3 best Christmas episodes of The Office

Best Christmas episodes from The Office

Many sitcoms choose to focus on a specific holiday and these tend to be some of their most memorable episodes. For Parks and Rec, it’s Galentines/Valentines Day and Leslie’s devotion to her lady friends and, of course, Ben Wyatt. For Friends, Thanksgiving led to some quotable scenes and unforgettable guest stars. For The Office, the Dunder-Mifflinites spend some after-work hours celebrating Christmas, often in a dysfunctional manner.

The show gave viewers seven Christmas episodes. Season 1 only had six episodes and season 4 took place during the infamous writer’s strike and, as a result, only contains 14 episodes.

The Office is leaving Netflix soon, so you only have a short time to watch these Christmas episodes on the streaming service.

Below, we ranked the top three Christmas episodes of The Office. 

3. “Classy Christmas” (Season 7, Episodes 11 and 12)

These episodes are the last Christmas episodes where Michael Scott wreaks havoc on the annual office Christmas party. The episode begins with the entire staff desperately trying to take a picture worthy of a mailer to their customers.

Kelly Kapoor is in charge of picking out the corporate gift, and she decides to bestow Hello Kitty laptop sleeves which is arguably an even better gift than the bathrobes from season 3.
This party is no longer under the leadership of Angela’s reign of terror as Head of the Party Planning Committee; instead, Pam is at the helm and plans a low-key celebration. However, after Toby reveals that he will be a jury member for what is possibly the trial of the infamous Scranton Strangler, he also informs the office that Holly will be returning to run the HR department while he exacts justice. In classic Michael Scott fashion, he upends the carefully-laid plans made by his employees and demands the party be taken up a notch.

Michael goes on to don a Kangol-esque Santa hat, drapes himself in a bespoke velvet suit, and decks the office out for a sleek, classy affair.

Viewers also get to witness Darryl and his daughter defeat Andy, the warehouse Christmas grinch; Jim and Dwight engage in an escalating prank war that (finally results in Dwight as the victor; and Michael indignantly and impulsively pours hot coffee on the Woody doll that Holly prizes.

2. “Christmas Party” (Season 2, Episode 10)

This episode has it all: Office antics (the tree is too big for the corner), Phyllis screws something up (the tree lights don’t work), Jim and Pam pining for one another (aww, he got her the teapot she wanted), and Michael ruining and then revitalizing the party (the infamous Yankee Swap followed by placating his staff with 15 bottles of vodka).

1. “A Benihana Christmas” (Season 3, Episode 10)

The Dunder-Mifflin employees experience a chaotic day. After discovering that Michael photoshopped himself into her family’s old ski trip photo, Carol dumps him. Michael spends the first part of the episode moping around in a Dunder-Mifflin bathrobe and listening to 30-second clips of James Blunt songs.

Dwight and Andy both attempt to use this opportunity to become closer to Michael and drag him to lunch at Ichiban’s. There, Dwight is separated from the group, left to argue with the chef and the strangers he sits next to while Andy convinces two servers to attend the office Christmas party, which is experiencing some challenges of its own.

Pam and Karen, Jim’s two love interests, team up and plan a “Margarita-Karaoke Christmas” to combat Angela’s Nutcracker-themed party. After sabotaging one another, they decide to join the two parties together.

Perhaps the best scene of the entire episode is Michael’s inability to discern which of the Ichiban servers is his date (whom he refers to as his new girlfriend) and marks her arm so he can keep track of her.

The Office leaves Netflix on Dec. 31, 2020.