Futurama: Every Xmas Episode Ranked (And #1 Is a True Gem)

Futurama has released some fun Christmas holiday episodes over the years, so now it’s time to look back on its history and pick which one of them is truly the best of the best. Futurama isn’t a traditional animated series as because it’s set within a scientific world taking place a thousand years in the future, it’s often come with a lot of smaller cultural changes that are accepted by each of the characters as just parts of their everyday life. And their treatment of the Christmas holiday is certainly the most surprising result of this.

It’s revealed early on in the series that in the world of Futurama, Christmas is no longer celebrated in the way it was during our time. Now called “XMas” by the world at large, the holiday has become a much darker take on the idea as just one of the grander changes that’s happened as robotics and sciences advanced. Now looking back on the few Xmas episodes the series has released, Futurama has dropped some big gems.

4). The Futurama Holiday Spectacular

Released during Season 7, the only holiday special during the Comedy Central era of Futurama is unfortunately not the strongest Xmas episode. Taking the form of the season’s anthology, there are three distinct stories that highlight Xmas, “Robanukah,” and Kwanzaa. Each of these segments are cute on their own as they lead to doom for the entire planet in many of the cases, and that’s probably truest for the Xmas part.

After reviving the now-extinct pine tree, trees start to cover the entire Earth and provide too much oxygen for the planet. It ends explosively in a rather hilarious fashion, but honestly isn’t even the most memorable doom ending of the episode. That honor goes to the Kwanzaa segment’s bee wax candle ending. And if Xmas doesn’t take the center stage for the episode, it can’t get higher on this list.

3). A Tale of Two Santas

Season 4’s “A Tale of Two Santas” was the final Xmas special of the original broadcast run with Fox. This one puts a fun spin on things as after introducing a deadly robot Santa Claus attacking each year, Bender takes up the mantle in an attempt to bring joy back to the holiday. This leads to a lot of fun moments where Bender is attacked in Santa’s place, and is nearly executed before being saved by Santa himself.

The real twist of the episode comes later when Santa reveals he’s been holding a grudge against Bender the entire time, and punishes him for taking his place. There are just so many memorable moments in this one too as it’s not only full of great jokes like Zoidberg dressing as Jesus, and it’s where we got the first appearance of Kwanzaa Bot voiced by the late superstar Coolio. it’s just got so much packed into it that it’s highly rewatchable.

2). I Know What You Did Next Xmas

Season 11’s “I Know What You Did Next Xmas” is currently the only Xmas special that Futurama has released for its current Hulu revival era so far. It’s also the first special seen in quite a while given the amount of time in between the Comedy Central and Hulu eras, and it’s a welcome return for the idea. This one is sort of a hidden gem because of that time of release, however, as many fans might not even know it exists. And it’s hilarious buddy time travel shenanigans holiday favorite.

This one teams up Bender and Zoidberg for the first real full time in Futurama’s history, and it works so well you kind of wonder why it’s such a rare pairing on top of it. Bender and Zoidberg decide to go back in time to kidnap a version of Robot Santa that the Professor thought he fixed, and it ends up in such a wacky and head turning situation that only Futurama can pull off. It’s such a fun revisit that you have to put in your yearly rotation.

1). Xmas Story

But if you’re talking about the best Futurama Xmas episodes, you also just have to honor the one that labeled it as “Xmas” in the first place. Season 2’s “Xmas Story” was kind of a game changer. It was a much different take on the holiday that revealed in the future, a robotic Santa has since deemed everyone (but Zoidberg) as naughty and needing to be eliminated. So now people hide within their homes to avoid the slaughter, and naturally the from-the-past Fry is trying to bring back that classic spirit.

This is the one episode in Futurama’s catalog that’s most like a traditional Christmas special as Fry is trying his best to capture the spirit of the holiday for his new family and friends. There’s even a bit of a happy ending amidst it all as everyone huddles together for safety, and it’s in the true spirit of the holiday. With this also being the debut of John Goodman as Robot Santa (who unfortunately never reprises his role), everything just comes together so magically and perfect for the holiday.

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