The short answer is: Get an antenna.
Wonderful old Christmas TV specials with Perry Como, Johnny Cash, Andy Williams, Bing Crosby, Mac Davis, Rosemary Clooney, Mel Torme, Judy Garland and Danny Kaye and many others will air on the GET TV network, a digital subchannel on WSTR-TV, on over-the-air Channel 64.4.
It's not on cable. It's not streamed.
So when some of you see the GET TV holiday offerings, you have to get an indoor antenna and place it in a window facing College Hill. (The Star 64 tower is near North Bend and Winton Roads.)
GET TV's programming comes from the huge Sony Pictures Entertainment vault. The Christmas movies includes many favorites which have made my past Holiday TV lists over the past 30-plus years. (Speaking of which, my 2016 Holiday Program Guide is now available.
You'll see Sammy Davis Jr.'s "The Kid Who Loved Christmas" Cicely Tyson's "Ms. Scrooge," Neil Patrick Harris' "The Christmas Wish," Charles Durning's "It Nearly Wasn't Christmas," John Denver's "The Christmas Gift," Daniel J. Travanti's "The Christmas Stallion," and Robert Young's Father Knows Best: Home For Christmas.
The daytime lineup features Carroll O'Connor's "In The Heat of the Night," "Tour of Duty," "Merv Griffin Show," "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir," "The Equalizer," "Jeff Foxworthy Show," "Bill Engvall Show," "Airwolf," "Loredo," "Father Murphy," "Hondo" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
And remember to watch for my Holiday Program Guide listing be posted as a downloadable PDF Sunday, Nov. 27! Happy holidays!
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 27
The Christmas Wish (7:50 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (Neil Patrick Harris) searches for the woman named in his grandfather’s diary. -
Perry Como's Christmas In Paris (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With Angie Dickinson.
MONDAY NOVEMBER 28
Sonny & Cher Hour(8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Guest Christine Ebersole.
The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Shows (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Holiday music.
Merv Griffin Show (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with Rosemary Clooney and Danny Kaye.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 29
Jeff Foxworthy Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Two Christmas episodes.
The Sons of Mistletoe (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A boys orphanage faces closing. With Roma Downey, Doris Roberts and George Newbern.
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 30
Classic TV Christmas – Action Edition (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episodes of "The Equalizer," "Hardcastle & McCormick," "Riptide," "Tour of Duty," "SWAT."
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1
Bing Crosby and The Sounds Of Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With Robert Goulet.
I'll Be Home For Christmas (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A widowed doctor reunites with his old girlfriend (Ann Jillian).
It Nearly Wasn't Christmas (11:15 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Disillusioned Santa (Charles Durning) calls it quits.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 2
Once Upon A Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Santa's daughter (Kathy Ireland) changes a spoiled family.
Twice Upon a Christmas (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV) Santa’s daughter (Kathy Ireland) saves the North Pole.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 3
Classic TV Christmas – Western Edition (7 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episodes of "The Tall Man," "Yancy Derringer."
SUNDAY DECEMBER 4
A Song For The Season (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A music teacher (Naomi Judd) fights for her music program.
Perry Como's Early American Christmas (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas in Williamsburg with John Wayne and Diana Canova.
MONDAY DECEMBER 5
Cher (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with Redd Foxx.
Johnny Cash Christmas Show (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Filmed in Nashville in 1977 with wife June Carter Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Statler Brothers.
Merv Griffin Show (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with Mel Torme.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 6
Jeff Foxworthy Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode.
Bill Engvall Show (8:30 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode.
The Christmas Gift (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (John Denver) visits a town where everyone believes in Santa.
The Three Kings (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Three mental patients think they are the Wise Men seeking Jesus in the 1980 Los Angeles. With Lou Diamond Phillips, Vic Tayback, Charles Nelson Reilly, Tori Spelling and Jane Kaczmarek.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7
Classic TV Christmas – Western Edition (7 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episodes of "The Restless Gun," "Cimarron Cirty, "The Tall Man," "Yancy Derringer."
THURSDAY DECEMBER 8
Andy Williams Christmas Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With the Osmond brothers and Claudine Longet.
Father Knows Best: Home For Christmas (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A 1977 Christmas reunion about empty nesters Jim and Margaret (Robert Young, Jane Wyatt) selling the family house.
The Christmas Stallion (10:50 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (Daniel J. Travanti) goes to Wales to help an endangered horse farm.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 9
The Kid Who Loved Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): An orphan wants to spend Christmas with his adopted father. With Cicely Tyson, Michael Warren, Sammy Davis Jr.
Ms. Scrooge (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Cicely Tyson as a modern Scrooge in 1997.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 10
Classic TV Christmas – Western Edition (7 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episodes of "Cimarron City."
SUNDAY DECEMBER 11
A Christmas Carol (7:45 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Patrick Stewart gives Scrooge the Dickens in 1999.
Perry Como's Christmas In Austria (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Songs from the "Sound of Music."
MONDAY DECEMBER 12
Perry Como's Christmas Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With the Carpenters, Peggy Fleming.
Mac Davis Special: The Music of Christmas (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With Gladys Knight, Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap.
Andy Williams Christmas Show (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With the Osmond brothers and Claudine Longet.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 13
Once Upon A Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Santa's daughter (Kathy Ireland) changes a spoiled family.
Twice Upon a Christmas (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV) Santa’s daughter (Kathy Ireland) saves the North Pole.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 14
In The Heat Of The Night (8 p.m., Ch 64 GET TV): Two Christmas episodes.
Danny Kaye Show (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with Peggy Lee, Wayne Newton.
Christmas with the King Family (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Holiday music.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 15
Johnny Cash Christmas Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Filmed in Nashville in 1977 with wife June Carter Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Statler Brothers.
A Town Without Christmas (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A TV reporter (Patricia Heaton) looks for a child who wrote Santa in 2001.
Christmas In Connecticut (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A TV show host (Dyan Cannon) cooks Christmas dinner for a homeless man (Kris Kristofferson), with Bob Braun as TV newsman Sam Simon in 1992.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 16
A Song For The Season (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A music teacher (Naomi Judd) fights for her music program.
The Christmas Wish (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (Neil Patrick Harris) searches for the woman named in his grandfather’s diary. -
SATURDAY DECEMBER 17
Classic TV Christmas – Western Edition (7 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episodes of "The Restless Gun."
SUNDAY DECEMBER 18
Miracle in the Wilderness (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Indians capture a pioneer couple (Kris Kristofferson, Kim Cattrall.
Perry Como's Christmas In The Holy Land (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Holy Land tour with Richard Chamberlain.
Best Of The Andy Williams Christmas Shows (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Holiday music.
MONDAY DECEMBER 19
Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode.
Judy Garland Show (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with daughter Liza Minnelli and Mel Torme.
Cher (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode with Redd Foxx.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 20
Jeff Foxworthy Show (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Three Christmas episode.
Bill Engvall Show (9:30 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Christmas episode.
Johnny Cash Christmas Show (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Filmed in Nashville in 1977 with wife June Carter Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Statler Brothers.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21
Father Knows Best: Home For Christmas (8:10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A 1977 Christmas reunion about empty nesters Jim and Margaret (Robert Young, Jane Wyatt) selling the family house.
Bing Crosby And The Sounds Of Christmas (10 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Holiday music.
THURSDAY DECEMBER 22
Mac Davis Special: The Music of Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): With Gladys Knight, Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap.
The Christmas Gift (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (John Denver) visits a town where everyone believes in Santa.
Ms. Scrooge (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Cicely Tyson as a modern Scrooge in 1997.
FRIDAY DECEMBER 23
A Christmas Carol (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Patrick Stewart gives Scrooge the Dickens in 1999.
A Christmas Carol (10:15 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Patrick Stewart gives Scrooge the Dickens in 1999.
SATURDAY DECEMBER 25
Miracle in the Wilderness (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Indians capture a pioneer couple (Kris Kristofferson, Kim Cattrall.
The Christmas Stallion (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A man (Daniel J. Travanti) goes to Wales to help an endangered horse farm.
The Three Kings (11 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): Three mental patients think they are the Wise Men seeking Jesus in the 1980 Los Angeles. With Lou Diamond Phillips, Vic Tayback, Charles Nelson Reilly, Tori Spelling and Jane Kaczmarek.
CHRISTMAS
A Town Without Christmas (8 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A TV reporter (Patricia Heaton) looks for a child who wrote Santa in 2001.
I'll Be Home For Christmas (9 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A widowed doctor reunites with his old girlfriend (Ann Jillian).
Christmas In Connecticut (12:15 p.m., Ch 64.4 GET TV): A TV show host (Dyan Cannon) cooks Christmas dinner for a homeless man (Kris Kristofferson), with Bob Braun as TV newsman Sam Simon in 1992.
