Our favorite way to celebrate any holiday is through special viewing. With Hanukkah in full swing, take some time this December to learn more about it through episodes of these iconic shows depicting their characters celebrating the Festival of Lights. If you maximize your bingeing schedule, you can watch each of these episodes before the holiday is over.
‘Friends’
Everyone knows that the Friends Thanksgiving episodes are its superior holiday offerings, but “The One With the Holiday Armadillo,” Season 7, Episode 10 is classic, too. Ross spends the episode trying to get his son, Ben, interested in Hanukkah, and he goes to great lengths, even dressing up as an armadillo (which we must acknowledge is a wholly terrifying costume), to achieve his goal. We also get Chandler in a Santa Claus costume and Joey in a Superman get-up, making the entire episode a ball of festive, albeit random, fun.
Friends is streaming now on Max.
‘New Girl’
New Girl has plenty of Christmas episodes, but one also honors the heritage of the loft’s resident New Yorker, Schmidt, with a partially Hanukkah-themed episode. While there is still plenty of Christmas involved, Season 1, Episode 9 – “The 23rd” brought us Schmidt’s “Judaism, son” line, and that alone makes it iconic.
New Girl is streaming now on Peacock and Hulu.
‘Even Stevens’
If you’re after something a little more nostalgic (or if your TikTok FYP has recently been flooded with clips of Louis yelling at Beans), opt for Season 1, Episode 15 of Even Stevens, “Heck of a Hanukkah.” There’s all sorts of classic Even Stevens humor and Hanukkah magic in this episode, and as a gift to those who don’t have the streaming service, Disney Channel has the entire episode available on YouTube for free.
Even Stevens is streaming now on Disney+.
‘The O.C.’
No TV series has consistently recognized Hanukkah more than The O.C. The bygone teen drama marked each of its four seasons with an episode dedicated to Seth Cohen’s made-up hybrid holiday – Chrismukkah. Although Hanukkah was merged with Christmas for these episodes, Seth always noted his fondness for both holidays, sharing that his parents’ inability to choose which one to celebrate led to his festive invention.
The Chrismukkah episodes are: Season 1, Episode 13, “The Best Chrismukkah Ever;” Season 2, Episode 6, “The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn’t;” Season 3, Episode 10, “The Chrismukkah Bar Mitz-Vahkkah;” and Season 4, Episode 7, “The Chrismakk-Huh?”.
The O.C. is streaming now on Max.