The Simpsons: Christmas Episode Guide

Christmas is where The Simpsons began — the series' very first episode, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire," aired in December 1989 — and the show has returned to the holiday nineteen times since, more than Halloween or Thanksgiving. All of them stream in the U.S. on Disney+ (the most recent is a Disney+ exclusive that never aired on Fox). Since Rotten Tomatoes doesn't score individual Simpsons episodes, ratings below are from IMDb.

Episode Synopsis

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire (1989) — The series premiere and the show's first Christmas ever. Marge has to spend the family's holiday fund removing a tattoo Bart got on a whim, leaving Homer broke right before Christmas. He takes a job as a mall Santa to cover the gap, and a disastrous trip to the dog track produces an unexpected gift: Santa's Little Helper joins the family.

Marge Be Not Proud (1995) — Bart gets caught shoplifting a video game he desperately wants for Christmas, and it fractures his relationship with Marge in a way that's more quietly devastating than most Simpsons plots get. One of the show's more sincere, character-driven Christmas outings, without much of the show's usual absurdism.

Miracle on Evergreen Terrace (1997) — Bart accidentally burns the family's presents and Christmas tree, then lies and claims a burglar stole everything to avoid getting in trouble. The town rallies behind the "victimized" Simpsons with donations and gifts, and things get uncomfortable once the truth threatens to come out.

Grift of the Magi (1999) — Springfield Elementary nearly goes bankrupt after mob boss Fat Tony extorts the school, so a toy company buys it outright and starts using the kids as market research for a new must-have Christmas toy, the ominous Funzo doll. A pointed jab at holiday-season commercialism and corporate influence in schools.

Skinner's Sense of Snow (2000) — A surprise blizzard traps the students of Springfield Elementary inside the school right before the holiday break, and their safety ends up resting on Principal Skinner and a fairly inebriated Homer, who's been recruited to help with the rescue.

She of Little Faith (2001) — A model rocket mishap involving Homer and Bart damages Springfield's church, and when Mr. Burns funds the repairs by turning the building into a commercialized eyesore, Lisa is disgusted enough to leave Christianity behind and explore Buddhism instead, guided in part by a guest-starring Richard Gere.

'Tis the Fifteenth Season (2003) — Homer sells an old baseball card for a windfall and blows all of it on himself instead of the family, which sparks a holiday crisis of conscience about generosity versus self-interest. A fairly traditional, stocking-and-snow version of a Simpsons Christmas episode.

Simpsons Christmas Stories (2005) — An anthology framing device lets Homer narrate his own irreverent version of the Nativity story, while Grandpa Simpson pursues a long-running, increasingly personal feud with Santa Claus himself.

Kill Gil, Volumes I & II (2006) — Perpetual sad-sack Gil plays mall Santa and helps Lisa land a hard-to-find toy, which costs him his job. Out of pity, the Simpsons invite him to stay for Christmas dinner — and then can't figure out how to get him to leave for the next eleven months, since Marge can't bring herself to say no.

The Fight Before Christmas (2010) — A dejected Marge, frustrated that nobody else in the family is feeling festive, writes a heartfelt letter asking for help getting everyone into the holiday spirit. Meanwhile Mr. Burns and one of Moe's oddball new friends keep sabotaging the family's attempt to get away to Hawaii for the holidays.

Holidays of Future Passed (2011) — Opens on a Simpson family Christmas before jumping thirty years into the future to check in on Bart and Lisa as struggling parents themselves. Frequently ranked among the show's best latter-day episodes, and often floated as what a series finale could have looked like.

White Christmas Blues (2013) — A sudden tourist boom drains Springfield's holiday budget dry, so the family (and much of the town) improvises a scrappy, lower-budget version of Christmas out of necessity rather than choice.

I Won't Be Home for Christmas (2014) — Marge kicks Homer out of the house on Christmas after he chooses to console a heartbroken Moe on Christmas Eve instead of coming home to his own family, leaving Homer to reckon with his misplaced priorities.

The Nightmare After Krustmas (2016) — Krusty the Clown converts to Christianity in an attempt to reconnect with his estranged daughter and spends the holiday with the Simpsons, while Reverend Lovejoy tries to drum up new converts and a creepy Christmas toy terrifies Maggie.

Gone Boy (2017) — Framed with Christmas-themed opening titles, though the plot itself has little to do with the holiday: Bart falls into an abandoned missile silo while the family is out on a Christmas getaway, and the ensuing search draws in his old nemesis Sideshow Bob, freshly out on work-release.

'Tis the 30th Season (2018) — Marking the show's 30th season, this one leans into an especially sentimental, old-fashioned holiday plot as the family works through a small crisis threatening to derail their traditional Christmas celebration.

Bobby, It's Cold Outside (2019) — Sideshow Bob, now paroled, takes a job as a department-store Santa and — despite his history — finds himself genuinely trying to embrace the role and do some good, testing whether Bart's old nemesis can actually change.

A Springfield Summer Christmas for Christmas (2020) — A biting parody of Hallmark-style holiday movies: a cable network exec descends on Springfield to film a low-budget Christmas romance, and ends up falling for Principal Skinner amid all the genre's usual clichés, which the episode gleefully skewers.

O C'mon All Ye Faithful (2024) — A double-length Disney+ exclusive marking the 35th anniversary of the show's very first Christmas episode. British mentalist Derren Brown comes to Springfield and hypnotizes Homer into believing he's genuinely Santa Claus, setting off a chain reaction through town that turns into a meditation on belief, showmanship, and what people mean by a "miracle," with musical numbers from Patti LaBelle and Pentatonix.