The Office: The Best Christmas Episodes in the Series, Ranked

The Office is one of the most beloved sitcoms ever and the love for it has never gotten any lesser despite the fact that it went off air in 2013. With its ensemble cast and an incredible writing team pushing the limits to deliver even more comedic episodes, the show has made a permanent place in our hearts.

While all episodes of the series are hilarious at their own levels, the writers took it to an entirely new level for the holiday episodes. There is no better time than now to take a look at all the seven Christmas episodes. For the uninitiated, there are only seven of those because Season 1 had only 6 episodes and Season 4 was produced during the writer’s strike of 2007-2008.

Even those seven episodes have given the fans enough amazing Christmas moments that will stand out for years to come. That said, below is a ranking of the episodes to find out which of these episodes made Santa’s nice list and which of them get a lump of coal.

7. Christmas Wishes (Season 8, Episode 10)

Written by Mindy Kaling, Christmas Wishes marked Ed Helms’ directorial debut. This was the first Christmas at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company Scranton branch since Michael Scott’s (Steve Carell) farewell. The new manager Andy Bernard, portrayed by Helms, decides to give out Christmas wishes to his employees.

Andy invites his new girlfriend Jessica to the party and requests everyone to be nice to her. His ex-girlfriend and co-worker, Erin (Ellie Kemper), however, is still heartbroken and gets jealous of Jessica and goes as far as wishing that she was dead. Meanwhile, Jim (John Krasinski) and Dwight (Rainn Wilson) keep pranking each other after Andy warns them that the next person to pull a prank will lose their Christmas bonus.

6. Moroccan Christmas (Season 5, Episode 11)

Moroccan Christmas has an undeniably impressive cold open. The episode starts with Dwight arriving to the office to find his desk and chair to be apparently wrapped in Christmas-wrapping paper, which you have probably already guessed is obviously a prank by Jim. Directed by Paul Feig, this episode has another exciting subplot for Dwight who resells Princess Unicorn dolls at too high prices to desperate parents including Toby and Darryl.

Things get a little out of hand in this episode at the Moroccan-themed Christmas party as Meredith (Kate Flannery) sets her hair on fire and Phyllis (Phyllis Smith) ends up spilling the beans about Angela (Angela Kinsey) cheating on her fiancé Andy with Dwight to the entire office. The next episode, as one can imagine, resulted in a battle between Andy and Dwight.

5. Secret Santa (Season 6, Episode 13)

Quite a few mistakes happen in this particular episode. The biggest one is perhaps appointing Jim and Dwight as the heads of the Party Planning Committee. They decide to give Angela a chance to dress up as Santa instead of Michael. Now it is no secret how childish Michael can be sometimes, so obviously he gets mad and behaves like a child. Andy gifting Erin 12 Days of Christmas live version also turned out to be a wrong decision.

This episode also suffers from a lack of originality. It features the threat of the branch losing their jobs which has been a recurring plotline since the pilot episode. By Season 6, this plotline has gotten rather old, and it comes as surprise to no one when it is revealed, at the end, that no one is getting fired.

4. Dwight Christmas (Season 9, Episode 9)

This episode marks the last Christmas celebration at the Dunder Mifflin as the show draws to an end. By now, one would hope that they had no more surprises left, but that does not turn out to be the case as Dwight takes up the duty of keeping up the holiday spirits of his co-workers.

When Phyllis forgets (which let us be real, she only did this to enrage Angela) to plan a theme for the party, Jim encourages Dwight to throw a Schrute-style Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas. Dwight shows up as the winter character Belsnickel and his excitement is palpable when Jim comes back after leaving early. This episode shows just how far Jim and Dwight have come as colleagues. Darryl passing out after dropping back first on the snack table also made for one of the most memorable moments.

3. Christmas Party (Season 2, Episode 10)

This episode marked the first Christmas party at the Dunder Mifflin company and is quite aptly named for the same. The tropes in this episode foreshadow what the audience eventually begins to expect in every Christmas episode- Michael behaving childishly when things don’t go his way, the Party Planning Committe causing ruckus, and someone getting too drunk to handle.

That said, the Secret Santa scene is perhaps the most popular in this one. Not to mention the famous teapot which Jim stuffs with inside jokes and a special note to tell Pam (Jenna Fischer) how he feels. Things go a little downhill when Michael changes the exchange to a Yankee swap and Pam chooses the iPod and Dwight ends up with the teapot.

2. Classy Christmas (Season 7, Episodes 11 & 12)

Classy Christmas is just like any other Christmas party. When they begin to plan the office party, Michael learns that his ex-girlfriend Holly, who he assumes is single, is coming back to Scranton, so he scraps the party. Instead, he asks Pam to throw a classy party so that he can impress Holly.

However, when Holly arrives, she is still dating AJ which upsets Michael. He had swapped his Santa suit for a velvet jacket and even invited a bassist for live music, all for Holly. Darryl brings his daughter over to this party and the little girl obviously does not find it any fun. The two-part episode still wins over everyone’s hearts because they pair humor with holiday sentimentality.

In the end, the office employees work together to cheer up the little girl who hands out snacks to everyone after raiding the vending machine with her dad. Michael gets a pep talk from Pam and dresses up in his Santa suit. Overall, it is an emotionally fulfilling ending.

1. A Benihana Christmas (Season 3, Episodes 10 & 11)

This holiday episode also has a solid cold open. Cue- a dead goose slammed on a desk. There is a reason this double-length Christmas episode is at the top of the list. Every minute of these Christmas party episodes is worth watching. It all begins with Michael being depressed after breaking up with Carol (Steve Carell’s actual wife, Nancy Carell).

To cheer him up, Andy takes him to Benihana where they pick up two waitresses as their new girlfriends. Michael is unable to tell them apart which he does realize until he begins singing Your Body Is a Wonderland. Dwight is tricked by Jim and Pam into thinking that he is being recruited by CIA.

Jim makes peace with the fact that he can be friends with Pam after she rejected him. His girlfriend Karen (Rashida Jones) and Pam even get the chance to bond as they throw their own Christmas party to spite Angela. So, basically, there is a lot going on in the multiple Christmas parties, and it is a blast, nonetheless.

The Office is available for streaming on Peacock.