My sisters and I were raised on TV, and Christmas was no exception. Our Grammy used to save the insert in the newspaper with the entire schedule of Christmas specials. We would circle the ones we wanted to watch, usually starting the Friday after Thanksgiving with It’s a Wonderful Life and ending Christmas day with a 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story. Not surprisingly, all the good ones were about goodwill, not presents.
Many years and Roma Downing and Tim Allen Christmas specials later, I long for the clarity of that folded sheet of newsprint that contained all I needed to know. So this year, I’m going to recreate it for you. Please allow me to weed out the craptastic and present only the divine. Each and every one will put you in the Slow Christmas spirit.
Thursday 11/18
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (ABC 8pm)
Friday 11/19
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (TBS 8pm)
Thursday 11/25
Miracle on 34th St (NBC 2pm)
Home for the Holidays (WE 1pm & 3pm)
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (ABC 8pm)
Tuesday 11/30
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer (CBS 8pm)
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (ABC 8pm)
Scrooged (AMC 8pm)
Wednesday 12/1
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (ABCFam 8pm & 10:30pm)
Scrooged (AMC 8pm)
Thursday 12/2
Scrooged (AMC 8pm)
Friday 12/3
It Happened on 5th Avenue [1947] (TCM 10pm)
Saturday 12/4
A Christmas Carol [1938] (TCM 9am)
Sunday 12/5
Holiday Affair [1950] (TCM 12:30pm)
Monday 12/6
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys (ABCFam 7pm)
Tuesday 12/7
A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC 8pm)
Thursday 12/9
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABCFam 8pm)
Friday 12/10
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABCFam 7pm)
A Christmas Carol [1938] (TCM 8pm)
Scrooge [1970] (TCM 9:30pm)
Saturday 12/11
White Christmas [1954] (AMC 8pm & 10:45pm)
Meet Me in St. Louis [1944] (TCM 8pm)
It’s a Wonderful Life [1946] (NBC 8pm)
Sunday 12/12
Holiday Inn [1942] (AMC 1:30am)
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas [1974] (ABCFam 7:30am)
The Shop Around the Corner [1940] (TCM 10:15am)
The Bishop’s Wife [1947] (TCM 12:00pm)
White Christmas [1954] (AMC 8pm & 10:45pm)
Tuesday 12/14
Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (ABCFam 8pm & 10:30pm)
Thursday 12/16
A Charlie Brown Christmas (ABC 8pm)
Friday 12/17
Holiday Affair [1950] (TCM 8pm)
Saturday 12/18
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas [1974] (ABCFam 8:30am)
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABCFam 5pm & 10pm)
Sunday 12/19
It Happened on 5th Avenue [1947] (TCM 10am)
Scrooge [1970] (TCM 12pm)
Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town (ABCFam 5pm)
Monday 12/20
The Shop Around the Corner [1940] (TCM 10pm)
Friday 12/24
Tenth Avenue Angel [1948] (TCM 9:15am)
Holiday Affair [1950] (TCM 10:30am)
It Happened on 5th Avenue [1947] (TCM 12pm)
Scrooge [1970] (TCM 6pm)
The Bishop’s Wife [1947] (TCM 8pm)
It’s a Wonderful Life [1946] (NBC 8pm)
Remember the Night [1940] (TCM 12am)
Saturday 12/25
Meet Me in St. Louis [1944] (TCM 2am)
The Shop Around the Corner [1940] (TCM 8am)
A Christmas Carol [1938] (TCM 11:45am)
Note: all times are EST, and double-check please so my typo does not stand in the way of your seasonal bliss!
No cable or just want to avoid turning on the TV? The spirit of Slow Christmas is perfectly encapsulated in The Snowman, a breathtaking 1982 cartoon featuring David Bowie which you and your favorite kid can watch online. And don’t forget to rent or netflix The Muppet Christmas Carol and Jim Henson’s Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, and my personal fave, While You Were Sleeping. What gems am I forgetting, folks?
I’d like to nominate Home Alone. While not about Christmas directly, it’s certainly a key background element. I fully admit to being a sucker for anything John Hughes was involved in, especially if it was set in the Chicago suburbs, which Home Alone was. But the scene where the mom comes home after an long journey to try to get home to her kid? Tears to this day. Granted, the masterful John Williams score probably helps pull at the heartstrings a bit.
*wipes away welling tears* (I am SUCH a sap.)
Despite being 85% a goofy kids movie, there are some really serious elements that resonated with me, even as a child. Sure your siblings are bratty, but you love them anyway. Neighbors may look mean and scary, but you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. And, one that I think is particularly relevant to this page, the holiday is really about family.
This is such an amazing public service! Yes, I remember the newspaper insert well. So useful, so simple. Predicated also on the idea that one read the paper every day (so you could find it on the day it came out), which Grammy did and does.
Love the inclusion of the TCM classics– especially the underrated, obscure Tenth Avenue Angel! Love it. And we HAVE to watch Meet Me in St. Louis together on the 11th.
Where is It’s A Wonderful Life? Did NBC get so proprietary about it that they aren’t even showing it at all? I think that might be one I just need to buy, so that I don’t have to deal with the weirdness of trying to find it, and then having to deal with commercial breaks.
Another good one on TCM on the 24th (at 12am) is Remember the Night (1940) with Fred MacMurray and Barbara Stanwyck. It’s a gem.
I also thought the 90s remake of The Bishop’s Wife, The Preacher’s Wife, was pretty darn good. It transferred very well, and there is the added element of Whitney Houston singing church songs that actually mean something. She is (or was) a good actor.
We just got a TV for the first time in about 5 years, and cable for the first time EVER. My kids have never seen any of these shows. So we needed this. Your timing couldn’t be more perfect. Thank you!
If you’re watching with kids, check your public library or Netflix for Jim Henson’s “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas.”
Thanks for the great suggestions everybody! While you’re at it, I’d like to add a couple for you to check out..you can find these on Hulu. Just go to the TV section and “Browse TV” to look up these old TV shows. The first is “the Dick Van Dyke Show”…season 3, the episode called, “the Alan Brady Show”…its a hilarious episode with a Christmas theme…Dick is at his funniest here! Next, “the Mary Tyler Moore Show”, season 1, the episode called, “Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid”…very warm and nostalgic. Hope you enjoy them!
I’d suggest Christmas in Connecticut, definitely one of my Christmas favorites!
Prancer. Prancer is the most important Christmas movie in my family. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FShVOdhz6Y
Thought of another! While You Were Sleeping. Total escapist fantasy with a really great surrogate family for lonely Lucy at Christmastime. A real guilty pleasure, implausible in the extreme, but very genuine in execution.
Excellent list! Thank you!
OMG – thankyouthankyouthankyou!!! Best list ever. Though if you’re taking requests for next year, might I suggest “Love Actually”?
[...] blurays or whatever they’re called this year, I still prefer to catch the Christmas specials the old-fashioned way, when they air on cable. If you’re like me, check out the TV schedules for when to watch, [...]