If you're not in the mood to crawl into a movie theatre and watch the latest holiday hit [1] this year, you always have Netflix and chill — or, in the case of Christmas, Netflix and cosy up under a blanket with a cuppa eggnog in your hand [2]. The streaming site has a fairly decent collection of Christmas movies [3] to watch while you munch on some gingerbread cookies, but if you're looking for more genre variety, look to its TV series.
Anyone who's grown tired of the cheesy, feel-good holiday films [4] will surely appreciate The Twilight [5] Zone's twisty department store Santa or Supernatural's creepy demon anti-Santa. Even if you're looking for more wholesome shows, you'll find magical and well-produced holiday specials from Gilmore Girls [6] and Parks and Recreation. Read on to see the very best Yuletide-inspired episodes that you can stream right on Netflix!
Friends, "The One With the Holiday Armadillo"
There's been many a great Christmas episode of Friends, but this is one of the funniest. In it, Ross is dead set on teaching his son, Ben, about Hanukkah. Since he can't rent any holiday suits, he dresses up as the Holiday Armadillo, Santa's half-Jewish Tex-Mex friend.
Watch now: Season 7, Episode 10 [7]
The Office, "Christmas Party"
In this episode, Michael throws a wild office Christmas party for Dunder Mifflin, which includes a drama-laced Secret Santa ordeal. In the drawing, Jim gets Pam for the first time and gives her a teapot with little mementos commemorating inside jokes between them. Be still, our beating Christmas hearts!
Watch now: Season 2, Episode 10 [8]
Gilmore Girls, "Women of Questionable Morals"
Lorelai Gilmore is known for saying that everything's magical when it snows. While Gilmore Girls [9] usually exudes wonder and wholesomeness, this episode is full of drama, most notably between Emily and Richard as well as Rory and Christopher. In the end, however, Lorelai receives a lovely Winter gift from Luke that will warm even the Grinchiest of hearts.
Watch now: Season 5, Episode 9 [10]
Gossip Girl, "Roman Holiday"
Christmas at the Waldorfs is splendid, but there's drama when Blair's father stops by with his lover, Roman. As it's a holiday episode, the tension eventually eases by the end of the episode, but not without some serious antics. In the subplot, we also see Dan and Serena plan Christmas surprises for each other — aww!
Watch now: Season 1, Episode 11 [11]
Cheers, "Christmas Cheers"
Nothing's quite like a warm-hearted and gooey episode of Cheers! "Christmas Cheers" is a quintessential holiday episode revolving around Frasier's bah-humbug sentiment and Rebecca's plans to keep her employees at work during the holiday. We guarantee you'll feel a ton of Yuletide spirit by the end.
Watch now: Season 6, Episode 12 [12]
Black Mirror, "White Christmas"
Looking for something dark and twisty this December? Watch Black Mirror's "White Christmas." In it, two men share stories of debauchery as they reside in a freezing remote outpost together. Without spoiling too much of the episode, there's a scrumptious twist at the end that involves a cookie, which, in the context of Black Mirror, is a digital clone of someone's consciousness held inside an egg-shaped device.
Watch now: Season 2, Episode 4 [13]
The Twilight Zone, "Night of the Meek"
Full of twists and turns, The Twilight [14] Zone is one of the most prominent predecessors of Black Mirror. This Christmas episode, though strange, has a warmhearted ending as far as The Twilight Zone goes. In it, a recently fired Santa comes across a mysterious bag that allows him to give gifts to the needy.
Watch now: Season 2, Episode 11 [15]
Glee, "Extraordinary Merry Christmas"
Revolving around Rachel and Finn's wish-list drama and Sue's homeless shelter Christmas mission, this Glee episode features the New Directions in a black-and-white TV special. You can listen to all of the songs in the episode on Glee: The Music, The Christmas Album Volume 2, which includes "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and "Let It Snow." It's impossible not to feel festive after watching the holiday special.
Watch now: Season 3, Episode 9 [16]
Mad Men, "Christmas Comes but Once a Year"
SCDP decks out the office for a lavish holiday party to impress a client, despite its limited budget. It turns out to be a banger, as evidenced by the above conga line, thanks to Joan's direction. With Mad Men [17] being Mad Men, there's a sadder plot in the episode, in which we see Don grapple with his first Christmas away from his family.
Watch now: Season 4, Episode 2 [18]
Parks and Recreation, "Ron and Diane"
There's no one who ships Ron and Diane harder than Leslie, and she'll do anything to keep his ex-wife Tammy 2 away. But before she does all of that, she has to serenade Ron with her Merry Congratu-Christmas carol to the melody of "Jingle Bells."
Watch now: Season 5, Episode 9 [19]
Sherlock, "His Last Vow"
It's Christmas, and in Sherlock's world, that translates into thrilling revelations about secret assassins and blackmail. The detective ends up drugging everyone at a holiday party so that he and John can confront the blackmailing newspaper owner, Magnussen.
Watch now: Season 3, Episode 3 [20]
Supernatural, "A Very Supernatural Christmas"
Christmas isn't all fun and games. The demon-hunting brothers spend the holiday season looking at murders committed by an anti-Santa, who pulls up its victims through the chimney. After they take care of business, the episode ends with some good old Sam and Dean bro love, because what are the Winchester boys without each other?
Watch now: Season 3, Episode 8 [21]
Bojack Horseman Christmas Special, "Sabrina's Christmas Wish"
Bojack Horseman doesn't technically have a Christmas episode in its series, but it does have a separately released 25-minute holiday special. In it, Bojack spends Christmas Grinching things up until Todd appears with a candy cane and a VHS tape of "Sabrina's Christmas Wish," a classic Horsin' Around episode.
Watch now: "Sabrina's Christmas Wish [22]"
Grey's Anatomy, "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"
The first holiday episode of Grey's begins with Burke finding out that Cristina is Jewish after he puts up Christmas decorations in their apartment. The plot follows a conflict they have about how to deal with a young boy who doesn't want a heart transplant. The subplot revolves around George and Meredith struggling to support both Izzie and Alex after their messy breakup.
Watch now: Season 2, Episode 12 [23]
Stranger Things, "Holly Jolly"
This also falls under darker Christmas specials. In the episode, Barb enters the Upside Down (yikes) and Joyce Byers uses a ton of Christmas lights like a Ouija board to communicate with her missing son. There's no doubt that it's this emotional episode that built the foundation for Winona Ryder [24]'s SAG and Golden Globe nominations.
Watch now: Season 1, Episode 3 [25]