The Officeis thought of as one of the best sitcoms ever made, with an amazing ensemble cast led by the incredibly talentedSteve Carell, and an incredible writing team who were constantly able to push the lines of comedy each week. And over its nine seasons, and 201 episodes, the laughs were plentiful… especially during the holidays, where this iconic sitcom really shined.
Whether it was Dwight dressing up as a German version of Santa Claus, Michael trying to force Meredith to go to rehab, or Dwight trying to frame Jim by putting a porcupine in his own desk drawer, there were so many amazing Christmas moments that will stand out for years to come.
The Office
7"Christmas Wishes" (Season 8, Episode 10)
IMDb Rating: 7.7
For his first Christmas party as the new manager of Dunder Mifflin, Andy (Ed Helms) decides to give out Christmas wishes to his employees. He also invites his girlfriend Jessica to come down, and Erin (Ellie Kemper) gets jealous. Meanwhile, Jim (John Krasinski) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) are told to stop pranking one another, or they’ll lose their bonuses (we see how that went), and Darryl (Craig Robinson) invites Val to the party.
Erin really airs out her feelings about Andy’s new girlfriend in this episode, going so far as to wish her dead. This is a side of Erin we haven’t seen before, and shows just how much she still wants to be with Andy. Their relationship was one that so many fans rooted for, but was handled terribly by the writers of the show. Jim and Dwight do some great self-pranking in this episode, in an attempt to frame the other and get their bonus check. Seriously, what would an episode of The Office be if we didn’t get the delight of Jim and Dwight pranking each other? And at the very beginning, Stanley mentions a bunch of different themed Christmas parties they’ve had over the 18 years he’s worked there, and among them, he mentions aPulp FictionChristmas party, which is one that absolutely should’ve been shown, as it would have been the absolute highlight of the episode. A missed opportunity in a season that was full of them.
6"Moroccan Christmas" (Season 5, Episode 11)
IMDb Rating: 8.2
During their Moroccan-themed Christmas party, things get a bit rowdy, and Meredith (Kate Flannery) sets her hair on fire. This prompts Michael to stage an intervention for her, and when that fails, he attempts to take her to rehab. Meanwhile, after recently catching Angela (Angela Kinsey) cheating on Andy with Dwight, Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) winds up spilling the beans about it to most of the office.
The episode starts off with one of the best cold opens of the show, as Dwight comes into work to see his desk completely wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper. Then we get to see a wild party, one that even Michael admits is probably the best Christmas party he’s ever been to. It definitely looked like a great time, and everyone seemed to be having a blast, until a drunken Meredith accidently lights her own hair on fire. Michael really cares here. He just wants Meredith to get the help she needs, even if he doesn’t quite go about it in the right ways. We also get a little side story of Dwight selling some dolls to desperate parents, one of whom is Toby, who begs Darryl for his after he bought the last one. And the end of the episode, when Phyllis reveals the truth about Dwight and Angela, leads directly into the next episode for the duel between Andy and Dwight.
5"Dwight Christmas" (Season 9, Episode 9) -
When the office forgets to plan a Christmas party, Dwight suggests a traditional Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas, complete with the crotchety, fur-covered Belsnickel. Meanwhile, Jim is preparing to start his new job in Philadelphia, and may have to miss the party.
This is not just a great Christmas episode, but also just a great episode ofThe Officeas we get to see some of the best Dwight/Jim interactions of the entire series. Dwight coming in as Belsnickel will always be one of the most memorable moments of this show, as well as Darryl dead-dropping back first into the snack table and passing out. It was such an incredible moment, and Craig Robinson played it beautifully.
4"Secret Santa"Season 6, Episode 13) -
IMDb Rating: 8.4
The office is throwing a Secret Santa party, but due to a miscommunication, there are two Santas, and Michael gets angry when Phyllis is chosen to be Santa instead of him. Also, Andy’s gift to Erin gets a bit out of control as he brings to life the 12 Days of Christmas.
After a failed attempt in the very first Christmas episode, Secret Santa is back! Andy’s decision to give Erin the 12 Days of Christmas was a great idea, but doing so with live animals was where he went wrong. He could’ve given her stuffed animals, or figurines, or paintings… anything other than actual living animals. We also learn in this episode that Dunder Mifflin is being sold, and corporate employees like David Wallace will be fired. This leads into the Dunder Mifflin-Sabre era, which is, thankfully, short-lived as it was an under-cooked plotline that didn’t need to see the light of day.
3"A Benihana Christmas" (Season 3, Episodes 10 & 11)
IMDb Rating: 8.7
In this double-length Christmas episode (and worth every minute), Michael and his girlfriend Carol (Steve Carell’s actual wife,Nancy Carell) split up, causing him to become depressed. Andy decides to take him to Benihana to cheer him up, where they meet two waitresses that they bring back to the office for the annual Christmas party. Or in this case, parties. Yes, there were multiple parties going on in this episode, which explains why this hilarious episode was broken up into two parts.
There’s so much going on in these episodes. Carol finally ends things with Michael after he photoshops himself into a picture of Carol on a ski trip with her kids and ex-husband, and this is after the cringe-worthy proposal during the Diwali episode. This one also takes place after the branch merger and the return of Jim. He is still dealing with Pam’s rejection at the end of season two, even though he’s currently seeing Karen (Rashida Jones), but he begins to come around to the idea of them being friends again at the end. And speaking of Karen, she and Pam (Jenna Fischer) get to do some bonding in this one as they go head-to-head with Angela, throwing their own, separate Christmas party. And at the end, we get the setup to the inevitable relationship between Michael and Jan, when he calls her and invites her to Sandals Jamaica, though the audience doesn’t yet know that it’s Jan he’s talking to. It was a nice ending to an episode that could have gone off-the-rails, but made all the ingridents come together.
2"Christmas Party" (Season 2, Episode 10)
The office decides to throw a Secret Santa party, but after Michael gets a gift he really doesn’t like, he decides to turn it into a Yankee Swap instead, and when that all falls apart, he tries to make it up to his employees with alcohol.
Even though this is an episode that really makes the audience hate Michael Scott, it’s still one of the best because of this great ensemble cast of characters. This begins Jim’s push toward finally telling Pam how he really feels about her, as he gets her a tea pot filled with heartfelt mementos, and a card that expresses those feelings. This leads to Jim telling Michael about his feelings for Pam in the next episode, and culminates in the season finale when he finally shares those feelings with Pam.
1"Classy Christmas" (Season 7, Episodes 11 & 12)
IMDb Rating: 8.9
While setting up for their Christmas party, Michael learns that his ex, Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), is coming back to Scranton. So, to impress her, he cancels the party and plans to hold a new, classier one when she returns. Meanwhile, Dwight terrorizes Jim after they have a snowball fight, and Darryl tries to give his daughter a great Christmas.
This episode sets up some great future stories, including the rekindling of Michael and Holly’s relationship, and Toby’s experience on the jury for the Scranton Strangler case. Holly’s return will lead to the inevitable departure of Steve Carell, making this his very last Christmas episode on the show. And then there’s the Jim and Dwight portion of the episode. This is the most unlikable Dwight has ever been in the show, as he goes way overboard with his relentless attacks on Jim. It all should have ended after he pummeled Jim with snowballs in the parking lot, but it didn’t. Instead, Dwight just kept coming at Jim, unprovoked. It’s the most aggravating part of the entire episode, but it sure was hilarious. Overall, we agree with IMDb, this is, arguably, the bestOfficeChristmas episode.
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