60 free Christmas TV trivia questions with answers — entertainment quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
52 free Christmas TV trivia questions with answers. Christmas television has its own canon: the Rankin/Bass stop-motion specials that have aired every December since 1964, the Grinch that Chuck Jones and Boris Karloff made in 1966, the sitcom episodes people re-watch every year, and the one-offs that became legends, like the Star Wars Holiday Special or David Bowie turning up on Bing Crosby's last show. This quiz covers all of it. You'll get questions on Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town and the Miser brothers; the Office's Yankee Swap, Seinfeld's Festivus, Ross's Holiday Armadillo and the very first Simpsons episode; Doctor Who's Christmas specials, Downton Abbey, Gavin & Stacey and the EastEnders episode that still holds the UK ratings record; plus the WPIX Yule Log, the Royal Christmas message and Hallmark's Countdown to Christmas. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia and primary references before publication, so the dates, names and viewing figures here are the real ones. Play it with the family after dinner, or use it to settle who actually knows their Christmas television.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Who narrates the 1964 Rankin/Bass Rudolph special as Sam the Snowman?
Burl Ives
Ives was hired to give the sponsor a big name; Sam was originally going to be voiced by Larry D. Mann, who ended up as Yukon Cornelius instead.
Q 02What career does Hermey the elf abandon Santa's workshop to pursue in the 1964 Rudolph special?
Dentistry
His skills pay off when he pulls every tooth from the Abominable Snow Monster, who is tamed and put to work trimming a Christmas tree.
Q 03Which company sponsored the first broadcasts of Rudolph in 1964 under its own Fantasy Hour title?
General Electric
GE covered the special's $500,000 cost, but the deal only covered a pair of broadcasts. A GE executive also had the song 'We're a Couple of Misfits' replaced in 1965.
Q 04In which city was the 'Animagic' puppet footage for Rudolph actually filmed?
Tokyo
The concept came from New York, the voices were mostly Canadian, the music was recorded in England and the puppets were animated in Japan by Tadahito Mochinaga's studio.
Q 05Roughly how much did the original 1964 Rudolph and Santa puppets fetch at auction in 2020?
$368,000
They had been given to a secretary's nieces and nephews and spent years in an attic. After the sale they were donated to the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta.
Q 06What year does the famously erroneous copyright notice on Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer give?
1164
A missing M in the Roman numerals is to blame, and the invalid notice has been left on prints ever since.
Q 07Which comedian narrates the 1969 Frosty the Snowman special, in his final film role?
Jimmy Durante
He had also been one of the first to record the song back in 1950. A different narrator had to be found for the 1976 sequel after Durante retired.
Q 08In the 1969 Frosty special, what is the inept magician whose discarded hat brings the snowman to life called?
Professor Hinkle
His own rabbit, Hocus Pocus, betrays him by swapping the hat for a lamppost wreath so the children can revive Frosty.
Q 09Where does Frosty melt in the 1969 special after the villain locks him in with Karen?
A greenhouse
Santa arrives too late, but explains that Frosty is made of magical Christmas snow and reforms him with a gust of winter wind.
Q 10Fred Astaire narrates the 1970 special Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town as a mailman with what initials?
S.D. Kluger
S.D. stands for Special Delivery. He explains how everything from stockings to the reindeer came to be, then heads off to the North Pole with the letters.
Q 11Who is the toy-hating mayor of Sombertown in Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town?
Burgermeister Meisterburger
He bans all toys after tripping over a toy duck, which is why Kris starts slipping presents down chimneys and into stockings.
Q 12What kind of animal is Topper, the lost creature Kris Kringle befriends on his way to Sombertown?
A penguin
The Winter Warlock, who later captures the pair, switches sides after Kris gives him a toy train.
Q 13In The Year Without a Santa Claus, who forces the feuding Snow Miser and Heat Miser to compromise?
Mother Nature
Q 21CBS gave the 1966 Grinch special a then-record cartoon budget of about how much?
$315,000
That was more than four times what Bill Melendez had to make A Charlie Brown Christmas the year before.
Q 22What holiday are Chewbacca and Han trying to reach Kashyyyk to celebrate in the 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special?
Life Day
The special was broadcast once on CBS in November 1978 and has never been rebroadcast or officially released in full.
Q 23Which bounty hunter made his onscreen debut in an animated segment of the Star Wars Holiday Special?
Boba Fett
The cartoon was made by Toronto studio Nelvana, which later produced the Droids and Ewoks Saturday-morning series.
The Misers are her sons and step-brothers of each other. The compromise: snow in Southtown, one warm day at the North Pole.
Q 14Which reindeer ends up in the Southtown dog pound in The Year Without a Santa Claus?
Vixen
The elves Jingle and Jangle borrow Santa's youngest reindeer for their trip south, and a dog catcher promptly detains her.
Q 15Which actress narrates The Year Without a Santa Claus as Mrs. Claus, in her final acting credit?
Shirley Booth
The Oscar and Tony winner retired after the special. Its 2008 sequel, A Miser Brothers' Christmas, recast the role after her death.
Q 16In Rudolph's Shiny New Year (1976), what kind of creature is the villain Eon the Terrible?
A vulture
Eon is fated to live exactly one eon and then turn to ice and snow, so he kidnaps Happy the Baby New Year to keep the year from ending.
Q 17Rankin/Bass's 1968 special The Little Drummer Boy centres on an orphaned drummer whose name is what?
Aaron
Samson and Joshua are his donkey and camel; the third animal is a lamb named Baba, whose injury brings the boy to the manger.
Q 18Who voices the Grinch and narrates the 1966 special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!?
Boris Karloff
Sound engineers stripped the high frequencies from his voice to create the Grinch's gravelly growl. He also read every part, including Cindy Lou Who, on the LP.
Q 19The song 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' is often misattributed to the narrator. Who actually sang it?
Thurl Ravenscroft
The singer, also the voice of Tony the Tiger, was left out of the credits by mistake. Dr. Seuss apologised and wrote to columnists nationwide to set the record straight.
Q 20Which legendary Looney Tunes director made the 1966 Grinch special?
Chuck Jones
He and Dr. Seuss had worked together on the Private Snafu army training cartoons during World War II. Jones based the dog Max on his own childhood fox terrier.
Q 24In the Star Wars Holiday Special, which Golden Girls star runs the Mos Eisley cantina?
Bea Arthur
Her character Ackmena sings to close the cantina at curfew, backed by the same alien band from the 1977 film.
Q 25In Friends, what costume does Ross improvise to teach Ben about Hanukkah when he can't rent a Santa suit?
The Holiday Armadillo
The 2000 episode ends with Ross, Chandler in a Santa suit and Joey as Superman all crammed into the apartment.
Q 26In The Office episode "Christmas Party", how much did the boss spend on the video iPod for the $20 Secret Santa?
$400
Apple got over four minutes of screen time without paying for placement. Michael's disappointment with a homemade oven mitt is what triggers the Yankee Swap.
Q 27What Secret Santa gift, with a private letter inside, does Jim give Pam in 'Christmas Party'?
A teapot
Jenna Fischer chose the teal colour herself. The letter's contents stayed secret until the show's final season, when Jim finally hands it over.
Q 28The Seinfeld episode that popularised Festivus is named for Kramer's dispute at H&H Bagels. What is it called?
The Strike
Kramer's 12-year strike ends when the minimum wage is raised, but he walks out again when he's refused time off for Festivus.
Q 29What fake charity does George invent on Seinfeld to avoid buying Christmas gifts for his co-workers?
The Human Fund
A real charity of the same name was founded in Cleveland in 2005, borrowing its name from the episode.
Q 30At what odds does Homer bet it all on Santa's Little Helper in the first Simpsons episode?
99-1
The greyhound finishes last and is abandoned by his owner, so Bart and Homer bring him home as the family's Christmas gift.