5 Best Holiday Specials You Can Stream Right Now

The holiday season is upon us once again, and as is tradition, there is a plethora of media fighting for our eyeballs. In addition to big cinematic releases like "Wicked: For Good" as well as the Oscar contender films stuffing the multiplexes and arthouse cinemas right now, there are event shows like the final season of "Stranger Things" that are cropping up for you to gobble your turkey, too. That's not to mention the deluge of holiday-themed programming that's headed our way over the next few weeks, with everything from Disney holiday celebrations to tree lighting ceremonies to pop stars putting on a show. Basically, there will be no lack of entertainment to choose from as 2025 comes to a close.

However, perhaps you're impatient and don't wish to wait to start celebrating the holiday season. Or perhaps you're not so keen on what's new and are looking to enjoy some more classic festive fare. Fret not, for this very piece you're reading will tell you about five of the best holiday specials that you can stream on any of your devices right this minute. While the holiday season stretches across a wide variety of genres and material appropriate for various age groups, this list is focused on holiday fun that can be enjoyed by all ages. So grab a glass of nog, put on a Santa hat, and get ready to get merry!

Dr. Seuss' eponymous 1957 book is perhaps the greatest single example of the author's askew imagination and addictive sense of whimsy. The Grinch has become a perennial character thanks to the way he perfectly encapsulates the phenomenon of holiday grumpiness, that reflexive feeling so many of us can have when we're surrounded by unadulterated cheer. Yet despite Seuss' fine work, there's a very good chance that we wouldn't still care as much about the Grinch in 2025 without the 1966 animated adaptation, which brings the book to life in an indelible fashion.

Directed by Chuck Jones and Ben Washam, the 25-minute special not only has a combination of Seuss and Jones' indelible visual aesthetics, it also features the unmistakable dulcet tones of Boris Karloff (as the Grinch and the Narrator) and Thurl Ravenscroft (who sings "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch," one of the greatest holiday novelty recordings of all time). Although there've been several sequels, spin-offs, and remakes, nothing has come close to recapturing the surly holiday magic of the original animated special. Its popularity is still so great, that this year we're getting a McDonald's "Grinch"-themed meal in addition to a new wave of "Grinch" tie-in products. He may be a mean one, but Mr. Grinch is a very popular one, too. 

"How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" is available to stream on Peacock and is also available for rent or purchase on VOD.

In addition to the one-off seasonal TV holiday special, there exists a long-standing tradition of the holiday episode of an existing series. This tradition has waned somewhat over the recent years of streaming-exclusive series, which typically cannot accommodate a holiday-themed episode. Fortunately, there's a whole history of broadcast television series that can quench one's desire for A Very Special Episode, so much so that choosing just one feels nearly impossible. Apologies to "The Office" Christmas specials and those Thanksgiving episodes of "Friends," then, because my pick for Best Christmas Episode goes to the subversively clever sitcom "Community."

While "Community" featured several holiday-themed episodes during its six-season run, the best of all of them is season 3's "Regional Holiday Music." Written by Steve Basilone and Annie Mebane and directed by Tristram Shapeero, the episode sees the Greendale study group become entrapped within a plot devised by the school's demented Glee Club instructor, Mr. Rad (Taran Killam), to join the Glee Club to perform in the Christmas pageant. Thus, Jeff (Joel McHale), Britta (Gillian Jacobs), Annie (Alison Brie), Troy (Donald Glover), Abed (Danny Pudi), Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), and Pierce (Chevy Chase) break out into song one by one, horror-movie pandemic style (including a killer "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" reference). 

The episode's original holiday-themed songs are all written by multiple Oscar-winner Ludwig Göransson and performed by the cast. It's a perfect Christmas episode for anyone who either loves or hates musicals, the TV show "Glee," the holiday, or some combination of the above! 

"Community" is available to stream on Hulu.

Jim Henson's Muppets are responsible for multiple holiday classics, including what I'd consider the greatest Christmas special ever made: 1987's "A Muppet Family Christmas." Sadly, that special is very unavailable on streaming (unless you know where to look, wink, wink), so instead, let's highlight another Henson holiday classic: 1977's "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas." 

Directed by Henson and written by Jerry Juhl, the hour-long special is based on Russell and Lillian Hoban's 1971 children's book of the same name. It tells a variation on O. Henry's 1905 "The Gift of the Magi," where young Emmet (Jerry Nelson) and his mother, Alice (Frank Oz & Marilyn Sokol), struggle to find a way to buy each other what they really want for Christmas while dealing with their financial hardship. Ironically, they each hit upon the same idea separately: they plan on entering the Frogtown Hollow talent contest, which features a cash prize of $50 for the winner.

As that description implies, "Emmet Otter" is equal parts sweetness and substance, as it features a plethora of Henson-designed animal puppet creations while dealing with themes of economic depression and the struggle between artistic purity and commercialism. Like most Henson projects, it's also a musical, and the short's music is written by none other than Paul Williams. It's a fantastic collection of songs, ranging from jug-band folk to goth-tinged glam rock; the number "Riverbottom Nightmare Band" could practically be a B-side to Williams' songs from "Phantom of the Paradise." All this, plus Kermit the Frog narrates in a cute winter outfit, too! 

"Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas" is available to stream on Prime Video and is also available for rent or purchase on VOD.

For decades, Charlie Brown and the "Peanuts" characters became synonymous with holiday specials, and the 1965 short "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is the reason why. The script, by "Peanuts" creator Charles M. Schulz, ingeniously evokes Charlie Brown's outcast/underdog character in the form of a Christmas tree, which he's tasked with finding for his friends' Christmas play. Instead of a gaudy, chintzy display of avarice, Charlie insists on giving a little love to a barely-alive bundle of needles, and it's only when his friends help pitch in instead of making greedy demands or sarcastic remarks that it comes to literal and figurative life. Combined with the special's unfettered spiritual content — Linus delivers a speech with passages taken straight from the Book of Luke — "A Charlie Brown Christmas" is as succinct an encapsulation of the Christmas holiday and its meaning as you're likely to find in a 25-minute short.

The ingenious idea hatched by director Bill Melendez and producer Lee Mendelson was to cast actual children to voice the various kid characters in the short, lending it an authenticity that can be heard throughout. Added to that is the iconic jazz score by Vince Guaraldi, who, along with the Vince Guaraldi Trio, created some cues that not only became holiday classics in their own right but have also doubled as theme music for the "Peanuts" characters ever since. Over the years, several other "Peanuts" holiday specials have been produced, but none can touch the innovation, influence, and timelessness of this original. 

"A Charlie Brown Christmas" is available to stream on Apple TV and is also available for rent or purchase on VOD.

For some, streaming is an on-demand extension of television, while for others, it still feels "internet-based." It could be said that streaming is internet content that took over pop culture, and if so, it leaves behind a horde of original art created for the internet, which has either not been preserved or has passed away into obscurity. One of the greatest works of art made for the internet is a collection of animated shorts featuring the character Homestar Runner and his various friends and enemies. Created by The Brothers Chaps, aka Matt and Mike Chapman, the Flash-based internet series was suffused with in-jokes, non-sequiturs, and various other surreal and parodic styles of humor. In addition to what became the website's flagship program, "Strong Bad Email," the Chapman brothers made sure to make at least one yearly holiday special. In their usual ironic fashion, these shorts never referred to Christmas, but the fictional, highly similar holiday known as "Decemberween."

While there were many Decemberween Toons created for "Homestar Runner" during its existence since 2000, shorts like "A Death-Defying Decemberween," "Homestar Presents: Presents," and the all-puppet "Dangeresque: Puppet Squad — The Hot Jones Hi-Jack" are particular highlights. Sure, you might get more out of them if you're a longtime fan of the site and its characters, but Matt Chapman's hilariously adorable cadre of character voices and the witty writing more than make up for any references you might miss. These shorts still feel like the most modern version of classic holiday specials, given their charming irreverence, so if you've already seen most of the other classics above, you should give these a whirl. 

The "Homestar Runner: Decemberween Toons" is available to stream on the official "Homestar Runner" YouTube channel.