The List of December 2025’s Must-Watch Christmas Specials

I love a good holiday movie marathon, but sometimes I want something shorter than a feature and bigger than a one-off sitcom Christmas beat. That sweet spot is where Christmas specials live, and these are the ones I keep going back to when I want the instant, concentrated version of holiday spirit.

Quick definition check: a Christmas special can be a standalone short or technically a canon episode. Either way, the good ones hit harder than their runtime should allow and stick with you for years.

Before we get into the main picks, two heavier but excellent options deserve a nod: the Black Mirror Christmas episode starring Jon Hamm (icy, unsettling, great), and The Bear season 2 holiday hour, 'Fishes' (tense, stressful, and fantastic). If you are maxed out on twinkly cheer, start there.

The Christmas specials I revisit every year

• A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

  Twenty-five minutes, zero fluff, all heart. Charlie Brown is bummed about how commercial Christmas feels and gets roped into directing the school pageant, where the shiny spectacle only makes him feel worse. His choice of a scraggly little tree becomes the symbol everyone remembers. What ultimately saves the day is not glitter or budget, but simple, sincere acts. Somehow this tiny special says more about the holiday than most features. It never wears out.

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966)

  There have been plenty of remakes, but the original still does the job. The classic animation, the sticky-in-your-brain songs, and Boris Karloff’s wonderfully gravelly narration all age like a good ornament you refuse to retire. Plot refresher: the Grinch, allergic to Whoville joy, tries to erase Christmas by stealing the trappings. The Whos celebrate anyway, which forces him to confront what the day actually means. Simple, sharp, still essential.

• Downton Abbey Christmas Special (2011)

  Set in 1919, this season two holiday episode is Downton at full upstairs/downstairs churn. The house is knee-deep in festive prep, but a cloud hangs over everything: Mr. Bates faces a murder trial. Meanwhile, Edith entertains a secret suitor, a surprise pregnancy comes to light, and (finally) Matthew and Mary get engaged. It is a big, juicy bow on the post-war years that nudges the series toward the roaring twenties.

• A Muppet Family Christmas (1987)

  Yes, The Muppet Christmas Carol is the gold standard, but this earlier special is a blast. Fozzie invites everyone to his mom’s farm for the holidays, not realizing his mother, Emily Bear, is skipping town for warmer weather and has rented the place to Doc and Sprocket. Chaos ensues as more and more Muppets pile in, including a delightfully unexpected crossover with the Sesame Street crew. It is wall-to-wall cheer, jokes, chaotic carols, and general Muppet mayhem. Bonus: you can stream the whole thing on YouTube.

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: A Very Sunny Christmas (2009)

  Long-running, loudly beloved, and somehow still sharp, Sunny’s holiday special is a black-comedy ornament unto itself. The gang revisits their childhood Christmases, each memory more deranged than the last, and attempts (key word: attempts) to figure out how they ended up like this. It goes darker than your average yuletide tale and runs 42 minutes, a double-length installment. Fun bit of TV-nerd trivia: it was produced for season 5 but premiered during season 6 as a standalone special.

How this list came together: a mix of time-honored staples and a few more modern entries that consistently score high with audiences and actually hold up. If you are building out your December queue, this is where I would start. And if you want to keep going, I have a separate lineup of the best-rated holiday films ready to go when you are in feature-length mode.