In November 1939, NBC's fledgling television station (W2XBS) broadcast the first known holiday special, The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade . Despite its small viewership (very few TV sets existed at the time), the experimental telecast was a harbinger of a now-beloved American tradition: the holiday television special. This book offers a thorough account of holiday television specials in the United States from 1939 to 2021, highlighting variety shows, comedic performances, musical spectaculars and more. From familiar favorites (1964's Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer ) to campy one-offs (1985's He-Man and She-Ra: A Christmas Special ), the 1140 programs are covered in an easy-to-use alphabetical arrangement featuring performance casts, production credits and storylines for each. Three appendices cover "lost" holiday specials, along with Christmas and Halloween-themed episodes of popular television series.