“It’s not Christmas if I haven’t watched…”

Christmas is a time that means many things to many people: buying presents, decorating a tree, drinking eggnog, singing carols, and of course Peace on Earth and Goodwill to All Men. But for me, it isn’t truly Christmas unless I’ve made it through my checklist of must-watch Christmas shows and movies.

Christmas movies and television specials are a yearly exercise in emotional predictability that somehow still works. Snowy towns glow with impossible warmth, families fix decades of tension in a single evening, and grumpy characters are gently bullied into discovering joy before the credits roll. Classics like A Charlie Brown Christmas and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sit alongside modern staples like The Grinch and a rotating cast of holiday rom-coms where love arrives with the same timing as snowfall. TV episodes pile on gift disasters, awkward reunions, and last-minute sincerity, all designed to feel comforting rather than believable. It’s formulaic, slightly ridiculous, and completely intentional, turning the coldest stretch of the year into something people actively return to for warmth they probably know is engineered.

“All I want is what I have coming to me. All I want is my fair share.”

When I was growing up, much of the Holidays were centred around when these Christmas specials aired, and Heaven forbid any other show that would be scheduled against these classics, but now with Blu-rays and streaming platforms, all of these specials are at our fingertips whenever we want them, so here is my list of programs that bring out the seasonal festive feelings in me.

Frosty the Snowman (1969)

Based on the popular song by Walter “Jack” Rollins and Steve Nelson, it’s a sweet story about a magical top hat bringing a snowman to life, one that has delighted children of all ages for generations. The 1969 Rankin-Bass animated television special is easily one of their best. Done with traditional Cel animation, this Christmas special has everything: a great narrator in the form of Jimmy Durante, a lovable title character voiced by Jackie Vernon, an adorable little girl who risks her life to help Frosty, a cute rabbit sidekick and, of course, a nasty villain in the form of Professor Hinkle (Billy De Wolfe), who really, really wants his hat back. When I was a kid, watching Frosty melt in the greenhouse, I bawled my eyes out for what seemed like years.

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

This is one of those Christmas Classics that has very little actually to do with Christmas, the story of a good man named George Bailey (Jimmy Stewart) who believes that the world would be better off without him, yet his film has only one key Christmas scene in it – though that finale scene is a doozy – but regardless of the amount of Christmas content this Frank Capra masterpiece will always hold a spot on any Christmas list. Funny enough, it really only became a seasonal classic when the copyrights to it slipped into the public domain, and any network could show it for free. Thus it became a Christmas gift to everybody.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

“Santa on trial!” That is certainly a catchy premise, and this Fox classic contains one of my favourite courtroom scenes, and it also contains my favourite portrayal of Santa Claus in the form of Edmund Gwenn as a warm and kindly Kris Kringle, who may or may not be the real deal, and his attempts at winning over a young Natalie Wood are charming. What is strange is that studio head Darryl F. Zanuck insisted on releasing the film in May, because the summer is when people mostly go to the movies. Lucky for him, people did go and see it, so many in fact that most theatres were still showing it when Christmas finally did roll around.

Scrooge (1951)

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens has probably been adapted and updated more than any other single story in the history of media, and though the 1951 version isn’t the first, it is my personal favourite. Alastair Sim is to me the quintessential Ebenezer Scrooge. The four ghosts that come to haunt the King of Humbugs are all brilliantly portrayed, and the scene when the Ghost of Christmas Future shows Scrooge two sickly, scrawny children, “Ignorance and Want,” is truly chilling. My other favourite versions of this Dickens classic are Scrooged with Bill Murray and The Muppet Christmas Carol with Michael Caine, both great holiday treats.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989)

This Chevy Chase vehicle perfectly encapsulates the chaos that can consume some of us during the holiday season. But as this is a Griswold Christmas, things are going to go to extremes, from lighting disasters to Christmas tree calamities to the ever-annoying relatives that are destined to plague a holiday home. Without a doubt, there is a little of Clark Griswold in all of us.

Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)

This was the first of Rankin-Bass’s specials, and my favourite from their holiday catalogue, as the story of misfits banding together against insurmountable odds – in this case, an abominable snowman – makes for great drama and great television. An elf dentist, a mutant reindeer, and a gold-fixated geologist were a wonderful team, and I visit them each year as they face off against discrimination and Bumbles.

Side Note: The skinny Santa forced by his wife to eat and get fat I always found to be kind of creepy.

“You’re a mean one, Mister Grinch,” and with the dulcet singing voice of Tony the Tiger (Thurl Ravenscroft) and frightening narration by horror icon Boris Karloff, this entry has to be the best adaptation of a Dr. Seuss book to date.

Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)

Directed by animation legend Chuck Jones, How the Grinch Stole Christmas is not only an animated special with some of the catchiest songs ever performed, but it also has one of literature’s greatest literary villains ever depicted, and it also has Max, who, as sidekicks go, is pure comedy gold. Him waving from the back of the sled at the Grinch kills me every single time I see it.

The Grinch may have stolen Christmas, but Max steals every scene.

Many of the Christmas specials and movies speak out against the commercialism of Christmas, often making that theme their major plot element, but it is A Charlie Brown Christmas that really goes the distance.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

This special begins with Charlie Brown railing against the season as it just seems to highlight the fact that nobody likes him: “I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.” What is surprising is that his nemesis Lucy Van Pelt is the one who tries to help him – without even charging him five cents – and gets him involved with the Christmas play, which for me really speaks to the heart of the season.

“Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people.”

When Charlie Brown selects a pathetically sad Christmas tree over all the aluminum-coloured trees that everyone else favours, he is first derided for his choice, but when Linus takes centre stage and starts quoting scripture, the gang eventually comes around to his side of things. Now I’m not remotely a religious person, but it’s nice to see a Christmas special that actually acknowledges Christ; it is his birthday after all. The Grinch may discover that Christmas doesn’t come from a store, but it was Charles M. Schulz and company who go to the actual spirit of Christmas, which is kind of nice.

Black Christmas (1974)

There have been many holiday-themed horror films released over the years, from John Carpenter’s Halloween to Michael Doughtery’s Krampus, yet it is Bob Clark’s dark entry of Black Christmas that is not only one of the best examples of the genre but also its collection of horror tropes formed the genetic make-up for the modern slasher films that were to follow.  Black Christmas tells the chilling tale of a deranged killer stalking a group of college sorority girls, with some of the most horrifying kills put to screen, and this masterwork of horror not only doles out some of the most suspenseful moments in terror, but it also subverts some of the very same tropes of the genre.  I can’t think of a better film to watch on a dark Christmas Eve than Bob Clark’s seminal classic, and it’s extra amazing when you consider the fact that he also gave us the comedy classic A Christmas Story.

A Christmas Story (1983)

Based on the short stories by Jean Shepherd, from his book In God We Trust: All Other Pay Cash, this movie easily wins the “Most Aired Award” as some networks run 24-hour marathons of it. The story of Ralphie (Peter Billingsley) and his quest for a “Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle” is completely relatable, because who hasn’t wished and pleaded for a certain special present that would make one’s life complete? Add to all this: bullies, soap poisoning and a leg lamp-obsessed father, and you have all the ingredients for a perfect comedy and an excellent Christmas movie.

“You’ll shoot your eye out!

Then there is the 1988 action masterpiece Die Hard, and though some don’t consider this film a perennial Christmas classic (and those people are wrong), to me it perfectly embodies the spirit of Christmas as well as depicting just how bad an office Christmas party can get.  Now, clear evidence that this is a Christmas movie is that its setting is during the holiday, which by default makes it a Christmas movie; but at the centre of it all we also have a love story about an estranged couple reconnecting over the holidays; it just so happens that this reconnection is caused by a band of ruthless criminals and not a Christmas Miracle.

Christmas movies and shows endure because they turn the bleakness of winter into something familiar, warm, and oddly comforting. Their stories are predictable, but that predictability is exactly what makes them feel like tradition rather than repetition. Every year, they remind audiences that a little manufactured magic can still do the job when the days are short and the nights are long.

Dishonourable mention goes to Santa Claus: The Movie. It’s Ho-Ho-Horrible, but I end up watching it every year.

Any one of these movies or television classics will give me a boost of holiday cheer, and if I miss one of them, it always makes my Christmas just a little bit less.