Ebbie (1994)

Starring Susan Lucci as Elizabeth "Ebbie" Scrooge. To my findings, this is the first made-for-TV gender reversal of Scrooge on record! If we were ready for a lady Scrooge in 1994, I think we're more than ready to see women in other roles from Dickens traditionally played by men (I'm looking at you, possible Jennifer Lawrence as David Copperfield adaptation!). Ebbie owns a department store and is mean to everyone. This was understandable in 1994, as Lucci had yet to win that longed for Daytime Emmy for her role as Erika Kane on All My Children. Sadly, this performance too was overlooked by the television academy. After you watch, you'll see why.

Ms. Scrooge (1997)

Starring Cicely Tyson as "Ebenita" Scrooge. While this version may not get to claim the distinction of first lady Scrooge on TV, it does get to be the first African American lady version of Scrooge in a TV film, so that's something! Either Cicely Tyson is an amazing actress or she's just an amazingly unhappy person in real life (we're going to say amazing actress) because her Ebenita (the president of a loan company in this telling) is one of the meanest and most miserable depictions of the character ever portrayed. I think someone forgot to tell Ms. Tyson this wasn't Pinter; she's performing like this is a much better movie. Stop with the subtext, Cicely, your nuance is throwing this entire movie off balance! For a little levity, Mona from Who's the Boss? is the ghost of Marley and she seems to be on loan from a different version altogether.

A Carol Christmas (2003)

Starring Tori Spelling as Carol Cartman. Get it? A Carol Christmas because her name is Carol! Tori Spelling picks up the torch as lady Scrooge with this telling about a talk show host who hates Christmas! Grrrr! Also, she is mean to everyone, so mean that only a visit from William Shatner and Gary Coleman as ghosts will scare the nice back into her! That would probably be pretty effective actually. If William Shatner and Gary Coleman materialized in my house and told me to stop being a miserable person, I know I'd ask myself some serious questions about my life choices. This is the best Tori Spelling performance since The House of Yes but not quite up to her work as Tori Spelling in So NoTorious. Also, do you get the feeling that when she's trying to be mean in this movie she's doing a Shannon Doherty impression?

It's Christmas, Carol! (2012)

At first I wasn't sure if Carrie Fisher was playing Scrooge or Marley, but it actually wasn't that important. Just think about it: Carrie "Wishful Drinking" Fisher in a version of A Christmas Carol. That's almost as good as my dream to one day remake It's a Wonderful Life with Fran Lebowitz as Clarence the guardian angel, only in this version she points out how much more fun Bedford Falls was in the alternative timeline. Anyway, Carrie's role is Eve (as in Christmas) and she's an amalgamation of Marley Past, Present and Future due to "budget cuts." I was pretty much won over that. This is up there with Drop Dead Fred when it comes to Fisher partially eye-rolling her way through a performance.

Barbie in A Christmas Carol (2008)

Starring a CGI Barbie as Eden Starling, our Scrooge stand-in. Part of the "Barbie in great roles of literature" series, the doll herself stars as a selfish Victorian actress loosely based on Ebenezer Scrooge. I feel like there's a joke here comparing one of the other actresses to the CGI children's toy (Tori Spelling would be the obvious candidate), but it's Christmas, have a heart.

Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Music Tale (2013)

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A Guide to Made-for-TV Christmas Carol Adaptations, Past, Present and Future