I’m going against the stream, maybe for the last time.
My annual Holiday Program Guide — which I’ve done for 38 years — has many of the favorite TV specials you’ll see for free over-the-air television and cable TV.
But not all.
The Alastair Sims, Reginald Owen, George C. Scott, Bill Murray, Muppets and Mr. Magoo versions of A Christmas Carol all have migrated to various streaming services. Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney’s White Christmas, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, won’t air on American Movie Classics, as it has for years.
So this year I’m streaming of a White Christmas. Or I’m Scrooged.
Patrick Stewart’s A Christmas Carol from 1999 airs only once — at 10 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, on TNT. Natalie Wood’s charming Miracle On 34th Street from 1947 airs only once on cable — at 3 a.m. Christmas morning on AMC. But you can still see Richard Attenborough’s 1994 remake on Disney’s Freeform. (It’s not as good!)
You’ll still find plenty of animated Christmas classics in my list: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (which returns to NBC for its 60th anniversary), How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Frosty the Snowman, Shrek the Halls, Little Drummer Boy, Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas, Prep & Landing, Mickey’s Once Upon A Christmas, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus and Arthur’s Perfect Christmas.
Many of your favorite Christmas movies will be available to those who haven’t cut the cord: Elf, It’s A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Story, The Polar Express, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, Jack Frost, Four Christmases, Deck the Halls, Jingle All The Way, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas, Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas, The Preacher’s Wife, A Very Brady Christmas and a trio of Home Alones and The Santa Clauses.
But not Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights, Scrooged, The Muppet Christmas Carol, It’s a Very Muppet Christmas Movie, Bad Santa, Surviving Christmas, Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas, A Garfield Christmas Special and Holiday Inn, which included the screen debut of the song “White Christmas.” They’ve all gone streaming.
Or Ben Stiller’s Nutcrackers filmed near Blanchester with the four Janson brother. It’s on Hulu.
Look carefully amidst the reruns and you’ll find some new holiday specials: American Masters: Brenda Lee: Rockin’ Around her 1958 Christmas hit (Dec. 14, PBS); Christmas in Rockefeller Center with Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys, Dan + Shay, Megan Hilty, Jennifer Hudson and Little Big Town (Dec. 4, NBC); A Motown Christmas with Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Martha Reeves, the Temptations, Ashanti and Jordin Sparks (Dec. 11, NBC); Little Big Town’s Christmas At The Opry (Dec. 16, NBC); Joy – Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir with Downton Abby's Lesley Nicol (Dec. 17, PBS); Messiah from Trinity Church performed by the Trinity Church choir and orchestra in New York City (Dec. 22, WGUC-FM); and Cincinnati’s Vocal Arts Ensemble: Candlelit Christmas holiday concert (Dec. 24, WGUC-FM).
My holiday guide isn’t all about Christmas. It includes We Remember: Songs of Survivors about Holocaust survivors partnering with songwriters for a community concert (Dec. 6, CET Arts Channel 48.3); Hanukkah Lights Stories 2024 with Susan Stamberg and Murray Horwitz (Dec. 23, WVXU-FM); Tinsel Tales 2: More NPR Christmas Favorites with Lynn Neary hosting National Public Radio’s most requested holiday stories (Dec. 25, WVXU); and anther Itzhak Perlman’s Hanukkah Radio Party (Dec. 25, WGUC-FM).
And you’ll have plenty of opportunities to spend the holidays with those familiar old TV faces from Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Mama’s Family, All In The Family, M*A*S*H, Happy Days, The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, The Honeymooners, The Twilight Zone, Andy Griffith, Gunsmoke, Good Times, Green Acres, Gilligan’s Island, Bonanza, Sanford & Son, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Carol Burnett, Dragnet, the Ed Sullivan Show and Ruth Lyons’ 50-50 Club.
Print out my list, and check it twice. You’ll find some shows that are nostalgic or nice.
Here’s the linked PDF.
