On the TV days of Christmas, my tube love gave me to me:

Gunsmoke Christmas orphans. Sarah Jessica Parker's Square Pegs. A Flying Nun snowstorm.

Love Boat holiday cruises. Monkees making merry. Gilligan's Christmas rescue. (Not!)

Four Golden Girls hostages. Three's Company parties. Two Petries prancing.

But no Patridge Family gathered 'round their tree.

Yes, it's that time of the year when millions of viewers visit with their old friends: Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, Archie and Edith Bunker, Grandpa and John-Boy Walton.

Those who look closely at a TV schedule, however, will be able to celebrate the holidays with long-lost TV pals - everyone from Alf to Ralph Malph, Barney Fife to Barney Miller, the Sweathogs to Square Pegs.

Nick at Nite begins spreading the holiday cheer tonight with a special three-hour "sitcom Christmas," starting with Denise repeating her wedding vows with Martin on The Cosby Show (9 p.m.). On Cheers (9:30 p.m.), Diane throws a Christmas party for elderly homeowners.

Back-to-back All in the Family episodes have Archie not getting a Christmas bonus (10 p.m.) and the Bunkers' sharing Christmas dinner with a draft dodger and his father (10:30 p.m.) These episodes will repeat Dec. 21-22 on TV Land.

The early Christmas party concludes with holiday shows for Three's Company (11 p.m.) and Coach (11:30 p.m.).

But it won't be as easy to see Dr. Joel Fleischman put up a Northern Exposure Christmas tree again. Or watch a Love Boat Christmas cruise.

And I know David Hasselhoff fans don't want to miss the two-part "Silent Night, Baywatch Night" repeat.

So I've assembled a partial, subjective guide to 20 popular and obscure Christmas episodes.

You can make your own list from the full "Christmas TV series" posting on Enquirer.Com. It has everything from Alf to The X-Files, Chicago Hope to Picket Fences, Good Times to A Different World, Betwitched to Boy Meets World, and Hazel to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Here's my list:

Gunsmoke: Seven homeless children spend Christmas in Dodge City. (6 a.m. and noon, Dec. 22; 6 a.m. and noon, Christmas, TV Land)

The Monkees: The guys teach a child the meaning of Christmas. (midnight, Dec. 23, TV Land)

The Honeymooners: Ralph sells his bowling ball to buy Alice's gift. (9:30 a.m. Dec. 22, TV Land)

The Love Boat: A cruise line singer (Jack Jones) meets his estranged dad (Allan Jones) on the ship. (1 p.m. Dec. 22, TV Land)

The Jeffersons: Playing Santa, George promises orphans they'll get anything they want for Christmas. (5 p.m. Dec. 22; 4 a.m. Dec. 23, TV Land)

Baywatch: Mitch and the Malibu lifeguards deal with snow, romance and a Christmas con artist. (Two parts air 1:05 a.m. Dec. 17 and Dec. 18, TNN)

Square Pegs: Patty (Sarah Jessica Parker) gets a visit from her father (Tony Dow). (Airs in two parts, 1:30 a.m. Dec. 22-23, TV Land)

Dick Van Dyke Show: Rob and Laura Petrie perform on the "Alan Brady" Chrsitmas show. (9 a.m. and 10 p.m. Dec. 22, TV Land)

Happy Days: A lonely Fonz spends Christmas with the Cunninghams. (6 p.m. Dec. 21, TV Land). More episodes Dec. 21-22 are listed on the Internet.

Bob Newhart Show: Bob throws a Christmas Eve party for his patients. (7 a.m., Dec. 21; 8:30 a.m. Christmas, TV Land)

The Flying Nun: Sister Bertrille tries to make it snow for Sister Olaf. (midnight Dec. 22, TV Land)

Andy Griffith Show: Andy and Barney throw a Christmas party in the jail (7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Dec. 21, TV Land; and 11 p.m. Christmas, Channel 64)

Roseanne: The Conners put up tacky decorations. (4 p.m. Dec. 24, WTBS)

Little House on the Prairie: ``Christmas at Plum Creek'' and ``A Christmas They Never Forgot'' air back to back. (11 a.m.-1 p.m. Dec. 23, WTBS).

Northern Exposure: Dr. Fleischman treats an elf, then buys a Christmas tree. (2 a.m. Dec. 23, Hallmark Channel)

Gilligan's Island: Gilligan nearly gets his wish - being rescued by the Coast Guard. (9 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., Dec. 21, TV Land).

The Golden Girls: A lonely Santa takes the roommates hostage. (9 a.m. Christmas, Lifetime)

Mary Tyler Moore: Mary decorates the newsroom while working her first Christmas. (8:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., Dec. 21; TV Land)

The Brady Bunch: Carol loses her voice at Christmas choir practice. (8 p.m. Dec. 22, 8 p.m. Christmas, TV Land).

Welcome Back, Kotter: The Sweathogs celebrate Christmas with Gabe and Julie Kotter. (2 a.m. Dec. 23, TV Land).

Welcome back, Kotter, indeed. It's great to see you again.

E-mail jkiesewetter@enquirer.com

A day-to-day list of Christmas TV series episodes