1) “Call the Midwife” Christmas special, 8-9:30 p.m., PBS. British shows have a tradition of special episodes that air on Christmas Day. That can be clumsy for some shows, but this one — filled with earnest nuns, midwives and others, including a doctor – fits perfectly. There are life-and-death issues here, especially when a snowstorm hits. But there’s also fun: Trixie’s brother takes over the Christmas pageant and Reggie (shown here in a previous Christmas episode) insists on being an angel.
2) Disney Christmas parade, 10 a.m. to noon, ABC (but 9-11 a.m. on the West Coast. Christmas Day gets a high-energy start. With the siblings Julianne and Derek Hough hosting and performing, we see parades at the Disney parks and hear music from Meg Donnelly, Chrissy Metz, Iam Tongi, Smashing Pumpkins and the Broadway and touring casts of “Aladdin.”
3) Cartoons. Wrapping up its “25 Days of Christmas,” Freeform has “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” at 3:30 p.m. and “Frosty the Snowman” at 4:30 p.m., plus “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” at 10:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. But the peak is the brilliant “How the “Grinch Stole Christmas,” at 8 on NBC.
4) Sports surge. Each Christmas Day, ABC has a pro-basketball marathon, with five games. That’s complicated this year, because the network also has “Monday Night Football.” The solution? It will share the first three games (noon, 2:30 and 5 p.m.) with ESPN, then step aside. ESPN has the last two (8 and 10:30) by itself; ABC has the Ravens-49ers game, at 8:15.
5) More. TBS and TNT continue their “Christmas Story” marathon, then add a bonus: TBS airs the wondrous “Wizard of Oz” (1939) at 8 and 10:30 p.m. ET. Also at 8, CW has its moving, 2021 remake, “The Waltons’ Homecoming.” At 9, CBS reruns last year’s vibrant Mariah Carey special. For some more epic-scale music, try BYU-TV, on cable or online. It has Tabernacle Choir concerts, with Kelli O’Hara (7-8:30 a.m. ET) and Lea Salonga (7:30-9 p.m.).
— Mike Hughes, TV America