2020 Christmas TV Movie Calendar

Let’s start by stating the obvious … 2020 has just drained me and I came very close to not doing this calendar cause well frankly nothing else has worked out this year why should this … but then decided A. I needed something to look forward to so looking up these shows and movies made me happy. B. so many people have been asking about this calendar even before the Halloween one went out so the pressure to do it was strong. C. For that reason I knew that many of you were looking forward to was this calendar and I didn’t deliver then well it would have made you sad and I can’t have that on my head. D. by sending out the Halloween calendar I kind of obligated myself to do this one too E. For those indifferent to the calendar I salute you but question your loyalty F. it’s all about me and this calendar makes me smile and wears out my TV … so we must proceed! (My Tivos recently died a horrible death but Xfinity-X1 is in the house …. Literally. Dad blames Xfinity, Comcast whatever they call themselves these days… I am just gonna lay it at 2020’s doorstep, in a paper bag, with other organic matter inside it, and it will be on fire. Just saying.

So … here you go …. I present to you the 2020 Christmas TV Schedule in all its glory! It's best if you save the image below for viewing on the go. By my calculations my digital files of calendars goes back to 2008. However, before 2008 I was horrible about file management (I’m getting better) so who really knows. The Halloween calendar stated the 12^th Edition so that’s what I’m going to go with …. tho I swear I’ve been doing it longer. I also confess that I, who is on the finance committee at the Church, suck at Math so ya know … take that for what you want. Forget Diamonds … Calculators are a girls friend. Cell phones with a built in calculator ... well that’s our bestie.

Another house cleaning item before we dive in …. You’ll notice that I never sent an e-mail about the Charlie Brown goodness that was to have been the airing date of the Great Pumpkin back in October. I confess at the time I blamed ABC … little did I know that they were just as sad about it as me (at least I like to think they were). Well that’s cause Apple's TV+ and Peanuts ruined Halloween for everyone. Just everyone. I mean yeah sure Covid (the Covid, The Virus, whatever it goes by in your respective parts of the world) killed it in many areas of the US … but even those people have to admit that it was truly dead when it was announced that Peanuts had sold out to Apple's TV+  and thus no showing on Network TV (ABC) was to happen this year. Screw those kids whose parents hadn’t bought into the online digital age. Forget the littles who rely on network TV for their wholesome TV (you know after they watch 10 minutes of vomiting on Family Guy). Suck it …kid far away from home for the first time in college who smiles when Charlie Brown gets his rock or when Linus misses the great pumpkin…again. GUYS …the thing I’ve been trying to combat with this calendar is finally happening. They are slowly removing all life as we know it from network TV and moving to Digital platforms. Or…you know something far less dramatic. I blame you all for not watching. For DVRing and then not watching cause it’s a week or two after the holiday and you are trying to free up space for yet another Walking Dead spin off. For not tweeting and facebooking that you were watching when you finally pause long enough to watch. You know who you are. Anyway… once that “news story broke” all haties broke loose, the world descended into anarchy and Apple was like whoa we don’t care for negative backlash (I mean their fan allegiance is usually really high), then Charles Schulz and his halo came down to the Peanut offices all God like and mad demanding answers as he threw footballs at his staff for this very obvious betrayal. I understand, Steve Jobbs decided to not don the Turtleneck and make the trip north in order to get involved (see what I did there?). So, after all that the result was that we get one showing of the Thanksgiving and one showing of the Christmas specials on PBS …. One. Make it count guys. Plan your lives around it cause while I am still mad at them we need to watch. Show them that the backlash was real, explain to them that it is important for it to be on network TV and maybe just maybe next year I get my freaking Great Pumpkin back! I don’t ask for much guys …. I mean honestly.

• ·       A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving Nov. 22 – sorry I didn’t get this out in time for you to watch …. that’s on me … but hey if you miss Christmas… that’s .. well that’s on you
• ·       A Charlie Brown Christmas On PBS  Dec. 13 plan accordingly

Now that all that unpleasantness is handled …. Back to our regularly scheduled programing ….

The rules:

• ·       No e-mails about taking Christ out of Christmas, it’s just a really long word and using X-mas allows for extra real estate on an already full calendar. Thanks for your understanding and if you don’t understand that feel free to let me remove you from this list.
• ·       I live in the central time zone thus the times reflect that, adjust accordingly and plan ahead. Unless otherwise stated the times are PM.
• ·       This is about specials and movies, not single one off episodes for scheduled shows. You can watch those all year long, this is about things that other than Hallmark, Lifetime etc., you can only watch this time of year.
• ·       It’s about me… this calendar reflect what I WANT to watch and the channels that I get. There is a mixture of cartoons, children’s programs, and adult themed programs. Some are classics, some are new. I vouch not for their quality or content so don’t be calling me cause your little watched a Lifetime movie with you and now has questions. You made that not me.

Channels you will want to take note of

Freeform has been having a Kick off to Christmas all November and is planning another 25 days of Christmas starting December 1st. If you have littles this is the place for you. There are some classics Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph, Frosty … that being said just cause it’s airing doesn’t mean it deserves your time. While the offerings for Christmas are a lot better than the Halloween offerings, there are still a lot of repeats. If you have had a bad day or want something for background noise as you bake or wrap gifts, or the kids are being impossible and you just need a break … this is your channel. Let me also add that the LOVE that Freeform is giving to Rudolph and Frosty this year makes for a Happy Marcy! Claymation for the Win!

As a friend of mine so eloquently stated … “Hallmark, Lifetime, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries have been assaulting us with Christmas movies all freaking year” … so I have decided to only include “new movies” or movies that I liked and want to see again are on the calendar. There are frankly too many to show them all and if you are having a night where you want to see the same movie but with a different setting and actors then these are the channels for you. They are predictable but always good for killing a few hours.

On that note …. All new showings (or new to me anyway) are marked all PURPLE.

A few airings of note ….

• ·       Die Hard …. I tried guys, I really did, mostly for you Joe (stay safe out there, and come home soon sir!). The only place I can find it on is HBO, and I don’t have HBO and well remember the rules. I was really surprised AMC didn’t jump on the Die Hard is a Christmas movie bandwagon. It would fit really well with their line up but maybe HBO has the rights?! Who knows. At least I’m finally conceding that it can be conceived by some as a Christmas movie.
• ·       How the Grinch Stole X-mas – look I love the original….the cartoon … with all it’s wonderful Seussiness …. I like the Jim Carey version but it comes on like 62,986,529,862 times on Freeform. This calendar shows some of those but if you miss it well you have been warned. There is also a showing of the new Grinch cartoon (2018) Dec 18^th at 8 on Freeform (you know the new one from Illumination (Minions Fame) that has Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Grinch-which I haven’t seen yet so that’s exciting), but the OG Cartoon with Boris Karloff as your narrator comes on once … on NBC Dec. 25^th at 7  …. It’s marked as TOON and in true NBC fashion it’s MUST SEE TV!
• ·       It’s a Wonderful Life – we get one shot at this one this year …. Dec. 24^th NBC 7  … Don’t blow it. What’s up with NBC showing stuff once and then moving on ?! Like really?! 
• ·       The Grinch Musical – I don’t know much about this one ….. I know it stars Matthew Morrison as the Grinch …. And frankly I don’t have high hopes for it, however I love me some Broadway and anything that puts Broadway on my TV gets a win in my book, tho I’d love to have been in the pitch meeting for this musical. It airs on NBC Dec. 9^th at 7.
• ·       The Sound of Music – This is just an iconic story that a dear friend of mine loves and thus I love it too. Definitely worth watching at least once in your lifetime, more if you are so blessed to do so. Released in 1965 it is about Maria (Julie Andrews), a young Austrian postulant (candidate to be a nun) in 1938 who is sent to serve as a governess to the 7 children of a naval officer (Christopher Plummer), when it’s clear the life of a Nun is not for her. It features music, puppets, dancing, costume changes and Nazis. The 2^nd half of the movie is stupid dark for as light and fun as the first half is. Catch it Dec. 20^th on ABC at 6 (it’s a long movie 172 minutes to be exact. Or nearly 3 hours).
• ·       Kennedy Center Honors – we could all use a pick me up and watching a special that highlights wonderful people doing wonderful things for others is a good start. This is the 42^nd showing and it airs on Dec. 15^th at 7 on CBS.
• ·       CNN Heroes on well … CNN … is also a great pick me up and a reminder that there are people out there who care about others airing on Dec. 13^th at 7 well on CNN.

Digital Options for you …….. cause I love you guys that much … can be found at the following links …. The 2^nd link breaks it down by service and days which was super nice of someone

Netflix, other streaming services add more Christmas movies and specials, from 'Lego Star Wars Holiday Special' to 'Charlie Brown Christmas' (msn.com)

 

Everything Coming To Netflix, Disney Plus, HBO Max, Hulu And Prime Video In December (wegotthiscovered.com)

Anyway, the intention of this calendar, much like the Halloween one is to get your family to pause and spend some time together making memories. In this season where we spend so much time rushing around we forget to enjoy the down time and enjoy the family time. Great specials come and go and if we don’t watch they will go forever.

Today’s “classic Christmas special” may be next year’s no show on the calendar. That’s the other reason for this calendar, if we stop watching they will stop showing, I present Exhibit A …. Charlie Brown. Exhibit B Yes Virginia once again not showing up on CBS …. For reasons I don’t understand. Like seriously can someone explain this to me? Exhibit C What happened to Yes Virginia … I can’t even find the movie airing anywhere. So please take the time to watch it with your family as it airs so that it will air for years to come.  If not for me do it for the children, as they are our future, according to some nice lady who sang really really loudly but also really beautifully.

So sit back, laugh, smile, and cry (some of these are sad, I mean who doesn’t cry when George Bailey is standing next to the tree with Mary holding little Zuzu and his friends are coming in to save the Bailey Savings and Loan, oh no did I give the end away ?!) and have a GREAT Christmas season!

Marcy

Rona ……. you scary!

So …. This weekend I did a thing. I packed a bag …. I got in a car and I traveled to the other side of my state. A good 340 miles, a little over 5 hours (give or take traffic/my brother’s lead foot etc.) and a crapton of anxiety about this decision. See my nephew is a JR. in High School. He’s run cross country in the past but over the last spring/summer he got really into it. Like almost annoyingly into it. It was all he talked about, all he thought about, all he did. Not that I’m complaining, the truth is if he’s going to be obsessed with something it might as well be this. So one day last spring he says to me, “One of my goals is to make it to State” I said I’m sure you will, you are definitely putting in the work. He said, “If I go to State will you come?” I was sitting in my chair, working from home cause of this damn virus, and he was at our house during the week cause he was out of school (doing virtual school) and helping my dad with a project. However it only took a moment for me to say, “Of Course! You make it to State and I’ll be there!” 

The way I see it he and I won’t have a lot of these moments left and well if it weren’t for this damn virus I’d have definitely been there. Little did I know that as a Country we’d suck at Pandemics. That we’d have a leader in the White House that convinced everyone it was fine when it was most definitely was not. That not only would we still be in the throws of it but in some parts of the world Round 2 would be getting underway. Nah oh that Spring afternoon looking into his excited face I just wanted to watch him run. Damn if he didn't call my bluff and make the State Championship, which resulted in one of the best but most stressful trips of my life.

According to the interwebs, which are totes never wrong there were over 2,000 kids at this meet. So say each of those kids has 2 parents with them and then throw in a few siblings, some grandparents, aunts and uncles, not to mention volunteers, vendors, concession stand workers so conservatively I’m guestimating there was at least 6-8,000 people at this meet. Give or take cause I suck at math. I saw masks and social distancing but also tons of hugs, lots of people using port a pottys, high fives (some as they left the port a potty), and well the recipe for putting my state back on the national map everywhere I looked. I was standing in the middle of a super spreader waiting to happen. When I think about the number of schools participating from all over the state and how this thing has the possibility of getting way out of hand I gives me heart palpitations.  

I’ve done everything I was supposed to do. I wore a mask. I used hand sanitizer. I social distanced. Every time someone got too close I faked needing to look for something and walked away from the conversation around me, not that anyone noticed. Yet here I sit feeling like a ticking timebomb about to go off cause frankly I just don’t fucking know. My nephew made a similar statement when I meet up with him at the course (I could tell his anxiety had already ramped up just like mine was). I looked at him and said “We are here now, nothing we can do about it so enjoy it. Run your little heart out and have fun. Make this trip worth every second of it!” However inside I wanted to grab him by his hoodie high tail it back to the car, get a hotel room for the night and take a hand sanitizer bath for about 4 hours. He did look at me and say “well we know one thing, if we don’t get it today, it’s just not in the cards for us to get it at all.” Which both made me laugh and scared me that he felt that way. Every day is a new battle so just cause we missed the shrapnel from today (God willing) that doesn’t mean we won’t be hit tomorrow.

Here’s what has me totally freaking out ….. the inevitable contract tracing to come. I traveled with my brother and sister in law. We checked into the hotel and went straight to our room. We ate dinner Friday night. After going to three other restaurants and not wanting to wait the 45-50 minutes on their tables ended up at a Mexican place near the hotel. So you have that waiter, plus the lady who took payment for said delicious dinner, and the ladies we spoke with at the other two places before deciding to move on. On the way back to the hotel the Nephew requested a milkshake from Chick-fil-a, so add the kid who took our order and the kid who brought our order to the list. Plus whomever all of these people served the rest of the night/weekend. Also keep in mind I couldn’t begin to tell you where those two restaurants were located cause it was dark and my brother was driving. My nephew visited us once we got there, and he had 2 roommates, not to mention his coaches and other teammates that he ate dinner with that night and traveled on a buss home with. Plus the buss driver, you gotta add him to the mix. Plus notice I'm not including anyone that we walked by on Saturday, talked with etc. cause it was a crapton of people. On the way home Saturday we stopped for a bite at a Wendy's, again only God knows where, and dealt with the window lady. Plus add two rest area stops, one stop at a gas station in which we all got out and stretched our legs. So lady behind us in line for the potty that stood far closer than she should have good luck cause I don’t even know your damn name. Then upon returning home you have my parents to add to the mix. This morning I got up and went to Church where I counted the money as part of the treasury with another lady, cut a check for one of the members, had several conversations with our preacher throughout the day. While waiting on me mom and dad went to Winn Dixie for a few items so whomever they dealt with there counts I guess. All while wearing a mask but still. That’s just me. That’s just my list of where I was and what I did. That doesn’t include who my brother saw today, whom my SIL saw, or my nephew. That’s how this shit gets so damn out of control so damn fast and that’s what has me all freaked out. This is the aspect of this entire virus situation that people don't think about.  Plus all of that is just from say Friday to Sunday ..... what about the week ahead? Do we count them too? it's quite overwhelming to think about. 

Since March I’ve been good. I’ve stayed home from work (working from home), I’ve left the house only when it was absolutely necessary. I've worn masks, I've used the hand sanitizer, ....  I’VE DONE EVERYTHING RIGHT. I had one lapse in judgement and I pray with everything I have that it doesn’t ruin everything. Especially when all I needed to hear that day was "I really am glad you came, I know these kind of things freak you out now." I'd do anything for that kid, even get RONA I just pray he doesn't get it or I don't give it to others during the process. I also pray that should we get it he doesn't blame himself tho he's enough like me that he will. 

Marcy (whose more scared of Big Rona than Rona is of me but that scares me even more)