Christmas Specials You Can’t Live Without

It is that time of year again. The turkeys are thawing, and family and friends will gather around the dining room table to laugh about old memories and argue about politics.

After the second or third piece of pumpkin pie is finished, you push back from the table, and change into a pair of sweatpants.

At that moment, the calendar flips from Thanksgiving to Christmas season.

For me, some of the best parts about Christmas are the traditions. I cherish them. The familiarity of the way the holiday season rolls out. The same jokes. The same placement of the decorations. The same foods. Even the same movies and television shows. They all come together to make Christmas what it is.

That's why I always love to make sure to catch all of my favorite Christmas specials. I force the kids to watch them with me so that they can experience them the same way I did as a child.

I always try to explain to them just how special those Rudolph, Frosty and Santa Claus specials were when we were growing up. There were obviously no DVDs that could be played year-round. Santa Claus is Coming to Town special was clearly not posted up on YouTube.

You had to be ready at 8 p.m. on the nose for the show to come on. If you missed it, you missed it. You had to wait until next year.

The rule in my house was we had to be bathed and in our pajamas before the show started because we were allowed to stay up past our bedtimes. We were even allowed to have pudding while we watched. There was nothing like it.

Here's a list of this year's Christmas specials to watch so you don't miss any of your favorites. I guess you can cheat and set the DVR if you really have to.

If there's a show that you don't see on our favorites list, you can most likely find it on this Free Form 25 Days of Christmas list.

Ho, ho, ho!

Fun 107 intern Bryanna Deandrade contributed.