These are a few gifts that Google predicts your loved ones will want to find under the tree on Christmas morning.
USA TODAY
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas as TV networks and streaming services roll out a colorfully wrapped array of holiday specials from now until the end of the year.
There’s a festive mix of new (a Dolly Parton special) and traditional (You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch) arriving for the holiday season, which may feature more at-home viewing than usual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Besides Dolly, TV’s holiday firmament features bright stars such as Mariah Carey, Carrie Underwood, Thomas Rhett, Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood and Matthew Morrison. 
More holiday viewing: Hallmark, Lifetime Christmas movies finally show LGBTQ love in leading roles: ‘It fits in’
Mariah Carey, seen here during her 2018 ‘All I Want for Christmas Is You’ tour in 2018, has a new Christmas special scheduled for Dec. 4 on Apple TV+.
 (Photo: Samir Hussein, WireImage)
Keeping holiday tradition: After outcry and viral petition, Charlie Brown holiday specials get broadcast airing on PBS
Here’s the menu of upcoming treats:
New gifts
‘Tis the season for huge brand names, and Disney+ makes sure the seasonal Force is with you with “The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (now streaming).  
Traditionalists will relish the return of the legendary 1966 cartoon, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” (NBC, TBS, Dec. 6, 7 EST/PST; also streaming on Amazon), but those curious to see an update can catch NBC’s “Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch Musical!” (Dec. 9, 8 EST/PST) from the Troubadour Theatre in London, with Matthew Morrison (“Glee”) as the tiny-hearted title character. 
Fruitcake isn’t the only place to find dates during the holidays as HBO Max introduces “12 Dates of Christmas” (streaming Thursday), an eight-episode series that features “three hopefully romantic singles (searching for) someone to bring home for the holidays.” Sounds like “Love Actually” as a reality competition.
The Grinch, right, seen with his long-suffering dog, Max, in the 1966 animated classic, arrives in many forms, including an NBC stage musical, during the upcoming holiday season.
 (Photo: Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc.)
The popular Minions movie characters get into the holiday TV game with Illumination Presents Minions Holiday Special, available on NBCUniversals streaming service, Peacock.
Musical merriment
Singing stars take center stage to help viewers celebrate the holidays.
PBS celebrates the holiday with different musical styles. The 17th annual “Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir,” featuring actors Kelli O’Hara and Richard Thomas, premieres Dec. 14 (9 EST/PST, check local listings), with “Ella Wishes you a Swingin’ Christmas with Vanessa Williams,” a celebration of classic holiday tunes from Ella Fitzgerald, arriving Dec. 15 (8 EST/PST, check local listings).
In HBO Max’s “My Gift: A Christmas Special From Carrie Underwood (streaming Dec. 3), the Grammy-winning singer combines traditional holiday favorites with original material from her first full-length Christmas album, “My Gift,” which was released this fall. John Legend joins Underwood for a duet.
Music superstar Carrie Underwood has a new Christmas special set for HBO Max on Dec. 3.
 (Photo: CMT via AP)
Apple TV+ unwraps Mariah Careys Magical Christmas Special on Dec. 4. The music superstar, long associated with the holiday, will be joined by Tiffany Haddish, Billy Eichner, Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson, Snoop Dogg and Misty Copeland.
If that’s not enough superstar power, Dolly Parton has a new CBS special, “A Holly Dolly Christmas” (Dec. 6, 8:30 EST/8 PST). And Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood return to CBS for a new one-hour concert special, “Garth & Trisha Live! A Holiday Concert Event” Dec. 20 (8:30 EST/8 PST delayed). Fans also can stream both on CBS All Access.
Classics in waiting
These returning shows are trying to cement a permanent place in the holiday TV pantheon. 
Two movie-franchise spinoffs, Olafs Frozen Adventure and “Toy Story That Time Forgot,” appear back to back on ABC on Thursday (8 EST/PST). That’s followed by the fifth edition of The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration on ABC (9 EST/PST).
ABS also offers a third edition of “The Disney Holiday Singalong (Sunday, 8 EST/PST). The Great Christmas Light Fight, ABC’s popular decorating competition, returns for its eighth season on Dec. 9 (8 EST/PST).
ABC launches a new season of “The Great Christmas Light Fight” on Dec. 9.
 (Photo: Donald Rager, ABC)
As part of its annual “Nickmas” rollout of more than 100 hours of seasonal content, Nickelodeon presents classics including “Rugrats Chanukah” (Dec. 10 and 17, 10 EST/PST).  
Classic stocking stuffers
Remember all those wonderful gifts from bygone days? Well, even if you received a lump of coal, you’ll always have these hardy seasonal perennials.  
Start the festivities after Thanksgiving with a couple of cold ones  the non-alcoholic kind  as CBS offers “Frosty the Snowman” and “Frosty Returns,” back-to-back on Friday (8 EST/PST).
ABC offers another animated gem, 1970’s “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,”  on Friday (8 EST/PST), too.
And perhaps the most famous animated Christmas tale of all, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” makes its perennial appearance Dec. 1 on CBS (8 EST/PST). The main competition for that honor, 1965’s “A Charlie Brown Christmas,” is available to Apple TV+ subscribers starting Dec. 4, with free viewing Dec. 11 to 13, along with a PBS broadcast Dec. 13 (7:30 EST/PST, check local listings).
The Christmas tree gets its own night to shine on  NBC’s “Christmas in Rockefeller Center” (Dec. 2, 8 EST/PST), the 88th edition of the famed New York tree-lighting ceremony. If that’s not a big enough bite of the Big Apple, stay tuned afterward for another holiday tradition, NBC’s “Radio City Christmas Spectacular” (10 EST/PST).
Viewers can revisit the bygone days of young Ralphie Parker and his dream of a Red Ryder air rifle when “A Christmas Story” arrives on TBS Dec. 4 (8 EST/PST) and Dec. 5 (6 EST/PST). If you miss the leg lamp or Flick getting his tongue stuck to the frozen pole, don’t worry. The annual 24-hour marathon returns Dec. 24 on TBS (8 EST/PST) and TNT (9 EST/PST).
Need more holiday classics? Get your annual Edelweiss fix when ABC broadcasts the incomparable Julie Andrews in 1965’s “The Sound of Music” (Dec. 20, 7 EST/PST)
Finally, NBC continues a Christmas Eve tradition with a Jimmy Stewart film that’s synonymous with the holiday, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (8 EST/PST).
Last SlideNext Slide
Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/tv/2020/11/20/mariah-carey-carrie-underwood-headline-holiday-2020-tv-specials/6333844002/