A Christmas Story is widely considered one of the best Christmas movies of all time, but is it really that good? It's a question I would've thought ridiculous to even bring up, but someone recently did just that after watching the classic for the first time. The question was brought to the masses, and I was surprised by what the most popular answer was.
As I'm reminded that A Christmas Story Christmas, the sequel that's available with an HBO Max subscription, is on my watch list for this year, someone on Reddit recently watched the original for the first time and wanted to know why it had such a stranglehold on pop culture. The top response was simple, and makes more sense the longer I think about it:
TBS broadcast it around the clock at Christmas for years.
TBS has been doing its "24 Hours of A Christmas Story" marathon since 1997, and I know throughout my life, it's been on television at various houses I've visited almost every day. That is, at least until NFL football was on, though in the days where streamers like Netflix is carrying it now, I've struggled to get my grandma a smart TV for the occasion.
As such, A Christmas Story is on for a bulk of the holiday in many households in the United States, mainly because it's always been there, and no one is really paying that close of attention to the television anyway. Of course, I'm talking about the modern day, whereas another commenter talked about how things were during the pre-streaming days:
This. In the era before cable had 1000s of channels and before streaming, The Christmas Story was on for 24 hours on TBS for decades it feels like. TBS also did all the 007 movies (16 Days of Bond?) around the holidays so it just became tradition and nostalgic.The jokes also probably do not seem funny to older kids or adults watching for the first time because newer family movie jokes have already added to those jokes and concepts.
It's also worth noting that having seen A Christmas Story so many times over the years may desensitize us to how bizarre a movie it is. I wrote a list a few years back about some of the weirder elements of the movie, and there are more than a few moments that, if you really zero in on it, are just flat-out weird.
2025 Christmas Movie Schedule: What's Streaming And Airing On TV
I think it's also valid to echo what someone else said later in the thread about how it's a 40-year-old movie romanticizing Christmas traditions that are 70+ years old at this point. The movie is dated in a lot of ways, especially considering my daughter who is roughly Ralphie's age does not understand the concept of listening to a radio show and using a decoder ring.
All this being said, it's a movie that multiple generations of people grew up with, and whether it's the leg lamp, the bunny pajamas or the dogs destroying the turkey, there are plenty of people who still love it. The only movie that I think people would equally support airing 24/7 is the Home Alone movies or National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Will it happen? I guess we'd have to see how people react if TBS ever announced it won't be showing the movie nonstop on Christmas.
A Christmas Story is planned to air on TBS all day on Christmas Eve, as well as Christmas Day. Meanwhile, in other Christmas television news, HGTV fans are upset about Elf airing on the network, and Hallmark and Disney are collaborating for a Christmas movie. In short, you may have a lot more to watch besides the same film for a couple of days straight.
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