Christmas 2013 Specials and Marathons: What to Watch This Week
Even though many shows are on hiatus, there will be plenty of good programming to watch this week while you're sitting and digesting all that holiday food. There is sure to be something for everyone, with Christmas TV specials, holiday classics and even marathons of hit TV shows.
Tuesday, Dec. 24:
Multiple episodes of "Law & Order: SVU" will air on the USA Network all day, or you can watch Bryan Cranston's pre-"Breaking Bad" days with a "Malcolm in the Middle" marathon on IFC from 6 a.m to 6 p.m.
The Cartoon Network will air 24 hours of Christmas cartoons, from Scooby Doo to The Looney Tunes.
You can get your share of Christmas classic with the Starz "Elf" marathon from 12 p.m. to 12 p.m., and the "A Christmas Story" marathon from 8 p.m. to 8 p.m. on TBS.
At 8 p.m. on ABC, get a double dose of the green Christmas-hater with "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." The 1966 animated classic will air first, followed by the 2000 film starring Jim Carrey.
On TV Land from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., get a dose of television nostalgia with Christmas episodes of "The Golden Girls," "Everybody Loves Raymond," "Roseanne" and "That '70s Show." The marathon continues into Christmas Day.
Then at 11:35 p.m., Regis Philbin hosts the Christmas special "A New York Christmas to Remember" on CBS, which will include Bible stories and choral music.
Wednesday, Dec. 25:
Oy vey! Kick off Christmas Day with one of the best comedians of all time: Mel Brooks. Watch the Sundance Channel's "Oy! to the World! A Mel Brooks Christmas Marathon," from 6 a.m. to 5:30 a.m., featuring all the classics: "The Producers," "Young Frankenstein," History of the World Part I," and more.
From 7a.m. to 9 p.m., check out ABC Family's 25th Day of Christmas, which includes programming like "Frosty's Winter Wonderland," "The Year Without a Santa Claus," "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town," "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and other Christmas classics.
At 10 a.m., ABC will air the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade, which combines California's Disneyland and Florida's Walt Disney World parades for one huge 30th Christmas Day parade. The parade will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris and Nick Cannon.
If you're looking for something a bit less cutesy (read: a whole lot less), tune in to "A Very Quentin X-mas" on Encore from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 a.m. Encore will air Tarantino classics in all their gory glory: "Reservoir Dogs," "Jackie Brown," and "Kill Bill" volumes 1 and 2.
At 8 p.m. on ABC, there will be encore presentations of "Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale" and "Michael Buble's 3rd Annual Christmas Special."
You can also end Christmas Day with the Doctor. At 9 p.m. on BBC America, the "Doctor Who" Christmas special, "Doctor Who: The Time of the Doctor" will air, which will be followed by an encore of the 50th anniversary special. The retrospective special "Farewell to Matt Smith" will air at 8 p.m., leading up to "The Time of the Doctor" at 9.
Thursday, Dec. 26:
Spend the day after Christmas winding down with an "NCIS" marathon on USA from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m.
At 9 p.m. on ABC, "20/20" will air a special presentation that looks at the real-life English castle that inspired hit British series "Downton Abbey."
Friday, Dec. 27:
Pull out your goggles and yellow lab suit to spend Dec. 27-30 with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman for an epic "Breaking Bad" marathon on AMC. Each episode begins at noon.
At 8 p.m. on Showtime, "$ellebrity" airs, a documentary exploring society's fascination with celebrities. The documentary features interviews with Jennifer Aniston, Elton John and others.
At 9 p.m. on The CW, tune in to watch the series finale of "Nikita," called "Cancelled."
Also at 9 p.m. is "What We Wasted Our Year On" on NBC. "Today" host Willie Geist hosts the comedy special, which highlights some of the more ridiculous events that made headlines in 2013.