The real victim of streaming culture? Holiday episodes

Halloween and Thanksgiving are over and done, which means Christmas is right around the corner and Mariah Carey is unthawed. Once, there was a time that would also mean that we had an abundance of holiday episodes of our favorite TV shows to look forward to. In the time of streaming, though, those episodes are becoming increasingly rare.

Not only has streaming cut our beloved 20+ episode seasons, but it has also driven the holiday episode tradition to near extinction. Besides just the typical Christmas or Thanksgiving episodes, Halloween episodes are also more or less gone. Brooklyn Nine-Nine always had Halloween episodes I looked forward to. Luckily, there are still some shows, like Ghosts, that still carry on holiday traditions, which I am very thankful for.

Now, if there is a holiday episode, it is usually squished into an episode without it being the main focus. Why take away the joy of landing on a Christmas episode in June during a binge? I know, of course, that the ability to binge any show at any time is the reason. A part of me understands that, though it doesn’t like it.

Streaming is very different

Back when shows aired on cable or local networks, there was a fixed schedule. If you didn’t record it, or TiVo it, or any of those things, you missed it until you either caught a rerun or bought the series on DVD. That kind of landscape gave us a true feeling of seasons. Fall was always when new seasons started, and May was always the end. Everything used to fit into a neat little schedule perfect for the big holidays.

It does make sense, in a way, to cut those types of episodes. Now we can watch shows whenever, wherever. They premiere at all times of the year. You can’t always slot a Christmas episode for December, or a Halloween episode for October. Likewise, episodes that gave us our favorite made-up holidays, such as Galentine’s Day from Parks and Recreation, no longer seem to exist in the streaming world, either.

While I am happy to have my favorite shows easily accessible and able to watch whenever sometimes I do find myself wishing we could go back to the schedule of old. Have the summers off, and the fall for the new seasons to begin. Give us long seasons with plenty of room for fluff in between. Let’s experience the joy of special episodes while the festivity is all around you.

I miss spending time with the characters and seeing them in different situations. So many streaming shows are fast-paced, almost movie-like. There is not a lot of time to linger around and give that gradual character growth. Friends, for example, is well-known for its many holiday episodes. They were often just a half-hour filled with shenanigans; that sort of whimsy doesn’t seem to be thought about often anymore.

Supernatural also had a few excellent Christmas-centered episodes. They hold up well enough to be watched at any time. The same could be said for House, M.D. These episodes used to go outside of the norm for the storylines, and they did so cleverly. It seems like this kind of writing is no longer the standard, and it doesn’t feel like it ever will be again.

While some streaming shows, like Ted Lasso, have given us holiday episodes recently, it is not enough. Shows thrive on longevity and abundance, and with streaming, that isn’t a thing anymore. No one wants to put a Christmas episode in a series that begins and ends in July. Personally, however, I wouldn’t mind that. There is just something about the next episode starting with snow falling or jingle bells in the distance while it’s ninety degrees outside that hits.

Streamers, please, I’m begging you. Reconsider. Give us back this little slice of joy in an increasingly bleak world.