Are These The Worst Christmas Specials Ever Made?

The Worst Christmas Specials Ever: A Bah Humbug Celebration of Holiday Flops!

While most of us are busy waxing nostalgic about the Charlie Brown Christmas Special or the timeless brilliance of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, let’s take a sharp detour down a frosty lane of shame. Because for every magical Christmas special, there’s a baffling, cringe-worthy disaster waiting to ruin our eggnog. These are the holiday specials so bad, so misjudged, they make a lump of coal look like a thoughtful gift.

So, hang your stockings, but don’t expect anything good inside. Let’s dive into the worst Christmas specials ever made.

1. The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978)

When it comes to bad Christmas specials, this is the undisputed champion of cringe. Aired only once (and for good reason), The Star Wars Holiday Special is an excruciating two-hour fever dream centered on Chewbacca’s family celebrating “Life Day.” It features bizarre Wookiee grunting (with no subtitles), Bea Arthur singing in a Mos Eisley cantina, and Carrie Fisher visibly regretting every moment as she belts out a Star Wars-themed holiday song. Even George Lucas disowned it, famously quipping that if he had a sledgehammer, he’d destroy every copy.

Critics lambasted it as an incomprehensible mess, and fans still debate whether it’s hilariously bad or just plain bad. Either way, it’s a train wreck worth watching—if only to see Mark Hamill’s unsettlingly airbrushed face.

2. He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special (1985)

Because nothing screams Christmas like Eternia. This animated mess brings the Masters of the Universe into the holiday spirit as Orko accidentally ends up on Earth, learns about Christmas, and returns to Eternia to teach He-Man and She-Ra the meaning of the season. The problem? Christmas on Eternia makes zero sense, and the shoehorned holiday themes feel about as genuine as Skeletor’s “heartwarming” transformation.

Despite its nostalgic appeal for die-hard fans, most viewers agree this special is a confusing, campy slog. As one reviewer put it, “He-Man doesn’t need Santa to save the day. He has a giant sword.”

3. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (2000)

Based on the novelty song of the same name, this animated abomination is exactly as awful as you’d expect. The plot involves Grandma getting hit by Santa’s sleigh, a cartoonish courtroom drama, and a villainous cousin trying to steal the family store. It’s an exhausting attempt to stretch a jokey song into a full-length story.

Critics slammed its low-budget animation and paper-thin characters, and audiences continue to cringe at its forced zaniness. Let’s be honest: some songs should just stay songs.

4. The Christmas Tree (1991)

Often hailed as one of the worst animated Christmas specials of all time, The Christmas Tree is a low-budget disaster that somehow found its way onto television screens. The story follows a group of orphans under the care of a cartoonishly evil woman named Mrs. Mavilda, who hates both children and Christmas. The animation is laughably bad, with characters moving like paper cutouts and voice acting so wooden it could decorate a holiday mantelpiece.

Critics and audiences alike have torn it apart for its bizarre dialogue, plot holes, and overall cheap production. The Christmas Tree has since gained a cult following among fans of “so-bad-it’s-good” specials. Watch it once, and you’ll understand why one YouTube reviewer called it, “The animated equivalent of stale fruitcake.”

5. Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas (2014)

This low-budget “movie” (if we can call it that) stars Growing Pains actor Kirk Cameron as he tries to convince a skeptical brother-in-law that Christmas is totally cool. Filled with heavy-handed sermons disguised as dialogue, bizarre historical tangents, and cringe-worthy attempts at humor, Saving Christmas manages to be both preachy and unwatchable.

It holds a whopping 0% on Rotten Tomatoes and frequently appears on “worst movies ever” lists. One critic called it, “An unholy cross between a Sunday school lecture and a PowerPoint presentation.”

6. Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey (1977)

Sure, Rudolph had a shiny nose, but Nestor had long ears—and somehow, Rankin/Bass thought that was enough for a full Christmas special. This claymation flop follows a donkey bullied for his ears (sound familiar?) who ends up escorting Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.

While the animation is classic Rankin/Bass, the saccharine tone and painfully slow pacing make it hard to sit through. It lacks the charm of Rudolph and feels like a retread without any of the magic.

7. A Very Brady Christmas (1988)

This awkward TV movie reunion of the Brady Bunch feels like it belongs in a time capsule labeled “1980s Cheese.” The plot centers on Mike getting trapped in a building collapse on Christmas Eve (yes, really), while the Brady kids squabble over adult problems no one cares about.

Critics panned it for its melodrama and awkward attempts to recapture the Brady charm. Watching Greg Brady argue about his career while Carol sings Christmas carols feels less like holiday fun and more like a bad therapy session.

8. Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa (2002)

Quite possibly the worst animated Christmas special ever made, Rapsittie Street Kids became infamous for its horrifyingly bad animation, nonsensical story, and inexplicably high-profile voice cast (including Mark Hamill and Jodi Benson).

The visuals look like a failed middle school computer project, and the dialogue feels like it was written by aliens attempting to understand human emotions. It aired only once, to universal ridicule, and was promptly buried—until the internet rediscovered it as a so-bad-it’s-good masterpiece.

9. Christmas Comes to Pac-Land (1982)

Yes, this exists. Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and their friends celebrate Christmas after helping Santa Claus crash-land in Pac-Land. The entire special feels like a fever dream, complete with ghosts, awkward holiday lessons, and Pac-Man saying things like, “Let’s chomp some Christmas cheer!”

While it has nostalgic charm for some, most viewers find it to be a shameless cash grab with a nonsensical premise. Not even Pac-Man power pellets could save this one.

10. The Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994)

This attempt to shoehorn the Flintstones into Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol feels like a prehistoric slog. Fred plays Scrooge in a local play, but his selfishness threatens to ruin Christmas for everyone. The meta “play-within-a-story” concept falls flat, and the jokes feel uninspired.

Critics and fans alike agree this was one holiday special that should’ve stayed in Bedrock.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

What’s the worst Christmas special you’ve ever seen? Did we miss any cringe-worthy classics? Share this article on social media and let’s roast these flops together—because bad Christmas specials deserve their moment in the (broken) spotlight too.

Sources:

• Den of Geek: The Star Wars Holiday Special
• Rotten Tomatoes: Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas
• The Ringer: Rapsittie Street Kids Rediscovered
• Mental Floss: Rankin/Bass Forgotten Specials