15 Hidden Gems to Watch This Holiday Season

This festive list offers you alternatives to the made-for-tv movies that have become a staple of this holiday season with everything from sitcoms to cooking competitions to foreign series.

Whether you are perpetually single, a food network enthusiast who only knows how to work a microwave, or someone who is sick of watching women find love in some imaginary town that can’t possibly sustain itself after December 25th, there’s more than just Hallmark movies and Home Alone re-runs to fuel those festive cravings.

And why let Christmas have all the fun when Thanksgiving and New Year’s have hidden gems of their own to discover?

If you are looking for more diversity or untraditional content to celebrate what makes the holidays so magical, look no further than these fifteen tv specials and series.

1. Merry Happy Whatever (Netflix)

Netflix has crafted what seems like the perfect solution for those that love cheesy Christmas movies and enjoy the challenge of binge-watching an entire season of television. Merry Happy Whatever is a festive sitcom stuffed with all our favorite clique comedy tropes and chaotic family dynamics.

Laugh track and predictable jokes aside, this cast of familiar faces is something to be merry about this holiday season.

Dennis Quaid commits to playing the strong-willed father Don with lots of intensity, Bridgit Mendler’s Emmy is reminiscent of the actor’s Good Luck Charlie days, and Ashley Tisdale’s Kayla will pleasantly surprise viewers with a cute coming out story.

When you’ve watched at least five movies about a female strategic analyst that is tasked with winning a small town gingerbread competition — what more do you have to lose with this quintessential seasonal sitcom?

2. Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge (Food Network)

If Thanksgiving is more your jam, look no further than Food Network’s Ultimate Thanksgiving Challenge.

This weekly competition offers viewers modern twists and creative fusions of classic thanksgiving recipes that are so delicious you’ll have no choice but to try and recreate them in your own kitchen.

Regardless of the time of year you find yourself craving this delightfully delicious show, it’s never not fun to watch people stress cook an entire 3-course meal, turkey and all, in under 3 hours.

3. The Great Christmas Light Fight (ABC)

Clark Griswold isn’t the only one who decks his house out in an insane amount of lights during the holidays. Thousands of people are devoted to turning their house into elaborate outdoor Christmas display every year.

The Great Christmas Light Fight looks to showcase the biggest and brightest of America’s holiday light displays with a structured competition where three houses throw a celebration to turn on their lights and at the end of the festivities one is crowned the winner.

If you enjoy driving around at night and gazing at the locals who braved the cold to hang some Christmas lights, you’ll enjoy watching this show from the comfort of your couch with a warm cup of hot chocolate.

4. RuPaul’s Drag Race: Holi-Slay Spectacular (Netflix)

On a holiday special unlike any other, RuPaul’s Drag Race: Holi-Slay Spectacular looks to crown one of eight fan favorites as the iconic competition’s very first X-Mas Queen.

This spin-off episode has everything you could want from a Christmas in drag. There’s drama, glitter, and a whole lot of festively fierce lip-syncing that will have even the most reluctant scrooges singing along.

5. Holiday Baking Championship (Food Network)

Arguably the most wholesome and entertaining addition to Food Network’s holiday roster, the Holiday Baking Championship is brimming with infectious competitors and cheerful creations.

Thanks to the show’s charming Canadian host and an array of captivating Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah competitions for the contestants to interpret, it’s impossible not to come away from this show without a smile.

Whether you’re looking for a light pick-me-up or enjoy watching beautiful bake goods come to fruition, this competition won’t disappoint.

6. Home for Christmas (Netflix)

With an entire genre devoted to couples finding love at Christmas, it’s about time the perpetually single had something to watch this holiday season.

The Norwegian comedy series, Home for Christmas takes the age-old “I told my family I’m dating someone and now I have to find a person willing to go along with this ruse before my family Christmas” premise to new and hilarious heights.

If you are looking for a genuine comedy that understands the awkwardness of speed dating and the ridiculous task of finding love within its own premise, then look no further than this holiday gem.

And if you’re sick of seeing happily-ever-after as a solution to every protagonist’s problems, Johanne’s search for love will pleasantly surprise you.

7. The Great Food Truck Race: Holiday Hustle (The Food Network)

For those that love food trucks, holiday-inspired comfort food, and intense competition, The Great Food Truck Race: Holiday Hustle is a show you’re going to want to devour in one sitting.

This unique competition pins five aspiring food truck teams against each other as each episode’s challenge tests teams’ cooking, business, and selling skills in new ways.

Running a food truck in the summer months is difficult enough. Running a food truck during the dead of winter in New England is the perfect recipe for one chaotic Christmas cooking show.

8. Holiday Gingerbread Showdown (Food Network)

If you thought putting a gingerbread house together was stressful, try doing it on a much larger scale and under time restraints.

That’s the idea of Holiday Gingerbread Showdown, a competition that has the world’s greatest gingerbread bakers and architects go head to head in a holiday-themed challenge to see who comes out on top.

Here’s the thing about gingerbread, it can be used to build some insane structures but even the most skilled artists can’t stop them from coming crumbling down when they want to.

It’s thrilling, it’s yummy, it’s a freakin’ gingerbread building competition. What more could you possibly want?

9. Three Days of Christmas (Netflix)

If you love cheerful Christmas comedies, then sorry, Three Days of Christmas is not for you.

Don’t let the fluffy title fool you, this sombre mini-series is anything but merry. The three-part story is set in Spain after WWII and follows a family across several time periods.

If you find yourself in the right mind-set to enjoy a festive family drama brimming with the suspense of a slow burn mystery and the intensity of a holiday film with real-world stakes, then this gem is for you.

Three Days of Christmas is perfect for anyone looking to take a break from all the sickeningly sweet plots this holiday season.

10. Christmas Cookie Challenge (Food Network)

The trifecta of Food Network’s holiday baking challenges wouldn’t be complete without the Christmas Cookie Challenge.

From hosts to judges to the bright flooding techniques bringing these cookie creations to life, this is arguably the sweetest show of the bunch. Expect to be wowed by festive cookie creations like cookie advent calendars and cookie garlands as you make your way through this delectable competition.

If your obsessions include watching cookie decorating videos late into the night, then you’ll love this hidden gem.

11. Nailed It! Holiday! (Netflix)

Not everyone can be master bakers — or even decent bakes. But what happens when you put those people in a kitchen and expect them to bake incredible holiday-themed creations?

Netflix’s Nailed It! Holiday! continues this experiment with two festive seasons that showcase contestant’s horrifying interpretations of the internet’s most elaborate Christmas bake goods. Each episode is lead by a trio of wonderful hosts that include Nicole Byer and ‎Jacques Torres.

With just the right amounts of cringe and misguided cooking, this latest addition to the holiday baking roster is a must if you take comfort in seeing people who don’t know what they are doing use dangerous kitchen utensils for the sake of Christmas.

12. Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade (ABC)

Need something to keep you and possibly some rowdy kids occupied on Christmas day after all the festivities have died down? You might want to check out ABC’s Disney Parks Magical Christmas Day Parade.

This parade offers viewers the opportunity to spend time inside the Florida theme park on the most magical day of the year with dozens of performances and celebrity guests to keep fans off all ages occupied.

Besides, it’s not like you weren’t going to make it through the day without hearing at least one Frozen song anyways.

13. Sugar Rush Christmas (Netflix)

Looking to put the sugar and stress back in Christmas? Look no further than the fast-paced world of Sugar Rush Christmas.

The time-oriented baking competition that gives competitors a strict allotment of time to create three ambitious creations is back just in time for the holidays.

The show’s countdown clock, cheerful host, and quick episodes make this baking competition the perfect guiltless binge.

14. New Year’s Eve With Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen (CNN)

Love them or hate them, New Years’ Eve specials in New York’s Times Square have become a staple of our end of the year festivities.

It may seem ridiculous to ring in the new year with CNN given how depressing the news can be, but the energy Anderson Cooper brings to this momentous countdown every year is far from depressing.

Although the unpredictable Kathy Griffin is no longer co-hosting, Andy Cohen still brings a signature comedy and chaos to this special that guarantees to fill your night of jello shots, champagne, and regret with blissful fun.

This New Year’s Eve special breaks from tradition with fewer performances, but the casual commentary and Cooper’s ridiculous giggle will make for the perfect background noise to any party.

15. Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest (ABC)

If you’re looking to ring in the new year with your favorite music artists, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve has a line up that will help you rock the night away, whether your planning to be a party-goer or a couch potato this year.

With Ryan Seacrest carrying on Dick Clark’s tradition after his passing, this New Year’s Eve special has become a staple of the countdown festivities and a fan favorite among viewers.

However, with more and more channels jumping at the chance to put their own spin on the holiday, Dick Clark’s special is still worth watching for its traditional formatting and memorable performances that perceiver, regardless of the weather conditions.

BTS, Post Malone, Alanis Morissette, and Sam Hunt are all confirmed for live performances this year in New York, so you know Times Square will be rockin’.

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What are your go-to series and specials during the holiday season? Let us know in the comments below!

 

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