For a list of Christmas-themed episodes of regular television series in the United States, see List of United States Christmas television episodes.

The following is a list of Christmas

Christmas in the media

Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists, writers, and weavers of folklore. Moviemakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptations of literary classics and new stories.-Films:...

 television specials.

Christmas-related specials

• Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
  
  (1951)
• Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
  
  (1963)
• Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors
  Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast...
  
  (1978)
• Babes in Toyland (1954)
• Babes in Toyland (1960)
• Babes in Toyland
  Babes in Toyland (1986 film)
  Babes in Toyland is a 1986 television film directed by Clive Donner which stars Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves. It was broadcast on NBC on December 19, 1986 and subsequently released on VHS. The European theatrical version was shortened to 94 minutes—this version was released worldwide on...
  
  (1986)
• Christmas Without a Claus (1996)
• The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
  The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas
  The Bear Who Slept Through Christmas is an animated Christmas TV special. It premiered on NBC on December 17, 1973 in the United States. This animated special was produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and starred the voices of Tommy Smothers, Arte Johnson and Barbara Feldon, with narration by...
  
  (1973)
• The Bell Telephone Hour
  The Bell Telephone Hour
  The Bell Telephone Hour is a long-run concert series which began April 29, 1940 on NBC Radio and was heard on NBC until June 30, 1958. Sponsored by Bell Telephone, it showcased the best in classical and Broadway music, reaching eight to nine million listeners each week. It continued on television...
  
  Christmas specials (1959–1968)
• The Berenstain Bears' Christmas Tree (1979)
• Christopher the Christmas Tree (1994)
• A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
  
  (1954)
• A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol (1984 film)
  A Christmas Carol is a 1984 made-for-television film adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous 1843 novella of the same name. The film is directed by Clive Donner who had been an editor of the 1951 film Scrooge and stars George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge...
  
  (1984)
• A Christmas Carol
  A Christmas Carol (1999 film)
  A Christmas Carol is a 1999 television film adaptation of Charles Dickens's famous novel A Christmas Carol. It was directed by David Hugh Jones and stars Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge and Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit...
  
  (1999)
• Christmas in Tattertown
  Christmas in Tattertown
  Christmas in Tattertown is a 1988 television special created and directed by Ralph Bakshi about a place where everything discarded in the world came alive. It aired on the cable television network Nickelodeon.- History :...
  
  (1988)
• A Claymation Christmas Celebration
  A Claymation Christmas Celebration
  Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration is an Emmy Award-winning Christmas television special originally broadcast on the American CBS TV network in 1987...
  
  (1987)
• The Enchanted Nutcracker (1961)
• A Family Circus Christmas (1979)
• Frosty Returns
  Frosty Returns
  Frosty Returns is an animated Christmas television special featuring the character Frosty the Snowman. It first aired on December 1, 1992. The special is not a direct sequel to the original 1969 special, and the two were produced by different companies Frosty Returns is an animated Christmas...
  
  (1992)
• A Garfield Christmas
  A Garfield Christmas
  A Garfield Christmas is a 1987 American animated television special based on the Garfield comic strip. It once again featured Lorenzo Music as the voice of Garfield. The special was first broadcast December 21, 1987 on CBS and was rebroadcast on CBS every year thereafter until 2000. Fox owned the...
  
  (1987)
• The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
  The Ghosts of Christmas Eve
  The Ghosts of Christmas Eve is a 1999 made-for-TV concert film showcasing a Christmas music performance by Trans-Siberian Orchestra with guest performers Michael Crawford and Jewel...
  
  (1999)
• The Glo-Friends Save Christmas (1985)
• Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)
• Hooves of Fire
  Hooves of Fire
  Hooves of Fire is one of three animated BBC Christmas comedy television specials, filmed using stop motion techniques, and presented in aid of Comic Relief.- Story :...
  
  (1999)
• The House Without a Christmas Tree
  The House Without a Christmas Tree
  The House Without a Christmas Tree is a 1972 television movie, based on a children's book by Gail Rock, that centers on the relationship between Addie Mills , a bright and energetic only child, and her melancholy father, James Mills...
  
  (1972)
• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)
• Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
  Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas
  Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas is a Christmas television special, featuring characters from the animated television series Inspector Gadget...
  
  (1992)
• Jingle Bell Rock
  Jingle Bell Rock
  "Jingle Bell Rock" is the name of a popular Christmas song first released by Bobby Helms in 1957. It has received frequent airplay in the United States during every Christmas time since then. "Jingle Bell Rock" was composed by Joseph Carleton Beal , and James Ross Boothe...
  
  (1995)
• Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special
  Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special
  Kung Fu Panda Holiday, also known as Kung Fu Panda Holiday Special, is a 2010 television special that premiered on NBC on November 24, 2010. Featured are the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, David Cross, Lucy Liu, James Hong, and Jack McBrayer...
  
  (2010)
• Legend of Frosty the Snowman (2004)
• The Little Rascals Christmas Special (1979)
• Merry Madagascar
  Merry Madagascar
  Merry Madagascar is a Christmas special first broadcast on the NBC network on November 17, 2009, which starred the characters from the Madagascar film series. The story appears to take place sometime between the first and second film...
  
  (2009)
• Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
  Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol
  Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous short story A Christmas Carol starring the character Mr. Magoo...
  
  (1962)
• A Miser Brothers' Christmas
  A Miser Brothers' Christmas
  A Miser Brothers' Christmas is a stop motion spin-off special based on the characters from 1974 Rankin-Bass special The Year Without a Santa Claus. Produced by Warner Bros...
  
  (2008)
• A Mouse, A Mystery and Me (1987)
• My Christmas Special
  My Christmas Special
  The Andrea Bocelli & David Foster Christmas Special, is the PBS Great Performances Christmas special of Andrea Bocelli's first ever Holiday album, My Christmas, produced by multiple Grammy Award winner David Foster...
  
  (2009)
• The Nativity
  The Nativity (play)
  The Nativity was a 58-minute television drama with music about the birth of Christ, presented on the television anthology Westinghouse Studio One. It was originally telecast on the evening of December 22, 1952...
  
  (1952)
• Night the Animals Talked (1970)
• Noel
  Noel
  Noel is a masculine French given name derived from noël . The actual feminine form is Noelle, but in English-speaking regions Noel is sometimes used for females as well...
  
  (1992)
• The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
  
  (1977)
• The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
  
  (1958)
• The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
  
  (1965)
• Nutcracker on Ice
• The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker
  The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...
  
  (1985)
• The Nutcracker (2001)
• The Nuttiest Nutcracker
  The Nuttiest Nutcracker
  The Nuttiest Nutcracker is a 1999 direct-to-video Christmas film loosely based on the classic tale The Nutcracker, directed by Harold Harris, starring the voices of James Belushi, Cheech Marin, and Phyllis Diller...
  
  (1999)
• Olive, the Other Reindeer
  Olive, the Other Reindeer
  Olive, the Other Reindeer is a CGI animated Christmas television special written by Steve Young, and directed by Oscar Moore. The feature was produced by Matt Groening's The Curiosity Company and animated by DNA Productions...
  
  (1999)
• Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf (1997)
• Pink Panther in: A Pink Christmas (1978)
• The Promise (1963)
• Prep and Landing
  Prep and Landing
  Disney Prep & Landing is a computer animated television special, based on an idea by Chris Williams at Walt Disney Animation Studios and developed by Kevin Deters and Stevie Wermers-Skelton into a half-hour Christmas special. It first aired December 8, 2009 on ABC.The special was released on-line...
  
  (2009)
• Prep and Landing: Operation: Secret Santa (2010)
• Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper
  Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper
  Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper, a.k.a. simply The Great Santa Claus Caper, is a 1978 animated television special featuring Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.-Synopsis:...
  
  (1978)
• Santa and the Three Bears
  Santa And The Three Bears
  Santa and the Three Bears is a 1970 animated featurette, which aired on television regularly during the holiday season. It was later released on video in 1992 by Kids Klassics and distributed by GoodTimes Home Video in the VHS format....
  
  (1970)
• Shrek The Halls
  Shrek the Halls
  Shrek the Halls is a television special that premiered on the American television network ABC on Wednesday, November 28, 2007. The thirty minute Christmas special included the following: Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas reprising their roles from the feature films. The...
  
  (2007)
• Snowden's Christmas (1999)
• A Snow White Christmas (1980)
• The Star Wars Holiday Special
  The Star Wars Holiday Special
  The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special set in the Star Wars galaxy. It was one of the first official Star Wars spin-offs, and was directed by Steve Binder. The show was broadcast in its entirety only once, in the United States and Canada, November 17, 1978, on the U.S...
  
  (1978)
• The Stingiest Man in Town (1956)
• The Story of Santa Claus (1998)
• The Tiny Tree (1975)
• Trollies Christmas Sing-Along (1993)
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (1977)
• A Very Merry Cricket (1987)
• A Very Retail Christmas (1990)
• Up on the Housetop (1992)
• A Wish for Wings That Work
  A Wish for Wings That Work
  On December 13, 1991, an animated special was released. It was directed by Skip Jones and was produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblimation animation studio for Universal Cartoon Studios...
  
  (1991)
• The Wish That Changed Christmas (1992)
• We Wish You a Turtle Christmas (1994)
• Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus
  Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus
  Is There a Santa Claus? was the title of an editorial appearing in the September 21, 1897, edition of The New York Sun. The editorial, which included the famous reply "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus", has become an indelible part of popular Christmas folklore in the United States and...
  
  (1974)
• Ziggy's Gift
  Ziggy's Gift
  Ziggy's Gift is a 1982 American animated TV special short film directed by Richard Williams, based on the comic strip Ziggy. It was written by Ziggy's creator Tom Wilson and Animators included Eric Goldberg and Tom Sito with music by Harry Nilsson...
  
  (1982)

Rankin/Bass

Rankin/Bass

Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc. , also known as Rankin/Bass Animated Entertainment, was an American production company, known for its seasonal television specials, particularly its work in stop-motion animation. The pre-1974 library is currently owned by Classic Media,while the post-1974 library is...

• Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (TV special)
  Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It first aired Sunday, December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the USA, and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour...
  
  (1964)
• The Cricket on the Hearth
  The Cricket on the Hearth
  The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20  December 1845 with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin Henry Landseer. Dickens began writing the book around...
  
  (1967)
• Little Drummer Boy (1968)
• Frosty the Snowman (1969)
• Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town
  Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (TV special)
  Santa Claus is Comin' to Town is a 1970 stop motion television special, made by Rankin-Bass with models carved from wood . The film stars actor Fred Astaire as S.D. Kluger, the narrator, and Mickey Rooney as Kris Kringle/Santa Claus...
  
  (1970)
• Twas the Night Before Christmas (1974)
• The Year Without a Santa Claus
  The Year Without a Santa Claus
  The Year Without a Santa Claus is a 1974 Rankin/Bass stop motion animated television special. It usually airs during the Christmas season on United States television. The story is based on Phyllis McGinley's 1956 book of the same name, illustrated by Kurt Werth.-Summary:The show is set in the...
  
  (1974)
• The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
  The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
  The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass in 1975. It runs a half-hour as opposed to Rankin/Bass' standard hour format...
  
  (1975)
• Frosty's Winter Wonderland
  Frosty's Winter Wonderland
  Frosty's Winter Wonderland is an animated Christmas television special produced in 1976 by Rankin-Bass. It is a sequel to the 1969 Frosty the Snowman special, also written by Romeo Muller, with narration provided by Andy Griffith...
  
  (1976)
• The Little Drummer Boy, Book II
  The Little Drummer Boy, Book II
  The Little Drummer Boy is a 1968 Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass, based on the famous Christmas song of that name. It was followed by a sequel in 1976.-1968 television special:...
  
  (1976)
• Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
  Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
  Nestor, The Long-Eared Christmas Donkey is a Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin-Bass. It was first aired in 1977, and its plot is similar to an earlier Rankin-Bass special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.- Plot :...
  
  (1977)
• The Stingiest Man In Town
  The Stingiest Man In Town
  The Stingiest Man in Town is a Christmas special created by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass, which featured traditional animation rather than the Animagic most often used by the company...
  
  (1978)
• Jack Frost
  Jack Frost (TV special)
  Jack Frost was an animated television special, directed by Jules Bass and Arthur Rankin, Jr. and written by Romeo Muller; it premiered on NBC on December 13, 1979. This stop motion animated special tells the tale of Jack Frost, the winter sprite, and his adventures as a human...
  
  (1979)
• Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
  Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July
  Rudolph and Frosty's Christmas in July is a feature-length 1979 Rankin-Bass crossover sequel filmed in stop-motion animation in the style of their 1964 Christmas special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It was 97 minutes long. Although designed as a theatrical release , it made its U.S...
  
  (1979)
• Pinocchio's Christmas
  Pinocchio's Christmas
  Pinocchio's Christmas is a Rankin/Bass Christmas television special. It was released on DVD as part of a box set of specials entitled "Classic Christmas Favorites" on October 7, 2008. It airs annually during the Christmas season on ABC Family.-Synopsis:...
  
  (1980)
• Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981)
• The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
  The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus (TV special)
  The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus is a 1985 Christmas television special produced in stop motion animation by Rankin/Bass. It is based on The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, a 1902 children's book by L...
  
  (1985)
• Santa Baby (2001)

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Alvin and the Chipmunks (TV series)

Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated television series featuring The Chipmunks, produced by Bagdasarian Productions in association with Ruby-Spears Enterprises from 1983–87, and DIC Entertainment from 1988-90....

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: A Chipmunk Christmas
  A Chipmunk Christmas
  A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...
  
  (1981)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Santa Harry/Alvin's Christmas Carol (1983)
• Alvin and the Chipmunks: Merry Christmas, Mr. Carol (1989)

Charlie Brown / Peanuts

Peanuts

Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

• A Charlie Brown Christmas
  A Charlie Brown Christmas
  A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Melendez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy...
  
  (1965)
• It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
  It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown
  It's Christmastime Again, Charlie Brown is the 36th prime-time animated TV special based on the popular comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It originally aired on the CBS network on November 27, 1992. It was the first Christmas-themed Peanuts special since the inaugural A Charlie Brown...
  
  (1992)
• Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
  Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales
  Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales is one of many prime-time animated TV specials based on characters from the Charles M. Schulz comic strip Peanuts. It originally aired on the ABC network in 2002.-Synopsis:...
  
  (2002)
• I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
  I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown
  I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown is one of the Peanuts made-for-television specials. The hour-long special first aired on ABC on December 9, 2003...
  
  (2003)

Walt Disney

• From All of Us to All of You
  From All of Us to All of You
  From All of Us to All of You is an animated television Christmas special, produced by Walt Disney Productions and first presented on December 19, 1958 as part of the Walt Disney Presents anthology series...
  
  (1958)
• A Disney Christmas Gift
  A Disney Christmas Gift
  A Disney Christmas Gift was a 47-minute Christmas television special which aired on December 4, 1982 on CBS' Walt Disney television program. The special was a Christmas-themed compilation of animated shorts featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck combined with excerpts from Disney feature films as...
  
  (1982)

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse

Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...

• Mickey's Christmas Carol
  Mickey's Christmas Carol
  Mickey's Christmas Carol is a 1983 American animated short film produced by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution Company. It was directed and produced by Burny Mattinson...
  
  (1983)
• Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
  Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas
  Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas is a direct-to-video animated Christmas movie made by Walt Disney Home Video in 1999. The video features Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Pete, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, Mortimer Mouse, Figaro the Kitten and Chip 'n...
  
  (1999)
• Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
  Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse
  Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse is the first direct-to-video movie spin off from the Disney Channel animated television series Disney's House of Mouse.-Plot:...
  
  (2001)
• Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
  Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas
  Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas is a computer-animated direct-to-video movie on VHS and DVD made by The Walt Disney Company in 2004. It is the sequel to Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas from 1999. The segments in this video feature Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Max, Donald Duck, Daisy...
  
  (2004)
• Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is a children's television series, that premiered in prime time on Disney Channel on May 5, 2006. The program was originally part of the Playhouse Disney daily block intended for preschoolers...
  
   - Mickey Saves Santa (2006)

Winnie the Pooh

• Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too
  Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too
  Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too is a Christmas television special based on the Disney television series The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, originally broadcast on Saturday December 14, 1991, on ABC....
  
  (1991)
• Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
  Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving
  Seasons of Giving is a direct-to-video Winnie the Pooh film released in 1999. It included A Winnie the Pooh Thanksgiving, and two episodes from The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh...
  
  (1999)
• Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
  Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year
  A Very Merry Pooh Year is a direct to video Winnie the Pooh film released in 2002 which featured the 1991 Christmas TV special Winnie the Pooh and Christmas Too, as well as the new film, Happy Pooh Year....
  
  (2002)
• My Friends Tigger And Pooh: A Super Sleuth Christmas

Disney Christmas VHS

• Jiminy Cricket's Christmas (1993)
• A Walt Disney Christmas (1996)

Jim Henson

The Jim Henson Company

The Jim Henson Company, an American entertainment organization, traces its origins to the founding of Muppets, Inc. in 1958 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The Muppets helped the company gain worldwide acclaim in family entertainment for more than four decades...

 / The Muppets

The Muppets

The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference...

 / Sesame Street

Sesame Street

Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...

• Great Santa Claus Switch (1970)
• Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
  Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
  Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas is a children's storybook by Russell Hoban which was first published in 1971. In 1977 it was adapted into a television special by Jim Henson with songs by Paul Williams...
  
  (1977)
• Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
  Christmas Eve on Sesame Street
  Christmas Eve on Sesame Street is a Sesame Street Christmas special first broadcast on PBS on December 3, 1978.-Plot:The opening features the inhabitants of Sesame Street enjoying an ice skating party. Big Bird has trouble skating, but a child gives him a hand, and he ends up skating very well...
  
  (1978)
• A Special Sesame Street Christmas
  A Special Sesame Street Christmas
  A Special Sesame Street Christmas was a low-budget 1978 CBS Christmas special, made the same year as the legendary and still popular Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. The special was first broadcast on Friday, December 8, 1978 at 8 PM ET on CBS, pre-empting Wonder Woman that week.The special features...
  
  (1978)
• John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
  John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
  John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together is a 1979 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets and singer/songwriter John Denver.-Home media releases:...
  
  (1979)
• The Bells of Fraggle Rock (1984)
• The Christmas Toy
  The Christmas Toy
  The Christmas Toy is a 1986 made-for-TV movie by The Jim Henson Company. It originally aired on ABC on December 6, 1986, and was originally sponsored by Kraft Foods.Originally introduced by Kermit The Frog, it was released on VHS format in 1993...
  
  (1986)
• A Muppet Family Christmas
  A Muppet Family Christmas
  A Muppet Family Christmas is a 1987 Christmas television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets.This is one of the very few Muppet productions to feature Muppets associated with all four of the major Muppet franchises: The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock and Muppet Babies...
  
  (1987)
• Dinosaurs
  Dinosaurs (TV series)
  Dinosaurs is an American family sitcom that was originally broadcast on ABC from April 26, 1991 to July 20, 1994. The show, about a family of anthropomorphic dinosaurs, was produced by Michael Jacobs Productions and Jim Henson Television in association with Walt Disney Television and Buena Vista...
  
  : Refrigerator Day (1991)
• The Muppet Christmas Carol
  The Muppet Christmas Carol
  The Muppet Christmas Carol is a 1992 musical comedy film adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, starring Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge, directed by Brian Henson, produced by The Jim Henson Company, and released by Walt Disney Pictures...
  
  (1992)
• Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
  Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree
  Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree is a television Christmas special that first aired in 1995. The special stars Robert Downey, Jr., Leslie Nielsen, and Stockard Channing. It also features Kermit the Frog as a narrator and various other Muppets created exclusively for the special.The special was based...
  
  (1995)
• Elmo Saves Christmas
  Elmo Saves Christmas
  Elmo Saves Christmas is a children's home video that was released in 1996. In the story, Elmo learns that Christmas cannot occur every day. The Christmas special is the basis idea from the Christmas short story, 'Christmas Every Day' by William Dean Howells,...
  
  (1996)
• A Berry Bear Christmas (1999)
• Elmo's World
  Elmo's World
  "Elmo's World" is a segment of the children's television show Sesame Street featuring Elmo, a small, three and a half year old, bright red monster. It debuted on November 16, 1998. Since then, it has been regularly shown during the last fifteen minutes of every Sesame Street episode...
  
  : Happy Holidays! (2002)
• It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
  It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
  It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is a 2002 television film that aired on NBC on November 29, 2002. The film is directed by Kirk Thatcher, written by Tom Martin and Jim Lewis and stars the Muppets and was filmed at Lionsgate Studios. The film revolves a plot similar to "It's A Wonderful...
  
  (2002)
• A Sesame Street Christmas Carol (2006)
• Elmo's Christmas Countdown (2007)
• A Muppet Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008)

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...

• Bah, Humduck (2006)
• Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
  Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales
  Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales is an animated Christmas television special featuring Bugs Bunny and other Looney Tunes characters, in three newly-created cartoon shorts with seasonal themes.The special originally aired on CBS on November 27, 1979....
  
  (1979)

VeggieTales

VeggieTales

VeggieTales is an American series of children's computer animated films featuring anthropomorphic vegetables in stories conveying moral themes based on Christianity...

• The Toy That Saved Christmas
  The Toy that Saved Christmas
  The Toy that Saved Christmas is the sixth episode of the VeggieTales animated series and the first holiday special in that series. It was released in October 1996 on VHS. Unlike its predecessors it does not feature an opening/closing countertop. Like the other holiday episodes, it also has no "A...
  
  (1996)
• VeggieTales Christmas Spectacular (1998)
• The Star of Christmas
  The Star of Christmas
  The Star of Christmas is the eighteenth episode of the VeggieTales animated series and the second holiday special in that series. It was released on October 29, 2002 and re-released September 5, 2006 in Holiday Double Feature with its earlier episode The Toy that Saved Christmas. Like the other...
  
  (2002)
• Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving
  Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving
  Saint Nicholas: A Story of Joyful Giving is the thirty-ninth episode in the VeggieTales animated series. It is the third Christmas-themed VeggieTales episode after The Toy That Saved Christmas and The Star of Christmas. Instead of "Silly Songs With Larry", we're introduced to a new "Helpful...
  
  (2009)
• It's a Meaningful Life
  It's a Meaningful Life
  It's a Meaningful Life is a VeggieTales DVD that was released on October 5, 2010. Larry the Cucumber stars in the main role of "Stewart" in the episode which is a spinoff, in both title and overall theme, of the movie It's A Wonderful Life starring Jimmy Stewart. Larry's character, Stewart, is an...
  
  (2010)

Davey and Goliath

Davey and Goliath

Davey and Goliath is a 1960s stop-motion animated children's Christian television series. The programs, produced by the Lutheran Church in America , were produced by Art Clokey after the success of his Gumby series.Each 15-minute episode features the adventures of Davey Hansen and his "talking"...

• Davey and Goliath: Christmas Lost and Found (1965)
• Davey and Goliath's Snowboard Christmas (2004)

Celebrity-hosted and variety shows

• The Sound of Christmas (1987)
• Early, Early, Early Christmas Special (1981)
• The Captain and Tennille Christmas Show (1976)
• The Johnny Cash
  Johnny Cash
  John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
  
   Christmas Special (1976–1979)
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All (2008)
• John Denver's Rocky Mountain Christmas (1975)
• Judy Garland Show Christmas Special (1963)
• The Mitzi Gaynor Christmas Show (1967)
• This is Christmas (1996)

The Carpenters

The Carpenters

Carpenters were an American vocal and instrumental duo, consisting of sister Karen and brother Richard Carpenter. The Carpenters were the #1 selling American music act of the 1970s. Though often referred to by the public as "The Carpenters", the duo's official name on authorized recordings and...

• The Carpenters at Christmas (1977)
• The Carpenters: A Christmas Portrait (1978)

The Osmonds

The Osmonds

The Osmonds are an American family music group with a long and varied career—a career that took them from singing barbershop music as children, to achieving success as teen-music idols, to producing a hit television show, and to continued success as solo and group performers...

• The Donny and Marie Christmas Special (1979)
• The Osmond Family Christmas Special (1980)
• Marie Osmond's Merry Christmas (1986)

Andy Williams

Andy Williams

Howard Andrew "Andy" Williams is an American singer who has recorded 18 Gold- and three Platinum-certified albums. He hosted The Andy Williams Show, a TV variety show, from 1962 to 1971, as well as numerous television specials, and owns his own theater, the Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri,...

• The Andy Williams Christmas Show (1962–1971)
• The Andy Williams Christmas Special (1973)
• The Andy Williams Christmas Show (1974)
• Andy Williams' Early New England Christmas (1982)
• Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa (1985)
• The Andy Williams Christmas Show (1994)
• The Daily Show Andy Williams Christmas Special (1997)
• Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Specials (2001)

Bob Hope

Bob Hope

Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...

• The Bob Hope Christmas Special (1953, 1968, 1970, 1980, 1981)
• The Bob Hope Christmas Show (1965, 1985)
• The Bob Hope Vietnam Christmas Show (1966)
• The Bob Hope Christmas Special: Around the World with the USO (1969)
• The Bob Hope Vietnam Christmas Show (1971)
• The Bob Hope All Star Christmas Comedy Special (1977)
• Bob Hope's USO Christmas in Beirut (1984)
• Bob Hope Winterfest Christmas Show (1987)
• Bob Hope's USO Christmas from the Persian Gulf: Around the World in Eight Days (1987)
• Bob Hope's Jolly Christmas Show (1988)
• Bob Hope's Christmas Special from Waikoloa, Hawaii (1989)
• Bob Hope's Christmas Cheer from Saudi Arabia (1991)
• Hope for the Holidays - A Bob Hope Christmas (1993)

Bing Crosby

Bing Crosby

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....

• Happy Holidays with Frank and Bing starring Frank Sinatra
  Frank Sinatra
  Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
  
   and Bing Crosby (1957)
• The Bing Crosby Christmas Show (1961, 1962, 1965)
• The Hollywood Palace with Bing Crosby (1965, 1966, 1967, 1968)
• Bing and Carol Together Again for the First Time (1969) Bing Crosby
  Bing Crosby
  Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
  
  , with Carol Burnett
  Carol Burnett
  Carol Creighton Burnett is an American actress, comedian, singer, dancer and writer. Burnett started her career in New York. After becoming a hit on Broadway, she made her television debut...
  
  
• Bing Crosby's Christmas Show (1970)
• Bing Crosby and the Sounds of Christmas (1971)
• A Christmas with the Bing Crosbys (1972)
• Bing Crosby's Sun Valley Christmas Show (1973)
• A Christmas with the Bing Crosbys (1974)
• Merry Christmas, Fred, from the Crosbys (1975) Bing Crosby, with Fred Astaire
  Fred Astaire
  Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
  
  
• The Bing Crosby White Christmas Special (1976)
• Bing Crosby's Merrie Olde Christmas (1977) with David Bowie
  David Bowie
  David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
  
  

Perry Como

Perry Como

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

This is only a partial list of Perry Como Christmas programs. He would always include a Christmas-themed program every year while his television series was on the air.

• The Perry Como Holiday Special (1967)
• Christmas At The Hollywood Palace (1969)
• Perry Como's Winter Show (1971)
• The Perry Como Winter Show (1972, 1973)
• Perry Como's Christmas Show (1974)
• Perry Como's Christmas In Mexico (1975)
• Perry Como's Christmas In Austria (1976)
• Perry Como's Olde Englishe Christmas (1977)
• Perry Como's Early American Christmas (1978)
• Perry Como's Christmas In New Mexico (1979)
• Perry Como's Christmas In The Holy Land (1980)
• Perry Como's French-Canadian Christmas (1981)
• Perry Como's Christmas In Paris (1982)
• Perry Como's Christmas In New York (1983)
• Perry Como's Christmas In London (1984)
• Perry Como's Christmas In Hawaii (1985)
• Perry Como's Christmas In San Antonio ~ Perry Como's Christmas Special (1986)
• Perry Como's Irish Christmas (1994)

Television series-related

Specials based on a television series but which were not a regular time-slot episode.

• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!
  A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All!
  A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! is a Grammy Award-winning Christmas special that debuted on Comedy Central on November 23, 2008....
  
  (2008)
• Shining Time Station: 'Tis a Gift
  Shining Time Station: 'Tis A Gift
  Shining Time Station: 'Tis A Gift is the Christmas special of the PBS television series Shining Time Station.It takes place during the Christmas season at Shining Time Station. The scene opens with Mr...
  
  (1990)
• He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
  He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special
  He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special is a Christmas television special based on the animated series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and its spin-off She-Ra: Princess of Power, originally broadcast in December 1985...
  
  (1985)
• A Very Merry Curb Appeal

See also

• Christmas in the media
  Christmas in the media
  Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists, writers, and weavers of folklore. Moviemakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptations of literary classics and new stories.-Films:...
  
  
• List of Christmas television specials
• List of A Christmas Carol adaptations
• List of Christmas films
• List of United States Christmas television episodes
• Christmas music
  Christmas music
  Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music normally performed or heard around the Christmas season, which tends to begin in the months leading up the actual holiday and end in the weeks shortly thereafter.-Early:...
  
  
• List of Halloween television specials
• List of Thanksgiving television specials