It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That is, time for TV shows to roll out a fresh batch of Christmas-themed episodes for our viewing pleasure. But which of the many Christmas episodes we’ve enjoyed over the years have stood the test of time to become a true holiday tradition? You tell us. We’ve ranked the most enduring Christmas episodes ever -- along with a few wild cards -- and placed them in a March Madness-style bracket. Over the next two weeks, we’re asking you to vote for your favorite episodes until we get a winner: the undisputed best Christmas episode of all time.
(2) South Park, "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" (aired December 17, 1997)
Trey Parker and Matt Stone's Season 1 Christmas celebration boils down to this: Those who are hung up on political correctness about the holidays are full of, well, Mr. Hankey. As usual with the "South Park" duo, the episode is an equal-opportunity offender, though people named Kyle in particular might not find Cartman's musical number "Kyle's Mom Is a Big Fat B----" quite as funny as the rest of us do.
(15) 30 Rock, "Ludachristmas" (aired December 13, 2007)
The only thing standing between Tracy Jordan and a night of the "TGS" gang's annual "Ludachristmas" merrymaking? A court-ordered alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet and Kenneth, who wants his co-workers to understand the true meaning of the holiday. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree nearly gets chopped down as a result, but Kenneth does inspire a bit of charitable thinking. Sort of. Meanwhile, Jack's pot-stirring mom Colleen (Emmy winner Elaine Stritch) escapes Hurricane Zapato and lands in NYC, where she instigates a major family meltdown -- and the revelation of some long-held secrets -- for the Lemon family Jack thinks is so perfect.
Which episode deserves to advance to the next round of Mistletoe Madness? Vote in the poll above, click here to see the full bracket and vote on other pairings (first-round voting ends Tuesday at 6 PM PT), tweet out your choices using the hashtag #MistletoeMadness, and hit the comments to tell us about all the great Christmas episodes we forgot to include.
