A Nutcracker Christmas? Margarita Christmas? Classy Christmas? No matter how you celebrate, The Office had a Christmas for you. While the show has been off the air six years, its Christmas episodes live on year after year as fans relive some of the greatest Christmas parties to ever be broadcast. While not one was anything less than amazing, we took great care in ranking them from greatest to absolute best. So don your Santa hat, wrap your Yankee Swap gift, and grab some gluhwein as we take a walk back through Dunder Mifflin’s holiday cheer.
7. “Christmas Wishes” Season 8, Episode 10
It’s hard to refute the fact that The Office wasn’t the same after Michael Scott’s departure, but the show certainly still held its own. We put “Christmas Wishes” at number seven, and the decision was hard. Dwight and Jim’s prank war was certainly one for the books, with Dwight ending up pranking himself by the end, and Kelly’s embarrassing interjection of “Jessica, did you just fart?” is still funny every time. Plus, we want one of Andy’s “Hard A*s” hats…
6. “Secret Santa” Season 6, Episode 13
“Secret Santa,” was the birthplace of one the classic Michael Scott lines — “Well, happy birthday, Jesus. Sorry your party is so lame.” Phyllis finally got to live her dream of being the office’s Santa, and Michael did what Michael does best, ruin the party. Michael-turned-Jesus spoils the fun of Secret Santa, spilling to Erin that Andy was indeed the one sending her an entire menagerie of birds, and then we got the bombshell announcement — Dunder Mifflin was being sold to Sabre.
5. “Classy Christmas” Season 7, Episodes 11 & 12
The Michael/Holly reunion we’d all been waiting for. Michael was his normal over-the-top self, making himself into a suave, Bond-esque Santa, disappointing Darryl’s daughter, Jada. We got to bask in the awkwardness of these two former lovers as they navigated their reunion through the road block of Holly’s boyfriend A.J., including the unfortunate demise of a Woody doll. But that’s not what made this episode great. Dwight and Jim took this one with their epic snowball fight, in which Dwight finally won over his longtime nemesis — “In the end, the greatest snowball isn’t a snowball at all. It’s fear. Merry Christmas.”
4. “Dwight Christmas” Season 9, Episode 9
The Office let their final Christmas party be something of a legend. We got a Schrute Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas and it was better than anything we could have imagined. “Are you impish or admirable?” Dwight brought Belsnickel to life right before our eyes — his festive bowls and odd gifts in his burlap sack and whip in hand for those impish few. He cooked traditional German fare (hog maw and gluhwein) and we also saw the beginning of the turn from enemies to friends for Dwight and Jim.
3. “A Benihana Christmas” Season 3, Episodes 10 & 11
Who doesn’t love an onion volcano at Benihana’s? Not even Michael post Carol dumping can resist it. “Benihana Christmas” gave us our first big Michael break-up, after the photoshopped holiday card incident, and we really got to enjoy the spiral. Plus, Christmas was almost canceled, we almost lost New Years, too. Pam and Karen teamed up against Angela in the battle between Nutcracker Christmas and Margarita Christmas (how was this even a competition?) and who didn’t love that scene Dwight is holding the microphone for Angela as she karaokes to her favorite song, “Little Drummer Boy.”
2. “Christmas Party” Season 2, Episode 10
The original Christmas episode — “Christmas Party” is just simply a classic. Secret Santa turned Yankee Swap at the hand of a homemade knit oven mitt, the cringe and awkwardness were on full effect. Michael, after purposefully leaving the price tag on his very expensive gift to Ryan, sent the whole office into turmoil over everyone else having followed the set price limit. And of course, the “Christmas Party” set up the infamous teapot. Pam ended up taking the memory-filled teapot and giving up the video iPod to Dwight, and it was a real tearjerker to see Jim give Pam that rescinded card from this moment all the way into the end of season nine.
1. “Moroccan Christmas” Season 5, Episode 10
Finally, the crowned king of The Office‘s Christmas episodes, “Moroccan Christmas.” Meredith’s flaming hair, Phyllis’ big bombshell and rivalry with Angela, Michael’s intervention, Dwight’s capitalist approach to “lazy parents”, this episode was just the culmination of The Office. Everything about it was flawless from start to finish and it just made us want to go get an “orange vod-juice-ka” from the nearest bar (that we wished was Poor Richard’s). We even tolerated Andy’s obnoxious sitar playing, despite Jim’s special request for it to stop. Phyllis’ threw one heck of a party, sorry Angela, but she deserves the head spot.
