Best Christmas TV Specials for December 2009: First Week of December

It's that time of the year again: time for a whole sleighfull of Christmas TV specials! This is a list and schedule of some of the best Christmas TV specials for the first week of December 2009, including a few fun, new Christmas TV specials, some animated classics, and more. So get in the holiday spirit with the great Christmas TV specials for the first week of December 2009 here, and be sure to DVR them (all times are Eastern):

December 1, 2009

A Charlie Brown Christmas - ABC, 8:00 p.m. - Of course I've got to start out this list with one of the best animated Christmas TV specials of all time! Get your 2009 Christmas off to a perfect (if somewhat depressing) start with Charlie Brown's Christmas tale of pageantry, sad little trees, Christmas commercialism, and the true meaning of the holidays. It's one of the animated Christmas TV specials here you've got to see at least once during December, even if you've seen a hundred times already.

Disney's Prep & Landing - ABC, 8:30 p.m. - And we move from one of the best classic animated Christmas TV specials to a new one that's sure to become a holiday hit. It's a high-tech look at Santa's little Christmas helpers, who use cutting edge technology to prepare the world for his impossible trek. It's definitely must-see Christmas TV, and one of the new animated Christmas TV specials on this list that kids and adults alike will probably fall in love with.

December 2, 2009

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer - CBS, 8:00 p.m. - Everyone's favorite reindeer of song is joined by new friends like misfit toys, a wannabe dentist elf, and an abominable snowman in another of the classic animated TV specials on this list. The Rankin/Bass Christmas characters of stop-motion animated Christmas TV specials like this one are all so adorable, you'll wish you could pluck them right from the screen to give to your kids for nostalgic Christmas gifts.

Tree Lighting Ceremony at Rockefeller Center - NBC, 8:00 p.m. - I feel bad about the idea of plucking a beautiful old tree from it's natural habitat just so we can decorate it with lights and ooh and aah over it, but there are some who consider this one of the must-watch Christmas TV specials of the year. (But I think I'll stick with watching Rudolph instead).

The Polar Express - ABC Family, 6:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. - I'm trying to limit this list of Christmas TV specials to actual TV specials and fewer movies, since there are so many, but this animated masterpiece is such a magical Christmas tale, I'll include it on the list. It's a touching story about a boy that doesn't believe in Christmas magic, until he's whisked off to the North Pole on a magic train. If you haven't seen it and enjoyed the recently-released CGI version of 'A Christmas Carol', then you might enjoy this other magical Christmas ride.

December 4, 2009

Frosty's Winter Wonderland - ABC Family, 7:00 p.m. - This is the Rankin/Bass sequel to one of everyone's favorite Christmas TV specials, 'Frosty the Snowman'. In this follow-up to the Frosty story, Frosty gets a wife and has to deal with a scheming and jealous Jack Frost. There's a clever reference to Parson Brown from the song 'Winter Wonderland', and plenty of "Happy Birthday!" exclamations. It's pretty cheesy, but kids will love all of the goofy mush-for-brains snowpeople.

December 5, 2009

Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas - ABC Family, 7:00 a.m. - This is one of Disney's newer animated TV Christmas specials, and it groups together three different Christmas stories. One explores what would happen if kids got a probably oft-wished wish granted that it was Christmas every day; in one Goofy tries to convince Max that Santa is real; and in another Mickey and Minnie act our their own version of 'Gift of the Magi'. I prefer the classic Disney Christmas TV specials, but I'm sure kids will love these colorful new Christmas tales.
The Dog Who Saved Christmas - ABC Family, 10:30 a.m. - If you missed this Christmas made-for-TV movie the first time, be sure to DVR this time, because there's nothing more heartwarming than a Christmas tale about a cute, cuddly animal. This one is 'Home Alone' with a canine twist: a loveable mutt named Zeus has to protect his family's home. It's one of the longer Christmas TV specials on this list, complete with bungling burglars and plenty of goofy gags. It's a bit silly, but a feel-good, family friendly movie.

12 Men of Christmas - Lifetime, 8:00 p.m. - This is one of the few Christmas TV specials here that isn't aimed at the kiddies, but at the ladies looking for a little yuletide lovin'. It stars loveable Kristin Chatsworth of 'Pushing Daisies' fame as a busy New Yorker who moves to Montana and comes up with the idea to create a calendar featuring the many ridiculously-sexy male members of a rescue team she runs into around her new digs (it's for a good cause, of course). So will she fall for one of the calendar-boy hunks? Watch to find out!

So that's it for my picks for the best Christmas TV specials for December 2009 for this week; stay tuned next week for another neatly-wrapped Christmas gift of must-see Christmas TV specials!

SOURCES:
http://www.dailystab.com/2009-holiday-tv-specials-schedule/
http://www.collider.com/2009/11/25/first-trailer-for-disneys-prep-and-landing/
http://thevitalvoice.com/node/5897