When Is George C. Scott’s 1984 ‘A Christmas Carol’ Airing on TV This Year?
Charles Dickens’ legendary A Christmas Carol has been put on film many times — but for some, there’s no version quite like the 1984 made-for-TV version, which starred George C. Scott as wealthy miser Ebenezer Scrooge. In fact, some have gone so far as to proclaim it “the best ‘Christmas Carol’ ever.” If you’re a fan of this classic retelling, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year, you’ll have a few opportunities to catch it during the run-up to Christmas — but you will need a premium cable subscription to watch.
A Christmas Carol will air twice on Christmas eve and three times on Christmas Day (once for each ghost who visits Scrooge?).
Dec. 24, 5:20pm, FX Movie Channel
Dec. 24, 8pm, MGM
Dec. 25, 7:20am, MGM
Dec. 25, 2:30pm, MGM
Dec. 25, 3pm, FX Movie Channel
And if none of those times work for you, the film is streaming far and wide this holiday season, on subscription apps Hulu. MGM+ and Paramount+, and free with ads on Tubi, PlutoTV and the Roku Channel.
George C. Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1984 TV movie A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is among the earliest books adapted to film — it first showed up on screens as the 1901 silent movie, Scrooge; or, Marley’s Ghost, and has been remade dozens of times since, starring everyone from Vanessa Williams to Michael Caine and a bunch of Muppets. But the Oscar and Golden Globe-winning Scott, most famous for his blazing performance in 1971’s Patton, is uncommonly distinguished among Ebenezers.
The film, which aired on CBS, helped revive Scott’s star after a late ’70s dip. He was nominated for an Emmy, and began a new career focused on made-for-TV film — one that eventually yielded an Emmy for his performance in 1997’s 12 Angry Men, shortly before his death from an aortic aneurysm in 1999.
The movie was filmed on location in the UK village of Shrewsbury, and the crew left behind one piece of set decor that became a tourist attraction: Ebenezer Scrooge’s gravestone, which resides at St Chad’s Church. The gravestone was smashed into pieces by unknown vandals this past November, but masons have repaired the famous gravestone just in time for the town’s Christmas festivities.
Cowboy Christmas
November/December 2024
Saddle up for some Holiday Cowboy fun with movies, music and your fav Christmas episodes of classic Westerns.
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