Holiday TV preview: From Hallmark movies to 'Fraggle Rock'

Yes, Virginia, there is a lot of Christmas TV — far more than you or anyone else could ever possibly watch. Starting Sunday, and over the next five weeks, there will be hundreds of holiday-themed movies and specials, from ABC to UPtv, each promising essentially the same thing — romance, mistletoe, and snow.

Lots and lots of snow.

Where to turn? For starters, right here. This brief guide takes a quick tour of 17 notable movies and specials between now and Christmas.

There are three major original Christmas movie networks — Hallmark (34 movies this season), Great American Family (18) and Lifetime (11) — each with a recognizable and slightly different vibe. Hallmark may seem somewhat overrepresented here, but there's a reason for that. Hallmark's movies — so cloying, so formulaic, so charming, so irresistibly watchable — will proliferate over the next few weeks, on both the main network and streaming channel, Hallmark +, averaging out at nearly one a night.

There are some newer major forces in this year's holiday TV free-for-all (Netflix, Apple, Prime). They'll be joining other established players which include MeTV and Cozi TV (lots of reruns), TCM (movie classics) and even the Food Network (Christmas cookie bake-offs anyone? )

Meanwhile, here are our choices to get you in the holiday spirit:
 

'Guarding Stars'

Nov. 18, Netflix

Andie MacDowell is back in this Christmas-themed movie, set in Montana where Hannah (Leighton Meester, "Gossip Girl"), is hired as the bodyguard of action star Jack (Jared Padalecki, "Supernatural"). Under that big sky, a Christmas romance blossoms. (MacDowell plays Jack's mom.) All loosely based on Katherine Center’s 2022 novel "The Bodyguard" (Did Netflix change the title so viewers wouldn't confuse it with the hit Whitney Houston movie of the same name?)

'Clashing Through the Snow'

Nov. 23, Prime Video

Bitter rivals and publishing editors Ryan (Christopher Briney, "The Summer I Turned Pretty") and Hannah (Michelle Randolph, "Landman") are stranded at an airport by a snowstorm, so they rent a car to get back to New York. In this hoariest of holiday romcom tropes — road trip carping turns to true love — Ryan and Hannah forge a romantic bond as their misadventures pile up. Lukas Gage, Julia Fox and Paris Hilton also appear. (Not to be confused with Hallmark's 2021's "Crashing Through the Snow.")

By the way, Nov. 29's Hallmark movie "Miles to Christmas" — starring Hallmark favorite Alison Sweeney — has a broadly similar plot.
 

'Pillsbury Bake-Off Classic'

8 p.m. Nov. 23, CBS (next day on Paramount+)

After more than 20 years, CBS has revived one of TV's oldest, unscripted competitions — the Pillsbury-sponsored "Grand National Recipe and Baking Contest," which dates all the way back to 1949. Drew Barrymore hosts, following the likes of Arthur Godfrey, Art Linkletter, Bob Barker, Alex Trebek and Marie Osmond. (Incidentally, Barrymore's first job in front of a camera was a 1979 Pillsbury commercial.) Contestants go through five baking rounds en route to a $25,000 prize.

'The Christmas Eve Feast'

6 p.m. Nov, 27, Hallmark

The Feast of Seven Fishes (La Vigilia) stars here, as the old Christmas Eve tradition of serving various fish-based dishes. New York chef Silvy (Daniella Monet, "Victorious") returns home to Boston to help prepare the dinner, and find true love.

'A Sweet Christmas Anniversary'

8 p.m. Nov. 27, Great American Family

Candace Cameron Bure and Cameron Mathison play a couple celebrating their first wedding anniversary in a magical town. ("The Greatest Christmas Gift," starring Danica McKellar and Matthew Marsden, follows on Nov. 29 at 8 p.m.) For you holiday movie novices, GAF's movies tend to be more faith-based in a sea of secular holiday films. (On Optimum, GAF is on Channel 184, and 743 on Verizon Fios.)

'Holiday Ever After: A Disney World Wish Come True'

8 p.m. Nov. 28, Hallmark

Hallmark's first collaboration with Disney turns into this Disney World fever dream starring the Queen of Hallmark movies, Lacey Chabert. She plays a TV producer, Lindsey, looking for romance which she does not initially find on a blind date with tightly wound dork Philip (Travis Van Winkle.) Later, she and her extended family head to Disney World, and — coincidentally! — so does Philip. After Lindsey makes a wish at the Cinderella Fountain, its intended magic goes to work. While this is mostly a movie-length promotion for Disney World, Chabert brings her usual charm and moxie.

'Christmas Everyday: Married and Bright'

8 p.m. Nov. 28, Lifetime

In this sequel to 2025's "Christmas Everyday," Brandy Norwood's fashion designer Francine "Fancy" Ballantine is back, planning her Christmas wedding when her ex turns up (uh-oh). What's notable here: This launches the annual Lifetime "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" holiday event series.

'Eight Nights for Love'

6 p.m. Nov. 29, Hallmark

The rare Hanukkah-themed Hallmark confection, this high-concept fantasy unfolds over eight days through a time travel twist involving an antique menorah. Hannah — played by Hallmark star Hunter King, also of "The Young and the Restless" — works at an auction house where she supervises the sale of a family's Judaica collection. Enter that magic menorah. Hallmark — which rarely passes up a time travel fantasy — typically has one Hanukkah-themed movie per season.

'Dancing With the Holidays'

8 p.m. Dec. 1, ABC

Even more than the other networks, ABC this year is leaning into the holiday on several shows — "Abbott Elementary," "America's Funniest Home Videos," "Celebrity Family Feud," "Press Your Luck," "Scrubs" and "What Would You Do?: Holiday Edition" — but this "Dancing With the Stars" special just may be the centerpiece. No details (yet) on dancers, celebrity guests or featured songs.

'CMA Country Christmas'

9 p.m. Dec. 1, ABC (next day on Disney+ and Hulu)

The 17th annual Christmas hullabaloo is back, with — per ABC — Lady A, Trisha Yearwood, Dan + Shay, Jordan Davis, Russell Dickerson and Zach Top, along with gospel singers BeBe and Debbie Winans, guitarist Grace Bowers and violinist Lindsey Stirling.

'In a Holidaze'

Dec. 2, Netflix

Yet another Yuletide meets "Groundhog Day" time loop fantasy, this one based on the novel by writing duo Christina Lauren (aka Christina Hobbs) and Lauren Billings. Mae (Maddie Ziegler of "Dance Moms") heads to her family cabin in Utah. Brooding over a failed romance and her future prospects, she's forced to relive Christmas Day, over and over, until ... Rob Lowe and "Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin's" Elias Kacavas co-star.

'Fraggle Rock: A Holiday Gift'

Dec. 4, Apple TV

Jim Henson's mid-'80s "Fraggle Rock" — recall furry critter puppets in a subterranean world — was rebooted by Apple in 2022, and now comes the second straight holiday special (last year's was "The First Snow of Fraggle Rock"). In this packed, energetic 35-minute kids special, some fraggles take a beautiful snowglobe from Doc's (Lilli Cooper) workshop, and it's left to Wembley to get it back. Nicole Scherzinger guests as herself.

'Christmas From the Heart'

8 p.m. Dec. 5, Lifetime

A linchpin of the network's 'It's a Wonderful Lifetime" franchise that stars Tia Mowry ("Sister, Sister") as a widow who goes to Portugal to meet the person who got her late husband's heart in a transplant — and falls for her brother ("Riverdale's" Henderson Wade.) The twist here besides that heart — it's not strictly a Christmas movie, but Christmas-adjacent.

'A Grand Biltmore Christmas'

8 p.m. Dec. 5, Hallmark

Another time-travel story, this one a loosely reconfigured version of on one of Hallmark's bigger Christmas hits of the decade — 2023's "A Biltmore Christmas," which was about someone who went back to the 1940s. This movie was also filmed at Asheville, North Carolina's Biltmore estate, the largest private home in the U.S., and a spectacle that is every bit Oheka Castle's equal. (Filming took place last January in the Conservatory, Walled Garden, Stable Courtyard and Bass Pond.) The plot: During the Biltmore's first Christmas in 1895, a young girl meets a boy, and then 20 years later, meets him again, only to learn he's a tourist from 2026 who time traveled back to 1915. Holland Roden, Niall Matter and Andie MacDowell — back in a Hallmark movie this time — star.

'The Price Is Right at Night Live Holiday Special'

8 p.m. Dec. 13, CBS

More than that "holiday" tie-in, the operative word here is "live" — "Price's" first live edition since its launch 54 years ago. The holiday theme seems incidental: What really matters here is watching the crew scramble to transform the set and change out the games. (Another CBS "Price" special — "The Price Is Right: 20 Seasons of Drew Carey" — airs at 8 p.m. on Dec. 15.)

'Peace on Earth: Christmas With the Tabernacle Choir'

9 p.m. Dec. 14 and 8 p.m. Dec. 24, WNET/13

The legendary Tabernacle Choir — 360 voices, along with a near-century-old weekly broadcast tradition ("Music & The Spoken Word") — is back with more holiday music and spoken words. Notable this year (the broadcast was actually taped in 2025): Broadway superstar Stephanie J. Block ("Wicked") and husband Sebastian Arcelus ("Jersey Boys") are onboard to perform and narrate.

'Voices of Hope'

9 p.m. Dec. 26, CBS

The Tabernacle Choir is back again with this special hosted by Kevin Frazier and Nischelle Turner, along with performances by Donny Osmond, David Foster and Katharine McPhee. This marks the 100th anniversary of the first time the choir performed at the Hollywood Bowl, in 1926.