Have yourself a Christmas filled with good cheer and 'Glee'

Is not every episode of "Glee," in essence, a Christmas episode? Filled with good cheer and generosity, the show merely transposes the holiday spirit onto other times of the year and other moods.

Therefore the tone of the first "Glee" Christmas collection is no different than, say, its Madonna episode, or the one where the glee club is worried about making it to regionals, or the other one where the glee club is worried about making it to regionals. Which is to say: Lea Michele is the star, her blend of R&B and Broadway inflections well suited to the task of wide-eyed holiday desire, as on "O Holy Night" and "We Need a Little Christmas."

Other selections are clever, including Wham!'s "Last Christmas," and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch," from "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" But given the show's commitment to inclusion, it's surprising there's no effort here to celebrate the holidays of other cultures. Hanukkah's feeling left out, as is Kwanzaa. And nothing for Eid al-Fitr?

— Jon Caramanica, New York Times