What’s the best holiday special of all time?

Hassler: Anyone who lived through the eighties can rattle off Jim Henson’s most iconic characters without a second thought, but when it comes to identifying which show the characters originated in . . . well, that’s a different story altogether. Except for that one glorious time when everyone’s favorites from The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock all got together for A Muppet Family Christmas– a crossover event that unquestionably merits viewing each and every year. The special opens as any good plot should: an (initially modest) group of Muppets plans to travel to Fozzie Bear’s childhood farm in the country to celebrate Christmas Eve. But Mother Nature has other ideas, and as a blizzard descends on the farm it becomes a staging ground for singing, dancing, stand-up comedy, and an all-star lineup that yes, includes a romantic interlude with everyone’s favorite late-twentieth-century couple, Miss Peggy and Kermit the Frog.

Holbrook: I will always go with A Charlie Brown Christmas. First off, the Peanuts never disappoint. And secondly, the simplicity of the animation, the flaws (how come Snoopy suddenly pops up at the piano in between Lucy and Schroeder?!), and the music are such staples of the annual enjoyment. And finally, the message. Regardless of your faith or whatever, the idea of “peace on Earth, goodwill to men” is unbeatable. And more needed than ever.

Nguyen: So many newer specials (A Very Murray Christmas, BoJack Horseman, Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas, etc.) are thrilling to me, but I have to stick with the classics. And I’m not knocking good ol’ Charlie Brown, but Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer has always spoken to my wintry, misunderstood soul. First, I am always a sucker for monsters turned into cute, iconic characters like the Abominable Snowman. But the colorful characters on the Island of Misfit Toys and Hermey, the elf with big dental dreams, embody a quirky joy, and their friendly designs and stop-motion movements match the overall mood of idealistic fantasy beautifully. This isn’t just acceptance of oddballs on TV; it’s a celebration that translates into the true yuletide spirit of the season. This special doesn’t just have my affection, but it has my heart.

What’s the worst holiday special of all time?

Ferguson: I’ve got two. The first is A Very Brady Christmas, which for some reason thinks that we want to see the Brady kids all grown up and with miserable lives. We do not. The second is really more a matter of hindsight, functioning as a time capsule where you wonder, “What were any of us thinking?” And that’s Nick & Jessica’s Family Christmas. Basically going to back to the aughts and watching anything between Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson is an awkward situation that says, “Oh, these two really shouldn’t have gotten married and especially shouldn’t have documented that marriage forever.” So of course, there’s an ABC Christmas special that captures that completely.

Miller: I have a sad impatience with A Charlie Brown Christmas, mostly because it was one of those specials that felt like an obligation to watch when I was growing up, and also because everything it plays into — characters I’m not really invested in, a technically beautiful musical score that lacks any of the joy of the season, and an overemphasis on Christianity that never really sat well with my areligious upbringing.

Holbrook: That Star Wars Holiday Special owes us all an apology. There is no reason for Princess Leia, Chewie, and Bea Arthur to ever sing.

Nguyen: Since the Star Wars Christmas special has transcended and now falls into the “so bad it’s great” category, the worst title falls to the incredibly pandering He-Man/She-Ra crossover. Two Earth kids and the spirit of Christmas are shoehorned into a story that should never have happened on Eternia, but the biggest betrayal of all is having Skeletor go soft temporarily. Commercial, false, and boring, this special is a betrayal of all children who are fans of the Masters of the Universe.

Hassler: There are two core beliefs I have about modern TV: one, a half-hour comedy will never be as funny in a one-hour block, and two, there is no justifying a stunt episode (ie, that isn’t dictated by the plot) that sees a sitcom or drama detour into the dangerous territory of musical theater. While I have eaten my words once (Buffy, obviously, which I came to many years after the fact), there is one example that has never failed me a single time in life: The Star Wars Holiday Special. The first official Star Wars spinoff, it tracks Chewbacca and Han Solo visiting the Wookie home world and combines original footage with new takes — and, quite unfortunately, a handful of musical numbers that were most definitely not the brainchild of John Williams. There’s not much of a plot to speak of, but even so the hour and a half of breathtaking spectacle is completely worth the effort of tracking the (eternally banished to the black market) special down and witnessing it for yourself.

What’s the best holiday episode of all time?

Holbrook: Popular’s “Fall on Your Knees” from season one is one I screen every year at some point. Of the myriad shows that have spoofed A Christmas Carol, this one about wicked Nicole being visited by the three ghosts perfectly balanced the show’s acidic snark with actual sentiment. Plus, it was first episode that hinted at how this group of battling cliques would eventually form friendships.

Baldwin: The Office (U.K): “Christmas Special: Part 2.” The original Office remains a masterpiece of cringe humor, but it also gave us one of the most heartwarming love stories, with Tim and Dawn. In this coda to the series, which takes place at the Wernham Hogg holiday party, it looks as though Dawn — who is about to return to Florida with her boorish fiancée, Lee— will never see Tim again. But then she opens Tim’s Christmas present, bearing an achingly lovely message that I won’t spoil here — and it leads to one of television’s most romantic first kisses of all time.

Nguyen: Oh boy. Thanks to Nick at Nite, I’m going to go vintage but timeless with The Dick Van Dyke Show’s season-three episode “The Alan Brady Show Presents,” in which the writing staff of the show within a show is stuck making a holiday special. Of course, this is just a thinly veiled way of making a variety showcase for the talented cast, and it contains three of the most deliriously happy Christmas moments on TV: the clever “I Am a Fine Musician” number; Dick Van Dyke and Mary Tyler Moore flirting, dancing, and singing their way deeper into iconic coupledom; and the end, in which everyone breaks the fourth wall and does a rendition of the show’s theme music. Never had I wanted to be the child of a TV couple more.

Hassler: Every year, I spend a couple months rewatching two of the series I hold most dear: The West Wing and The Wire. But even in those rare years when I’m not able to watch one of the two in full, I still always make time each December for the wonder that is Aaron Sorkin’s take on Christmas in the D.C. political world. My favorite episode, however, will always be the tenth in the second season: “Noel.” To some, it’s known as the episode that won Bradley Whitford a supporting-actor Emmy for his absolutely stunning portrayal of pushing through trauma and PTSD. For others, it’s the scenes that come to mind whenever the strains of Bach’s Cello Suite № 1 are played in a restaurant, in an elevator, while waiting in the doctor’s office — and all accompanied by the face of Yo-Yo Ma. For me, it was the first time I truly witnessed the tremendous power an hour of serial television can pack. And it honestly still leaves me breathless, almost two decades after the fact.

Bushman: “Amends,” from season three of Buffy the Vampire Slayer — not just because it introduces the baddest of the Big Bads (the First Evil), but also because of the Buffy-Angel confrontation on the hilltop, which Joss Whedon has called one of the best things he has ever written, and also the ending (no spoilers here).

What’s the worst holiday episode of all time?

Nguyen: Purely from a storytelling perspective, it would have to be the Downton Abbey season-three Christmas episode, in which its main character, Matthew, is killed off in an auto accident just after his son’s birth. And the episode ends with the camera trained on his lifeless, staring eyes. That definitely did not put me in a festive mood.

Baldwin: My So-Called Life: “So Called Angels.” I will never understand what possessed the writers of this otherwise beautifully rendered teen drama to veer into cloying, quasi-supernatural schmaltz with this episode, which found Angela interacting with a homeless, guitar-strumming angel (played by nineties indie-pop star Juliana Hatfield). Bah, humbug.

Hassler: I feel like I’m really showing my nerd hand here, but much like the Star Wars faux pas that was committed for the sake of holiday sweeps, Star Trek too took a very, very misguided step. “A Most Illogical Holiday” is rumored to have been destroyed by Gene Roddenberry (I’ve never seen proof) and exists only in the darkest reaches of the internet, and it is truly one of the most heinous productions I’ve ever seen. Santa is supposed to be a devilish master and his elves are basically slaves, but — plot twist — Mrs. Claus helps Kirk uncover that Santa is not in fact the top of the chain, but instead is just being manipulated by an evil master computer that’s misinterpreting the classic Christmas myths . . . and there’s Romulan eggnog. Yeah, you get it. It’s bad. Very, very, very bad.

Do you have any evergreens that you have to watch every year? (Can be movie or TV, as long as you watch on TV.)

Miller: How the Grinch Stole Christmas gets me every time, I gotta say. Love the songs, love the irreverent attitude, love Max. It’s a perfect length, too. The Grinch rules.

Ferguson: I have to watch The O.C.’s four Chrismukkah episodes every year, even the third one. (The third one is very much the worst one. But tradition.) Also its first season New Year’s Eve episode. The same goes for the movie The Family Stone; that way I can keep on my toes when it comes to saying why I’m not a fan of The Family Stone. (I actually do kind of hope that one day I will enjoy the movie.) In terms of pure joy, though, can’t go wrong with While You Were Sleeping (for movie purposes), and SyFy moving its annual Twilight Zone marathon to New Year’s Eve makes planning for that day much easier.

Hassler: This is the easiest question of all. Come at me, internet, because I’m just going to say it: Die Hard is the best Christmas movie of all time. It’s also not on any streaming services, so it’s the reason I’ve kept the exact same DVR in my house for years . . . because honestly, I watch it religiously at least a dozen times between Thanksgiving and the new year.

Nguyen: If possible, I try to catch Meet Me in St. Louis for Margaret O’Brien’s melodramatic ways and cathartic snowman decimation. And of course, I look forward to Judy Garland ripping out my soul with every song, from the infectious “Trolley Song” and sweet “Boy Next Door” to her heartbreaking take on “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” I was a Turner Classic Movies baby, so I lived in the Golden Age of Hollywood for the holidays.

Holbrook: Obviously Charlie Brown and the Popular episode; 30 Rock’s “Ludachristmas” and Ally McBeal’s “Boy to the World”; The O.C.’s “Best Chrismukkah Ever”; and It’s Always Sunny’s “A Very Sunny Christmas.” For specials, The Grinch and, of course, the Rankin-Bass gems like Year Without a Santa Claus, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town, and Rudolph must happen.

What’s the best version of “A Christmas Carol” ever made for TV or film (including loose adaptations like “Scrooged,” “The Odd Couple,” “Mr. Magoo,” etc.)?

Ferguson: There are plenty of TV episodes that do A Christmas Carol . . . but I’m going to eliminate them for the sake of not wanting to narrow it all down. For TV, the Vanessa Williams A Diva’s Christmas Carol became a staple for my family ever since it premiered in 2000. It’s honestly pretty insulting it’s not the most readily available holiday TV movie around — on the off chance it airs on TV on any given year, it’s rarely at a reasonable time of day. For feature film, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the definitive A Christmas Carol for me.

Baldwin: The Muppet Christmas Carol! Michael Caine is an excellent Scrooge, but honestly I’ll never forget the moment Beaker (working as a charity collector with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew) gives mean old Ebenezer the finger.

Miller: Patrick Stewart did a solid made-for-TV version in 1999 (and his one-man show is also a real treat), but the correct answer is The Muppet Christmas Carol. Great music, Kermit rules, and Michael Caine just owns the role.

Holbrook: Patrick Stewart crushed it.

Nguyen: First of all, shout-out to Hallmark Channel for my favorite adaptation title, It’s Christmas, Carol! But if we’re talking best, Mickey’s

Image via Hallmark

Christmas Carol just edges out The Muppet Christmas Carol for me because it gave me more of that poignant, Dickensian feel, and having Ebenezer Scrooge played by Scrooge McDuck was just spot-on.

Hassler: There are so many good ones out there that I feel like I’m leaving a ton of game-changing adaptations on the table — but I’m going to go with Doctor Who. Michael Gambon stars as the cloud-controlling miser who fills Scrooge’s oh-so-enormous shoes, and showrunner Steven Moffat has been known to say that he’s a standout take on the character thanks to the fact that he’s not truly evil, he’s just broken — which makes the final resolution pack one hell of an emotional punch. It’s also the point (and brace for it, because this is huge coming from the Tenth Doctor’s biggest fan): it’s where I think Matt Smith truly hit his stride as Eleven, and his role in the revamped classic tale shines bright.

Bushman: What she (Chelsea) said. Title of said episode is “A Christmas Carol.”

Do you have a single favorite holiday moment on TV?

Hassler: I don’t even have to think about this one: it’s absolutely when the Grinch’s heart grows three sizes in the original 1966 animated classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Holbrook: My brother and I loved the Days of Our Lives tradition of a character reading “The Christmas Story” to the kids at University Hospital and the annual decorating of the Horton Christmas Tree. You knew someone would eventually pull out an ornament commemorating a character who had been killed off that year. So cheesy and awesome.

Nguyen: Saturday Night Live presented the lost ending to It’s a Wonderful Life, in which Dana Carvey channels his best Jimmy Stewart to lead a mob to beat up Mr. Potter. What’s Christmas without some righteous revenge?

Miller: How I Met Your Mother hasn’t been remembered fondly by television critics, but I stand by it having some truly beautiful moments, including the end of the season-seven episode “Symphony of Illumination.” It’s more character focused than holiday focused, but the combination of an apartment full of Christmas joy, which Robin encounters just after coming to terms with the fact that she’ll never have children, is pure bittersweet emotion, thanks to the fact that Ted’s voice-over promises that “she was never alone.”

Do you have a single favorite holiday musical moment on TV?

Nguyen: The harmonies heard in the video for David Bowie and Bing Crosby’s duet of “Little Drummer Boy.” It’s eerie and made problematic by my love for Bowie and yet simultaneous revulsion with Crosby’s abusive history, but somehow this makes the song even more haunting and beautiful.

Hassler: I know there have been a lot of musical interludes in recent years, but my heart truly belongs to Bing Crosby’s final Christmas special, which was recorded a little over a month before his death in 1977. And more specifically, to that one fateful moment when Crosby and David Bowie slide from scripted banter to Crosby playing “Little Drummer Boy” and Bowie singing (the now legendary) “Peace on Earth.”

Holbrook: SNL owns me when it comes to “moments,” so I will go with “Two A-holes Buy a Christmas Tree,” with Jason Sudekis and Kristen Wiig, and then Maya Rudolph’s Lola Fabrey singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” in the “Special Offer” skit from 2015.

Ferguson: As a big SNL fan, my mind immediately goes to “I Wish It Was Christmas Today” and “Santa’s My Boyfriend.” The second one’s not quite as family friendly as the first, but both definitely get me in the holiday spirit.

Bushman: How can you possibly top Bill Murray, David Johansen, Rashida Jones, Maya Rudolph, Jason Schwartzman, and Jenny Lewis singing the greatest Christmas song of all time, “Fairytale of New York”? With Paul Shaffer on piano. In a New York City bar. Come on.

What’s the best holiday animated special ever?

Hassler: A Charlie Brown Christmas is not just my family’s holiday tradition — and that extends from watching the movie to listening to the Vince Guaraldi Trio score to re-enacting the dance moves in our living room each year — it’s arguably the best animated special that has ever graced TV screens nationwide. It’s heartbreaking, it’s hilarious, it’s perfectly Charles Schulz. And I’m not even going to say anything more than that — just go watch it, and embrace the perfection of the Peanuts gang.

What’s the worst holiday animated special ever?

Holbrook: I always thought Frosty the Snowman was weak. Mostly because I found him to be irresponsible. . . . He elects to essentially die in front of the kids just to play with them in the sun! That would traumatize children! But there is a special place in hell for Rudolph’s Shiny New Year, because it would air so close to the end of Christmas break and bum me out that vacation was almost over

Hassler: What do you get when you combine the most difficult television construct (holiday episodes) with an original show and its spinoff (He-Man & She-Ra) and attempt to make it a morality play about the morals of Christmas? 1985’s He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special, of course! Honestly, I’ve seen this thing like at least a dozen times and I still have zero clue what the hell I watched. Riddled with plot holes and spanning a galaxy of confusing, inexplicable holiday-themed ideas, I’ve never been able to explain it in less than 1,000 words and even then . . . who knows? Suffice it to say, I’m going to leave the rest of this answer in the capable hands of Amazon.com: “When Orko accidentally winds up on Earth during the Christmas winter he befriends two children who share stories of the goodwill and merriment that the holidays embrace. When they finally return to Eternia the holiday spirit is spread amongst the entire Royal Palace but this overflowing goodwill attracts the unwelcome attention of Horde Prime and Skeletor. Will the combined power of He-Man She-Ra and the spirit of Christmas be enough to stop them?”

Charlie Brown, Rankin and Bass, or The Grinch?

Baldwin: Charlie Brown, no question. It’s the only Christmas special that acknowledges the melancholy many of us feel around the holidays — and you’ve gotta hand it to Charles Schulz for insisting on including a “Jesus is the reason for the season” message, over the network’s nervous objections. “I said, ‘If we’re going to do a Christmas show, we have to use the passage from St. Luke (about the birth of Christ),’” Schulz told me, when I was fortunate enough to interview him about about A Charlie Brown Christmas back in 1995.

Nguyen: The stop-motion charms of Rankin and Bass always felt special and reserved for Christmas for me, so that comes first, whereas Charlie Brown was a year-round presence, not to mention was in the comic pages. The Grinch is still a close second to Rankin and Bass, though, since Chuck Jones is one of my favorite animation directors of that era, and Thurl Ravenscroft’s voice is an eternal favorite, especially when singing “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” but also when he was Tony the Tiger.

Miller: Grinch (as stated above).

Holbrook: Charlie Brown. If Snoopy can win first prize for decorating his doghouse, it’s clear that he’s just as powerful as Santa.

Ferguson: Charlie Brown. Of all the earnest holiday bits and moments and characters, I feel like Charlie Brown is one that you can never get too old for and that has yet to be “tainted.” When I think of The Grinch now, as much as I love the original animated movie, it’s ruined for me by that Jim Carrey movie. (It’s okay to be irrational during the holidays. And because I’m being so irrational, that often trickles down into me not being in the proper state of mind for Rankin/Bass’ Rudolph special. To me, there’s no way not to be in the proper state of mind for Charlie Brown and the Peanuts gang.)

Paley Matters is a publication of The Paley Center for Media.