Not surprising at all, to me. Even if it’s not a big deal for you, surely you realize that it’s a big deal for most folks. So someone who sees you working assumes that you’d rather not, since most people wouldn’t, and thus feels sympathy for you.
Larger shops are not allowed to open on Christmas Day or Easter Sunday, so no, business pretty much shuts down.
The American broadcast networks generally air their Christmas specials before December 20th but there aren’t as many as their used to be and, more often than not, they’re reruns (especially the animated holiday shows). Other “event” programming is saved for the “sweeps” periods in November, February, and May but that’s no longer as big a deal as it used to be since the many cable networks, On Demand programming, TIVO, and the internet have all steadily eroded the broadcast network’s audience share.
BTW, doesn’t Christmas fall during soccer season in the UK? If so, has anybody ever thought of scheduling a holiday match between two Premier League powerhouses? Or does the idea of a sporting event being held on the day the Lord’s birth is observed still seem sacrilegious to most Brits?
“Thereabouts.”
Friends had the 9-9:30 Thursday night timeslot or 8-8:30pm Thursday timeslot for its entire run. The Christmas episode would usually be shown a week or so before Christmas during that slot. Never on Christmas. If Christmas was on a Thursday, they’d either show a rerun or special. No one would waste an original episode during a time where it’s assumed that no one will be watching.
And depending on the calendar year, it might show as early as the 12th or 13th.
*A Christmas Story *and The Exoricist.
There tends to be a full Premier League programme on Boxing Day (26th December), which is a second public holiday and traditionally the “get out and do something” day. Having a sporting event on Christmas Day itself would be imprcatical. Public transport is very limited on that day, police overtime is expensive, etc.
And the fixture schedule is random, I believe. It would be too open to claims of unfair advantage otherwise.
Jesus christ, there’s actually a law about it? I don’t get why whether or not someone wants to open their store is the government’s business.
shrug Oh well, not my problem.
It’s a compromise. It used to be no Sunday trading at all, except for small shops, petrol stations and a few other exceptions like gardening centres (which took full advantage by stretching the definition of gardening-related wares to the limit).
When they liberalised the rules they had to appease the combination of shop-workers’ unions and religious people, so they limited opening hours to 6 hours on Sunday for larger stores, and kept Christmas Day and Easter “special”.
Some other European countries still have, or had until very recently, stricter Sunday/weekend trading rules.
We go to the movies. Started as a teenager in the late 60s, but the theaters didn’t open until 7 or so for people who were tired of family time. We go earlier now, 3 or 4 PM. It’s really crowded, and IIRC the studios are opening movies on Christmas Day. My husband and I have no relatives in the area, and our only daughter is unmarried, so what else is there to do? My daughter has grown up knowing nothing but movies on Christmas and Easter afternoons.
One of the major reasons there isn’t more special event programming for Christmas in the US is because of Thanksgiving. The Macy Thanksgiving Parade in New York is so important it airs on two different broadcast networks. As soon as that wraps up, the first of three straight pro football games starts. That upcoming weekend a lot of networks and local stations air Christmas themed movies, along with even more football. I assume a reason for this is because at least in my experience Thanksgiving meals tend to longer and more involved than Christmas meals.
This is my Christmas/Christmas eve, you gotta watch it once, and then leave it on in the background…
Scrooge (the 1951 version with Alistair Sim - accept no substitute!)
Home Alone - the first one, not the sequels.
While You Were Sleeping - I’m a sucker for Sandra Bullock when she plays the girl next door.
And to finish off the day … Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. 
That actually surprised me about England because in Scotland it was really just pubs that had Sunday restrictions. Lots of shops stayed shut anyway, but there was never any law about it. I’d have thought it would have been the other way round, given that some parts of Scotland take the Sabbath very seriously indeed.
So I’m the first to say Star Wars and Indiana Jones huh?
Back in the 90s, USA used to run the three Indiana Jones movies followed by the three Star Wars movies back-to-back-to-back on Christmas Day. It was my first exposure to these classics and it was awesome.
As others have said, it’s a popular day for movies. I think by Christmas evening, people have had enough of their families and are looking for someplace to get out to.
Nope. Post #9
Every version of A Christmas Carol that we own starting with the Gene Lockart version to Patric Stewart, included in that is Scrooged and Scrooge.
“The Sound of Music” is usually shown around Christmastime, in Canada anyway.
Jews eat Chinese food and then go the movies or see some comedy act.
It seems to me that there are more Christmas traditions in the U.K. than in the U.S. Most of the Christmas traditions are shared of course, but there are a number that are little known in the U.S. but are reasonably well known in the U.K. Christmas crackers, advent calendars, plum pudding, mince pies, pantomines around Christmas time, the Queen’s Christmas Speech, Boxing Day after Christmas, Christmas specials of certain TV shows (which are actually shown on Christmas day), and the Christmas #1 single as a big deal are all U.K. traditions that don’t have any exact equivalent in the U.S. The only U.S. Christmas tradition that doesn’t have any real equivalent in the U.K. is that of putting up big lighted Christmas displays on one’s lawn for several weeks around Christmas (and the related tradition of the White House Christmas tree).