Holiday Cheer

After all of the holiday themed episodes last week, I figured now was as good a time as any to talk about some of my favorite episodes of TV from the 2000s that stand out to me.

From this seasons’ crop:

Community: Comparative Religion takes the idea of multi-centralism to a new level. As the study group prepares for their Spanish final, Shirley invites everyone over for a Christmas celebration, only Shirley is the only one to celebrate the holiday among them. However, the stand-out moment from the episode is the ending with Abed and Troy decorating Troy before Jeff appears and they sing about “Christmas Troy”.

Bones: The Goop in the Girl, after you move past the body of the week has done a great job of highlighting what the holiday can be about: friends and family. Cam and Michelle have some issues with holiday plans, Sweets and Daisy want to spend the day in haze, and Brennan is willing to forsake plans with her dad and cousin for remains. The end of the episode hits what the true meaning of the holiday is for everyone from The Jeffersonian, good times, good food and good friends.

For some classics that should be watched at any chance:

Veronica Mars, An Echolls Family Christmas: the first season’s holiday episode, complete with festive parties, a mysterious stalker and a poker game gone very, very wrong. There’s something about this episode that always comes back to me at the holidays, and an episode of television I can’t live without.

The OC, The Chrismukk-huh?: brings the idea of alternative realities to Newport Beach, as Ryan and Taylor fall into comas right before Chrismukkah festivities. In the alterative Newport, Ryan and Taylor have lives to fix before they can be happily returned to the Newport they live in.

The West Wing, Holy Night: the season four episode brings together various holiday traditions, as Toby’s father arrives to visit the White House thinking about when Toby was born, as does Danny Concannon to spread some cheer CJ’s way. Added into the mix is a performance by the Yale Wiffenpoofs, who are trapped as snow blankets Washington, singing the same songs over and over again as staffers try to keep their holiday spirits up.

Did I miss any of your favorite shows (or your favorite episodes from any of these shows)?