Courtesy of Apple
Christmas episodes and sitcoms go together like the Hallmark channel and festive romance. Or at least they can, if released at the appropriate time of year.
It would take up too much space to list how many beloved network comedies have decked the halls with cheer and heartfelt moments to get viewers in the holiday spirit over the years. Long gone are the days of most shows airing 24 episodes between September and May, even if current broadcast titles like Abbott Elementary and Ghosts keep this holiday theme dream alive.
For streaming, this road has occasionally invoked a Scrooge-like bitterness, as the Ted Lasso backlash last summer proved. Ah yes, releasing a Yuletide adventure in August. That was something that no one expected—myself included. Other factors were at play, and it wasn’t simply because audiences rejected out-of-season cheer. But now that it’s seasonally appropriate, you should go back and rewatch it to experience the “instant classic” that The Daily Beast’s Obsessed’s Kevin Fallon described in his review last year. (Seriously, Brett Goldstein and Juno Temple’s bad breath reactions are gold, and I think we’re all now waiting for Hannah Waddingham to release a Christmas album.)