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Christmas in the year 2019 means options, specifically when it comes to streaming. In the days of yore, you’d have to wait for the networks to tell you when you were going to watch your favorite Christmas movies, or you’d get one chance to see your fave sitcoms get all festive before that episode disappeared into the rotation of syndication. That’s no longer the case! Thanks to streaming services like Hulu, you can call forth all the merriment and seasonal wonder you want, whenever you want it!
To be blunt: there’s a lot of holiday content on Hulu, perhaps too much. Not only are there dozens of straight-to-VOD holiday flicks on Hulu, but there are hundreds of Christmas episodes from hundreds of TV shows! You could spend hours scrolling through the offerings before landing on something truly great. Need help making a decision? That’s where Decider comes in (see, it’s right there in our name).
Here are 10 chunks of Christmas content that you need to stream this holiday season, especially if you want to make your December nights merry and bright. There are a few hidden gems on this list as well as a few legit holiday classics (your season isn’t complete until you’ve watched “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas”!). There are even a few titles from 2019 that you can enjoy while they’re still as fresh as a plate of Christmas cookies. So what are you waiting for? Get your seasonal streaming started!
'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' "The Alan Brady Show Presents" (1963)
Instead of doing a straightforward Christmas story, the cast of The Dick Van Dyke Show, all of them triple threats, put on a Christmas special on the show’s show-within-a-show (you follow?). This is a half hour of actors singing and dancing, the two things they normally don’t get to do on a sitcom, and it’s delightful. They don’t make’em like this anymore!
'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' "Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid" (1970)
If you want to see Mary Tyler Moore in a seasonal story, then Hulu’s got you covered. This Season 1 episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show finds its lead stuck working alone on Christmas Eve, circumstances that put a damper on the normally spunky Mary. This episode, filled with LOLs that still slay today, is quite possibly the best holiday sitcom episode ever.
'A Very Brady Christmas' (1988)
Decades before Fuller House reunited a large TV brood there were the Bradys movies of the ’80s. This one sees all six Brady kids (with a sub standing in for Cindy) returning home with their spouses and kids in tow. This one proves you can always go home again, especially if you’re one in a bunch.
'Family Matters,' "Have Yourself a Merry Winslow Christmas" (1990)
Christmas is the time of the year when grudges are put on hold–even if those grudges are against an annoying nerd who leaves a trail of total destruction in his wake. The Winslows are faced with a tough decision when they learn Steve Urkel has been abandoned by his family on Christmas: do they invite the cheese-loving chaos agent over on Christmas morning?
'Holiday in Handcuffs' (2007)
Christmas romcoms are a dime a dozen, especially on Hulu. Instead of sifting through all those made-for-TV movies, head straight to Holiday in Handcuffs for the perfect dose of cheesy Christmas cheer. Melissa Joan Hart stars as a frazzled waitress who needs to take a man home for Christmas to get her family off her back. Enter: Mario Lopez, a guy who gets forced into the gig thanks to a pair of holiday handcuffs.
'Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale' (2010)
This critically-acclaimed Finnish import is a must-watch for anyone that likes their holidays spiked with a bit of horror. Rare Exports follows a group of kids who find out that the legend of Santa Claus isn’t such a legend after all–and old Kris Kringle may be a lot more naughty than nice.
'Community,' "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" (2010)
Christmas can be a time for sitcoms to think outside the gift box and get ambitious (see the first entry on this list), and “Abed’s Uncontrollable Christmas” is a sterling example of that adventurousness. This fully claymation special was an instant classic when it aired, and it’s only gotten better with age. No Christmas episode fully captures the rush of intense emotions that the holiday conjures up like this one. Get ready for feelings!
'Drunk History Christmas Special' (2017)
The Drunk History crew serves up some spiked eggnog in this hysterical and historical half hour. Learn the tipsy truth behind George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas, the creation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Theodore Roosevelt’s war against Christmas trees. Then you can impress all your friends with your new knowledge at holiday parties.
'Wrap Battle' (2019)
Freeform’s brand-new reality-competition show brings Project Runway-level stakes to the surprisingly tense realm of… gift wrapping?! You read that right! Sheryl Underwood hosts the battle with judges Carson Kressley and Wanda Wen along for the ride as they challenge crafters to wrap odd items like lawn mowers and push them to their limit.
'Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas' (2019)
Netflix’s The Knight Before Christmas isn’t the only made-for-TV Christmas romcom with a supernatural side this year. In addition to Wrap Battle, Freeform also aired the delightfully bonkers and surprisingly subversive Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas. How do you do a romcom when the lead dies in a car accident in the first five minutes? That’s one of many questions this fun (yes, it is fun!) movie answers.
