With the snow coming down and hot cocoa on the stove, is there anything more relaxing than holiday TV episodes coming on? As kids, Nickelodeon and Disney reigned supreme and they had iconic holiday-themed episodes for our favorite TV shows. Seeing our favorite TV characters celebrate the holidays felt as special as the holidays themselves.
From ’90s cartoons like Hey Arnold! to live-action shows like Side Hustle, Nickelodeon had some amazing holiday specials that were ranked highly on IMDb.
Updated on November 21st, 2022, by Lynn Gibbs:Nickelodeon may be a network directed toward kids and teens, but its holiday episodes are for everyone. Those who grew up in the ‘90s and 2000s will remember festive episodes on shows like SpongeBob SquarePants and Rocko’s Modern Life, but there are more recent jolly episodes on shows like Big Time Rush that give the same fuzzy feelings. From Thanksgiving to Christmas Eve, some of these episodes are rated higher than others on IMDb and can still be binged today.
14 Rocko’s Modern Life
‘Rocko’s Modern Christmas’ – 7.8
In Rocko’s Modern Life, viewers saw the relationships between Rocko, Heffer, and co. In this special Christmas episode, Rocko is planning a Christmas party but after no one shows up—including his BFFs—he’s more than a little confused.
Along the way, Rocko befriends an elf and due to Rocko’s holiday cheer, he cheers up the lost elf who felt like they had no cheer to give. Realizing Rocko had a good heart, the Elf apologized to Rocko for it was he who told guests not to come. But on Christmas Day, it was all a thing of the past because everyone showed up to celebrate. While it has the lowest score among the episodes, it was one of Rocko’s Modern Life’s best episodes.
13 Side Hustle
‘Friendiversary’ – 7.9
Side Hustle is one of the newer shows on this list after premiering in 2020 and lasting for two seasons. The live-action comedy follows two best friends, Lex and Presley, as they create side hustles to pay for the boat they accidentally destroyed.
The comedy was innovative and inspiring, it even had a Christmas-themed episode called ‘Friendiversary.’ With the holidays around the corner, the friends had their own holiday that they also celebrated annually, Friendiversary. However, when a snowstorm halts Lex and Presley from getting each other gifts, they brave the weather in the spirit of the holiday.
12 Victorious
A Christmas Tori – 7.9
Victorious was a huge success, starring names like Victoria Justice and Ariana Grande. It allowed viewers to see a new creative side to Nickelodeon. In this special holiday episode, there’s a mix of emotions among the Hollywood Arts students.
André has a bad grade while the others are annoyed about their Secret Santa undertaking. To get back in the Christmas spirit, the gang decides to put their whole heart into their Secret Santa gifts. Whoever has the worst gift had to endure caroling with Sikowitz. All in all, fans of the show rated this jolly episode a 7.9 as it’s one of the best Nickelodeon shows from the 2000s.
11 Hey Arnold!
‘Arnold’s Thanksgiving’ – 8.0
In season 3, Nickelodeon fans fell in love with ‘Arnold’s Thanksgiving.’ Hey Arnold! covered some pretty dark topics over the years and the Thanksgiving episode was no different.
In the episode, Olga and Arnold head to their teacher Mr. Simmons’ house for Thanksgiving when they were both sick of their family’s traditions. It wasn’t until they left Mr. Simmons’ home that they realized how thankful they were for their own families. As always, the episode had a great lesson for young audiences while also being entertaining.
10 The Fairly Oddparents
‘It’s Christmas Every Day!’ – 8.0
Having fairy godparents was every child’s dream, and after Nickelodeon came up with The Fairly Oddparents, kids wanted their own pair of fairy godparents like Timmy Turner.
In this special holiday episode called ‘It’s Christmas Every Day!’ Timmy pulls the ultimate rookie move and asks his godparents to celebrate Christmas every single day of the year. Instead of being a magical experience filled with wonder and surprise, Santa is working to the bone and getting all the love, which infuriates other holidays. The episode had a fun concept, solidifying that Fairly Oddparents is one of the best Nickelodeon cartoons of all time.
9 Rugrats
‘The Santa Experience’ – 8.1
As kids, there was rarely a poor Rugrats episode. These talking babies went on amazing adventures and had an unbreakable bond. It lines up that the holiday episode ‘The Santa Experience’ came up with an 8.1 rating from IMDb.
In this episode, the babies head to the mall to take pictures with Santa Claus. As always, Angelica had some sassy quotes for Santa and told him everything she wants. When he tells her she’s greedy for wanting so much, she pulls off his beard and proves to every child that he’s not the real Santa. As one can imagine, the entire family had a lot of explaining to do throughout the episode.
8 Doug
‘Doug’s Christmas Story’ – 8.1
Doug was on for seven seasons and made an impact on many of its viewers. Since Doug spent a lot of his time inside his own head, fans connected with the same kind of daydreams and nightmares.
This holiday-themed episode saw the true love between Doug and his dog Porkchop. After Doug’s friend Beebe is attacked by a dog near the lake, she thinks it was Porkchop that did it. However, Doug knew Porkchop would never hurt a human being. Doug spends the rest of the snow-filled episode trying to prove to everyone that Porkchop was innocent before he was sentenced to life in the pound. Since Doug got Porkchop for Christmas, this was an endearing episode. It’s a hidden gem that can now be viewed on Disney+.
7 Kenan & Kel
‘Merry Christmas, Kenan’ – 8.2
After Kenan and Kel became popular on Nickelodeon’s All That, they were eventually given their own show. Thankfully, viewers got a holiday episode out of the series called ‘Merry Christmas, Kenan.’
In the episode, Kel surprises Kenan by telling him the live show will be their Christmas episode, surprising him with winter effects and Christmas happenings to get him in the holiday spirit. Since these two best friends are hilarious and always up to their own shenanigans, this was an episode to remember.
6 Big Time Rush
‘Big Time Rush Christmas Part One’ – 8.4
The famous foursome of Big Time Rush had their own show on Nickelodeon. Since they were a boy band, the odds of them creating a holiday album were very high.
In this episode, the group was getting ready to head to Minnesota for Christmas but when they realized they only had a couple of hours to record three songs, they panicked. They scurry to find guest stars and record different songs in the short amount of time they had. They even sneaked into Miranda Cosgrove’s own special! After four seasons, Nickelodeon viewers want to know where Big Time Rush is now, especially after a top holiday episode.
5 Pinky & The Brain
‘A Pinky & The Brain Christmas’ – 8.6
On Nickelodeon’s sister channel, NickToons, viewers got to watch their favorite mice in Pinky & the Brain. In the episode ‘A Pinky & The Brain Christmas,’ Brain does everything he can to control the lives of millions and gets Santa to deliver his own doll, Noodle Noggin, to every house in the world. Through Noodle Noggin, Brain will be able to control the actions of everyone.
As usual, Brain’s plan didn’t work out when he and Pinky headed to the North Pole dressed as elves, and when he gets a chance to read Pinky’s Christmas wish list to Santa, he’s moved to tears when he realizes he asked for nothing for himself, just happiness for his buddy Brain.
4 Bucket And Skinner’s Epic Adventures
‘Epic Christmas’ – 8.7
Bucket and Skinner’s Epic Adventures was a live-action sitcom geared toward Nickelodeon teens. The series followed Bucket and Skinner getting in and out of countless messes throughout their California town.
‘Epic Christmas’ is the show’s take on Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. After Bucket’s family Christmas vacation is canceled, the three ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future visit him in his sleep. As a Nickelodeon show, the message was to appreciate Christmas and those he loved before it was too late.
3 SpongeBob SquarePants
‘Christmas Who?’ – 8.7
In ‘Christmas Who?’ Sandy Cheeks tells SpongeBob what Christmas is and how big of a deal Santa was on land. SpongeBob (and the rest of the town) had never heard of Christmas before and decide to celebrate. But when Santa doesn’t show up, everyone is annoyed at SpongeBob for getting their hopes up.
But on a rare occasion, Squidward decides to dress up as Santa, give away all of his possessions, and make SpongeBob the happiest sponge. By the end of the episode, Santa thanks Squidward for his good deeds. It’s one of the best winter SpongeBob SquarePants episodes.
2 Side Hustle
‘A Mouth Noise Christmas’ – 9.1
Another Side Hustle episode, ‘A Mouth Noise Christmas’ is one of the highest-rated holiday episodes on Nickelodeon.
Mouth Noise is a band that Lex and Presley created with their best friend Munchy. With the Christmas spirit in the air, Mouth Noise gets back together for a holiday performance. The only problem is that live music is soon banned by a group of naysayers, which means Mouth Noise had to save Christmas for the sake of their town. Between the drama and the music, this was a great episode.
1 Hey Arnold!
‘Arnold’s Christmas’ – 9.2
‘Arnold’s Christmas’ isn’t just Hey Arnold!’s best episode, it’s one of the network’s best in history. Pretty much everyone who watched Nickelodeon fell in love with this Christmas episode.
With Arnold pulling his neighbor Mr. Hyunh as his Secret Santa, he decides the best gift for him would be to bring his daughter back. Mr. Hyunh had to give his daughter up in the Fall of Saigon in hopes of giving her a better life. Meanwhile, Helga tries her hardest to give Arnold a great gift, which just so happens to be the best gift for Mr. Hyunh, too. Helga proved to be a good person and Arnold helped out a neighbor in need. This episode had everything to get viewers in the holiday spirit, giving it the highest rating.
