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My Wednesday activity, other than preparing for my in-laws to arrive tonight, was watching all of The Office<\/em> Christmas episodes. As you can imagine, this was an extremely good way to spend time, especially on a very cold, snowy night.<\/p>\n As I watched I thought, \u201cI should put together some kind of rudimentary list, ranking them in order of my preference.\u201d Then I looked and saw there are approximately 8000 of these lists. And, you know, The Office<\/em> hasn\u2019t had a new episode in seven years, sooooo not exactly relevant.<\/p>\n However, given the show\u2019s continuing popularity, how this has become a bit of a holiday tradition for me (based on two years), and since the show is going from the highly available Netflix to the much more restricted Peacock platform next month, I figured I should do a quick ranking in hopes of nudging some of you to tackle them over the next couple weeks.<\/p>\n 1 – Season 3, Episode 10: \u201cBenihana Christmas\u201d 2 – Season 2, Episode 10: \u201cChristmas Party\u201d 3 – Season 5, Episode 11: \u201cMoroccan Christmas\u201d 4 – Season 7, Episode 11: \u201cClassy Christmas\u201d 5 – Season 6, Episode 13: \u201cSecret Santa\u201d 6 – Season 9, Episode 9: \u201cDwight Christmas\u201d
\nOffensive in sooooo many ways, but generally harmless and always hilarious. And sooooo many classic moments. Michael photoshopping himself into his girlfriend\u2019s family photo and sending it out as a Christmas card. The lunch at Benihana\u2019s. Pam and Karen joining forces to launch an office party rivaling Angela\u2019s. Michael and Andy bringing replacement level waitresses back to the office. The eventual melding of the parties. It gets bonus points for the ending, when Michael finally gets a mystery woman on the phone to agree to go to Sandals Jamaica with him. It is, of course, his boss Jan Levinson, which gave the series treeeeemendous material to work with going forward, including the series\u2019 best ever episode, \u201cThe Dinner Party,\u201d in season four.<\/p>\n
\nThis set down the rules for which all future episodes followed, mostly Michael doing his best to ruin the party for everyone. Plus it shows how \u201cYankee Swap\u201d rules only work if people are drinking and having fun. The Bob Vance introduction is low key one of the greatest moments ever. \u201cSo, what line of work are you in, Bob?\u201d<\/p>\n
\nThe next three could drop in about any order. And I love the common thread of Phyllis becoming such a big part of the parties. Here she chooses a Moroccan theme to spice things up, forcing Angela to do her biding to keep quiet about Angela and Dwight\u2019s affair. Phyllis dropping the bomb at the end gives this one the nod.<\/p>\n
\nMichael\u2019s old flame Holly returns to fill in for Toby, who is off to serve on the Scranton Strangler jury. In preparation, Michael trashes the planned party for a \u201cclassy\u201d one. Michael in his classy Santa hat just makes me laugh.<\/p>\n
\nPhyllis as Santa, Kevin sitting on Michael\u2019s lap then not knowing what to talk about, and Andy sending Erin the list from \u201cThe 12 Days of Christmas.\u201d are highlights. Also an episode that ends on a warm note.<\/p>\n
\nBelsnickle<\/a> always knows if you\u2019ve been impish or admirable.<\/p>\n