15 unexpected Christmas specials you have to see to believe

A Very Murray Christmas

Bill Murray is one person you also might not expect to star in a Christmas special, especially not one where he plays himself, but he did exactly that in 2015. It was a pretty big deal, too! The special was directed by Academy Award winner Sofia Coppola and featured huge stars like Maya Rudolph, Miley Cyrus, Chris Rock, George Clooney, Amy Poehler, and a bunch of others.

The 56-minute variety special premiered on Netflix in 2015, and tells the story of Bill Murray’s struggle to get his holiday special off the ground at the Carlyle Hotel in New York after a huge snowstorm hits the city. It’s Christmas Eve, and most of the guests for his special have to cancel because of the storm. He doesn’t want to leave his room until the show’s producers, Liz (Amy Poehler) and Bey (Julie White) finally convince him to do the show, since it’s his money on the line if he cancels.

With barely anyone there, Murray is brought to tears and flees the studio (sounds like Kelly Clarkson’s special, doesn’t it?). He runs into Chris Rock and begs him to perform a Christmas carol with him. When the power goes off, Chris Rock flees and Murray’s producers tell him the show can be canceled — a Christmas miracle!

Murray retires to the bar and meets a whole crew of characters over the course of the night who join him for songs, including a waitress (Jenny Lewis) and a lounge singer (Maya Rudolph). Eventually, Murray passes out from drinking too much. In his drunken dreams, he imagines that he woke up in the middle of a winter wonderland set for his Christmas show, where he’s joined by George Clooney and a very festive looking Miley Cyrus. Miley performs “Sleigh Ride” with Murray as Clooney makes them martinis before he finally wakes up.

I gotta say, I wouldn’t expect a Christmas special from Bill Murray, but this one turned out to be a real showstopper. From the guest stars to the production value, it was seriously a knockout as far as holiday specials go — miles better than the Star Wars one!