With the start of December only a couple of days away, it is finally an acceptable time to embrace the Christmas cheer (that we’ve had to suppress for the last 11 months) and gear ourselves up for the holidays. Everyone loves a good festive film, but the real goldmine of Christmas classics lies within some of your favourite ‘noughties’ TV shows. After you’ve put up your Christmas tree and hung your stockings, be sure to settle down for the ultimate binge of our top five nostalgic Christmas TV episodes of all time!
- Gossip Girl, “It’s a Wonderful Lie”
As is the case with most Upper East Side Christmas’, the students at Constance are preparing for the upcoming snowflake ball. Within the complicated relationship that is Chuck and Blair, the pair make a bet to choose the perfect date for each other for the annual soirée, which ends in the two reuniting at the end of the night. Vanessa and Jenny fight over the dreamy Nate and Dan and Serena’s love begins to blossom under unlikely circumstances. All seems to be going well in the end until the news of Bart Bass’ accident reaches Lily and the kids. Just another Christmas for New York’s elite.
- The O.C., “The Best Chrismukkah Ever”
Seth introduces Ryan to his complicated and bi-religious holiday of ‘Chrismukkah’, that he has set up to celebrate his mum Kristin’s Catholic beliefs and his dad Sandy, who is Jewish. At the same time, Seth is pushing his luck as he continues to play both Summer and Anna by claiming he has chosen the other. Marissa feels the full force of her family life problems and gets arrested for shoplifting. The situation only gets worse when she gets drunk at Seth’s ‘Chrismukkah’ party and is almost arrested for drunk driving. Two-timing Seth finally gets what he deserves after Summer and Anna discover his secret. Seems like a Christmas story only fit for the residents of Orange County.
- Lizzie McGuire, “Xtreme Xmas”
Nothing says Christmas like Lizzie McGuire and a Christmas Charity Drive! In this classic episode, Lizzie becomes obsessed with building an elaborate float for an upcoming Christmas parade, but faces stiff competition from Kate and her cousin who are having their float professionally built. To make matters worse, Lizzie is then distracted by Nobby, a senior citizen who believes he is one of Santa’s elves. By the end of the episode, Lizzie is reminded of the true meaning of Christmas and Steven Tyler sings his own rendition of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” on her float. Things could be weirder.
- Gilmore Girls, “Forgiveness and Stuff”
Nothing says Christmas episode like a little bit, or a lot, of family drama and this episode of Gilmore Girls really overdelivers in that department. It all starts with Lorelai being “dis-invited” to her parents’ annual Christmas bash and ends with an unexpected emergency trip to the hospital. The stuff in-between involves some mother daughter tension, after Rory’s impromptu sleepover with boyfriend Dean, a custom Santa burger and an almost life-threatening heart attack. In the end, all long-standing resentments and misunderstandings are resolved, and Christmas is saved just in time. Sounds too good to be true but hey, us normal people can dream right?
- Friends, “The One With the Holiday Armadillo”
One of the most iconic episodes in the shows 10 season history, sees Ross bring ‘the Holiday Armadillo’ to its rightly deserved fame as the reigning mascot of Hanukah. In an attempt to teach his son Ben about their Jewish heritage, Ross decides to invent Santa’s friend, the Holiday Armadillo, as a replacement for Santa. Meanwhile, Phoebe is worried that Rachel is too happy living with Joey and won’t want to move back to her place. Chandler inevitably ruins the moment between the Holiday Armadillo and Ben by surprising Ben in a Santa suit. We have this fabulous episode to thank for this iconic line from Chandler: “Well, I’m here to see my old buddy Ben. What are you doing here, weird… turtle man?”
This article originally appeared on InStyle.
