2004 Christmas Programming, Ranked and Reviewed

There are 24 episodes, movies, and TV specials ranked here. Enough for a full advent calendar! Let's see who did TV Christmas best in 2004.

#24 - Boston Legal "Loose Lips" (ABC)

Available on Hulu

James Spader defends Jerry from Parks and Rec after he's fired from his job as Santa when it's discovered that he's a cross-dresser. There's a lot of homophobia, and for much of the episode it's taken as a given that a Gay man or a cross dresser is unfit to be Santa. James Spader's only idea is to bring in Al Sharpton to grandstand about civil rights, in a reprise of the man's turn in the pilot. It doesn't work as well the second time around, and it all feels very cynical. But there are some truly moving moments, like when Jerry describes how he told a kid that he was a cross dresser after the kid asked if Santa could make him normal for Christmas. In the end, Spader states the obvious: Jerry is a great Santa.

My feelings about the episode's other storyline are not so mixed. This man seems like he wants to kill his wife. What should they do? Except oh, snap! She's crazy and she kills him! Television procedurals' need to subvert expectations means that hasbands and boyfriends are almost never the killers. We can't be so obvious! But in real life, husbands and boyfriends are often the killer, and I think TV makes it too easy to forget that.

#23 - Without a Trace "So This Is Christmas (a.k.a. Malone vs. Malone; a.k.a. Deposition)" (CBS)

Available on PlutoTV

Among the endless parade of CBS crime procedurals, Without a Trace was regarded as "the good one" back in 2004. So this show can tell us a lot about what "good tv" meant in 2004, in a way that a prestige HBO drama can't.

Judging by Without a Trace, back in 2004 "good tv" meant:

1. Serialization. Without a Trace is a missing persons show, but no one is missing in this episode. The episode instead centers on the Anthony LaPaglia's custody hearing, which takes place during the office Christmas party. We have callbacks to several past storylines: an affair, a dramatic child-killer case, LaPaglia's history of mental illness and his trauma surrounding his mother's suicide, and so on. According to tv critics, this automatically made it deeper and better than other procedurals.
2. Difficult men. You heard all that stuff about the dead mom and the mental illness and whatnot? Our protagonist is a great man who's great at his job, but he's also damaged, oh no! He may be on CBS, but he's still something of an anti-hero.
3. Everything is sad. Suicide, driving into telephone poles, bitter custody hearings, divorce, infidelity, guilt, ruining your kid's birthday party, we cover it all!

Of course, these trends eventually took over all of television, and became cliches. And that process was already starting as early as 2004.

#23 The West Wing "Impact Winter" (NBC)

Available on Max

I guess the later seasons of The West Wing really have been memory holed, because we should have been seeing memes of this episode everywhere after Don't Look Up was released. In this episode, an asteroid is headed toward the Earth, and if it hits us we're screwed. But also President Bartlett is in China, and he's having a multiple sclerosis episode, and also trying to seek China's help with tackling North Korea. And also Donna needs to talk to Josh. It makes a pleasant diversion and a fascinating contrast with a movie I mostly disliked. But the episode is not nearly as fun as its truly hilarious promo.

#22 One on One "Mojo No Mo" (UPN)

Available on PlutoTV

This is a New Years' Eve episode, and it has a really great set-up: single dad and his best bud Duane both bid on dates with their love interests at a pot-luck/date auction thingy. But there's a mix-up, and they end up on dates with each other's love interests! This is classic stuff, really putting the "situation" in situation comedy.

There's too much early-aughts meanness towards women and sexual harassment, but I have a weakness for stuff like this, mismatched pairs, misunderstanding, awkward parties, the works. Elsewhere, Flex's daughter Breanna is jealous of her boyfriend Arnaz' sexy French bandmate. But I kind of hate Arnaz? He's really inconsiderate and dismissive! Let the French girl have him! At least Breanna's best friend Spirit (one of the show's most reliable laugh-getters) gets her man at midnight!

#21 Joey "Joey and the Plot Twist" (NBC)

Available on the internet archive

This is a Christmas episode with cute family stuff and decorations and whatnot. But I mostly enjoyed it as a historical artifact: a TV episode about spoiler culture from 2004. Joey is about to start work on Deep Powder, some kind of soap set at a ski resort (it sounds more fun than The Mountain, a WB show with that exact premise that premiered that fall). At a press conference, Joey feels overwhelmed and blows the big plot twist: Nat Faxon dies! So showrunner Lucy Liu has to rewrite the whole thing, and now it's Joey's character who's in jeopardy!

Spoiler culture was still in its infancy at this point. It grew with the rise of the internet, of nerd culture, of superhero cinema, and of more serialized storytelling on TV. Things were already in motion. Spider-Man 2 had premiered the previous Summer. And Lost, probably the show most responsible for creating spoiler culture and the spoiler economy, was in the middle of its blockbuster first season.

But spoiler culture existed before that too, and the writers of Joey knew that all too well. Most of them has worked on Friends, where producers worked overtime to ensure developments like Monica and Chandler's hookup or the fate of Ross and Rachel stayed secret. And still, the finale script leaked online.

#20 Saturday Night Live with host Robert de Niro and musical guest Destiny's Child (NBC)

Edited version available on Peacock

Overall, a reasonably fun episode. The Muppets appear! I'm surprised that Disney (who had purchased the Jim Henson company earlier that year) let them onto a competing network, but it's fun. There are some fun sketches too. There's one involving a prank show that takes a very dark turn. But my favorite is a weekend update bit addressing that year's indie film explosion. It stars the head of an indie studio (Seth Meyers) and his crusty Grandpa (Rachel Dratch) who founded the studio as more of a seedy Roger Corman outfit. And Grandpa is not into all these classy movies! It's very insider-y but Meyers and Dratch are hilarious and it pokes fun at the seedy origins of indie film at a time when that segment of the industry was being written about in especially laudatory terms.

#19 American Dreams "Tidings of Comfort and Joy" (NBC)

Part of American Dreams' legacy is the way it embraced product placement. The first few episodes of this season included a subplot in which Sarah Ramos' Patty competes in an essay contest sponsored by Campbell's Tomato Soup. Meanwhile, Campbell's Soup was sponsoring an essay contest in real life. This was revolutionary at the time, since no one was trying to hide the product placement. It wasn't subliminal. It was right there, out in the open.

You can see why American Dreams might be attractive to advertisers. A family drama set in the '60s, advertisers could use the show to appeal to people of all ages and to portray their brands as not just products, but integral parts of American history and culture. Series creator Jonathan Prince continued his embrace of product placement throughout the season, and he claims it allowed him to make more episodes of this very expensive and low-rated show. American Dreams walked so Chuck and Sunbway could run.

Tonight's episode arguably represents the peak of the show's product placement strategy. The cable-length 52-minute episode aired without commercials, brought to you by the Ford Company. It's a wholesome episode in which the family's eldest son finds his way back home from Vietnam in time for Christmas. Pandering to nostalgic boomers and teens is at an all-time high, as Kelly Clarkson reprises her role as Brenda Lee to sing "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" and Jojo makes a cameo as a young Linda Ronstadt.

This is not my favorite episode of American Dreams. The best episodes of American Dreams challenge the viewer, diving head-first into the turmoil, contradictions, confusion, and racial tensions of the 1960s. That all takes a backseat here. I don't think that Ford and I want the same things from television. But the closing moments of the episode make me hope that the kinds of episodes I like will return. Heroine Meg's anti-war activities put her in conflict with both her boyfriend (Milo Ventimiglia) and her cop uncle. Meg's brother JJ does come home from Vietnam and is reunited with his wife and new baby. But you can tell that the transition to life back home will be fraught.

And even in an episode like this, the show can deliver moments of real power, especially in the storylines involving the Black characters. Here, Nathan, a conscientious objector, has been assigned to community service at the VA hospital. He bonds with a racist WWII vet, and the man even amends his will to give him a painting he treasures. It's exactly the kind of feel-good storyline the Ford Motor Company would love. But the conclusion of this storyline proves why I love the show. The veteran's son comes to deliver the painting to Nathan, stunned that his father gave a Black man the time of day, let alone a treasured possession. Nathan accepts the gift, but he also puts his foot down. He tells this condescending man that he let his father call him "boy" because he was ignorant (and, you know, dying). But he won't tolerate that from him. American Dreams aired seven more episodes before it was canceled. Had it not been for the product placement, there may have been fewer. I hope they used the extra time to give us more moments like this one.

#18 House "Damned if You Do" (Fox)

Available on Hulu, Prime, and Peacock

The whole point of House is that House is always right. But that can get tiresome, you need to mix things up and challenge him every once in awhile. This episode does that in a very of-the-moment way, by asserting that some people believe in God and you need to be okay with that even if you are an extra-sciencey person. It mostly works, especially since the patient of the week is a nun played by the great Elizabeth Mitchell. She seems like the perfect saintly nun, but the episode eventually reveals her checkered past, and further reveals that she's a somewhat controversial figure within the order. But Elizabeth Mitchell's signature combination of steeliness and fragility suits the role, and she is more than capable of going toe to toe with House (and Hugh Laurie). By the end of the episode, you can't help but admire her faith.

#17 ER "Twas the Night" (NBC)

Available on Hulu and Max

Homeless kids, a patient with severe lupus and a neglectful doctor, and the ethics of euthanizing your terminally ill dad. Merry fucking Christmas from ER. But then Abby and Neela steal from the toy drive for homeless kids to give presents to the homeless kids who are also in the ER on Christmas, and my heart was warmed.

#16 Walt Disney Christmas Parade (ABC)

Available on YouTube, with commercials and without

This is basically an excuse for Disney to promote their multimedia empire to families around the country, so it offers a fascinating snapshot of the company in this moment. And it doesn't look great! They're hawking Chicken Little, the Lilo and Stitch animated series, and CGI animated Donald Duck. The company looks creaky and desperate. How would they crawl their way out.

The answer lies in two of the parade's hosts: Kermit and Miss Piggy. Disney had acquire the Jim Henson company and the Muppets earlier that year, and here they are, integrated into the Disney promotional machine. So Disney bought other companies out (Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Fox) until they seemed untouchable. It's kind of depressing! Jump 5 and Raven Symone are here, and I wonder, what if they'd just made candy-colored entertainment for tweens? They were good at that, all by themselves.

But enough about the Walt Disney company! Let's talk about the true star of the show: the Queen of Christmas herself, Mariah Carey. She opens the show with "All I Want For Christmas is You" (of course), performing in front of Cinderella's castle with tumblers and Disney cast members. It takes a special performer to pull that off, and Mariah is that performer. Then you think it's over, only for her to emerge in the highest window of the castle like the pope, letting everyone worship her. She sings "Joy to the World" at the end of the show and that performance is spectacular as well, her vocals are stupendous.

#15 Late Night with Conan O'Brien "December 23, 2004" (NBC)

Full episode available on archive.org

The Late Night with Conan O'Brien Christmas episode is not as good as the Thanksgiving episode. There's a fun remote segment in which Conan goes caroling, and some fun business at the beginning of the episode when his mic pac proves troublesome. But much of the episode is dedicated to a Bill Murray interview in which the main topic of discussion is gassy babies. It just never quite takes flight.

#14 Holiday Celebration on Ice (NBC)

There is a lot of musical guest Michael McDonald in this show. But there's also some great skating so it balances out in the end.

I love Kristi Yamaguchi so much. She does a "Frosty the Snowman" program with an actual snowman. I love watching great skaters do kitshcy programs like this. Because even in this piece of silliness, Kristi's greatness shines through. She is a true professional, and she does not phone it in. She does a triple toe (her hardest jump at the time), and the choreography is detailed and legit. And she's totally committed, she never seems above it. Only a truly great skater could pull this off.

Nicole Bobek, a very different sort of skater, is also tremendous in this show. She does her "Whatever Lola Wants" program (one of my all-time favorites), and it is gorgeous and sexy and fun. And her Christmas program is to Peter, Paul, and Mary's "Light One Candle." The program is excellent and her song selection puts every skater who has ever participated in a Chri

#13 The OC "The Chrismukkah that Almost Wasn't (Fox)

Available on Hulu and Max

The second season of The OC isn't bad, but the show nevertheless experienced something of a sophomore slump. That is especially apparent in its Chrismukkah episode. The first Christmukkah episode introduced a whole new word into the popular lexicon and was one of the most beloved episodes in that super-sized season. Now they have to follow it up. And this time there was more pressure. The network released a full tie-in album for this episode, it was a whole thing.

The episode doesn't quite sparkle, but it has some highlights. The core idea, in which Ryan's new love interest Lindsay is revealed to be Caleb's secret love child (and thus also Kirsten's sisters and Seth's aunt) is a good one. It allows for plenty of soapy dramatics (Kelly Rowan is so good in the scene where she throws the vase at Caleb's head!). But it all ends with a warm message about letting in people who are lonely which fits right in with the show's themes. And the "yamaclaus" is truly inspired bit of Chrismukkah iconograpy that Fox probably sold in its online store.

#12 Scrubs "My Best Moment" (NBC)

Available on Hulu

Scrubs' whole sentimental-but-not-actually-except-yes-actually routine is very well suited to holiday episodes. This episode's framing device sees a medical student ask J.D. about his best moment in medicine. He turns the question around on his colleagues, and their recollections are all fairly cynical (Dr. Cox's, in which giving patients the heimlich is merely a step on the road to winning tash basketball, is the best). But in the end their best moment is supporting a single father and his son through a medical crisis and helping them make it home in time for the holidays. It's very sweet, and it has the added benefit of showcasing the hospital's community, and the ways in which they work together to help people (and each other). It's sentimental, but not sugary, striking the perfect tone for a holiday episode.

This episode was written by Angela Nissel. She started out as a story editor on this Season of scrubs, eventually rising to become a co-executive producer. She later worked on The Boondocks, Finny & Georgia, and The Other Black Girl.

#11 A Christmas Carol: The Musical (NBC)

There's a sub-genre I call the "giant dollhouse movie." These are movies filmed on soundstages. They're live-action, but not realistic. They ask you to use your imagination. And so the whole thing feels like it takes place inside a giant dollhouse, like it all could be your very own dream, like you could create something just as amazing.

The pinnacle of the genre is obviously The Wizard of Oz. But any movie filmed on a soundstage with some dress-up-y costumes can capture this magic. This Christmas Carol has mediocre songs, and Kelsey Grammar isn't a great Scrooge. But it has that giant dollhouse energy, and I love it.

Plus, the cast is pretty great overall. Jason Alexander plays Marley and does a whole number with ghosts! Jane Krakowski is doing a British accent, which makes it easy to pretend that she's Jenna Maroney. Jesse L. Martin's costume almost manages to obscure his handsomeness, which is impressive in the worst way. But he's totally dialed in. There's a real orchestra and it's shot on film and that makes everything so much better.

And there's one moment that I found strangely powerful. As Scrooge watches Emily and his younger self duet, he begins singing along. Jennifer Love Hewitt is never more than not embarrassing as Emily, but it doesn't matter. Watching Scrooge watch himself is truly moving, as Dana Stevens pointed out in her review at the time. And then they lean in to kiss, and Scrooge's face disappears...it got me!

#10 Girlfriends "All the Creatures Were Stirring" (UPN)

Available on Netflix and PlutoTV

This is exactly what you want from a Christmas episode all about friends an not family. The finally-together Joan and William head for Puerto Rico but get stuck in a hilariously terrible Cincinnatti hotel. There are rats, a creaky mattress, and white people everywhere, but they're happy because they're together on Christmas. Awww.

But the B-plot is my favorite. Maya, Lynn, and Toni relish the opportunity to bask in Joan's gorgeous apartment (relatable!) without having to put up with her Christmas obsession. Watching them destroy all the Christmas paraphernalia is great. But then they discover that Joan never got to celebrate Christmas with her family and now she relishes the opportunity to celebrate with her friends, and they all find a new appreciation for the season. Awww.

#9 Everwood "Need to Know" (WB)

Available on Freevee or whatever we'll call the free version of Prime once they shut Freevee down.

It's a Christmas episode! But it's also the last episode before the midseason break, so the warm Holiday vibes are ruined as characters make bad decisions that threaten to tear apart the shows' most important relationships. Ephram sees a flyer for his ex-girlfriend's band, and does the worst possible thing with this information: go see the band, not tell Amy about it, and then tell her later once he thinks she knows. Meanwhile, Dr. Brown surrenders to his feelings for his patient's wife. It's a decision that could alienate him from his best frenemy Dr. Abbott and the whole town for that matter. Goodness gracious me!

But one relationship is stronger by the end of this episode, and that is Amy and Hannah. Amy is confused about why Hannah's parents aren't coming for the holidays, which leads to the revelation that Hannah's parents are not in Hong Kong. She was just copying 90210. Her father is at home, dying of Huntington's disease. Amy struggles to be a good friend, because the situation sucks, but also because Hannah could have the gene for the disease and she doesn't want to get tested. And after two and a half seasons, we know Amy well enough to know that this is not how she would approach the situation. She seems determined to save Hannah, throwing everything into the problem, just like she did with ex-boyfriends Colin and Tommy. But in the end, she accepts that being a good friend means supporting Hannah, not helping or fixing her. To see such growth from Amy, such maturity from Hannah, and to see their friendship grow even stronger? It gave me the warm fuzzies I wanted from this holiday episode.

#8 Project Runway "Commercial Appeal" (Bravo)

Available Youtube, Tubi and other FAST services

More reality shows should do Cristmassy episodes! Here, the challenge is to design a Holiday party-appropriate cocktail dress for Banana Republic's Winter/Holiday collection. Like many people in the audience, I have been to holiday parties and I have shopped at Banana Republic, so I feel very qualified to judge this challenge. There are some issues (Austin's dress would work for the Banana Republic of today, but in 2004 it was deemed too vintage and too off-brand). But overall, we got a lot of cute dresses and a lot of very 2004 dresses, which is what I want from a fashion competition show released when I was in middle school.

And now that the field is narrowing, we're getting to know the designers a little better. I loved Kara giving Wendy a makeover, that's a great reality TV moment, and Jay gets a ton of great moments, plus his Chrysler building dress was my favorite. And this is the best judging to date too! It was nerdy and granular. The judges gave praise to the stuff they like and were ruthless but fair with the people who fell short.

Project Runway went on break for the holidays, so the episode ends with a lengthy preview for the rest of the season, and it was hard to exit Tubi and not let autoplay do its work. Interpersonal drama, catty talking heads, a potential injury, crazy designs are all teased, but it all ends with a preview of future judging panels, full of ruthless Nina Garcia comments and stares and designers crying and collapsing onto the backstage couches. I can't wait!

#7 King of the Hill "Ms. Wakefield" (Fox)

TV loves a crotchety old lady, especially in a Christmas episode (just look at Cloris Leachman's IMDB page). But this episode offers a truly unique take on the character. Ms. Wakefield grew up in the Hills' house, and now she is old and lonely and all she wants is to die there, in the place where she was happiest. Hank is not on board with this, and alienates his friends and even the local police in his efforts to prevent this lady from either committing suicide or just waiting to die in his house. This is actually the second Christmas episode to tackle right-to-die issues this holiday season, but I prefer this episode's take to ER's grim theatrics. This episode is filled with comedy and action as Ms. Wakefield continually outwits the Hills in her quixotic quest.

The episode ends with Hank giving up the fight, since it's not worth it, especially during the holiday season when all his friends are over. And he figures out that what Ms. Wakefield what Ms. Wakefield really wants is not to die in his house, but rather to be less alone. He offers her a chance to stay at his party and to come over for a cookout, and suddenly she's not so determined to die. Sometimes the fight isn't worth it and a simple act of kindness will solve your problem. It's a very sappy sentiment delivered in a very un-sappy way, which is exactly what you want from a holiday episode.

#6 Malcolm in the Middle "Hal's Christmas Gift" (Fox)

Available on Hulu

After a glorious sequence in which Lois totals the family car and Jane Kaczmarek proves once again that she's one of the all-time greats, the family announces that this will be a "handmade Christmas" and no money will be spent. Only when the children's gifts prove shockingly impressive, Hal deems his own gift inadequate and takes the whole family on a drive in search of a Christmas gift that he'll hopefully find along the way. There are tons of great jokes and hijinks. The b-plot is fun too. It feels inspired by fan reactions to the show. Muniz was the lead and the biggest star, but by season six the other brothers were more popular among fans. So in this episode Malcolm is insecure about being left out and being a buzzkill. It's all rock-solid sitcom storytelling, and Lois' parking lot confrontation with a yuppie lady is truly an all-time great scene. At least watch that.

#5 Arrested Development "Afternoon Delight" (Fox)

Available on Netflix

I'm not quite so enchanted with Arrested Development on this rewatch. Maybe it's been tainted by what I now know was happening behind the scenes. Maybe the show's joke-a-minute style and cutaway gags, so revolutionary at the time, have been done better by shows that followed its example. Maybe the freudian jokes are starting to get repetitive.

I think that last one is actually a big part of it. So it's a testament to the brilliance of the "Afternoon Delight" karaoke scene (scenes!) that it make me laugh, and laugh, and laugh. This episode also gives us the marvelous visual gag of Buster using his claw machine skills to pull Gob out of the banana stand, and we also get to watch Jessica Walter play a stoned Lucille. So this episode? This one holds up.

#4 - Veronica Mars "An Echolls Family Christmas" (UPN)

Available on Hulu

I love Christmas, and I love Christmas-themed art. I love Christmas romance and Christmas horror, Christmas movies that make you laugh and Christmas books that make you cry. But there's a special place in my heart for Christmas noir. Noir is all about dark underbellies and secretly miserable people, and that stuff just works even better when set against a backdrop of holiday cheer.

This episode secures Veronica Mars' place in the holiday noir canon. The case of the week involves a poker game and a bunch of dumb boys. A second case of the week involves rich people screwing the catering staff (literally and figuratively). Veronica humiliates the boys. Secrets are revealed. Someone gets stabbed. People sing Christmas carols against a backdrop of violence. It's a perfect slice of Christmas noir.

#3 The Wool Cap (TNT)

Available on DVD

This TNT movie presented by Johnson and Johnson is good, and not just good for a TV movie. Good for real.

William H. Macy plays Gigot, the mute superintendent of a crumbling New York City apartment building. He's a drunk who lives in the basement and wants to be left alone with his pet monkey (yes, really). But on a fateful Christmas day, a series of unfortunate events leave a preteen named Lou (Keke Palmer, getting an "introducing" credit) in his care. The film follows Lou and Gigot for the whole year until the following Christmas.

You can probably guess where this is going. He tries to find a guardian for her, but it proves impossible. And of course, by the time it becomes clear that it's impossible, they've bonded. Eventually, social services come calling, and Gigot has to try and turn his life around and address all his buried trauma if he wants to keep Lou in his life.

It's schmaltzy, but it's made with real craft and care. Macy and Palmer are both excellent, and they have great chemistry. But the rest of the ensemble is great too: Don Rickles Gigot's friend, Catherine O'Hara as a sex worker he frequents, Julito McCullum (Namond from The Wire) as a young boy in the building, and Ned Beatty as Gigot's father.

Director Steven Schachter and the whole team make surprising choices that keep the movie grounded. Someone will react to devastating news in an unexpected way, a background extra will get an unexpected spotlight, or the movie will hold on a shot when you expect it to cut. Then, when the movie does go for your tear ducts, it hits all the harder.

There's even a great original song (in addition to a great jazz-inspired score by Jeff Beal). Namond from The Wire is in a very mid-2000s band, and his neighbor is constantly bothering Gigot about the noise (he works nights!). Their big song is called "Six Dead Cats in a Blender," and it is perfect, and proves surprisingly important to the movie. The movie is full of delightful details like that.

#2 Malcolm in the Middle "Pearl Harbor" (Fox)

Available on Hulu

(Technically, this is a Pearl Harbor Day episode. But it still portrays two of my favorite holiday traditions: going to see a show that half your family will hate and taking decorations way too seriously).

A perfect episode of television. Hayden Panetierre worms her way into the family and convinces Lois to purchase six partially obstructed seats for Mamma Mia! The plot thickens when she convinces Malcolm that Reese is gay and vice versa. The brothers discover the unexpected pleasures of being nice to each other and it all culminates in a glorious ABBA dance sequence. It's a hilarious storyline with real insights about, the prison of masculinity and relationships between men. And it's really nice to see the two brothers be so accepting and supportive of the other's sexuality in the year 2004 (in the year 2024, for that matter). By the end of the episode, it's back to normal and petty fights that make them both miserable. A Reese opines at the end, "I liked it better when we were gay."

Elsewhere, Hal is determined to beat his neighbor in their unofficial Christmas decorating competition. This year, he's eschewing Christmas entirely in favor of a Pearl Harbor theme. This culminates in a sequence so juvenile, spectacular, and silly that it must be seen to be believed.

#1 The Office "Christmas Special" (BBC America)

Available on Hulu, BritBox, and Hoopla

The Office established such a bleak view of the world that feels more relevant with each passing year. People are vain, people are cowards. People are pathetic. We're all resigned to work we hate, afraid to dream, and forced to listen to the worst people in the world. I'm a pretty optimistic person, but the series' perfect twelve episodes are more than enough to turn me into a pessimist. David Brent is the worst and he will never change. Capitalism grinds all our good qualities to dust. Tim and Dawn will never get together. Their romance was just a pathetic dream of a future they are not brave enough to pursue.

But the Office didn't end with its second season, it ended in the most British way possible, with a Christmas special. And when the series ends with David Brent being a decent person for even one night and with Dawn being brave and kissing Tim, and with the whole group having a great Christmas party together, it feels like a true Christmas miracle. It's a miracle because you believe all this is possible. That even the nasty and brutish world of The Office, there is room for kindness, and community, and redemption, and bravery. And seeing those things in a world like this makes me believe they are possible in our own world, even during a holiday season like this one, when hope is hard. Hope always tastes best when it's surrounded by the sort of despair we recognize all too well. And hope always tastes best during the holidays. And the hope I feel when I finish this episode is oh so sweet.

(Yes, this technically aired in 2003. But it premiered in the US in 2004. I'm counting it!)