Some Christmas Specials seem to last forever. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” has aired very year since the early 1960s. “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is another one that has been on for as long as I’ve been alive, and will probably be on every Christmas until well after I’m dead.

Then there are other Christmas Specials. Specials that, if you’re a child of the 80s, you probably watched more than once, but that haven’t lived on into the immortal status. They aired annually for a few years, but these shows will never be the holiday mainstays that they were intended to be…but that doesn’t make them any less great.

Thanks to the magic of YouTube, however, we can remember these shows…

5. A Garfield Christmas

The Garfield Christmas Special was one of my favorites as a kid, and is available on a really cheaply produced DVD that includes his Thanksgiving and Halloween specials as well. Even though the special doesn’t air annually anymore, and the DVD looks like a VHS copy, I’m glad I share this one with my kids.


4. It’s Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown

Like many sequels, this Charlie Brown Christmas Special (which first aired in 1992) just didn’t click with people like the original. This special lives on as a Special Feature in the “A Charlie Brown Christmas” DVD - and is sometimes aired directly after the original “A Charlie Brown Christmas” on television, although it is no long listed as a separate special.

3. Claymation Christmas

I always found claymation to be both creepy and awesome at the time time. This special was one of my favorites, and featured the California Raisins as well as other claymation characters. The special is available on DVD, although I’ve never been able to find it in a store.

2. He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special

Does it get any better than He-man dressed as Santa Claus? To answer that question, no sir, it does not. This classic has, thankfully, be immortalized on DVD.

1. Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

That whole getting caught yanking it in an adult theater thing really destroyed this one’s chances of being an annual tradition, but you’ll never find a more surreal Christmas Special than this one. Thankfully, it too is on DVD.

So there you have it. Television may have forgotten them (and you may have forgotten them too) but they will live on on DVD.