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Your Guide to This Year’s Holiday Movies, Specials and TV Episodes

​Our critics pull the best watch lists for all your holiday cheer​


spinner image A woman wearing a Christmas hat is using a remote to turn on the TV during the holidays
supersizer/E+/Getty Images

All through December, our TVs overflow with fun holiday movies, specials and TV shows. There’s a sleighful of programming out there. Use these lists from our critics to find out what to watch — where and when.​

spinner image Catherine O'Hara and Macaulay Culkin star in the film Home Alone
20th Century Fox/Allstar Picture Library Ltd./Alamy Stock Photo

The Best Family Christmas Movies to Watch

Get some Yuletide cheer (and a tear or two) from classics starring Whitney Houston, Tim Allen, Hugh Grant, big elf Will Ferrell and everyone’s favorite angel, Dolly Parton.​

spinner image Kurt Russell starring in The Christmas Chronicles and Phylicia Rashad in Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Michael Gibson/Netflix; Gareth Gatrell/Netflix

12 Best Christmas Movies on Netflix

To woo holiday viewers, Netflix has some terrific movies — if you could only find them on Netflix. We’ve done the work for you with the best films, the plots and the particular reason to watch each one.​

spinner image Rukiya Bernard stars in Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing
Hugh Tull/Crown Media United States LLC

​​10 Can’t-Miss Hallmark Christmas Movies

Countdown to Christmas with the channel that popularized the phrase. Our Hallmark expert picks the best of the bunch.​

spinner image Brandon Quinn and Jana Kramer star in the film A Welcome Home Christmas
Lifetime

10 Best Lifetime Holiday Movies to Watch

There are 35 — count 'em! — NEW Lifetime holiday movies airing this season. Which are the best to catch? Our experts weigh in.

spinner image Bells on top of sheet music for the song Jingle Bells
Brasil2/E+/Getty Images

How Well Do You Know Your Christmas Carols?

Test your holiday knowledge of songs you know by heart — like the Christmas hit inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis. Take the trivia quiz, then fill the air with the AARP Classic Holiday Songs list on Spotify.​

spinner image A scene from A Charlie Brown Christmas
United Features Syndicate/Courtesy Everett Collection

10 Old-Fashioned Christmas Specials to Watch With Your Grandkids

Some of these shows have been around since the '60s — and every season they warm us like a Yule log.

spinner image Burl Moseley, Alison Brie, Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Mary Holland, Victor Garber and Mary Steenburgen together in front of a Christmas Tree in the film Happiest Season
Hulu

10 Best Christmas Movies on Hulu

From A Christmas Carol to Happiest Season tA Nasty Piece of Work, we rate Hulu's holiday movies — some naughty, some nice, all very merry.

spinner image Matthew Perry is dressed as Santa Claus, David Schwimmer is dressed as the Holiday Armadillo with Courteney Cox standing between them
Warner Bros. Television/Getty Images

10 Classic Holiday Sitcom Episodes

Some are hilarious. Some are heartwarming. All are guaranteed mood boosters, from The Andy Griffith Show to The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

spinner image Side by side images of Tim Allen in The Santa Clause and Kermit the Frog and Michael Caine in The Muppet Christmas Carol
Attila Dory/Walt Disney Pictures/Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo; Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection

The 12 Best Christmas Movies on Disney+ This Year

Watch a parade of Disney classics, plus a charming new Home Alone spinoff and hits starring Helen Mirren, Shirley MacLaine, and the Muppets.

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