Looking for some inspiration on how to ring in the new year? Here’s how some of your favorite characters spent the holiday on screens big and small.
David Schwimmer and Courteney Cox in ‘Friends’
Warner Bros. / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Movies and television shows have long had a fascination with New Year’s Eve, promising big parties and falling in love with strangers as the clock strikes midnight. Resolutions have also played a big role in plots, whether inspiring characters to be better or sending them to fail miserably in whatever they hoped to change about themselves.
From classic films like When Harry Met Sally and Bridget Jones’s Diary to television favorites like Friends and The Office, New Year’s Eve has been used to create some classic moments on screens both big and small. No matter your plans for ringing in the New Year, check out some of the best TV and movie moments revolving around Dec. 31.
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‘About a Boy’
Image Credit: Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection The 2002 film, starring Hugh Grant, Rachel Weiszand Toni Collette, has a memorable New Year’s scene when the two leads of the film meet at a party and set off a romance that is soon complicated by Will, played by Grant, lying that he has a son.
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‘About Time’
Image Credit: Courtesy Murray Close/Universal/courtesy Everett Collection Domhnall Gleeson and Rachel McAdams star in the 2013 romantic comedy centered on a man who has the ability to time travel and attempts to change his past. By making changes, he hopes to improve his future. However, though he hopes time travel can help him win Mary’s (McAdams) heart, he learns there are things he’s unable to control.
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‘The Age of Adaline’
Image Credit: Courtesy Diyah Pera/Lionsgate/courtesy Everett Collection In the 2015 film, Blake Lively stars as a woman recognized as thefirst baby born in San Francisco on New Year’s Day in 1908. After she faces a tragic car accident, her life is changed forever. After passing away from in a car accident, the woman is revived by lightning andbegins living a life in which she remains 29 years old.After spending many years alone, Lively’s character meets a man (played by Michiel Huisman) who impacts her new eternal life.
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‘Boogie Nights’
Image Credit: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection One of Boogie Nights‘ biggest scenes revolves around New Year’s, when assistant director Little Bill Thompson, played by William H. Macy, walks in on his porn star wife having sex with another man. He kills the two and himself as the countdown to the new year is going, starting off a dark spiral for the other characters in the movie.
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‘Bridget Jones’s Diary’
Image Credit: Miramax / Courtesy Everett Collection Starring Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth and Hugh Grant, Bridget Jones’s Diary is heavily centered around New Year’s, from Bridget (played by Zellweger) and Mark’s (Firth) first meeting at a New Year’s party to the role of New Year’s resolutions in Bridget’s life.
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‘Friends’
Image Credit: Warner Bros. / Courtesy: Everett Collection Friends had a few different New Year’s scenes across its 10-season run, focusing on who would kiss whom when the ball dropped, hiding Chandler and Monica’s relationship and getting on TV for Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin‘ Eve.
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‘Happy New Year, Charlie Brown!’
Image Credit: United Features Syndicate / Courtesy: Everett Collection This 1986 TV special shows Charlie Brown as he struggles to finish a book report over the holiday break so that he can attend a New Year’s party with his friends. His crush, Little Red-Haired Girl, shows up at the party and dances with Linus while he’s working on his homework, ruining his New Year’s Eve.
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‘Holidate’
Image Credit: Courtesy Steve Dietl/Netflix In this 2020 rom-com, holidays are an overarching theme as two strangers, Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey) agree to be each other’s platonic plus-ones for every event starting at New Year’s Eve — their first “holidate” — all the way to Christmas.
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‘The Holiday’
Image Credit: Courtesy Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection In the 2006 film from Nancy Meyers, Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet swap houses for the holidays as they reel from their respective heartbreak and need an escape. Though Diaz’s character relocating to an English cottage and Winslet to a Hollywood mansion result in some adjustment, they both unexpectedly find themselves and love in time for the New Year.
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‘How I Met Your Mother’
Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS/Courtesy Everett Collection In a season one episode of the hit series, the gang rents a limo on New Year’s Eve with grand plans of party-hopping across the city. A number of things go wrong and split up the group, only to have them reunite before the clock strikes midnight.
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‘New Year’s Eve’
Image Credit: Andrew Schwartz/©Warner Bros. Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection 2011’s star-studded New Year’s Eve, with a cast including Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Jon Bon Jovi, Robert De Niro, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ashton Kutcher, follows strangers across New York City on Dec. 31 until they eventually all meet up for a New Year’s party.
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‘Ocean’s 11’
Image Credit: Everett In the 1960 original Ocean’s 11starringFrank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr., a heist is planned to launch on New Year’s Eve at midnight. The film would go on to be revived in the popular Ocean’s Eleven trilogy starring George Clooney,Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts.
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‘The Office’
Image Credit: Chris Haston / © NBC / Courtesy Everett Collection In a season seven episode, the co-workers gather in the conference room to make New Year’s resolutions, which Pam has posted on a board to motivate everyone. While most have big goals, Creed just wants to do a cartwheel.
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‘Seinfeld’
Image Credit: Castle Rock Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection In season eight of Seinfeld, the group competes to plan the best and most over-the-top New Year’s party for the new millennium.
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‘Sex and the City’
Image Credit: New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection The 2008 Sex and the City movie features a memorable New Year’s Eve scene, showing what all four friends are up to as the clock strikes midnight. Carrie falls asleep early but rushes to be by Miranda’s side when she needs her, while Charlotte and Samantha spend the night with their significant others.
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‘Sleepless in Seattle’
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Nora Ephron’s classic 1993 rom-com is full of heart-fluttering moments between Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan — such as finally meeting atop the Empire State Building — but there’s also the scene where Hanks’ character Sam imagines a New Year’s Eve conversation with his deceased wife: “Here’s to us.”
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‘When Harry Met Sally’
Image Credit: Columbia Pictures/ Courtesy: Everett Collection In one of the most iconic New Year’s Eve scenes of all time, Harry, played by Billy Crystal, professes his love for Sally, played by Meg Ryan, as the clock strikes midnight. It is one of the final scenes in the 1989 film and provides a happy-ever-after for the classic romantic comedy.
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‘High School Musical’
Image Credit: Disney Channel/Courtesy Everett Collection The opening scene of High School Musical really was the “Start of Something New.” In the 2006 movie, Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez meet for the first time on New Year’s Eve. At the party, they sing a karaoke song together and sparks start to fly between the two of them, signaling what to expect for the musical trilogy.
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‘The Godfather: Part II’
Image Credit: CBS/Getty Images While the entire film isn’t centered around News Year’s Eve, one crucial scene in the movie does take place during the eventful night. At an NYE party in Cuba, Michael Corleone confronts his younger brother, Fredo, who betrayed him. “You broke my heart,” Corleone says as he gives his brother a not-so-romantic kiss.
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‘That ’70s Show’
Image Credit: Greg Gayne/20th Century Fox Film Corp. All rights reserved/Courtesy Everett Collection In the series finale of That ’70s Show, it’s New Year’s Eve and the last day of the decade. The episode is full of life changes as all the characters prepare to head into a new decade. But before they do, they all gather in the basement to end the year, decade and show.
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‘While You Were Sleeping’
Image Credit: Courtesy Everett Collection Taking place from Christmas to New Year’s Eve, the film follows Lucy, played by Sandra Bullock, as she finds herself having to choose between a real love and a fabricated love. Then on NYE, Lucy takes control of the situation during a pivotal moment in the film.
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‘Modern Family’
Image Credit: Peter “Hopper” Stone/Disney General Entertainment Content/Getty Images This memorable family takes on New Year’s Eve in season four and it is guaranteed to be just as chaotic as any other day. In the episode, the adults decide to ring in the new year in Palm Springs, while Haley and Alex babysit everyone else at home. Nothing goes as planned, just as one would expect.
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‘An Affair to Remember’
Image Credit: 20th Century Fox Film Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection The film begins on New Year’s Eve, with a kiss that changes everything. After the memorable night and remembering that they are each in their own relationships, Nickie Ferrante and Terry McKay agree to meet at the top of the Empire State Building in six months if they still want to be together. But what happens during that time is full of emotions, questions and the unknown.
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‘Are We There Yet?’
Image Credit: Columbia/Courtesy Everett Collection An unforgettable, wild trip is one way to end the year. In the 2005 family film, Nick Persons, played by Ice Cube, agrees to take the children of the woman he likes from Portland to Vancouver on New Year’s Eve. Mixing a man who doesn’t like children with energetic kids makes for quite the adventure.
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‘Rent’
Image Credit: Columbia/Courtesy Everett Collection The film, adapted from Jonathan Larson’s award-winning Broadway production, features a memorable and impactful New Year’s Eve scene. The group of friends living in New York City together ring in the new year singing one of the movie’s most iconic songs, “Seasons of Love,” all while hoping for the best in the new year.
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‘The O.C.’
Image Credit: WB/Courtesy Everett Collection In season one of The O.C., one of the show’s most romantic moments — especially for Marissa (Mischa Barton) and Ryan (Ben McKenzie) — takes place on New Year’s Eve. After Marissa tells Ryan she loves him for the first time and he can only respond with “thank you,” she heads to Oliver’s (Taylor Handley) party. Worried something might happen, Ryan rushes over and arrives just as the clock strikes midnight, finally saying “I love you” back. Creator Josh Schwartz revealed in 2023 that the scene was partly inspired by When Harry Met Sally (also on this list).
This story was first published on Dec. 29, 2017, and has been updated with additional films and shows.
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