The Simpsons: Every Christmas Episode Over the Decades, Ranked

The Simpsons has had some great Christmas episodes over the many decades it has been on the air, so now is the best time to go back and celebrate which of them are truly the best of the best. Although The Simpsons got a lot more well known with its celebration of other holidays like Halloween with its annual Treehouse of Horror specials, Christmas is just as big of a holiday for the long running animated series too. In fact, The Simpsons has a much closer connection to the Winter holiday than any of the others thanks to how it all first began.

Through the decades, The Simpsons has dropped plenty of memorable Christmas episodes since it first began. Each of these episodes ranges from how heavily they feature the holiday to whether or not it actually puts out a great effort for the season. But when ranking all of the Christmas episodes that have been released so far (as of the now airing Season 37), there are quite a few that end up being much more of a success than the others.

Read on for our rankings of The Simpsons’ many Christmas episodes, and let us know all of your favorite in the comments or the forum!

20). Gone Boy

Season 29’s “Gone Boy” is at the bottom of this list by default really. One of the qualities that makes for a great Christmas episode of The Simpsons is actually being about the holiday itself, and that’s only true for maybe five minutes of this one in particular. We get a cold open about the holiday before Bart ends up getting lost and getting trapped in a bunker, and the rest of the episode ends up being more about Sideshow Bob trying to find him instead. Just when compared to everything else, it really doesn’t have enough of Christmas to rank.

19). She of Little Faith

It’s the same case for Season 13’s “She of Little Faith.” This is the episode that sees Lisa become a Buddhist, and there are some great jokes that come about it as Homer and Marge hope to use the Christmas holiday (and the promise of a pony) to get Lisa to get back to Christianity. It’s a fun resolution to a spiritual story that ends up with a major change for Lisa going forward into the series’ future, but it also just doesn’t feature a lot of the Christmas holiday. When compared to the other episodes here, it’s just not going to stack up to the holiday spirit found in the others.

18). The Nightmare After Krustmas

Many of The Simpsons Christmas episodes deal with the family taking in a surprise guest over the holidays, but it naturally comes with mixed results. Season 28’s “The Nightmare After Krustmas” puts that to the test by offering one of the more boring additions to the dynamic with Krusty the Clown and his rarely seen daughter, Sophie. Krusty has a crisis of faith that also sees him briefly convert to Christianity, and it leads much of the episode to go down a much worse path as well. It’s sort of at this spot by default for being the first one on the list to be truly about the holiday.

17). White Christmas Blues

Speaking of guests, one of the worse examples comes with Season 25’s “White Christmas Blues.” It has a fun idea at its core as Springfield comes together to gouge a bunch of tourists coming to enjoy the town being the only place with snow in America. Marge then decides to turn their home into a Bed and Breakfast for extra money in a scheme that is something Homer usually thinks of (which he actually calls out). But it’s just so tough to get through. The new guests are purposefully annoying, and it really puts a strain on the entire episode as a whole. It’s just not a fun Christmas episode, but there are some gems of jokes here that keep it above Krusty.

16). Kill Gil, Volumes 1 & 2

But in terms of guests staying at the house over Christmas, Season 18’s “Kill Gil, Volumes 1& 2” really takes that to a whole new level. It does get beyond being outright frustrating because Gil has been built up to be such a lovable loser over the years, that it makes sense for him to take such advantage of The Simpsons’ kindness. Marge and Gil especially have that connection, so it’s also good to see her be the one to be truly tired with him when he stays beyond Christmas. It might stretch the limits of what qualifies to be on this list, but it literally comes full circle with a holiday spirit ending.

15). ‘Tis the 30th Season

Season 30’s “‘Tis the 30th Season” stretches things a bit more as it takes the family to Florida for the holiday, but it’s a rather sweet premise as Homer and the family are hoping to make things up to Marge when Black Friday shopping goes awry. It’s all about the holiday, however, as they are trying to help Marge have a great time and ultimately it ends with a perfect celebration of the holiday that brings them to Moe’s bar in a surprising fashion. It’s the kind of episode that really highlights how much the family loves Marge, and that really does need to be highlighted every now and then.

14). Bobby It’s Cold Outside

Season 31’s “Bobby It’s Cold Outside” is surprisingly another Christmas episode all about Sideshow Bob, but it has a lot more to offer than with “Gone Boy.” It not only has a lot of fun callbacks to previous Christmas episodes like Maggie’s feud with a gnome, and the fact that Bob had been living in a lighthouse at the time. It also features a pretty fun twist on the usual Christmas idea as Bob ends up helping track down and stop the person stealing everyone’s Amazon packages. This one is a bit more outdated than the others, however, as there’s an extended “Baby Shark” joke that repeats later in the episode. Turns out it was Mr. Burns, naturally.

13). The Fight Before Christmas

Funny enough, Season 22’s “The Fight Before Christmas” was very divisive when it first premiered. Featuring a Treehouse of Horror like organization with three different segments set outside of the main canon, it ends with a full on puppet sequence with Katy Perry as a guest star. This episode didn’t get a lot of positive reception among fans when it hit, and it was mostly because of that final sequence rather than the episode itself. But each of the segments were actually quite fun, and are a nice change of pace from what had come in seasons before and after. It’s quaint to look back on now in retrospect.

12). I Won’t Be Home for Christmas

Season 26’s “I Won’t Be Home for Christmas” isn’t the most unique of the ideas The Simpsons has had for these episodes as it’s just Marge being mad that Homer didn’t come home on time (and thus kicks him out for Christmas), but it’s rather sweet in how it pulls it off. Homer ends up seeing more of the usual losers around town, but it’s never quite fully making fun of all of them. Even in Moe’s case, he outright tricks Homer to stay late on Christmas Eve, but it’s one of his less pathetic or sad years as he doesn’t try to take his own life at any point. And that’s usually a sign of a good year.

11). Simpsons Christmas Stories

This is another year where The Simpsons celebrated Christmas with three non-canon segments, and Season 17’s “Simpsons Christmas Stories” is one of the more successful examples. The first segment is a more straightforward take on the birth of Christ, the second features a fun new history segment for Grampa, and the third is more musically inclined with lots of moments set to music. Unfortunately there is an extended gag where Moe continuously tries to kill himself again, and the second segment isn’t so great, but it’s packed with that Christmas spirit that fans are looking for.

10). ‘Tis the Fifteenth Season

Season 15’s “‘Tis the Fifteenth Season” is another one of those situations where Homer is being selfish and needs to be reminded of the spirit of the season, but at least it has a lot of fun for the holiday. It’s not the first Christmas episode to see Homer sneaking into houses to steal presents, but it’s the first one to go full Grinch with it. Homer has a fun parody of the song to sing, and it turns into an episode where he and Ned compete to be seen as the better man around town. Ned’s place in these Christmas episodes is always a sad one, but this was definitely one of the more fun uses of his pettiness.

9). A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas

Season 32’s “A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas” takes on the Hallmark holiday movie trend, and makes fun of pretty much every trope to be found in those films every year. When the typical lead of one of those movies comes to town to produce a Christmas movie, the town completely goes all in to try and make it happen. She and Skinner form a makeshift romance reminiscent of those movies, and it ends in a rather hilarious way. It’s an especially great episode for Marge as we get to see a new side of her (and her love for Hallmark movies), and it’s definitely one of the best later season entries.

8). Miracle on Evergreen Terrace

It’s funny looking back on it now that Season 9’s “Miracle on Evergreen Terrace” used to be one of the most hated Christmas episodes of the series. Bart is incredibly selfish here and ends up accidentally destroying all of the Christmas decorations and gifts. He then accidentally cons the town, and it leads to the town trying to take all of their money back. But as the animated series released much weaker specials over the years, this one ended up being much better than many others. Lots of now classic jokes, and tons of holiday spirit as Bart learns the error of his way. It’s a perfect outing for the season.

7). Skinner’s Sense of Snow

Season 12’s “Skinner’s Sense of Snow” does stretch the arbitrary rules of this list by not being necessarily too much about the Christmas holiday itself, but there’s enough of that here for a hidden classic. When the kids end up trapped in school after Skinner forces it to stay open, it leads to an incredibly fun episode where they eventually take over. Skinner does end up finding a way out of the situation (“Chew through my balls sack.”), and Homer and Ned form a hilarious team to help save the kids, but at the end of the day this is just a wacky episode with a lot of fun lines. Maybe not one you seek out explicitly for Christmas, but one you should watch during the season nonetheless.

6). Grift of the Magi

Season 11’s “Grift of the Magi” is definitely underrated when stacked among all of the other Christmas episodes. But when looking back on it, you’ll see just how many gems are actually packed into this one. It doesn’t really start off as an expressly Christmas episode as the school ends up getitng bought out by a marketing firm and Lisa hopes to call it out, and then the kids were used as a testing ground to create the perfect Christmas toy, Funzo. Not only did the episode have a ton of fun gags about the toy itself, but it’s the much funnier version of Homer sneaking into houses to steal it as Bart and Lisa served as a distraction. Just a fun one to look back on.

5). Manger Things

Season 32 is one of the few seasons of The Simpsons with two Christmas episodes to choose from, and the second of the offerings is just much stronger. Serving as the 700th episode of the animated series overall, this is a special episode that once again sees Homer being punished by Marge and kicked out of the house for being selfish during the Christmas holiday. A flashback highlighting a new piece of the past, this episode also reveals some key things like that Todd Flanders’ middle name is Homer after Homer helped Maude deliver him. It’s also got one of the sweetest depictions of Bart and Lisa that we’ve ever seen, and it’s just filled with so much holiday heart. Make sure to see it if you haven’t yet.

4). Holidays of Future Passed

Season 23’s “Holidays of Future Passed” holds a very distinct position within The Simpsons history. It was another episode that launched the series into the future following the previous set up seen with “Future Drama,” but this served as the “canonical” future for each of the characters for a long time since. It even almost ended up being a potential series finale for the franchise overall, and it’s hard not to see why when you look at how well it wrapped everything up. This was a Christmas special that brought the series full circle from its very first episode, and ushered in a bright and happy future for everyone involved. It wasn’t the finale, of course, but still quite fun on rewatch.

3). O C’mon All Ye Faithful

“O C’mon All Ye Faithful” is another milestone episode within The Simpsons history. It’s the very first double length episode of the series, and it’s the very first Christmas special exclusive to Disney+. The team really went all out for the occasion as it ties in elements from some of the best Christmas episodes in the past too. There’s a clear story for Ned (who’s always depicted at being very sad around this time), a fun story where Homer once again is a version of Santa for the town, and there’s just a great message about the holiday spirit at the end of it all. It does everything it needs to do and more. It’s what you want in a great Christmas special.

2). Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire

As the very first episode of The Simpsons, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” was the perfect introduction to every member of the family. It’s such a strong Christmas episode that it’s a testament to the fact that the animated series is still going strong nearly four decades and 800 episodes later. The Simpsons used its premiere (although it was originally meant to air later) as a way to reveal the core family’s dynamics, and center it all on a very real struggle that viewers could relate to. There’s a ton of heart packed into these few minutes, and it’s a heart that would continue to give and expand even more from that point on.

1). Marge Be Not Proud

But if you’re talking about the best Christmas episodes of The Simpsons, there’s no beating Season 7’s “Marge Be Not Proud.” This classic episode saw Bart stealing a video game that he really wanted, and ultimately broke Marge’s heart. It’s not until he’s able to make it up to her that their family is allowed to truly enjoy the holiday, and it ends with one of the sweetest and most iconic images in the series’ history. It’s an episode that is not only stacked with tons of jokes per minute, but it’s the perfect kind of bittersweet Christmas spirit that you look for in the best specials. It’s just the best of the best.

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