Settle in for hours of seasonal cheer with our holiday viewing guide

By Kenny Herzog
Special to MSN TV

A few weeks back, we delivered a Thanksgiving holiday viewing menu that was designed to fit all appetites, from those in the pre-Black Friday spirit to folks looking for lazy-day marathons of their favorite series. But once the yuletide season is in full thrust, we all get a little sentimental for the classics. The annual tradition of gearing up for network variety specials or endlessly looped airings of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" transcends religious affiliations and sneers in the face of buzz-killing grinches. It is unavoidable, and we are all suckers.

So with that in mind, we've scouted the most revered, rambunctious and righteously nostalgic Christmastime broadcasts shimmying down the chimney of digital-cable connections toward your boob tube. There are no token, annual sitcom holiday episodes here, nor are there any of Hallmark Channel's infinite roster of cannily timed cheese. These below selections represent only the choicest, meatiest offerings that television executives have bestowed upon us up through that hallowed day of Dec. 25.

Bing: More about 'Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town' | Images from the whimsical world of Rankin/Bass

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