What are the ingredients for a merry Christmas? Judging from TV, we can make this list: Adorable children. Cookies. Second chances at love. Wishes that come true. And this year, cats.
Nearly two dozen new movies (I count 23) arrive this month and next, most on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel, which have been competing to see which can start the season earliest. Hallmark won this year, launching its “Countdown to Christmas” the day after Halloween.
But among its five new movies, Lifetime landed the season’s biggest star: Grumpy Cat, the famously sour-looking Internet sensation.
Meanwhile, uplifting UP (formerly the Gospel Music Channel) joins in with four new movies among its 500 promised hours of Christmas programming.
There are specials, too, and plenty of music. Frosty and the Grinch make their annual appearances, as do decades of classic Christmas movies. How-to channels show us what to cook and how to decorate.
It’s enough to make you panic if your gifts aren’t all wrapped, even if a jack-o’-lantern remains on your porch and Thanksgiving is days away.
Because there’s so much Christmas TV, and you can’t just drop everything and watch, I’ve tried to sort out the highlights, creating a Top 10 list of movies and specials worth your notice. More highlights of this season’s new offerings follow in chronological order.
Then, in Friday’s Go! magazine, look for my perennial Christmas must-sees, plus a list of where to find your favorites. Note that most movies and specials have repeat airings, sometimes many, so check your listings.
1. ‘Peter Pan Live!’
7 p.m. Dec. 4 on NBC
For its second big holiday event designed for families to watch together, NBC chooses the musical about a boy who won’t grow up and the children he takes on a magical flight to Neverland. Maybe you remember watching the Mary Martin version, from 1960, which last aired on network TV in 1990. The new, live production (following last year’s “The Sound of Music”) stars Allison Williams as Peter, Christopher Walken as Captain Hook and St. Louis’ Taylor Louderman as Wendy. Look for more about “Peter Pan Live!” in this section next Sunday.
2. ‘Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever’
7 p.m. Nov. 29, on Lifetime
Who says cats can’t act? The Grumpster makes the most of her fame by starring as a sad pet-shop kitty (voiced to perfection by Aubrey Plaza of “Parks and Recreation”) who finds a soul mate in a 12-year-old girl. (Go ahead: aww!) Despite the heartwarming factor, don’t expect too much Christmas sap here. Plaza is also an executive producer, and her acerbic wit is apparent throughout, as the movie mocks both itself and Lifetime.
3. ‘One Christmas Eve’
7 p.m. Nov. 30 on the Hallmark Channel
Maybe I forgot to mention that cats don’t have an exclusive on starring roles this Christmas. Dogs bring people together, too. In this new entry in the “Hallmark Hall of Fame” franchise, now airing exclusively on Hallmark’s own cable channel, Anne Heche has to save a puppy (and a kid) from a hole. In “The Christmas Shepherd,” 7 p.m. Sunday on Hallmark, widow Teri Polo loses her late husband’s beloved German shepherd, only to find him living with a single dad and his daughter. There’s even a dog, a big one, in the Grumpy Cat movie.
4. ‘Elf: Buddy’s Musical Christmas’
7 p.m. Dec. 16 on NBC
Jim Parsons is the voice of Buddy in a stop-motion animated special that promises to combine the look and feel of Christmas specials past with the wit and absurdity of the 2003 Will Ferrell movie. The nine songs are from the stage musical “Elf,” which played at the Fox Theatre last December.
5. ‘iHeart Radio
Jingle Ball 2014’
8 p.m. Dec. 18 on the CW
For anybody who got sick of carols the third week they took over radio, this concert from Madison Square Garden promises to “capture the holiday spirit,” although you can’t be sure anyone will perform “The Little Drummer Boy.” Acts include Ariana Grande, Sam Smith, Pharrell Williams, OneRepublic, Meghan Trainor, 5 Seconds of Summer, Jessie J, Shawn Mendes and Nick Jonas.
6. ‘Call the Midwife
Holiday Special’
8 p.m. Dec. 25 on PBS
Christmas Day episodes of favorite series are a tradition in England (on “Downton Abbey,” that’s when a certain favorite character met his death), and PBS is getting in on the act. On “Midwife,” the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus house prepare for the Sunday School Christmas concert and ponder what’s ahead in 1960. There’s also a “Vicious Holiday Special” (9:30 p.m.), in which Freddie and Stuart (Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi) host a Christmas party with a too-truthful game of Truth or Dare.
7. ‘The Sing-Off’
8 p.m. Dec. 17 on NBC
The a cappella singing competition returns as a holiday event special with six groups competing for a $50,000 prize. Shawn Stockman and Jewel are joined at the judging table by Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy, with Nick Lachey as host.
8. ‘Christmas in Palm Springs’
6 p.m. Sunday on UP
The four new original movies on UP this Christmas are joined by this TV debut in which separated parents (Patrick Muldoon and Dina Meyer) living on opposite sides of the country are brought together in Palm Springs by their kids, with help from a guardian angel (Bill Cobbs).
9. ‘Santa Hunters’
6 p.m. Nov. 28 on Nickelodeon
Nine-year-old Alex (Benjamin Flores Jr.) sets out to prove Santa is real, but his meddling may cause Claus to lose his Christmas powers forever. Kids, kids, kids. You know seeing Santa isn’t allowed.
10. ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’
7 p.m. Dec. 6 and Dec. 24 on NBC
You could have bought this on DVD for a few bucks years ago, but waiting for it to come on TV has become a tradition, ever since copyright restrictions ended the once-ubiquitous holiday airings. So, here are your two chances this year.
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