“Keep Christmas with you, all through the year. When Christmas is over, save some special cheer. These precious moments, hold them very dear and keep Christmas with you all through the year.”
Holiday traditions are so beloved because they offer a tiny bit of stabilty and joy to the too often hectic nature of this time of year. For this week’s Open Thread, I wanted to ask you what seasonal program you can’t end this year without watching. Is it the melancholy beauty of A Charlie Brown Christmas? The unbridled joy of Rudolph the Red-Nose Reindeer? The strange odyssey of watching mice empower themselves in Twas the Night Before Christmas? The heartwarming nature of the underrated Christmas Eve on Sesame Street? (Which will seem especially poignant this year due to the passing of Big Bird performer Caroll Spinney).
Think it over for a bit, and then let us know in the comments what the one holiday special you simply have to watch every year is and why. I can’t wait to hear about your picks! (And yes, if you have more than one must watch, tell us about them).
An earlier version of this article appeared in 2017, it has been revised and updated as part of our 25 Days of Christmas series of posts.