Sure, it feels like the Christmas-TV season has already gone on forever.
The holiday movies started in November – or was it October? – and are unrelenting. But coming up is when we need shows the most.
By Friday (Dec. 20), most kids – and many adults – will be on vacation. They need to be distracted, before they find all the presents and eat all the cookies.
So here’s a guide to TV, from Dec. 20 through Christmas morning (shown here with Ally Brooke at the Disney parade, taped in advance) and the final Grinchy moments. We’ll start with the kids:
Kids stuff
Freeform – the “25 Days of Christmas” network – keeps showing movies, but also has cartoon classics.
On Friday, it’s “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” at 6:40 p.m., “Frosty the Snowman” at 7:45, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at 8:15. On Saturday, they’re in the same order at 11:50 a.m. and 12:50 and 1:25 p.m. Then the order flips around – on Christmas Eve, “Frosty” at 8:20 p.m., Rudolph at 8:50, “Santa” at 9:55; on Christmas Day, same order at 3:10, 3:40 and 4:45.
Other channels are loaded with kid distractions. They include:
– ABC. “I Want a Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown” is 7 p.m. Sunday; ”Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” is 8 p.m. Christmas Eve.
– AMC. Here are lots of vintage cartoons – not the top-shelf ones – from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Chrismas Eve and from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. Christmas Day.
– Disney Channel, rerunning holiday episodes, plus two half-hour music specials. “Holiday Unwrapped” is 11 a.m. Saturday, 8:30 p.m. Christmas Eve and 12:30 p.m. Christmas Day; “Holiday Party” is 7:30 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m. Sunday and 8 p.m. Christmas Eve.
– Disney XD. with “Muppets Christmas” at 10 p.m. Christmas Eve and 5 p.m. Christmas Day – when it’s preceded by holiday episodes (9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.n and “Twas the Night” (3 p.m.).
– Nickelodeon, with the Smurfs’ “Christmas Carol” at 2 p.m. Friday and 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve. The latter is followed by “SpongeBob” holiday episodes at 5 and 5:30.
– The Cartoon Network, rerunning holiday episodes – some of them quite adult – of “Bob’s Burgers,” “American Dad” and “Family Guy.” That’s 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (or later) on Friday through Monday, Then Christmas Eve has a “Bob’s Burgers” Christmas marathon, from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m.
– PBS Kids, where “Nature Cat” has its own “Christmas Carol.” That’s 7 p.m. Friday through Sunday (followed by Christmas hours of “The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That” at 8 and “Peg + Cat” at 9). The “Nature Cat: is also 5:30 p.m. Monday, 4:30 p.m. Christmas Eve and 8 p.m. Christmas Day.
For grown-ups: What’s new (through Dec. 23)
– “I Love Lucy Christmas Special,” 8-9 p.m. Friday, CBS. Well, half-new anyway. Each year, this has two episodes, with color added by computer. The first is always the same; it has three great flashbacks, including then wondrous one taking Lucy to the hospital to have her baby. This year’s second episode (shown here) is set in Paris; it starts slowly, but sets up a hilarious police-station translation scene.
– “Kids Say the Darndest Things,” 8 p.m. Sunday, ABC. Kids telling Tiffany Haddish their traditions.
– “A Home For the Holidays,” 9 p.m. Sunday, CBS. Each year, this offers music and emotional stories of adoption. Idina Menzel hosts and sings, with music from Adam Lambert, Kelly Rowland and Ne-Yo.
– “Christmas at Belmont,” 9 p.m. Monday, PBS. More than 800 students at Belmont University – a music-oriented school in Nashville –perform, joined by faculty members, the Nashville Children’s Choir and Christian-music greats CeCe Winans and Michael W. Smith.
– And, of course, lots of Christmas movies. New ones are: Friday – 8 p.m., Lifetime. Saturday, 6 and 8 p.m., Lifetime; 7 p.m., Ion; 8 p.m. Hallmark; 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies and Mysteries. Sunday – 7 p.m., UPtv and Ion; 8 p.m. Hallmark and Lifetime; 9 p.m., Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Also new –competition finales:
– “Top Elf,” Nickelodeon. The final rounes are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday, picking which kid is Santa’s best helper, is 8 p.m. Saturday.
— “The Christmas Caroler Challenge,” concluding at 8 and 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday, CW.
– But one show isn’t ready to conclude. “The Great American Baking Show: Holiday Edition” has its final episodes at 9 and 10 p.m. Dec. 26 and Jan. 2.
And almost new:
– “A Christmas Carol,” FX. This debuted Thursday (Dec. 19) and reruns often –7:30 and 10:45 p.m. Sunday; then 8 p.m. Christmas Eve and 4 p.m. Christmas Day. Be warned: It’s extremely dark, both visually (you’ll sometimes think it’s black-and-white) and emotionally; and it’s 3 hours, 15 minutes.
– “Same Time, Next Christmas,” 8-10 p.m., Monday.This great looking (but predictable) film has already run on Freeform, but it’s new to network TV. Lea Michele stars in a holiday romance set in Hawaii.
Christmas Eve/Day marathons
– “A Christmas Story” (1982). The dryly nostalgic gem annually has a 24-hour marathon on the Turner stations. This time, that’s staggered so there will be a start every hour – TBS at 8 p.m., 10 p.m., etc., until 8 p.m. Christmas Day; TNT at 9 p.m., 11 p.m., etc., to 9 p.m. Christmas Day.
– A detour: As the “Christmas Story” marathon begins, you can catch a musical version of the story, from 8-10 p.m. on Fox. It’s from the Broadway show (from the composers of “Dear Evan Hanson” and “Greatest Showman”) and was done live, with Matthew Broderick as the adult Ralphie.
– “A Christmas Carol.” This is the 1951 version, with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. Fox Movies has it at 3:50, 5:40, 7:30. 9:20 and 11:10 p.m.; on Christmas Day, it’s noon, 1:50, 3:40, 5:30, 7:20 and 9:10 p.m.
More Christmas Eve diversions
– Movies on AMC – “Polar Express,” 5 p.m.; “Elf,” 7; “Christmas Vacation,” 9.
– Movies on Freeform – “Arthur Christmas,” 11:30 a.m.; “Santa Clause” and its sequel, 1:30 and 3:35; the Jim Carrey “Grinch,” 5:40. Then it’s cartoon time.
– “A Wonderful Life,” 8-11 p.m., NBC. It’s the second time this season for the 1946 classic.
— “CMA Country Christmas.” In a late change, that’s 9 p.m. on ABC, following “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” at 8.
— Music on PBS. Many stations will rerun the Belmont concert at 8 p.m. and Kristen Chenoweth’s splendid concert with the Tabernacle Choir at 9.
– “Meet Me in St. Louis,” 10 p.m. ET, Turner Classic Movies. It’s not strictly Christmas, but does debut Judy Garland’s “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Sandwiched by “The Bishop’s Wife” at 8 p.m. ET and the 1938 “Christmas Carol” at midnight.
Moving into Christmas Day
– Mass from St. Peter Basilica, 11:30 p.m. Chirstmas Eve, NBC.
– Music from the Duke University Chapel, 11:35 p.m. Christmas Eve, CBS. Includes choirs, three organs, 16-piece orchestra.
On Christmas Day
– Disney Parks parade, 10 a.m. to noon ET (9-11 a.m. other time zones). Matthew Morrison, Emma Bunton and Jesse Palmer – of “Glee,” Baby Spice and “Bachelor” fame – host. There’s music from Sting, Shaggy, Pentatojnix, Portugal, Ingrid Michaelson, Grace VanderWaal and Ally Brooke.
– More movies on AMC – “Polar Express” at 1 p.m., “Four Christmases” at 3, “Elf” at 5, “Christmas Vacation” at 7 and “Polar Express” again at 9:15.
– “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” 8 p.m., NBC. Here’s one more chance to catch the cartoon masterpiecde. It’s followed at 8:30 by Jim Carrey’s “Grinch” movie.
– “When Calls the Heart: Home for Christmas,” 8-10 p.m., Hallmark. Set in Canada’s frontier days, the series is between seasons, but offers a bonus movie. Lucas (the barkeep) plans a German-style Christmas; Nathan, the mountie, considers a job elsewhere.
– “Call the Midwife Holiday Special,” 9-10:30 p.m., PBS. Here’s another good-hearted show with a between-seasons special. Nurses and a doctor head to a Scottish island, where facilities are primitive … and where some people oppose their Christmas traditions. The result is pleasant and upbeat.
– “The Moodys,” 8-10 p.m., Fox. And a detour from holiday sweetness. A family gathers amid secrets and setbacks. The result – concluding from 9-10 p.m. Dec. 26 – has wit and likable characters.