Check out these ho, ho, holiday streaming picks from McTelevision

The holidays are upon us, and along with the food and the lights, there is a virtual flood of holiday movies and specials streaming our way on any device you can think of. So, how to choose the right shows, whether you lean towards RuPaul, or black and white Hollywood classics?

KUOW’s Kim Malcolm asked Melanie McFarland, TV critic for salon.com, for her suggestions.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

The old standby: It's a Wonderful Life

It's a Wonderful Life turns 75 this year, and I would say that for a large swath of Americans, that's always going to be the quintessential holiday film. That's why you will be able to see it on cable several times over the next week or so.

The Hallmark Channel effect

For other people, when they think about tradition, they think about the Hallmark Channel. Those movies are all very formulaic, and you can just turn it on like the Yule Log, and enjoy these very lovely stories about, you know, ladies who work in the city but have to go back home to their small town and help save the family bakery and rediscover the meaning of Christmas.

People have made fun of the Hallmark movie formula, but it works. Around this time of year, if you look at cable ratings they are among the top two positions in weekly cable ratings.

Hallmark spinoffs

Hallmark has a powerful formula. It's one that other channels have tapped into, particularly by responding to the fact that Hallmark has for a very long time not been inclusive. If you look back on years and years of the Hallmark catalog, you will not see stories with people of color in the leads, and certainly not any couples who are gay or lesbian, or any queer representation in the lead.

Single All the Way

This is a Netflix movie about two gay men going home for the holidays and finding love that plays on the Hallmark formula.

The B**** Who Stole Christmas

This VH1 RuPaul holiday special is directly sending up Hallmark’s formula by going back to the small town of Tuckahoe and exploring how Christmas is maltreated.

Other favorites:

Elf

Assuming you don't have an aversion to Will Ferrell, my first pick will always be Elf. It's an all-around, all-ages crowd-pleaser. It really captures everything that's wonderful about spending Christmas in the city.

Scrooged

This has Bill Murray as Frank Cross. I like the Christmas Carol adaptations that change the flavor of it a little bit, and I think that Bill Murray in that role is just stellar.

Seinfeld’s Festivus episode?

If you are kind of tired of all the holly jolliness, it's kind of great to put together your airing of grievances list and practice for your feats of strength. It's all that's great about getting away from the holiday.

Love Actually?

I remove myself entirely from the argument. I actually fall on the side of The Holiday. What I love about it is watching Kate Winslet with Eli Wallach, who plays this elderly screenwriter from the golden age of film. She finds this kind of friendship romance with him that’s very beautiful.

Bad Santa

If you're like me, and you are not very reverent about your holiday films, you really can't let the season pass without Bad Santa. Truly, especially now I think when people are just very tired and aren't really feeling Christmas, it's the perfect not really feeling Christmas movie, because it's just very funny, and pretty much slaughters all the sacred cows.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

I do not let the holiday season pass without my annual viewing of The Long Kiss Goodnight, an action film by Shane Black, who has set a number of his films around the holidays. This one stars Geena Davis as an amnesiac schoolteacher who gets her memories back after a car crash. It turns out she's actually a CIA assassin, as one does, as one usually is.

You can follow Melanie McFarland on Twitter at MCTelevision

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.