2017 Christmas Movies: What's On Netflix, Amazon, TV In Chicago

CHICAGO, IL — This year's holiday TV lineup runs the gamut from Bing Crosby and Jimmy Stewart on Turner Movie Classics to countless showings of Will Ferrell as everyone's favorite elf and Chevy Chase as he doggedly tries to give his family a merry Christmas and the best light display ever. And two besties will host a national New Year's Eve party for the first time this year.

The annual lineup of holiday classics run from "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," and "Frosty's Winter Wonderland" to Elf," "Christmas Vacation" "A Christmas Story" (plus the brand-new "Christmas Story Live!") and the heartwarming oldie "It's A Wonderful Life."

15 Amazon Holiday Movies To Stream

Amazon has holiday films galore to stream, so Pop Sugar has picked the best flicks that come included with your Amazon Prime membership. They range from Miracle on 34th Street and Scrooged to Jingle Hell.

• Jingle All the Way: Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a dad hellbent on trying to buy his son the season's hottest action figure toy set. Watch it here.
• The 12 Dogs of Christmas: Celebrate the holidays with a dozen adorable canines who teach people about the true meaning of Christmas during the Great Depression. Watch it here.
• A Christmas Carol: The Charles Dickens's classic is a musical starring Colin Baker of Doctor Who fame. Watch it here.
• Christmas Classics Vol. 1: This anthology of short cartoons features such classics as Jack Frost, The Night Before Christmas, and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Watch it here.
• A Merry Friggin' Christmas: A holiday comedy with Robin Williams and Joel McHale, along with Lauren Graham. Watch it here.
• Christmas in Wonderland: Three kids and their father help to catch a counterfeiter at the mall, while also making a discovery about Santa. Watch it here.
• If You Give a Mouse a Christmas Cookie: Based on the bestselling series of children's books, this features Mouse and his friends working to rescue a holiday pageant in peril. Watch it here.
• Jingle Hell: This indie film tells the story of when drama takes over a large Catholic family in New York, together again for the holidays. Watch it here.
• Jack Frost: This 1979 classic tells the story of how, for once, Jack Frost becomes human to help a knight win his lady love, featuring the voices of legendary actors Robert Morse (Mad Men) Watch it here.
• The Miracle on 34th Street: This is a 1955 made-for-TV version of the classic tale in which a young girl befriends a department store Santa Claus who claims to be the real thing. Watch it here.
• Shadow Island Mysteries: The Last Christmas: A dyin grandfather summons the entire family to Shadow Island for a Christmas reunion, and has constructed a game for the occasion. Watch it here.
• The Wizard's Christmas: This 2014 cartoon features a wizard's apprentice who makes a discovery that could reinstate the lost magic of Christmas — or destroy it forever. Watch it here.
• Scrooged: Bill Murray stars in this comedy version as a modern Ebenezer Scrooge in the classic Charles Dickens tale. Watch it here.

Netflix Christmas season offerings include:

• Miracle on 34th Street: A lawyer and a little girl must prove that a man claiming to be Santa Claus is the real thing Family, Fantasy
• Love Actually: Follows the lives of eight couples in dealing with their love lives in various loosely interrelated tales all set during a frantic month before Christmas in London, England. Comedy, Romance
• El Camino Christmas: A young man, who seeks out a father he has never met, through no fault of his own, ends up barricaded in a liquor store with five other people on Christmas Eve Comedy
• Krampus: A boy who has a bad Christmas ends up accidentally summoning a festive demon to his family home Horror, Fantasy
• Babes in Toyland: When Lisa gets into a car accident on Christmas Eve, she finds herself in Toyland, a magical world plagued by an evil villain. Adventure, Family Drew Barrymore, Keanu Reeves
• Jingle All The Way: A desperate dad must match wits with a sleazy Santa, a stressed-out mailman and a horde of parents to procure a hot new toy on Christmas Eve Comedy, Family Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Deck the Halls: An optometrist's Christmas celebration gets upstaged by a new neighbor who wants to create a holiday display bright enough to be seen from space Comedy, Family Danny DeVito, Matthew Broderick, Kristin Davis
• The Night Before: Three best friends decide to end their tradition of wild holiday partying – but not before one final drug-fueled Christmas Eve in New York. Comedy Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen
• Last Holiday: Given the news she's terminally ill, Georgia throws caution to the wind, breaks out of her shell and takes no-holds-barred European vacation Comedy, Romance Queen Latifah, LL Cool J
• Christmas Eve: A citywide power outrage traps eccentric New Yorkers in six different elevators on Christmas Eve, forcing them to reconsider their lives Comedy
• Scrooged!: A cold-hearted TV exec is about to discover the true meaning of Christmas – the hard way – in this wild, wooly spin on Dickens's A Christmas Carol. Comedy, Drama Bill Murray
• Happy Christmas: After splitting up with her boyfriend just before the holidays, a young woman tries to start over, but her self-destructive behavior gets in the way. Comedy, Drama Anna Kendrick, Lena Dunham

TV Network specials include:

Monday, December 25
9 a.m. - The Disney Parks: Magical Christmas Celebration | ABC
TBD - Doctor Who special, Twice Upon a Time | BBC America
8 p.m. - Call the Midwife | PBS
Tuesday, December 26
The following New Year's Eve Countdown 2018 specials will all stream on Netflix: All Hail King Julien, Beat Bugs, Larva, Pororo, Puffin Rock, Skylanders Academy, Trollhunters, True and The Rainbow Kingdom, and Word Party.

Listings are subject to change; check each network's website for updates. Classic programs run the gamut from Bing Crosby and Jimmy Stewart on Turner Movie Classics to countless showings of Will Ferrell as everyone's favorite elf. And if you want to chug some Christmas cheer at the expense of Hallmark's formula of women dropping their clearly inappropriate boyfriends as they find true love at the holiday, there's a drinking game for that; watch for cool scarves, orphans and adorable dogs.

Freeform network launched its annual "25 Days of Christmas" event on Nov. 18, and the full schedule was posted.

Here's the schedule of shows (we had to keep it a manageable length), all times Central unless otherwise noted:

Saturday, December 23

11:50am - Elf | Freeform
2pm - The Santa Clause | Freeform
4:05pm - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause | Freeform
6:10pm - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Freeform
7 p.m. - Baby It's Cold Outside | Hallmark
8:20pm - Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Freeform
11pm - Disney's A Christmas Carol | Freeform

Sunday, December 24

4:45am - A Visit to Santa | TCM
5 a.m. - Little Women | TCM
6am - A Dennis the Menace Christmas | Freeform
7 a.m. - The Man Who Came to Dinner | TCM
8:05am - Richie Rich's Christmas Wish | Freeform
9 a.m. - It Happened on 5th Avenue | TCM
10:05am - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | Freeform
11:10am - Disney's A Christmas Carol | Freeform
11:15am - In the Good Old Summertime | TCM
1:15pm - Holiday Affair | TCM
1:15pm - The Polar Express | Freeform
2 p.m. - Christmas in Connecticut | TCM
3:25pm - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Freeform
5 p.m. - Meet Me in St. Louis | TCM
5:35pm - Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Freeform
7 p.m. - It's A Wonderful Life | NBC
7 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
7 p.m. - The Bishop's Wife | TCM
8:15pm - Elf | Freeform
9 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
9 p.m. - The Bells of St. Mary's | TCM
10:25pm - The Santa Clause | Freeform
11 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
12:30am - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas | Freeform
1 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
1 a.m. - A Christmas Carol | TCM
2:30am - Pocketful of Miracles | TCM
3 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS

Monday, December 25 - Merry Christmas!

5 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
6 am - Frosty's Winter Wonderland | Freeform
6:30am - Disney's Prep & Landing | Freeform
7am - Disney's Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice | Freeform
7 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
7:30am - Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town | Freeform
9 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
10 a.m. - Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas | Freeform
11 a.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
11:35am - The Polar Express | Freeform
1 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
1:35pm - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Freeform
3 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
3:45pm - The Santa Clause | Freeform
5 p.m. - A Christmas Story | TBS
5:45pm - Elf | Freeform
6 p.m. - Winter Wedding | UP
7 p.m. - When Calls the Heart: The Christmas Wishing Tree | Hallmark
7:50pm - National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation | Freeform
11pm - Four Christmases | Freeform

Saturday, December 30
7 p.m. - New Year's Gala | Hallmark

Sunday, December 31
7 p.m. - "New Year's Eve Live" With Anderson Cooper And Andy Cohen | CNN
7 p.m. - "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2018" Hosted by Ryan Seacrest | ABC
7 p.m. - New Year's Eve With Steve Harvey: Live from Times Square | FOX
TBD - Dave Chapelle: Equanimity | Netflix
This list is courtesy of two holiday TV websites, christmastvschedule.com and mostlychristmas.com, along with Freeform and UP TV.

»Patch file photo of "A Christmas Story" house in Cleveland; photo from Elf movie trailer via YouTube.

Article by Deb Belt, Patch Staff