relax a little. You’ve earned it.
Friends (Season 6, Episode 10: The One With The Routine):
In this episode, Ross and Monica get invited to a taping of Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. While there, they attempt to steal the show with a dance routine from their childhood. Joey spends the entire episode trying to get his new roommate, Janine, to suck face with him while Rachel, Phoebe, and Chandler snoop around the apartment to get a peek at the gifts Monica got for them.
Modern Family (Season 3, Episode 10: Express Christmas):
The Pritchett clan realises that their individual family plans won’t let them spend the holidays together for the first time, so Phil suggests they try something called Express Christmas, a way for them to celebrate Christmas together before the actual day comes.
Phil divides them into groups. Mitchell and Alex (along with Lily) are given the responsibility of finding the perfect Christmas tree, Claire and Haley are in charge of buying last-minute gifts, and Jay and Cameron are in charge of wrapping them. Meanwhile, Gloria and Luke go to find the angel ornament for the top of the tree.
As you can guess, chaos ensues, and the entire plan fails miserably.
How I Met Your Mother (Season 2, Episode 11: How Lily Stole Christmas):
Lily is hard at work making the apartment into a winter wonderland. While decorating, she finds an old answering machine containing messages Ted sent to Marshall while she and Marshall were broken up. In the messages, Ted calls her a litany of hilariously ungodly insults. Lily is so furious she rips the decorations down, ignores Ted’s apology and declares Christmas cancelled. It takes Marshall’s intervention to calm her down.
The Big Bang Theory (Season 2, Episode 11: The Bath Gift Item Hypothesis)
Sheldon challenges himself to get Penny the perfect Christmas gift and almost has a meltdown because his big brain can’t figure out what to get. His near nervous breakdown accounts for much of the episode’s laughs, and what finally calms him down is when Penny reveals the gift she’s gotten him: a signed napkin from Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy. Sheldon is ecstatic. He exclaims that it’s the best gift he’s ever gotten and gives Penny a hug in a rare display of emotion.
The Office (Season 8, Episode 10: Christmas Wishes):
Dunder Mifflin’s new leader, Andy, is eager to please his new employees and sets out to fulfil their holiday wishes. Even though a lot of the employees’ wishes are downright dangerous, Andy gives in any way because he’d rather do sketchy shit than not be liked. Among some of the insane stuff he does is buy Dwight an acre of property on the moon and give Meredith permission to drink unholy levels of alcohol, even going as far as offering himself as her designated driver. This is also the show’s first Christmas episode without Michael Scott.
Merry Christmas and happy bingeing in advance, folks!
