MGM, United Feature Syndicate, Paramount Pictures, Rankin Bass
Does Christmas start too early every year? Not if we’re watching it on TV!
Each year, we publish our guide to catching all the best old and new Christmas specials on TV, including the most important star of the holiday television season, one Mr. Rudolph.
This year’s guide will tell you all the times you can watch the beloved red-nosed reindeer in action, but also his Rankin/Bass cousins “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and “Frosty the Snowman,” as well as all eleventy-billion versions of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “Elf,” “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “Die Hard” (is it a Christmas movie? No, but it’s still great).
But wait, there’s more. We’ll include new original holiday movies from Hallmark, Lifetime, OWN, VH1, BET, Netflix and others — but first airings only, since the Hallmark movie repeats alone would eat up all the oxygen here. And since these movies have thankfully become more inclusive in recent years, holiday offerings will also tell stories (usually of romance) with Hanukkah and Kwanzaa settings.
Notes on how we put together…