10 Best TV Holiday Specials (According To Reddit)

10 Best TV Holiday Specials (According To Reddit)

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed sorting through the best TV holiday specials to watch each year. Thankfully, fans on Reddit have named their favorites.

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As the holidays approach, one must contend with a multitude of stresses. Presents must be bought, parties must be attended and decorations must be hung. Christmas is anxiety-inducing enough before even addressing the greatest dilemma of them all: which Christmas specials to watch on TV.

There is a lot to sort through. In the age of streaming, it seems as though the deluge of Christmas-themed TV is neverending. There are, however, many noteworthy entries in this category, and Redditors are talking about their picks for the best holiday specials everyone should watch this year.

10 Christmas Special: 30 Rock

30 Rock Christmas specials have “always been a tradition” for dustlandfairytale100, and their nomination for the top spot is the aptly named “Christmas Special.”

This episode sees Liz Lemon on a mission to help underprivileged children after her parents cancel their Christmas plans, while Jack goes on one of his typical tirades after his holiday vacation plans crumble. Meanwhile, in the spirit of 30 Rock’s brand of self-referential humor, the rest of the staff is trapped inside 30 Rockefeller Square, tasked with making a Christmas special.

9 Twas The Blight Before Christmas: Home Improvement

Home Improvement was a beloved sitcom that ran throughout the 1990s. Many people remember its heartwarming brand of sarcastic humor, but Home Improvement does not get due credit for having some spectacular Christmas episodes.

Redditor SpotISaGoodCat singles out “The Blight Before Christmas” as one of their favorite Home Improvement specials, and user another Redditor echoes this sentiment, calling the show and its holiday festivities “exactly like my childhood.” In this episode, Tim competes with Doc Johnson to win a neighborhood Christmas light contest, but his conniving son, Randy, is secretly working for the enemy. It’s one of the funniest holiday episodes from a popular TV show and one that fans still love to revisit every year.

8 A Charlie Brown Christmas

Released in 1965, A Charlie Brown Christmas has become a timeless Christmas classic. The Peanuts comics were not originally themed around Christmas, but thanks to this TV special, Charlie Brown and his gang are as synonymous with Christmas as eggnog and stockings.

The TV special itself is a heartwarming lesson about the true meaning of Christmas. One deleted Redditor called it “flawless,” and “[their] favorite ever.” It’s a bold claim, but easy to make. A Charlie Brown Christmas can be found on any TV station around December 25th, and the fact that it remains so beloved nearly 60 years after its release is a testament to its quality.

7 Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas: Community

Arguments can be made about whether or not Community was unfairly canceled, but what cannot be overstated is how much gold came out of the series during its short lifespan. The show has achieved cult status in the years since its departure from television, and among the gems that it offers are some very good Christmas episodes.

When Abed begins to see the world in claymation, the rest of the gang try to figure out what is going on and find themselves sucked into Abed’s claymation world via a group therapy session. The ensuing chaos has become a holiday staple for many, such as Redditor InimitableMe, who “force[ed] it upon family and friends” until it became “a Christmas tradition.”

6 Christmas Party: The Office

It goes without saying that The Office produced some brilliant television during its eight years on the air. So many quotes, so many sketches, so many characters have been seared into fans’ collective memory thanks to the stellar cast and the writers behind this iconic series. And there are also some dynamite Christmas specials.

Redditor Craig1818 nominated Christmas Party as their go-to holiday favorite, calling it “so cringey, yet so festive!” That is high praise for a series that may be the height of “awkward” humor. Centering around the Dunder-Mifflin Secret Santa event, this episode is a deadpan yuletide treat that showcases all the best elements of the series.

5 A Very Sunny Christmas: It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a dark humor institution. The team behind the show is experts at crossing lines and pushing the envelope on what is acceptable for a television audience. So, naturally, Christmas is a perfect target.

In this play on A Christmas Carol, Dennis and Dee decide to teach Frank a lesson about humility, while Charlie and Mac go on a fact-finding mission about their childhoods. Redditor DistinguishedTrout calls the aftermath “one of the best IASIP episodes,” going on to say that the episode contains some “all-time classic scenes.” Needless to say, all parties end up with egg-nog on their face and learn absolutely nothing.

4 Mr. Hankey The Christmas Poo: South Park

Mr. Hankey needs no introduction. Only the mad genius of Trey Parker and Matt Stone could find a way to make feces a Christmas icon, but “hidey-ho,” here we are. Reddit user carnosaur007 emphatically chose this early South Park episode as their TV holiday go-to, and Redditor TanStoney calls it “everything I love about South Park.”

Mr. Hankey is pretty self-explanatory and the sheer ridiculousness of his existence should be enough to propel this Christmas episode into the pop-culture hall of fame. However, what makes the episode special is how Mr. Hankey is used as a foil to expose the absurdity of the Christmas season and many of the hypocrisies buried deep within our cultural traditions.

3 Marge Be Not Proud: The Simpsons

The Simpsons simply cannot be stopped. 30 seasons have come and gone, and it still marches on. Given its lifespan, there are bound to be many contenders for the coveted “best” ranking in the category of holiday specials, especially given its long history of holiday-themed episodes in the Treehouse of Horror series. And fans can’t forget that the family dog is named Santa’s Little Helper.

Redditor skysquatch simply screamed, “BUY ME BONESTORM OR GO TO HELL!” The episode in question is “Marge Be Not Proud,” an episode that one now-deleted Redditor calls, “One of the two classic Christmas episodes” that “leaves you with just the right amount of feel-good.” In it, Marge refuses to buy the ultraviolent videogame Bonestorm for Bart, one of TV’s fan-favorite mischievous sons, prompting him to steal the game instead.

2 How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

It is hard to find anything more iconic than this. Every bit of the original animated Christmas TV special is seared into most North American adults’ collective memory: from Boris Karloff’s narration and the songs to the Chuck Jones directed animation, there are many, many people who not only love the Grinch but easily identify with him.

The animation is what makes this cartoon classic special for Redditor DinosaurPizzaParty, who reminisces about the “little sight gags, like when the Grinch closes the [Christmas] tree like an umbrella.” There is something to love for just about anyone in this one.

1 The Star Wars Holiday Special

The Star Wars Holiday Special is as legendary as the original films that spawned it. This strange combination of Wookies, cooking tutorials, and Bea Arthur earned itself the scorn of both the public and Mr. Star Wars himself, George Lucas.

Whether he was involved in the production or not is a secret that Lucas will likely take to the grave, but unfortunately for George, The Star Wars Holiday Special will never die, as some people love it. Redditor brain1234333 says that the movie needs “to be put in the national library or something to preserve it. It’s a treasure.” Whether it is a stocking full of coal or the gift that keeps on giving is entirely dependent upon the viewer. What can be said for sure is that, for some, Christmas is not complete without it.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/best-tv-holiday-specials-reddit/

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