Yes, though the word "Christmas" is never uttered in the 1965 movie musical, we very much consider The Sound of Music as comforting a wintertime watch as the best Christmas movies, like It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.
That's why the beloved film starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer has become a Christmas TV highlight in the decades since, and it's making its annual return to the small screen this weekend. On Sunday, December 17, ABC—which has aired the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical every December since 2022—will air The Sound of Music at 7pm ET in a four-hour programing block.
That means it's readily available for anyone with a traditional pay-TV subscription or TV antenna that receives local station signals, as well as live TV streaming subscribers to Fubo, Hulu with Live TV, Sling TV and YouTube TV.
Based on the great 1959 Rodgers & Hammerstein stage musical of the same name, this Best Picture-winning big-screen adaptation features an Oscar-nominated turn from Andrews as Maria, a novice at an Austrian convent who is hired as a governess for the seven children of the stern Captain Georg von Trapp (Plummer). Her spirit and songs—“My Favorite Things,” “Climb Ev’ry Mountain,” “Do-Re-Mi,” the list of iconic tunes goes on and on—wins over the hearts of the children and, soon enough, their father.
As for how and why The Sound of Music has become such a Christmastime staple for ABC, Andy Kubitz, ABC Entertainment’s former exec VP of programming strategy, told TV Insider: “The Sound of Music‘s universal themes of love, family and overcoming hardship in the face of adversity are exactly what we’re all thinking about over the holiday season...It’s a beacon to gather around with the family and sing along to songs that transcend time.”
And there's more where that came from: ABC will also be airing a new season of The Great Christmas Light Fight (the season finale airs on Tuesday, December 19 at 9pm ET), crowd-favorite Christmas movies like Home Alone (Sunday, December 24 at 8pm ET) and holiday specials including Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest (Sunday, December 31 at 8pm ET) in the days leading up to the year's end.
