TVSquad

Christmas is the easiest holiday to make fun of because it can be so hokey and jolly. It's like the office jolly holly -- someone who's always smiling, always bringing gooey sweet goodies to the office for no reason, always cackling at everyone's jokes, no matter how bad they are or what MadTV episode they were taken from.

But deep down, you know that anyone that happy has to be making up for something equivalently dark and sinister. They are hiding a dark secret, something they can't even admit to themselves. You just know that the rises in sick leave usage after she brings her secret recipe brownies aren't coincidences.

Christmas wears the same mask. All it takes is a little scratching to find something dark and funny behind its red and white veneer. SNL has had some great success taking pot shots at Christmas, even during the down times, for this very reason. It's hard not to find something funny about Christmas, but it's hard to keep finding something funny about it long after the turkey has been picked clean and the eggnog has left a thin layer of plaque on the inside of your small intestine. Here are the best of the best.

• TBS has A Christmas Story all night.
• At 8, NBC has It's A Wonderful Life.
• The CW has The Flight Before Christmas at 8, followed by The Story of Santa Claus.
• ABC Family has the live action How the Grinch Stole Christmas at 8.
• Comedy Central has two Christmas episodes of Futurama at 8, then several Christmas episodes of South Park.
• FOX News Channel has A Fox and Friends Christmas at 8.
• Also at 8: Disney has The Santa Clause 2.
• At 8:40, BBC America has a new Catherine Tate Christmas episode, followed by an Absolutely Fabulous Christmas special.
• At 9, Lifetime has the movie The Christmas Shoes.
• TruTV has a new Most Shocking at 9, then two new episodes of World's Wildest Vacation Videos.
• Hallmark has the movie The Most Wonderful Time of the Year at 9.
• Nickelodeon has two Christmas episodes of Home Improvement at 9.
• Showtime has a new Inside The NFL at 9.
• At 10, Travel Channel has a new Man vs. Food.
• At 11, Lifetime has two Christmas episodes of Will & Grace, followed by two Christmas episodes of Frasier.
• At 11:30, CBS and NBC has Christmas Eve Mass and music.
• At 1am, ABC has Christmas Eve Mass and music also.

Check your local TV listings for more.

(Most of the late night talk shows are pre-empted or repeats tonight, except Charlie Rose.)

• At 8, NBC has It's A Wonderful Life.
• FOX has a new Cops at 8.
• ABC Family has A Miser Brothers Christmas.
• Food Network has A Neely Family Christmas at 8.
• Nickelodeon has a new iCarly at 8, followed by new episodes of True Jackson, VIP and The Naked Brothers Band.
• At 9, FOX has a new America's Most Wanted.
• ABC has the movie Surviving Christmas at 9.
• CNBC has a new Suze Orman Show at 9.
• Also at 9: Hallmark has the movie The Most Wonderful Time of the Year.
• At 9:30, HGTV has a new Divine Design.
• At 10, CBS has a new 48 Hours Mystery.
• TLC has a new Trading Spaces at 10.
• Food Network has a Christmas The Secret Life Of... at 10.
• There's a new Graham Norton Show on BBC America at 10.
• At 11, FOX has a new Best Of Holiday edition of Mad TV.
• At 11:30, NBC has a new Saturday Night Live, with Hugh Laurie and Kanye West.
• At midnight, FOX has a new Talk Show with Spike Feresten.

Check your local TV listings for more.

Hey, it's December!

That means that the Christmas specials are about to start, if they haven't started already. Tonight we have How The Grinch Stole Christmas (8:30pm on ABC) and on Wednesday we have Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (8pm on CBS). And still to come, of course, are It's A Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and many more. Not to mention all of those Lifetime Christmas movies where someone falls in love around the holidays, plus all of the Christmas episodes of our favorite TV shows. I think Heroes is going to have a special episode where Santa goes up against Sylar.

I would have to say that after all of these years, It's A Wonderful Life is still my favorite. I love The Grinch and Rudolph and A Charlie Brown Christmas as much as the next person (Frosty has never been a favorite, though), but It's A Wonderful Life is the movie I have to stop and watch if I come across it channel surfing.

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Bob Anderson: He was probably best known as playing the young George Bailey in the classic movie It's A Wonderful Life, with the famous scene of Bailey getting boxed in the ear by a drunk pharmacist (the actor really did bloody his ear during rehearsals). Anderson had roles in other movies, including A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A Place in the Sun, and The Bishop's Wife, and had a role in the 50s TV series The Adventures of Spin and Marty. After leaving acting he went on to be a production manager for several movies, including Passenger 57, The Omen IV, Demolition Man, Bonfire of the Vanities, and the TV show The Time Tunnel. Anderson died of cancer at age 75.