'Tis the TV season

It is the season for holiday specials. I love holiday special and movies, especially the older ones. When compiling my list of favorites I found that I had to separate them into two categories, specials and movies. So here are mine, and I’d like to know yours.

Specials:
1. Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
-This is my favorite and I wait for it every year. I loveFred Astair and Micky Rooney.


2. Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
-This is a lesser known one, but it is sweet and charming. It's based on Frank L. Baum's book.


3. How the Grinch Stole Christmas
-a classic, of course I'm talking about the animated version.


4. Charlie Brown Christmas

5. Year Without a Santa Claus
-"I'm Mr. Heat Miser, I'm Mr. Sun."


Movies:
1. Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
-You can't beat Natalie Wood and Maureen O'Hara.



2. A Christmas Carol (1938)
-This one is a tradition with my stepdad and me. We watch it every year on Christmas Eve, even when we aren't in the same city.


3. A Christmas Story
-Ralphie brings to life the best and worst of a real family at holidays. We can all identify.



4. The Homecoming
-The original Waltons. This version had a different set of parents, but the kids were the same. It's a great story about what's really important at Christmas.



5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
-Talk about being able to identify...Every family has a cousin Eddie.


6. The Santa Clause
-Tim Allen is surprisingly great as the man in the red suit.

7. White Christmas
-Danny Kaye was one of my all time favorite song and dance men. He and Bing make this a terrific movie filled with music and laughter.


8. Bells of St. Mary’s
-Bing again with the etherial and amazing Ingrid Bergman. This is on my list of top ten movies period.


9. The Bishop’s Wife
-Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven. It's hard to mess that up.


10. It’s a Wonderful Life
-If you'd asked me a few years ago, I'd not have listed it because Ted Turner nearly ruined it by colorizing it and running it every hour on the blessed hour the whole Christmas season. But through it all, Jimmy Stewart still gave us a classic.