25 Hard-to-Find Christmas TV Specials Free on YouTube

From the Muppets to Julie Andrews, to a multiverse of Scrooges and George Lucas's greatest shame, let's take a ride on the holiday nostalgia train together

This article was originally shared in December 2023. It’s been revised to include new films and TV specials I’ve recently discovered are available on YouTube.

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So many of my memories of Christmas are tangled up with films and TV specials, to the degree that it often feels as if I’m watching any number of them again with my Nana or my parents or with my three siblings. Memory is non-linear like that, I think. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” makes me five again, lying in front of the new color TV with wood panel feature before my parents had changed out the old shag for more attractive (but no less abrasive) carpet. The stop-motion “Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer” takes me back to Thanksgiving nights at my grandparents’ house, when the promise of Christmas loomed large in all our young minds. It's a Wonderful Life places me in that same house’s living room, somewhere between the opening of presents post-lunch and the annual Euchre games that accompanied leftovers for dinner. Sometimes, I think I watch so many Christmas films and TV with my children so that one day, when I’m gone, I’ll still be with them as they watch them with their own kids. That is, the ones that are still available…which brings me to the point of this article.

Many of the TV specials that I watched in my youth are no longer available, released at a time when most people still didn’t even have a VHS recorder. But over the past few years, I’ve discovered some have popped up on YouTube where so many bits and pieces of pop-culture history go for safekeeping. I began to form files of these, and now return to them every year. Others I’m slowly working my way through as part of my yearly Christmas time-traveling.

This year, I thought I would share these finds with you in case they can also help you get back something you’ve lost during the holidays. Or maybe you just feel like a bit of nostalgia for times gone by. The collection below is divided into two groups: those I’ve watched in recent years (which means I can vouch for how well they hold up) and those I’ll be returning to this year or in the near-future (but which I cannot promise don’t include something insane like Dean Martin doing a blackface routine with Sammy Davis, Jr. because “things were different back then”). I hope any of this adds to your joy during a holiday season that many can struggle with.

PERSONAL FAVORITES

“A MUPPET FAMILY CHRISTMAS” (1987)

This is one of the best Muppet films, specials, anything ever produced. It brings me endless delight, even at forty-seven years old. Sit back and marvel at the only time in the history of The Jim Henson Company that characters from “Sesame Street”, “The Muppets”, and “Fraggle Rock” collide onscreen. It’s otherwise unreleasable today as the rights are owned by different parties.

“JOHN DENVER AND THE MUPPETS - A CHRISTMAS TOGETHER” (1979)

This special combines two things I unabashedly love: John Denver and the Muppets.

“JULIE ANDREWS…THE SOUND OF CHRISTMAS” (1987)

This special lived in my memory for so many years until I randomly stumbled across it in 2018. It kept me company as I wrapped my kids’ presents that year, and I’ve watched it almost every Christmas Eve since. Julie Andrews back in Salzburg with special guests Luciano Pavarotti and John Denver. Pay special attention to the song the three sing together - Denver holds his own!

“A CHRISTMAS CAROL” (1971)

This animated film is a stunningly beautiful (and terrifying at times) adaptation of Charles Dickens’ holiday novella. It features Alastair Sim as the voice of Scrooge and went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

CAROL FOR ANOTHER CHRISTMAS (1964)

Here you get another adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic, but this time live-action and modernized to center on the horrors of war. And when I say horrors, it is horrifying. It was written “THE TWILIGHT ZONE’s” Rod Serling, directed by the great Joseph L. Mankiewicz, and features brilliant performances by Sterling Hayden, Peter Sellers, Robert Shaw, and, maybe most spectacularly, Pat Hingle. It originally aired in 1964, but was pretty much lost until it was broadcast again in 2012 by TCM. I only wish this were a better quality version of it.

“A GARFIELD CHRISTMAS” (1987)

I cannot stress enough that this is every bit as moving, nostalgic, and spiritually wonderful as “A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS”. Not a year goes by that I don’t watch this with my family.

“THE BERENSTAIN BEARS CHRISTMAS TREE” (1979)

Another animated holiday special my family watches as religiously as it does “A Charlie Brown Christmas” and “A Garfield Christmas”. Trust me.

“THE SNOWMAN” with original introduction (1982)

“The Snowman” isn’t exactly a lost classic in any way. Especially in the U.K. where it is still broadcast every Christmas season. But here, you can watch it with its original introduction.

ON THE TWELFTH DAY… (1955)

This is a British short film directed by Wendy Toye. It unfortunately only exists online in this diminished quality, its glorious color ravaged by the years. But it’s stunning nonetheless, I think.

“RICK STEVES’ EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS” (2005)

My wife watched this Christmas special from the beloved travel host and were so inspired by it, we planned a three-week Christmas trip to England the following year - a trip that ultimately led to us moving to England. The following Christmas, we went to German/Austria/France, again inspired by this special. In other words: watch at your own peril. You might find yourself taking an expensive holiday vacation if you do.

“CHRISTMAS EVE ON SESAME STREET” (1978)

This special wasn’t included when I first posted this article (and yes, included it now means there are actually twenty-one links here - whoops), but it should’ve been on the list in the first place. It’s pure magic that will grab you by the heart and drag you back to your earliest childhood. I played for my adult sister once, and she bawled like a baby over it…though, to be fair, she was high at the time.

“DEAN MARTIN 1967 CHRISTMAS SPECIAL” (1967)

This special is…well, a little sexist. I can’t defend that except to say that the entire vibe is deliriously over-the-top, buoyed by Dean Martin’s “I’m an alcoholic” schtick. It also features Bob Hope delivering one of the funniest skits of his career.

“CRICKET ON THE HEARTH” (1968)

A Rankin/Bass classic, though largely forgotten today. A shame.

“THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW”: “Christmas and the Hard Luck Kid II” (1970)

This is just a beautiful, heartwarming cup of Christmas cheer and, if you grew up in the Eighties when “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” was played in heavy rotation, like a warm hug from an old friend.

ON MY CHRISTMAS TO-WATCH LIST

“THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW”: “Not a Christmas Story” (1974)

“MR. BEAN”: “Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean” (1992)

“CHER CHRISTMAS SHOW” (1975)

“PERRY COMO’S EARLY AMERICAN CHRISTMAS” (1978)

John Wayne makes an appearance. Feels like there’s a decent chance something offensive happens…but hopefully not.

“TRUMAN CAPOTE’S A CHRISTMAS MEMORY”

Truman Capote actually co-adapted this TV movie of his holiday classic.

“JULIE ANDREWS CHRISTMAS” (1972)

“KENNY & DOLLY: A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER” (1984)

“THE LUCY SHOW”: “Lucy the Choirmaster” (1965)

AN AMERICAN CHRISTMAS CAROL (1979)

Guys, this stars Henry Winkler as an Americanized Scrooge. That’s reason enough to watch, as far as I’m concerned.

A SMOKEY MOUNTAIN CHRISTMAS (1986)

I remember watching this film with my mother as a kid. It’s…crazy. But I remember it very fondly. Interestingly, it’s directed by Henry Winkler - making this his second appearance on this list.

“THE STAR WARS HOLIDAY SPECIAL” (1978)

Last but not least, the most batshit crazy “holiday special” ever aired on television. It was such a success that George Lucas buried it for good. Happy Life Day!

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