#228 Watching the Christmas episode of your favorite sitcom in the completely wrong month

Neil Pasricha

Thank you for being a friend.

When you’re crashing into the couch in the cold basement and flicking on the TV screen there’s nothing as nice as being surrounded by your favorite pals in familiar places. And while we’ve chatted before about finding gold there’s also something great about  bumping into the Christmas special in the completely wrong time of the year.

Whether Kevin’s got to find a Christmas gift for Winnie, George battles his Festivus demons, or the Tanner family gets stranded at the airport on Christmas eve, well… it’s a surprise dose of Christmas spirit sprinkled into the middle of your year.

Those Christmas specials usually feature the full cast of characters, surprise music interludes, and huggy closing scenes that zoom out to snowflakes falling past frosty windows and flickering red lights strung across rooftops. Christmas episodes remind us where we were when we first saw them and give us surprise doses of holiday family values right when we least expect it.

Christmas episode, your heart is true.

You’re a pal and a confidant.

AWESOME!

62 thoughts to “#228 Watching the Christmas episode of your favorite sitcom in the completely wrong month”

      1. Right? Watching those early episodes of the Simpsons always makes me feel like I’ve entered into some parallel universe where everything looks close to right, but something is clearly wrong..

      2. Yeah..in the early episodes, the drawings were much cruder and some of background / characters are in different color (I think Moe has black hair in the early episodes??). I like the middle season the best…the drawings are way better and the storylines are pretty funny.

        1. you like the “middle season” the best? There have been 22 seasons! And you like season 11 (or 12?) the best out of all of them.. that’s awfully specific of you.. :P

          1. Right now I’m imagining that “ThingsYouRealize…” is flexing the finger he likes best at you as well.

              1. haha “jdurley” I like you already! ;) Freddo take some lessons! :D

                I never know which episodes are in which seasons (which is why I never know which DVD to pick!), I just know that the episodes / seasons I like are the ones in which the drawings are not crude (like the clip attached above) and the storylines are actually funny (not just stupid). I find that the newer episodes aren’t that good storywise…

    2. I was addicted to Fresh Prince while on maternity leave and there was a few Christmas episodes thrown in there, I loved it!

  2. Aww man, you didn’t put the Full House Christmas, that’s my favorite….but I think any holiday special is good whether it be 4th of July, Thanksgiving, Halloween, or Christmas. Because being reminded of any holiday is AWESOME!

    2. my EXACT thoughts. after reading about the Tanners in the post, i was bummed to see the video was not posted.

      youtube, here i come.

  3. And if you threw a party, invited everyone you knew, you would see the biggest gift would be from me and the card attached would say thank you for being a friend.

    AWESOME :)

    Thanks for the flashback!

    1. With all the talk in the past week about an Awesome party, Bekah said we’d wear our cards, etc., do you think he’s trying to tell us something…”and his card attached would say…”

    1. You say that likes it weird. :|

      (Oh! Oh! Look up Christmas songs by “Straight No Chaser”! Those are some carols I could listen to 24/7!)

        1. Yes, they are awesome! Always great to be introduced to new and beautiful Christmas music. Some of the renditions are good but many horrid. So thank you!
          Let’s all spread some holiday cheer today.
          Christmas hugs everyone;)

    1. FRIENDS holiday episodes are the best to watch at random times throughout the year! That show holds a special place in my heart.

  6. The Andy Griffith episode with grinch Mr Weaver putting his renters in jail for Christmas and Eleanor Donahue singing ‘Away in a Manger’ is my favorite.

  8. Thankkkk you for a walk down memory lane! I haven’t thought about the brady bunch or the wonder years…for well years! I always forget how young they were in the beginning, and tend to think of them at the end of the series!

  9. Ironic, June 6th. you had a vision of “Rudolph” and we had a big black bear in our back yard, so on this eve’s walk, thoughts were, “Reeling in the years”, while singing and packing the “jingle-bear-bells!”
    It only makes sense to me, that New Years should be in May~
    spring-time, when everything here at least, is new so ’tis a wonderful time to be kind, rewind and remind us of some other awesomer holiday cheers like- #971, #699, #632, #601, #600, #566 and #340 (so far)…
    Sometimes something that feels so wrong is really, really right!
    …and while visions of Awesomeland dance in my head, g-good night;)

  10. Not living in the US we never see Christmas episodes on or around the holiday season. The first airing of a christmas episode in the middle of summer is no exception. As an example we saw the first airing of the Glee Christmas episode half may. It has also happened that a christmas movie is aired or has been released in theaters at the beginning of spring of summer.

    Which I think is AWESOM

  11. I think the appeal of random holiday episodes is that during the holiday season, you’re too annoyed already to watch Christmas episodes, but if it’s a completely different time of the year, it’s a nice and welcome change. ;P

  13. I love to watch any kind of holiday episodes of the shows I love at any time of the year. Friends, I think, was the last holiday episode I saw. Great stuff. Also some of my favorites…. Yes, Dear-Fresh Prince- Seinfeld-King of Queens…oh the list could go on. I just saw a New Year’s episode of How I Met Your Mother a few weeks ago.

  15. Completely off topic: Being home sick with stomach flu doesn’t seem as bad when watching Zoolander…the walk-off scene alone makes this flick priceless. Thrilled that others love this flick as much as I do! Magnum…need I say more?

    1. I was just watching a Doctor Who Christmas special today, too! It was the one with David Tennant and Kylie Minogue (2007, perhaps?). I always look forward to the Christmas special after going such a long time without a new episode (although now, thanks to Internet skullduggery, I don’t have to wait until March or rely on poor quality video sites).

      Thinking of which, what is with this break they’re taking until the fall??? I think I’m going to get withdrawal symptoms within the week.

  17. Too funny I love it!! My fave Christmas MOVIES are Holiday and Love Actually!! So glad I found you!

    xoxo
    Karena
    Art by Karena

    Be sure to send your friends to come and enter my amazing Giveaway from Tracy Porter!

  19. I was just wondering where are:
    Greg-father and grandfather-earlier;interesting, passionate;humorous.
    happyisthenewrich
    idonthaveaname
    Arvind
    …there are so many missing commentors should be gathered ’round.
    I know some of you have day jobs; surf boards, and cabins, but seriously, just want to share the “Love Actually!”

  20. If the series was a good series (Seinfeld, Friends, Frasier, etc.), it sure makes it a lot easier to watch the Christmas episode in the “wrong” month. ;-)

    With Love and Gratitude,

    Jeremiah

  21. What did Kevin end up getting Winnie for Christmas? Its going to bug me! I don’t remember the episode! Does anyone remember?!!! Also, what did Winnie get him? But that’s less important because I know what it isn’t…. a career as adult. BA -ZING!

    1. *an adult. I leave one comment, and I make a grammatical error. Way to go, Dave!

  22. My favorite Christmas sitcom is the BIg Bang Theory Season 2 Ep 13: the Bath Item Gift Hypothesis. :) It’s nerdy, hilarious, and touching. It was my introduction to the show and now I never miss an episode. :)

  24. I can’t believe no one has mentioned the Tim Allen Tool Time Christmas shows. Once in early December they had a marathon of Home Improvement Christmas episodes from every season on Nick – that was all day DVR Gold !

  26. Channel 4 (the British one) played Home Alone a couple of weeks ago, and Home Alone 2 the next week. Love the movies, but a really WTF time of year to be putting these movies on! Especially as it’s been a pretty warm Spring thus far.
    Also, on a slightly weirder note I’m currently watching Season 5 of Rosanne, and as I am typing this, the Christmas episode came on… Colour me creeped out.

  31. Am I the only one who detests Christmas episodes in the wrong season? (Or Christmas episodes at all, really.) December is consumed by it, why do we have to sacrifice other months as well?

  32. I’m from India so it’s pretty normal for me to watch Christmas episodes in the wrong season. I think it’s pretty awesome when I watch Christmas episodes of my favourite shows when it actually *is* Christmas =D

  33. Now I’m in a Christmas mood (and I’m going to a luau tonight). The Festivus episode was so great, and I loved the Seinfeld with Elaine’s Christmas card mishap. So funny!

  34. In my country, the TV networks used to play Christmas episodes of Phineas & Ferb and SpongeBob Square Pants in 1st Quarter!

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