Christmas movies, TV specials from ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ to ‘SNL Christmas’
"Frosty the Snowman," the popular animated musical special narrated by Jimmy Durante, will be shown Nov. 28 on CBS/2. Credit: CLASSIC MEDIA
Holiday mashup is heating up! Thanksgiving rings in the Christmas season, as TV turns on the tinsel before the turkey gets consumed. Many of the season’s most awaited perennials will hit the air before you know it. So look for your faves, set your DVRs, start watching. (And keep checking Newsday’s Saturday TV page for holiday viewing updates.)
A Charlie Brown Christmas. Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip kids are on the big screen now, too, but their first-ever animated appearance came in this 1965 TV special (Monday at 9 p.m., Dec. 24 at 9 p.m., ABC/7). Both airings are preceded by 8 p.m.’s hour retrospective “It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown.”
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Singer-actor Burl Ives narrates ’60s stop-motion animation from seasonal studio Rankin-Bass (Tuesday at 8 p.m., CBS/2).
A Christmas Carol. Alastair Sim’s 1951 Scrooge portrait finds homes this year on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries (tomorrow at 5 p.m., Monday at 7 a.m.) and FXM (Dec. 24 7 p.m.-3 a.m., Dec. 25 1:30 p.m.-3 a.m.).
It’s a Wonderful Life. James Stewart’s 1946 life-without-me film drama gets its annual airings (Dec. 5/Dec. 24 at 8 p.m., NBC/4).
Miracle on 34th Street. Child star Natalie Wood scoffs at Santa Claus until Macy’s hires the “real” thing in 1947’s black-and-white original (Dec. 10 at 7 and 9:15 p.m., AMC).
A Christmas Story. Writer-narrator Jean Shepherd’s 1983 tribute to his ’40s Midwest childhood now gets a double marathon (Dec. 24-25, 7 p.m.-7 p.m., TNT; Dec. 24-25, 8 p.m.-8 p.m., TBS).
Muppet family fun. The puppets get Scrooge-y in “The Muppet Christmas Carol” (tomorrow night at 8, Lifetime). Later comes ’70s musical fave “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” (Dec. 12 at 12:15 p.m.), preceded by “The Bells of Fraggle Rock” (Dec. 12 at 11:30 a.m., ABC Family).
Seasonal sounds. “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (Wednesday, Dec. 2, 7-9 p.m., NBC/4); “CMA Country Christmas” (Dec. 3, 9-11 p.m., ABC/7); “Michael Bublé’s Christmas in Hollywood” (Dec. 10, 8 p.m., NBC); “iHeartRadio Jingle Ball” (Dec. 17, 8 p.m., CW/11).
MORE MERRY: THIS WEEK (AND BEYOND)
SERIES EPISODES. New festivity: “Young & Hungry” (Nov. 26 at 11 a.m., ABC Family). Nov. 26’s vintage holidays include “The Lucy Show” (10:30-11:30 a.m., 4:30-5:30 p.m., 10:30-11:30 p.m., Decades/2.2), 1950s “Studio One” drama “Hound Dog Man” (11:30 a.m., 5:30 p.m., 11:30 p.m., Decades), and “The Simpsons” (9 p.m., FXX). Look for more seasonal shows Nov. 27 — “Donna Reed” (5:30 a.m., MeTV); “Highway to Heaven” (6 a.m., Cozi/4.2); “The Beverly Hillbillies” (8-9 a.m., MeTV); “The Lone Ranger” (9 a.m., Cozi); “Matlock” (10 a.m., MeTV); “Dragnet” (11 a.m., Cozi); “Adam-12” (12:30 p.m., Cozi); “Gunsmoke” (1 p.m., MeTV); “CHiPs” (6 p.m., MeTV); “M*A*S*H” (7-8 p.m., MeTV); “Andy Griffith” (8 p.m., MeTV); “Murder, She Wrote” (8 p.m., Cozi); “King of the Hill” (9 p.m., Cartoon); “Carol Burnett” (11 p.m., MeTV); “Night Gallery” (2:30 a.m., MeTV); plus the splattered Santa of “Married With Children” (Nov. 29 5 a.m., TBS). Early warning — “SNL Christmas” runs Dec. 2 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC/4; Festivus hits “Seinfeld” Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m. on TBS.
ANIMATION. “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” (Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., ABC/7); “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (Nov. 27 at 8 p.m., CW/11); “Kung Fu Panda Holiday” (Nov. 27 at 9 p.m., CW); “Merry Madagascar” (Nov. 27 at 9:30 p.m., CW); “Frosty the Snowman” and “Frosty Returns” Nov. 28 at 8 and 8:30 p.m., CBS/2); “The Story of Santa Claus” (Nov. 28 at 9 p.m., CBS); Dr. Seuss’ “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Dec. 2 at 9 p.m., NBC/4).
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