Christmas by medium

On Christmas Eve, a guardian angel finds him in despair and prevents him from committing suicide, by supernaturally showing him how much he meant to the world around him.

[3] Sometimes, family films and classics boasting special effects and/or uplifting messages, but having no real relation to Christmas, are telecast during the season as part of the holiday programming.

[4] Other films often seen around the Christmas period are Singin' in the Rain, Some Like it Hot, Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines, Casablanca, The Golden Compass, Great Expectations, Annie, Grease, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Johnny Depp's Alice Saga, Sunshine on Leith, The Star Wars Saga, Transformers, The Simpsons Movie, Cinderella, Maleficent, Into the Woods, Oz the Great and Powerful, Sam Raimi's Spider Man trilogy, Paddington, Around the World in Eighty Days, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, E.T.

the Extra-Terrestrial, Robert Downey Jr's Sherlock Holmes Saga, Fiddler on the Roof, My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Enchanted, the Mamma Mia!

Others in this category include Iron Man 3, Lethal Weapon, Batman Returns, Eyes Wide Shut, Female Trouble, Shazam!

Likewise, the home video release of these films is typically delayed until the beginning of the next year's Christmas season.

Actresses Candace Cameron Bure, Lacey Chabert, and Danica McKellar, along with actor Niall Matter, are frequently featured in lead or major roles.

(A notable exception was The Spirit of Christmas in 1950, which, although featuring an appearance by Alexander Scourby, who also narrated, starred the Mabel Beaton Marionettes.)

One notable television special usually seen at Christmas was Amahl and the Night Visitors, commissioned by NBC and telecast annually in the U.S. from 1951 to 1966.

They are visited by the Three Wise Men who are on their way to see the Christ Child, and when Amahl offers his crutch as a gift, he is miraculously cured.

While the season receives almost universal acknowledgement on British TV, some channels and programmes have tried "alternative" or "anti-Christmas" ideas.

In the United States, many television series (particularly those of a family-oriented nature) produce a Christmas episode, although seldom outside of a season's production block.

Some local affiliates that provide the Yule Log simulcast Christmas music from a radio station playing it.

NBC airs the Vatican Midnight Mass service at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve night (having broadcast the service annually since 1972, typically in place of the network's regular late-night programming), and usually airs an ice skating special (often on the weekend prior to or of the holiday).

Many radio stations begin to add Christmas music to their rotation in late November, and often switch to all-Christmas programming for December 25.

Radio stations also broadcast traditional Western art music, such as the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's Messiah.

Gospel singer Cliff Richard is a fixture of Christmas charts, appearing nearly every year, and subsequently being mocked for doing so.