Christmas is my second favorite holiday only behind Halloween and certain things get me in the mood for the holiday more than others. These range from various television shows and films. This is a countdown of my ten favorite Christmas shows and movies. Enjoy.

1. A Christmas Story: It’s probably extremely cliche to say that A Christmas story is my favorite thing involving the holiday. For me it just perfectly captures the spirit of Christmas and what it’s like to be a kid in that time of year.

2. The Office Christmas Episodes: Being a superfan of the show probably has a lot to do with my love for these episodes. My favorite of all the episodes is probably A Benihana Christmas or Christmas Party. I have always adored the characters on this show and the writers always seem to knock it out of the park in these episodes. My favorite moment form these episodes is probably the Jim and Pam gift exchange in Christmas Party.

3. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation: I’ve been watching this since birth probably. My family makes it a standard every year. We watch it in early December and on Christmas day and it always brings a smile to my face. It’s the funniest of all the Christmas films on this list.

4. Nightmare Before Christmas:This is undoubtedly my favorite childhood film. I’ve watched it countless times and it’s perfect. Jack Skellington is my hero.

5. It’s a Wonderful Life: Another standard answer. I only watched this for the first time in my life last year and fell in love with it. Frank Capra was really good at creating sentimentality in his films and this is maybe the best example.

6. The Simpsons Christmas Episodes: Another series that I just enjoy tremendously. I make it a goal every year to watch these episodes on the first night it snows. I’ve done this since I was ten and I don’t plan on changing that any time soon.

7. Black Christmas: The morbid horror fan in me loves this Christmas movie. Horror and Christmas have been tapped into recently with poor results, but this 1970′s classic directed by Bob Clark the same director who made A Christmas Story is wonderful. Arguably one of the first slasher films and one of the finest pieces of genre cinema I’ve ever encountered.

8. Die Hard: Another unconventional pick for a favorite Christmas film but it gets me in the mood. What is more Christmas like than Bruce Willis killing terrorists? The answer is nothing.

9. Stop Motion Classics: These include Rudolph and Santa Claus. I try to watch them every year when they air on CBS and ABC Family. They embody the Christmas spirit perfectly.

10. Community Christmas Specials: A Relatively new show but I love their takes on Christmas. Last night’s ode to stop motion was a stroke of genius and I loved every second of it. The first episode about Christmas in Season One is also spectacular and was the episode that got me interested in the show in the first place.

Early Merry Christmas to all of you!!!!!

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