As usual, several of your favorite TV series will be offering Christmas or other holiday-themed episodes this season. Here’s a rundown of some of the highlights, and we’ll be updating the post as we hear of more! (All times are Eastern)
HOLIDAY TV EPISODES 2015
Arthur’s Perfect Christmas — Dec. 7, 12 and 25 on PBS (check local listings). Everyone’s favorite aardvark gives kids a new spin on seasonal traditions in this one-hour special, showing children the many ways to celebrate. Plans are underway in Elwood City for the best holiday season ever as Arthur, D.W., their family and friends make preparations for perfect gifts, perfect parties and perfect family traditions for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and even “Baxter Day” (Buster and his mom’s special celebration).
Curious George: A Very Monkey Christmas — Dec. 7, 12, 20, 24 and 25 on PBS (check local listings). Join George and The Man with the Yellow Hat as they count down the days until Christmas. There’s only one puzzle: neither of them can figure out what to give the other for a present.
Peg + Cat + Holidays — Dec. 7 and 24 on PBS (check local listings). Three episodes: “The Hanukkah Problem”: “The Christmas Problem”; and “The Penguin Problem.”
Wild Kratts: “A Creature Christmas” — Dec. 7, 18, 20, 24 and 25 on PBS (check local listings). In this one-hour special, it’s Christmas time and the Wild Kratts are taking a break from creature adventuring to celebrate. But when the Wild Kratts receive an alert that their favorite creatures are suddenly disappearing around the globe, their holiday party quickly turns into a rescue mission. The Wild Kratts must race against time to thwart their greedy archrivals’ most miserly scheme yet! Will they be able to travel to the ends of the earth and return their baby animal friends to their homes in time for the holidays?
The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About Christmas! — Dec. 8, 16 and 24 on PBS (check local listings). This adventure finds the Cat in the Hat, Nick and Sally on a journey around the world to help a lost reindeer find his way home to Freezeyourknees Snowland in time for Christmas.
The Muppets: “Single All the Way” — Dec. 8 at 8pm on ABC. The gang is preparing for the annual “Up Late” live Christmas special with, special guest Mindy Kaling. Animal is in charge of tinsel, Sweetums hangs the lights, Sam Eagle strategically places the mistletoe – everything is in order. Or so it seems. Meanwhile, Miss Piggy offers relationship advice to Fozzie, which forces her to reevaluate her relationship with Kermit.
Fresh Off the Boat: “The Real Santa” — Dec. 8 at 8:30pm on ABC. Jessica loves the holidays, but feels that Santa could use some improvements. So she and Louis convince Evan that Santa is a scientist with multiple post-graduate degrees from Princeton and has a close relationship with his mother.
A Chef’s Life Holiday Special — Dec. 8 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings). Join Vivian Howard for a taste of the holidays as she serves up the best of her Southern heritage and the Chanukah traditions of husband Ben. Sample simple corned ham, upscale oyster dressing, humble Hoppin’ John, elegant red velvet cake and more.
Super Why!: “Judith’s Happy Chanukah” — Encores Dec. 9 on PBS (check local listings). Whyatt is excited to have been invited to Red’s Gramma’s house to celebrate Chanukah, but doesn’t know much about the holiday. To learn more, the Super Readers jump into the book Judith’s Happy Chanukah, where they meet Judith, who loves Chanukah so much that she can’t wait to share it with her new friends.
The Middle: “Not So Silent Night” — Dec. 9 at 8pm on ABC. Dreading the fact that they are always late to church and end up in the overflow room, Frankie makes the decision to have the family watch a Christmas Eve service on TV from the comfort of the Heck house. But a string of events make their evening anything but a peaceful, silent night.
The Goldbergs: “A Christmas Story” — Dec. 9 at 8:30pm on ABC. Disappointed with her unenthusiastic family during the holidays, Beverly creates “Super Hanukkah” to get them into the spirit but it’s too similar to Christmas.
Modern Family: “White Christmas” — Dec. 9 at 9pm on ABC. In hopes of the perfect white Christmas she never had in Columbia, Gloria rents a cabin in the mountains for the whole family, including Andy (guest star Andy DeVine), to celebrate the Christmas holiday.
The Vampire Diaries: “Cold As Ice” — Dec. 10 at 8pm on The CW. With the holidays in full swing, a search for Julian leads Damon and Stefan to a small town outside of Mystic Falls. While managing a holiday toy drive at Whitmore College, Bonnie (Kat Graham) seeks help from Nora (guest star Scarlett Byrne) and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. Elsewhere, Caroline (Candice King) does her best to navigate her new life as a pregnant vampire, while Alaric (Matt Davis) grows concerned that the pregnancy is effecting her more than she’s letting on.
The Originals: “Savior” — Dec. 10 at 9pm on The CW. When a dangerous affliction threatens to expose one of her siblings, Freya (Riley Voelkel) searches for a way to reverse the crippling curse even as she finds herself the target of The Strix’s latest plan. Elsewhere, Klaus (Joseph Morgan) keeps a watchful eye over Cami (Leah Pipes) while she attempts to help Detective Kinney (guest star Jason Dohring), whose life has begun to spiral out of control as a result of Lucien’s compulsion. Meanwhile, a confrontation with Marcel (Charles Michael Davis) causes Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood) to reevaluate his decision to stay out of witch business, and Hayley’s (Phoebe Tonkin) attempt at a quiet Christmas with Jackson (guest star Nathan Parsons) and Hope results in an unexpected surprise.
Billy on the Street: “Christmas on the Street With Will Ferrell!” — Dec. 10 at 10:30pm on truTV. Will Ferrell and Billy ambush New Yorkers with Christmas presents, holiday trivia and Yuletide cheer.
Last Man Standing: “Gift of the Wise Man” — Dec. 11 at 8pm on ABC. Mike, annoyed at how far his family has moved away from the true spirit of Christmas, tells them he doesn’t want any physical gifts this year. Instead, he just wants each of them to perform a “good deed” for him. Meanwhile, Chuck is nominated to be Outdoor Man’s in-store Santa for the season.
Lidia Celebrates America: “Home for the Holidays” — Dec. 11 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings). Join chef, author and restaurateur Lidia Bastianich to celebrate the holiday traditions of her native Italy and those of six guests: Christopher Walken, Rita Moreno, Carlo Ponti, Jr., Ann Curry, Marcus Samuelsson and Padma Lakshmi.
Craft in America: “Celebration” — Dec. 11 at 10pm on PBS (check local listings). Examine the role craft plays in our holiday customs, especially winter celebrations and traditions. Observe the artisans who create ceramics for Christmas, holiday cards, candleholders for Kwanzaa, and the floats and lion heads for Chinese New Year.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine: “Yippie Kayak” — Dec. 13 at 8:30pm on FOX. Jake, Charles and Gina are involved in a real-life “Die Hard” situation while off-duty on Christmas Eve, and Terry must leave his family celebration to try to save his squad.
The Last Man on Earth: “Christmas” — Dec. 13 at 9:30pm on FOX. The pressure is on as Gail tries to fix a bad situation, and Melissa and Todd try to recover from their relationship troubles.
The Great Christmas Light Fight — Dec. 14 at 8pm & 9pm on ABC. Featured neighborhoods include, in the 8pm hour, Lights on Jeter Bend in Celebration, FL; Waikele Christmas Lights in Waipahu, HI; and Christmas on Comstock in Gilbert, AZ. At 9pm, featured will be families from Pleasanton, CA; Hillsboro, TN; St. George, UT; and Duluth, MN.
Scorpion: “Dam Breakthrough” — Dec. 14 at 9pm on CBS. On Christmas Eve, Team Scorpion must prevent a catastrophe when torrential rains create a large crack in a dam, threatening to wipe out an entire town in its wake.
The Great Holiday Baking Show: “Pastry Week” — Dec. 14 at 10pm on ABC. Four bakers compete in three doughy challenges.
NCIS: Los Angeles: “Cancel Christmas” — Dec. 14 at 10pm on CBS. When a suspected North Korean spy is poisoned and hit by a truck carrying Christmas trees, the team must search for who is responsible for smuggling spies into the country. Also, Deeks and Kensi try to find a way include their mothers in their Christmas plans, and Hetty notices that Granger isn’t feeling the holiday cheer.
NCIS: New Orleans: “Blue Christmas” — Dec. 15 at 9pm on CBS. When a string of Christmas burglaries turns deadly, the evidence leads the NCIS team to Wade’s adopted son, Danny (Christopher Meyer). Also, Lasalle and Brody tease Sonja about the high stakes of drawing Pride in the team’s Secret Santa exchange.
The Middle: “The Christmas Wall” — Dec. 16 at 8pm on ABC. Frankie has had enough of schlepping out the Christmas decorations and trying to make the perfect holiday for her family — who she feels doesn’t appreciate all that she does for them — and decides to kick back on the couch and have a minimalist Christmas this year.
black-ish: “Black Santa/White Christmas” — Dec. 16 at 9:30pm on ABC. Dre campaigns to be the new Santa at the annual office Christmas party, but when that honor goes to Angelica, the lovely head of HR (guest star Ana Ortiz, “Devious Maids,” “Ugly Betty”), he goes to great lengths to unseat her because he’s convinced Stevens & Lido needs a black Santa.
Life in Pieces: “College Stealing Lice Caroling” — Dec. 17 at 8:30pm on CBS. Colleen joins John and his Air Force buddies for his annual tradition of dirty Christmas caroling. Also, Joan tries to hijack Lark’s first Christmas from Jen and Greg, Samantha gets lice from a mall Santa, and Tyler announces his plans for college.
The Big Bang Theory: “The Clean Room Infiltration” — Dec. 21 at 8pm on CBS. Airing on a special night, this encore episode finds Leonard and Wolowitz nearly coming to blows and turning to Raj for help in dealing with a work emergency. Meanwhile, Amy throws an authentic Victorian Christmas party, and Sheldon seeks revenge on her for making him celebrate the holidays.
A Very Chrisley Christmas 2 — Dec. 22 at 10pm on USA Network. Following last season¹s hit special, viewers will get another holiday delight as the Chrisley family welcomes you into their impeccably decorated winter wonderland home and prepares for Julie¹s delicious Christmas dinner. Over the course of the episode, they will reminisce over their favorite moments from the season, reliving their comical interactions and mishaps through a compilation of prior and never-before-seen clips.
I Love Lucy Christmas Special — Dec. 23 at 8pm on CBS. Two back-to-back, colorized episodes of the classic series I Love Lucy air: “The Christmas Episode,” first broadcast in 1956, and “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” first aired in 1952.
The Andy Griffith Show Christmas Special — Dec. 25 at 8pm on CBS. Two newly colorized holiday episodes of the classic sitcom The Andy Griffith Show air back-to-back: “The Christmas Story” (originally broadcast Dec. 19, 1960) and “The Pickle Story” (originally broadcast Dec. 18, 1961).
Doctor Who Christmas Special — Dec. 25 at 9pm on BBC America. It’s Christmas Day on a remote human colony and the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) is hiding from Christmas Carols and Comedy Antlers. But when a crashed spaceship calls upon the Doctor for help, he finds himself recruited into River Song’s (Alex Kingston, Arrow) squad and hurled into a fast and frantic chase across the galaxy. King Hydroflax (Greg Davies, The Inbetweeners) is furious, and his giant Robot bodyguard is out-of-control and coming for them all! Will Nardole (Matt Lucas, Bridesmaids) survive? And when will River Song work out who the Doctor is?
Call the Midwife Holiday Special — Dec. 25 at 9pm on PBS (check local listings). Join the revels as Poplar readies itself for Christmas 1960. An unexpected surprise for a grieving mother brings the holiday magic home, while Nonnatus is rocked when one of its own disappears. A film crew promises to make this a memorable Christmas.
Vicious Holiday Special — Dec. 25 at 9:30pm on PBS (check local listings). Freddie (Ian McKellen) and Stuart (Derek Jacobi) host a holiday soiree in their small central London flat. Ash (Iwan Rheon), their young upstairs neighbor, has volunteered to cook the meal, their feisty best friend Violet (Frances de la Tour) is up to her old tricks, and a wicked game of Truth or Dare brings up hidden truths — and surprises as well.
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Life in Pieces: Monty Brinton/CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Middle: ABC/Michael Ansell
Doctor Who: © BBC WORLDWIDE LIMITED
