Every Christmas Episode of ‘The Office,’ Ranked from Worst to Best

Throughout its nine seasons on television, The Office made a habit of satirizing the chaotic atmosphere that comes with a typical office holiday celebration.

Tossing together cringey gift exchanges, long-running corporate rivalries, secret love triangles, and alcohol-fueled parties, The Office’s holiday specials hilariously explores the stress, anxiety, and often sheer anarchy behind most people’s workplace festivities. Through this satisfying blend of holiday-centric turmoil, drama, and confusion, The Office’s Christmas episodes serve as some of the finest holiday specials in the winter season, outshining other iconic TV series by a sleigh-sized margin.

Of course, with how many Office Christmas specials there are, it’s only fair to conclude that some of the series’ episodes are far superior to others. From unruly Yankee Swaps to post-breakup Benihana lunch-ins, here is every one of The Office’s Christmas specials, ranked from worst to best.

7. Dwight Christmas (Season 9, Episode 9)

The very last Christmas special for The Office, “Dwight Christmas” remains perhaps most worth watching for Dwight’s nightmarish portrayal of the Germanic Christmas gift-bringer, Belsnickel. Speaking in an exaggerated accent and brandishing either gifts or whacks from his trusty switch, Dwight’s take on Belsnickel provides “Dwight Christmas” ceaseless laughs every time he wanders on-screen. We only wish we could have seen Michael interact with Belsnickel at least once before he left the show for the greener pastures of Colorado with Holly.

6. Christmas Wishes (Season 8, Episode 10)

Given that it’s the first Christmas episode without Michael, “Christmas Wishes” struggles to fully make up for Steve Carrell’s notable absence. Yet even then, the episode does a splendid job showcasing the traditional hijinks that characterize Dunder Mifflin’s Christmas parties, complete with an epic struggle between Dwight and Jim to frame the other for their yuletide pranks. Smart, funny, and rolling along with the speed of a charging reindeer, it’s an enjoyable trial by fire for Andy as he accepts the responsibilities of his managerial position, as well as his own complicated feelings for his embittered ex, Erin.

5. Classy Christmas (Season 7, Episodes 11/12)

It isn’t very often that Dwight gets the last laugh against his recurring frenemy Jim, but in “Classy Christmas,” such a rare phenomenon does indeed occur (with terrifying results for Jim). As Dwight and Jim partake in an increasingly violent series of snowball fights, Michael struggles to accept that he might have truly lost his treasured connection to Holly. An emotional whirlwind of an episode that’s both laugh-out-loud funny and at times downright gut-wrenching, “Classy Christmas” made for the perfect final holiday episode featuring Michael Scott, brilliantly setting up his eventual romantic reunion with Holly a few short episodes later.

4. Moroccan Christmas (Season 5, Episode 11)

We have to admit, the idea of a Moroccan-themed Christmas party does sound awfully fun. It’s just a shame that Meredith had to spoil the whole event by having her hair catch on fire thanks to a sloppy, alcohol-induced dance. Though Michael’s failed intervention for Meredith wasn’t as funny as it could have been, “Moroccan Christmas” deserves credit for helping reveal Angela’s affair with Dwight to her fellow coworkers. Given how important this love triangle was in the series’ fifth season, “Moroccan Christmas” marked a serious turning point for this intriguing storyline, further escalating the stakes ahead of Angela and Andy’s imminent wedding date.

3. Secret Santa (Season 6, Episode 13)

Note to self: never give somebody the Twelve Days of Christmas as a Secret Santa gift, unless you want them to suffer a serious mental meltdown and more than a few bird-related injuries. With dueling Santas, awkward flirtatious banter, corporate crises, and sassy Jesus Christs, “Secret Santa” might just feature the most stressful and chaotic workplace Christmas we ever saw in The Office. And for all those reasons and more, we can’t help but fall in love with it from its opening moments onwards.

2. A Benihana Christmas (Season 3, Episodes 10/11)

Nobody wants to be alone for the holidays – least of all the perennially needy Michael Scott. After getting dumped by his girlfriend Carol, the employees of Dunder Mifflin helplessly watch Michael spiral into a deep, albeit hilarious depression. Rather than keeping a brave face for the sake of the holiday festivities, Michael’s grief only makes “A Benihana Christmas” that much more amusing to watch, whether seeing him moping around the office or tearfully singing snippets of “Goodbye My Lover” instead of paying for the full song. (But as Michael brilliantly reasons, “I don’t have to buy it. I just want to taste it. I just … I just want a little taste of it.”)

1. Christmas Party (Season 2, Episode 10)

The very first Office Christmas special, “Christmas Party” also just so happens to be the best, if for no other reason than Michael’s childish antics at Dunder Mifflin’s annual gift exchange. Turning the otherwise tame Secret Santa into a Yankee Swap out of spiteful jealousy, “Christmas Party” finds Michael walking that delicate tightrope between the unsympathetic jerk he played in The Office’s earliest seasons and the lovable oaf he slowly grew into with each passing season. If that weren’t reason enough to watch this episode every time the Christmas season rolls around, “Christmas Party” hilariously devolves into an off-the-walls workplace party, ending with unexpected kisses, drunken pranks, and random instances of flashing. What else could you expect from a Dunder Mifflin Christmas celebration?