Whatever kind of Christmas Eve you want, it’s probably on television tonight. Or you can binge all of the holiday-themed episodes of “The Office.”
What’s on TV
CLASSIC CHRISTMAS You can choose from a bounty of Christmas movies of all stripes on Sunday. The most obvious pick is IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE (8 p.m. on NBC), in which a depressed man’s suicide attempt is stopped by his guardian angel who shows him all the lives he’s affected. Frank Capra’s evergreen fable stars James Stewart and Henry Travers. And George C. Scott plays Ebenezer Scrooge, the grump who learns to love, in the 1984 version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL (7:30 p.m. on AMC).
CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS Two formidable creatures open up their hearts. First, Jim Carrey dons green makeup and prosthetics to play the title role in the zany and relentless HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS (6:35 p.m. on Freeform). The beast in the 1991 animated version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (8 p.m. on ABC) is much more gentle and fluid, as love blossoms inside the snowy woods. And the only monsters in HOME ALONE (7 p.m. on Starz Encore) are a couple bumbling crooks and loneliness.
RAUNCHY CHRISTMAS Seth Rogen gets high on all sorts of substances and talks to a nativity scene in THE NIGHT BEFORE (8 p.m. on FXX), while Jennifer Aniston tries in vain to control an office soiree that bounces off the walls and swings from the ceiling in OFFICE CHRISTMAS PARTY (9 p.m. on Showtime).
N.F.L.: FALCONS VS. SAINTS 1 p.m. on Fox. As the playoffs loom, the Atlanta Falcons (9-5) hope to wrestle division control away from the Saints (10-4), who are 6-1 at the Superdome in New Orleans. The winner will clinch a playoff spot.
What’s Streaming
THE TOYS THAT MADE US on Netflix. This eight-episode documentary series takes play seriously: It dives into the origin and development of some of the most popular toys of the past century, from Barbies to lightsabers to G.I. Joe. The series also looks at the arrival of two culturally transformative international imports: Hello Kitty, from Japan, and Lego, from Denmark.
THE OFFICE on Netflix. Few workplaces in the real world celebrate the season with as much commitment and recklessness as the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. So stay home, cut a slice of Christmas Pam and enjoy the holidays in Scranton, Pa., over seven seasons (Seasons 1 and 4 featured no Christmas episodes). There are disastrous Secret Santa swaps involving video iPods and live birds (Season 2’s “Christmas Party” and Season 6’s “Secret Santa”); party planning committee rivalries (Season 3’s “A Benihana Christmas”); Meredith and Erin getting too drunk (Season 5’s “Moroccan Christmas” and Season 8’s “Christmas Wishes”); a vicious snowball fight between Jim and Dwight (Season 7’s “Classy Christmas”); and in the last season, a traditional Schrute Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas. Because in the end, the greatest snowball isn’t a snowball at all … it’s fear. Merry Christmas.
Continue reading the main story