Advent Calendar House

🎄 It’s 1997, and we couldn’t decide which holiday to end the season with, so we’re celebrating them all. 🎙 Joey O. joins us on a journey 20 miles below the surface of the Earth to the very “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”-like split-level cave of “Weird Al” Yankovic as he learns to listen to his friends and family. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Weirdle, the “Weird Al”-themed offshoot of Heardle, the music-themed offshoot of Wordle. “The Weird Accordion to Al,” by Nathan Rabin. Joey interviews Ben Kweller about his appearance with Radish on “The Weird Al Show.” Al’s got a thing for the number 27, which makes its way into this episode. Stan Freberg’s “Christmas Dragnet,” which I know from a compilation CD from Philadelphia radio station WOGL. Ed Marques (Varna) as the Surf Guru on ZDTV’s “Internet Tonight.” I had no idea “I Lost on Jeopardy!” was a full parody of an actual song. “Weird Al,” Paul Reubens, and Danny Elfman sing “Kidnap the Sandy Claws.” National Hamster Day exists. It’s May 10. Funny or Die’s original fake trailer for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.” “Weird Al” Yankovic: There’s No Going Home, part of The Disney Channel’s Going Home concert/documentary series. **** 📼 Commercials: 1990 Encyclopedia Britannica commercial starring Donavan Freberg (Baby Boolie). **** “The Weird Al Show” and “The Obligatory Holiday Episode” © 1997. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🦃 It’s 1983, and we’re spending Thanksgiving in July at the Saturday Supercade. 🎙️ Chad Young, Tommy Coombs, and Jayme Kilsby join us as we take a cue from Q*bert and pals and try to stay on topic as they learn how to build a Q home in a Q land in a retelling of the first Thanksgiving as square as the wheels on the Q*horse and buggy Pilgrim Q*bert wants to win. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: We all tried to remember who brought up the Q*bert special last year while talking about “A Thanksgiving Tale,” and we were all wrong. Even “Kangaroo” got a “Saturday Supercade” segment eventually. Peter Cullen was the first voice of Mario in the “Donkey Kong” segment. “The Kingdom Chums: Little David’s Adventure,” an animated retelling of David and Goliath featuring Billy Bowles (Q*bert) as a stuffed lion come to life. Pauline and her return in “Super Mario Odyssey.” We accidentally introduce Chad to “Spookley, the Square Pumpkin.” They gave the snakes arms! Viper has a Mae West voice, which leads into a tangent about “Quasi at the Quackadero.” Chief Q*Eagle reminded me of Randall Cunningham’s name in Tecmo Super Bowl. Saturday Supercade’s extensive use of the Hanna-Barbera Sound Effects Library. Home Movies: “Don’t Put Marbles in Your Nose.” Mike guests on TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny to discuss the Perfect Strangers Thanksgiving episode, “Wild Turkey.” **** 📼 Commercials: John Wanamaker’s 1988 Thanksgiving Sale. Tis the Podcast. **** “Saturday Supercade,” “Q*bert,” and “Thanksgiving for the Memories” © 1983 Ruby-Spears Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1992, and a group of 30-year-old teenagers are on a bus trip to their doom unless an angel in training can convince her supervisor they’re worth saving. 🎙 Ed Daly, author of “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday,” joins us for a very strange and very special visit to America’s most famous ZIP code in our first adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, even though this episode seems to have forgotten to actually adapt it. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Bonnie Urseth (Miriam) in “We’ve Got It Made.” Brian Austin Green (David) as Metallo on “Smallville.” Luke Perry (Dylan) in “The Sandlot: Heading Home.” Of course Donna’s birthday is on Christmas Day. Brandon’s amazing, generic FOOTBALL/SPORTS poster above his bed. The West Beverly High Madrigal Singers (no relation) sing the original, drinking song lyrics to “Deck the Hall.” **** 📼 Commercials: 7up Cool Spot Christmas Commercial (1992) Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast. **** “Beverly Hills 90210” and “It’s a Totally Happening Life” © 1992 Torand Productions, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1985, but we’re rocketing into the future, when apparently urgent veterinary care no longer exists. 🎙 Jack Ford from the Total Christmas Podcast joins us for a glimpse into the space-age year of 2062 to find out if 3 robotic ghosts of Christmas can convince Mr. Spacely to change his stingy ways, while the clock is ticking for the Jetsons’ dog, Astro, on his deathbed. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: George Jetson apparently was/will be born at the end of July 2022. George O’Hanlon (George Jetson) as Joe McDoakes in a series of instructional parody short films from the 1940s and ’50s. The Jetsons’ “laser tree.” “Bongo Feet and Zip,” the classic Hanna-Barbara running sound effect, is heard 9 times in this episode. This episode marks the last appearance speaking appearance of the Jetsons’ pet alien, Orbitty. Astro’s supposed fever is normal for dogs. How the Flintstones movie teenage Spacely and his future wife watch changes the theory that both shows take place in the same time period. The robotic Ghost of Christmas Past, Present (literally a talking wrapped Christmas present), and “Yet to Be.” I had to look up whether Spacely even had a pet to warrant having a personal veterinarian. Meet Zero. **** 📼 Commercials: George Jetson’s Air Pollution PSA, National Clean Air Coalition (1990) Cool Kids Club, a nostalgia-fueled trip back to the ’80s and ’90s. **** “The Jetsons” and “A Jetson Christmas Carol” © 1985 Hanna-Barbara Productions, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1995, and a couple of giant space monsters with swords are about to bring swords to a snowball fight and still lose. 🎙 Andre Bennett and Lindy Kempe join us as we follow the powerless Power Rangers to the North Pole, where they can’t Morph due to a cross-current of holiday magic. And also magnets. 📺 You can watch “I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger” for free on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: “I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger” on Ranger Wiki. “Dynaman,” an English-dubbed parody of Super Sentai on the USA Network’s “Night Flight,” circa 1988. Rubber Suit Rumble! and Cult Cinema Cloister Facebook groups, maintained by Andre. Differences between the aired TV episode and the VHS cut, which was released 2 months earlier. “The Order,” a proposed, Expendables-style film starring former Power Rangers. Amy Jo Johnson (Kimberly) directed a Season 2 episode of “Superman & Lois.” The Ranger “in jail” we alluded to isn’t even in this episode. Affirmative Clothing Company, co-founded by David Yost (Billy). Paul Schrier (Bulk) finally got to play a legit Ranger in 2017 in the web series “Power Rangers Hyperforce.” Robert von Fliss has 4 credits on IMDb, and they’re all as Santa Claus. The real-life Command Center: The House of the Book at the American Jewish University. Rito Revolto, a giant skeleton warrior, learning about holiday spirit is just the Skeletor scene all over again. **** 📼 Commercials: Pizza Hut: “Right Field” (1990), from the VHS release of the first “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movie. Diet Coke: “Choose Wisely” (1990) from the VHS release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. OnStar: “Batcave” (2000), featuring Batman and Michael Gough as Alfred, except I was probably thinking of the Diet Coke ad before Batman ’89. Saban’s 4½ minutes of commercials in front of the VHS release of I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger, including an ad for THE VIDEO YOU’RE ALREADY WATCHING. Behind the Bells. **** “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and “I’m Dreaming of a White Ranger” © 1995 Saban Entertainment, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎃 It’s 1989, and Rue McClanahan is trapped in an underground castle inhabited by a bunch of Gremlin-looking puppets called Greevils — and for some reason, she wants to leave. 🎙️ Matt from Dinosaur Dracula drops in for a Halloween in July celebration of “The Wickedest Witch,” co-written and produced by ALF creator Paul Fusco, and starring Blanche from The Golden Girls as the evil Avarissa. As far as we know, this Halloween special only ever aired once, but somehow managed to capture our hearts and burrow itself into the cavernous depths of our memories. 📺 There are 3 copies on YouTube — some include commercials, others hit record a second too late. For the closest we can get to a full picture of the special, here are all 3, courtesy of: 1. Dinosaur Dracula, 2. Jared’s VHS Treasures, 3. trivialord. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Dino Drac on The Wickedest Witch. Rue McClanahan on Entertainment Tonight, October 27, 1989 (Interview starts at 6:57). Ronn Lucas (Sammy), creator of Scorch and the 1988 Disney Channel special, “Who’s in Charge Here?” Judge Doom murdering a clown shoe in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Free Stuff for Kids. **** 📼 Commercials: McDonald’s Halloween Gift Certificate Books, 1989 during the airing of The Wickedest Witch. Weird Christmas. **** “The Wickedest Witch” © 1989 Boo You Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1983, and a young bear and fox are lost in the Big City after accidentally riding the rails on the apparently famous Christmas Tree Train in an obscure special that has little to do with Christmas trees or trains. 🎙 Ethan “The Hungry Reader” climbs aboard as we explore the first holiday special starring Buttons and Rusty, known later as the Chucklewood Critters. 📺 You can watch “The Christmas Tree Train” on the Internet Archive. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The Unofficial Chucklewood Critters Home Page, which looks like it was created in 2003, last updated in 2011, and is a perfect specimen of an early 2000s Internet fan page. William Boyett (Ranger Jones) in “Last Clear Chance,” a 1959 driving safety film later featured on “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” Foxes actually hang out around bears in nature (Nature.org, 2021) A random shout-out to mid-1990s Sonic the Hedgehog wannabe Bubsy the Bobcat. A very difficult jump in a sewer level in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Nintendo game. All the human characters in this special look like they’re related to Gargamel from The Smurfs. RiffTrax Christmas Circus with Whizzo the Clown. **** 📼 Commercials: Santa’s Village in Southern California, circa 1983 during an airing of “The Christmas Tree Train.” North Pole Radio. **** “The Christmas Tree Train” © 1983 Encore Enterprises, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1984, and all we want for Christmas is our mom back. 🎙 Adam Pope and Steven join us for a roller coaster of emotions from sad raindrop to beautiful snowflake as we turn around back to 1984 with Punky Brewster during her very special, very crucial first Christmas with her new family. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: I totally missed the 2021 “Punky Brewster” revival series on Peacock. Ami Foster (Margaux) in “Wrinkles in Need of Cuddles.” The Punky Brewster Wiki exists and is very helpful. What do you mean, “Nobody would want A Bomb for Christmas?” “Santa Claus Lives in Santa Cruz” is a very obscure single that may or may not have been written for this episode. “I’ve Got the Sun in the Morning” from Annie Get Your Gun. Today’s TV Trope: Santa’s Existence Clause. **** 📼 Commercials: NBC’s One to Grow On interstitial with Soleil Moon Frye, circa 1984. Wizards! The Podcast Guide to Comics. **** “Punky Brewster” and “Yes, Punky, There Is a Santa Claus” © 1984 NBC Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🐰 It’s 1983, and despite replacing our entire body with robot parts, we still can’t plow faster than a rapidly growing magic forest baby. 🎙 Chad Young and Sammy Hain join us as we get things rolling with the mascots of Paas Easter egg coloring kits in a secret hit piece on landlords disguised as a wacky Easter story. On the way, we’ll meet the ever-looming shadow of the Easter Bunny and teach animals to talk by giving them clothes. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The History of Paas. Patton Oswalt on Paas and its short-lived competitors. This special was written by Rankin/Bass legend Romeo Muller, with songs composed by Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan of The Turtles. Charles Woolf (Terrence) in “Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.” The origin of a farmer’s “South 40” and the Homestead Act of 1862. Paas replaced their mascot characters. The only original one left is Feathers — if that’s even the same Feathers. **** 📼 Commercials: Paas Easter Egg Coloring Kit (1984) Holidays After Dark. **** “Peter and the Magic Egg” © 1983 RLR Associates, Ltd. / Romeo Productions, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1990, and we’re looking a gift horse in the mouth. 🎙 Justin O’Connor joins us on a wild ride to the Bar None Ranch for a Very Special Episode™ of Nickelodeon’s “Hey Dude” disguised as a barely festive Christmas in July special. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: An ode to our childhood friends who lied about having an Uncle Who Worked For Nintendo. Hey Dude Reviewed’s episode rankings and review of “Ride, She Said.” Kelly Brown (Brad) in “Danger Zone 4: Mad Girls, Bad Girls” (NSFW). Kelly Brown’s boutique on Long Island. Christine Taylor (Melody) in “Showdown.” Susan Sindelar (Cindy) in the background of a fight scene in “Smokey and the Bandit.” TROT (Therapeutic Riding of Tucson). The “Hey Dude” set is still somewhat standing in a secluded area of another, actual ranch. The Hangin’ Out Gang. The Huron Carol, believed to be the oldest North American Christmas carol, was written in an indigenous language. The poster for “Miracle on 34th Street” gives no indication that it’s a Christmas movie. You know what? I’ll just let y’all search for “star registry” on your own if you want to actually look naming a star after someone. **** 📼 Commercials: California Games for Nintendo (1987) Christmas Creeps. **** “Hey Dude” and “Ride She Said” © 1990 MTV Networks. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1983, and Young Republican Alex P. Keaton is sick and tired of hearing “Merry Christmas.” It was a different time. 🎙 Molly Patton and Joey O. join us as we airlift our dirty laundry back to before “Back to the Future” for a Scrooge Sunday edition of “Family Ties,” in which Michael J. Fox is taken 30 years into the future to fix his family. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Michael Gross (Steven) on making the Christmas movie “Noelle.” Chris Hebert (Young Alex) in “Fuzzbucket.” Justine Bateman as Mallory as the Ghost of Christmas Future is the Best Dressed Ghost of Christmas Future. Justine Bateman as Lady Zara, Superman’s long-lost betrothed wife-to-be on “Lois and Clark.” Michael Gross and Meredith Baxter (Elyse) as Santa and Mrs. Claus in the 2015 Lifetime Original Movie, “Becoming Santa.” The time I went shopping on Christmas Day in the year 2000 and ended up finding the loneliest Hollywood Video employee. **** 📼 Commercials: Atari Christmas Commercial (1983) The Christmas Alphabet Podcast. **** “Family Ties” and “A Keaton Christmas Carol” © 1983 Paramount Pictures Corp. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1984, and it’s time to let the music play down in Fraggle Rock as we ring in Christmas in July on a quest to find the true meaning of the Festival of the Bells. 🎙 Tommy Coombs and Donnie Storms join us on a journey to Outer Space as Doc teaches Sprocket — and us — about the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, and Christmas around the world. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: A clip from the British airing of “The Bells of Fraggle Rock,” in which Doc is replaced by a lighthouse captain. Gerald Parkes (Doc) as the Ghost of Christmas Present in “An American Christmas Carol.” Doc’s tool-themed Christmas tree. Philadelphia’s John Wanamaker Christmas Light Show and Dickens Village. The Weebabeast, in pictures. Gobo’s maze-like map to the Cave of the Great Bell. St. Nicholas Day. “Mokey and the Festival of the Bells,” a Christmas-themed Fraggle Rock storybook. **** 📼 Commercials: Fraggle Rock Book Club (1985) McDonald’s Fraggle Rock Happy Meal Toys (1988) Hyrule Podcasters, an audio “Let’s Play” through The Legend of Zelda. **** “The Bells of Fraggle Rock” © 1984 Jim Henson Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎅 It’s the 100th episode of the Advent Calendar House, and what better day than Christmas Eve to return to the World of Rankin/Bass? 🎙 Erin Evans, Michael DiGiovanni, Michael May, Brandon Medley, and Joey O. join us as we put one foot in front of the other back to 1970 to revisit a Christmas classic that dares to answer children’s questions about Santa Claus while illegally opening his mail. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Both IMDb and Wikipedia had the premiere date wrong because of a typo in an old book. Rich Goldschmidt’s “The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Daydreamer” gets it right. Former pro-wrestler Special Delivery Jones (no relation). Burgermeister Meisterburger is a dead ringer for Mauser from “Police Academy 2.” Hey, IMDb, I highly doubt the Greg Thomas voicing young Kris Kringle grew up to play the saxophone in Parliament Funkadelic. For a while, Topper was renamed Waddles. Kris’s weird face he makes after being caught by the Winter Warlock’s angry trees. Save the Earth from Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster. Weddings on Christmas Day used to be popular. The first known recording of the song “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and our favorite versions. **** 📼 Commercials: Folgers Coffee: Peter Comes Home for Christmas (1982) **** “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” © 1970 Rankin/Bass Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1996, and we’re holding our football-shaped heads high on a quest to find our neighbor’s long-lost daughter… but first, a pair of highly sought after Nancy Spumoni snow boots! 🎙 Anthony Caruso from Tis the Podcast and Matt Eurich from TGI Podcast join us for a very special Christmas episode that solidified “Hey Arnold!” as an unforgettable Nicktoon. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The story behind the iconic Vietnam Episode of ‘Hey Arnold!’ (NBC News, 2021) Arnold’s Claymation origins: “Arnold Escapes from Church” (1988) Arnold Uses His Imagination on “Sesame Street.” Helga in “Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.” The “Pollyanna,” Philadelphia’s hyper-local Secret Santa. Mr. Hyunh’s banana wallpaper. Mr. Hyunh’s flashback includes the iconic helicopter image from the Fall of Saigon. One-Legged Bob, the Affable Railroad Tramp. Hey, grown-ups, remember dot matrix printers? Hiep Thi Le’s life could’ve been a movie; instead the refugee became a star playing someone else (Los Angeles Times, 2018) **** 📼 Commercials: Talkboy Voice Recorder from “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” **** “Hey Arnold!” and “Arnold’s Christmas” © 1996 Viacom International, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1984, and the most 1984 pair I can think of, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis, are taking us on the most romantic date through New York City on the way to a Christmas party at Radio City Music Hall. 🎙 Guy Hutchinson joins us as we spoil David Copperfield’s magic tricks, leave our emergency contact information with Willie Tyler and Lester, share our favorite Christmas songs with Maureen McGovern, and fall asleep while watching the Rockettes rehearse. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: I Pity the Yule: Remembering A Christmas Dream, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis’s Lost Holiday Special (Mental Floss, 2020) “Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool.” New York Mayor Ed Koch in “The Muppets Take Manhattan.” David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear. Sesame Street’s Don Music. Willie Tyler and Lester on Letterman. Vintage Christmas tree color wheels. The other verses of “Silent Night” you’ve never heard. **** 📼 Commercials: Soft Scrub Cleaner. The GE 2800 Dishwasher commercial that reminds me of the last scene of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress. Masters of the Universe: The Fright Zone Play Set. Behind the Bells. Totally Rad Christmas. **** Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis in A Christmas Dream” © 1984 Radio City Music Hall Television Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1986, and we’re hiding out in a cabin in the mountains with modern-day Snow White and real-life Christmas angel Dolly Parton. 🎙 April Ryley joins us as we try to wrap our heads around this Henry Winkler-directed TV movie that gets really weird really quickly. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: “Dolly Parton Meets the Kids.” Muppet doppelgänger Polly Darton. Dolly Parton saved a girl’s life on the set of “Christmas on the Square.” Gennie James (Cindy) in “The Hugga Bunch Movie.” Claude Earl Jones (Bartender) in the Seinfeld episode, “The Race.” Lee Majors (Mountain Dan) and Jean Speegle Howard (Old Woman Jezebel) in “The Night the Reindeer Died,” the movie-within-a-movie from “Scrooged.” How South Jersey Keeps Muskrat on the Menu (Gastro Obscura) **** 📼 Commercials: Dollywood Commercial (1988) Christmas Clatter. Santa by the Minute. **** “A Smoky Mountain Christmas” © 1986 Sandollar Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1995, and a cozy Christmas at X-Mansion has quickly turned into a risky blood transfusion in a sewer. 🎙 I call upon the raging wind and the retired hosts of The Hourchive — Drew Crowley, John Dedeke, Adam Jurotich, and Nick Main — to send us flying into the Marvel Animated Universe as we size up the X-Mansion Christmas tree, praise Storm’s fashion sense, and berate her leadership skills. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The Hourchive on The X-Men (2013) and ReduX-Men (2019). “California Dreams.” “Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits” home video starring Drew Barrymore. “Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas” on the Marvel Animated Universe Wiki. Ross Petty (Ape) and his annual holiday pantomime theatre. “Captive Hearts,” featuring the introduction to the Morlocks, Rogue and Gambit in swimsuits, and the Wolverine Crush meme. **** 📼 Commercials: The Uncanny X-Men ToyBiz Action Figures. Lit for Christmas. “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday” by Ed Daly. **** “X-Men” and “Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas” © 1995 Filmation Associates. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1978, and we’re glued to the TV… whether we like it or not. 🎙 Molly Patton and Adam Pope join us as we catch the next reindeer flight to save Santa’s workshop from being taken over by a palette swapped Wile E. Coyote. **** “Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure” and The Greedy. Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, in example: “A Sheep in the Deep.” The Gloopstik Corporation’s address on Google Maps. Santa’s Reindeer species profile by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The Star-On and Star-Off machines from “The Sneetches.” **** 📼 Commercials: 1978 M&M’s Christmas Commercial. A Cozy Christmas. **** “Raggedy Ann” and “Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper” © 1978 The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1978, and celebrities pretending to be ghosts are gaslighting Oscar the Grouch into participating in Christmas. Also, Michael Jackson shows up.🎙 Alan Johnson and Donnie Storms join us for another Scrooge Sunday episode to witness the 2nd best “Sesame Street” Christmas special from 1978… out of 2. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Our episode on “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.” I thought Tough Pigs made up this special in 2001 to be funny, but nope, it’s real. Sesame Street lost an Emmy to Sesame Street. “A Special Sesame Street Christmas” on Muppet Wiki. “Elmo’s Delicious Christmas.” “Anne Murray Sings for the Sesame Street Generation,” an American re-release of “There’s a Hippo in My Tub.” “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.” Michael Jackson inadvertently saved Sesame Street from a lawsuit. “Just One Person” at Jim Henson’s memorial service.Mike talks about “Snoopy! The Musical” on A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight. **** 📼 Commercials: Sesame Place (1984) Kringle Talks Kristmas. **** “A Special Sesame Street Christmas” © 1978 Bob Banner Associates. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1980, and we’re having a hiccuping fit that can literally move mountains. 🎙 Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies join us on a trip back to the World of Filmation for a barely Christmassy Snow White sequel starring Snow White’s daughter, also named Snow White, who meets Seven Friendly Giants, each with their own involuntary reflexes. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Bad Princess Movies on Filmation’s “Happily Ever After.” “Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation.” Cash-grab home videos including “The Reef,” “Ratatoing,” and Toei Animation’s “The Little Mermaid,” which I discovered in a Toys “R” Us in 1989. Larry Mann (Yukon Cornelius) as the Magic Mirror vs. Dom DeLuise as the Looking Glass in “Happily Ever After.” “The Thief and the Cobbler.” Am I Hot or Not? The word CLINK appears as a key is dropped onto a table, but this is the only time that effect happens in the whole special. **** 📼 Commercials: Barbie Dreamhouse (1982) Weird Christmas. **** “A Snow White Christmas” © 1980 Filmation Associates. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1988, and the Care Bears are threatening to take hostages on a quest to save Toyland. 🎙 Lindy Kempe and Karen Flieger join us to stare intensely at the totally nuts series finale of “The Care Bears Family,” the Care Bears’ last TV appearance for 16 years. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The World’s Smallest Tenderheart Bear. Karen’s awesome Nutcracker socks. Abby Hagyard (Ms. Walker, and also the mom on “You Can’t Do That on Television”). “The Wild Puffalumps.” Billie Mae Richards, the voice of Rudolph, as Tenderheart Bear in “The Care Bears Movie.” That time a goose flew into Fabio’s face on a roller coaster. Today’s TV Tropes: Identity Amnesia, Evil Chancellor, Rail-Car Separation. “The Sad Story of Henry” from Thomas the Tank Engine. The train runs on soda, like the time machine in the first draft of “Back to the Future.” When we recorded this, the special’s Wikipedia entry was oddly specific about setting this story in 1967. **** 📼 Commercials: Care Bears Drinking Glasses from Pizza Hut (1984) “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday,” by Ed Daly. Snow in Southtown. **** “Care Bears Nutcracker Suite” © 1988 Nelvana Ltd. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🕎 It’s 1988, and we’re getting lit at Bubbe’s Boarding House for Hanukkah. 🎙 April Ryley joins us for a spin with a bunch of puppets you’ll never hear from again. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: A Simpsons animator designed the puppets for this weird, wonderful ’80s Hanukkah special (Splinter, 2014) “Caps for Sale” Anton and his Easter Island head. April’s very non-kosher latke recipe. Mayim Bialik explains the letters on the dreidel and other Hanukkah facts. Calvin getting trolled by his dad in “Calvin and Hobbes.” **** 📼 Commercials: 1970s/’80s PBS Logo ID. 1985 Teddy Ruxpin “Frankenstein” Commercial, preserved by Dinosaur Dracula. Teddy Ruxpin voice actor Phil Baron co-wrote this special. Cool Kids Club. **** “Chanuka at Bubbe’s” © 1988 Pan-Imago, Inc. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1963, and we’re watching a show about a show within a show putting on a show for Christmas. Don’t ask us to make sense of it. We can’t stop tripping over our own home furniture. 🎙️ Tim Babb from the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast joins us to watch a show within a show put on a Christmas show, then sing the theme from the show it’s within. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Dick Van Dyke as Tubby the Tuba. 8 great little details you never noticed in The Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode (MeTV) Every Episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ranked (Vulture) 92-year-old Dick Van Dyke dancing to Step in Time. Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins Returns.” “John Brown’s Body.” Key & Peele’s “Negrotown” sketch and the trope of interrupting someone’s song. “The Dick Van Dyke Show” cast reunites on “Comic Relief” (1992) Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book’s history of “I Am a Fine Musician.” The theme song’s secret lyrics. **** 📼 Commercial: Learn Not to Burn: Holiday Fire Safety PSA (1977) Also mentioned, this Fire Safety PSA with Dick Van Dyke pretending to be a door. **** “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Alan Brady Show Presents” © 1963 Calvada Productions. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

☃️ It’s 1982, and we’re walking in the air. 🎙️ Adam Parker Sibun from the Merry Britsmas Podcast visits the Advent Calendar House as we melt over a British Christmas classic and a personal favorite I wish was more beloved stateside. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: We have a new theme song! Thanks, Bronwen’s Ghost! Merry Britsmas episode on Raymond Briggs. The British Film Institute’s Top 100 British TV Programmes of the 20th Century. The special’s 3 openings, featuring Briggs, David Bowie, and Mel Smith as Father Christmas. The original picture book wasn’t a Christmas story. Other Briggs works mentioned: “Father Christmas,” “Fungus the Bogeyman,” “Ethel and Ernest,” and “When the Wind Blows.” How The Snowman melted David Bowie’s heart (The Guardian, December 2016) Duncan Jones finds his dad’s scarf. Video of an owl flying over snow I eerily shared on Facebook the night David Bowie died. The Maccabees cover “Walking in the Air.” The Royal Pavilion and Brighton Palace Pier. Today’s TV Trope: Polar Bears and Penguins. The Snowman in a commercial for Barbour outerwear. Irn-Bru soft drink’s parody commercial, and its sequel. **** 📼 Commercials: 1985 Toys “R” Us Snowman Commercial featuring Aled Jones covering “Walking in the Air” (sung in the special by Peter Auty). **** “The Snowman” © 1982 Snowman Enterprises Ltd. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Santa falls off the roof, and a guy who acts like a caveman takes over his job. 🎙 Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas and Sean Sotka from the Christmas Podcasts Podcast join us as we close out another countdown to Christmas in July with a sleigh ride back to the Stone-Age Year of Our Lord 1977. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Our episode on the Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial. I found a Flintstones chronology on, of all places, Flickr. The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault. Domino Rally. I want to know more about Santa’s reindeer turn signals. “Daze Before Christmas” for Super Nintendo and Mega Drive (Genesis). Virginia Gregg (Mrs. Claus) was the uncredited voice of Norman Bates’s mother in the first 3 Psycho movies. Santa’s workshop should have gotten Flintstone Theming. **** 📼 Commercials: Fruity Pebbles: Rapping Barney (1988) Voice Command Crusher RC Car (1993) Behind the Bells. **** “A Flintstone Christmas” © 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🦃 We’re talking turkey as we dig up and dig in to a 1983 Thanksgiving special from puppeteer Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF. 🎙️ Chad Young, Tommy Coombs, and Jayme Kilsby join us the follow a turkey’s dream of stardom that ends with dogs and cats living together. 📺 You can watch “A Thanksgiving Tale” on Youtube, with curated retro Thanksgiving commercials. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Imagicom Productions’ Holiday Specials Collection. Fred Travalena as the Joker in the 1989 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. A November 16, 1983 TV listing in an archived New York Magazine. Paul Fusco’s “Space Cats.” David Lander in “Funland.” Mental Floss’s Oral History of ALF. Today’s TV Trope: Invited as Dinner. The “You Bet Your Life” Duck. The art of making puppets fight: Throw them into the air from behind a fence. We compare the Thanksgiving play in this special to the one in Addams Family Values. **** 📼 Commercials: Butterball Turkey Commercial (1985) Christmas Time in the City. **** “A Thanksgiving Tale” © 1983 Imagicom Productions, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🦖 It’s the most wonderful time of 60 million years ago, so come in and buy paint. 🎙️ Lindy Kempe joins us with frying pan ready to celebrate Refrigerator Day with the Jim Henson Company’s “Dinosaurs,” which is somehow the Advent Calendar House’s first TGIF episode. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: “The Simpsons” parodies “Dinosaurs.” We go from talking about the “Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ” segment of “Muppets Now” to Netflix’s “Nailed It!” Sally Struthers (Charlene) for International Correspondence School. A brief history of the Christmas bonus, or “thirteenth salary.” Sam McMurray in the very short-lived “A League of Their Own” sitcom, and my own pitch for a TV adaptation on Nerd Lunch’s Fourth Chair Army Invasion. Pons Maar (Roy’s body actor) as the original voice of The Noid. Unisaurs: The Dinosaurs equivalent to the Anything Muppet. The biggest gifts we ended up returning. **** 📼 Commercials: Talking Baby Dinosaur and Dinosaurs Figures (1991) TGI Podcast. **** “Dinosaurs” and “Refrigerator Day” © 1991 The Walt Disney Company. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 I know what we’re going to podcast about today! 🎙 James Riley and Brandon Medley join us for a toboggan ride without even getting out of bed back to 2009 to watch Phineas and Ferb save their very nice town’s Christmas Vacation. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Ferb) in “Love Actually” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The time James accidentally knocked over Ben Stiller. The Sears Wish Book catalog. Today’s TV Trope: Look Both Ways. “What Does He Want?” was cut for time and restored later. Also, it sounds like the “Monster Mash.” Doofenshmirtz’s Naughty-inator reminds me of the Riddler’s Brain Box from Batman Forever. “We Are the World.” Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional and Raglan Road. “Christmas Is Starting Now” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy. **** 📼 Commercials: Sears Wish Book (1992) Merry Britsmas. **** “Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation” © 2009 Disney. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Garbageman is here for your Christmas spirit. 🎙️ Tommy Coombs and Chad Young join us as we look happily deranged back to 1996 to follow Pete and Pete’s brother, Pete, on their mission to keep Christmas going for as long as possible, and keep their Christmas tree safe from the evil Garbageman. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Michael C. Maronna (Big Pete) in “Home Alone,” and in a series of Ameritrade commercials circa 1999. “Snow Day” was originally conceived as a Pete & Pete movie. The first Pete & Pete short, “What Would You Do for a Dollar?” The Pete & Pete 20th Anniversary Reunion. Danny Tamberelli (Little Pete) as Jimmy De Santa in “Grand Theft Auto 5.” Hardy Rawls (Dad) as the Maytag Repairman circa 2005. Sludge Central on “Pete & Pete” filming in New Jersey. Chad and Michael May talk “Silent Night, Deadly Night.” David Johansen sings “Garbageman’s Ballad.” The Max Headroom Pirating Incident. A mini ode to character actress Marilyn Dobrin as the Wrigleys’ notably loud neighbor. **** 📼 Commercials: The Adventures of Pete & Pete: “Mom’s Plate” (1991) Christmas Clatter. **** “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” and “O’ Christmas Pete” © 1995 Viacom. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎃 It’s a wonderful night for eyebrows and the wildest trip to the euphemism we’ve ever taken. 🎙️ James Riley and Ethan “The Hungry Reader” hitch a ride in our paraphernalia wagon as we wheel it back to 1977 for a Grinch Night we’ll never forget. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The worst, non-candy Halloween treats. “Carlton, Your Doorman.” Longtime Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo composed this special’s music. Hans Conried (The Grinch) was also the titular character in Dr. Seuss’s The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T. I badly describe the plot of “Midnight Madness.” The Hakken-Kraks in “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.” The Euphemism, and other words I thought Dr. Seuss made up. “Dr. Seuss Goes to War,” and other creators of great works doing terrible things. Bogleech’s gallery of the Grinch’s monsters, and our personal favorites. The Vug under the Rug, the Jibboo, and the Birthday Bird. “Danse macabre.” Is this a prequel, and where does “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat” fit into it? **** 📼 Commercials: Franken Berry and Monster Cereals (1986), preserved by Dinosaur Dracula. Holly Jolly X’masu. **** “Halloween is Grinch Night” © 1977 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises. Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Happy Back to the Future Day! Set your time circuits to 1845 by way of 1991 for a special Christmas in July episode of the “Back to the Future” Saturday morning cartoon featuring hologram clothes, the hoverboard equivalent to texting while driving, and Bill Nye the Science Guy.🎙 Joey O., along with Joseph Wade from Christmas Creeps and The O/S/T Party, are our partners in time for a “Dickens of a Christmas,” featuring Dan Castellaneta as the voice of the animated Doc, Thomas F. Wilson as Ebiffnezer Tannen, and Christmas movie all-star Mary Steenburger as Clara. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Mary Steenburger playing “Informer” on the accordion in “Last Man on Earth.” Series art director James S. Baker storyboards his own blog. The Back to the Future pinball game and its random movie quotes. Futurepedia on how Doc’s clothing converter camera works. Weird things we did as kids to show our parents we were responsible. Some toys in Fedgewick’s shop shouldn’t be there yet in 1845. Did “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” exist in 1845? Possibly, but not the version we know. Doc’s wad of cash vs. England’s bank notes circa 1845. Wilkins’s dog looks like 1980s T-shirt icon Rude Dog. My Back to the Future-themed Good Friday and Easter Sunday tweets. The closest thing we could find to a Kaiju Christmas movie is 1962’s “Gorath.” **** 📼 Commercials: Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios Florida (1996) Hi-C Ecto Cooler Commercial (1989), starring David Kaufmann, the voice of Marty. **** “Back to the Future,” the Animated Series, and “Dickens of a Christmas” © 1991 Universal Cartoon Studios / Amblin Television. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 2014, but this special about a forgotten holiday mascot feels like it’s from the 1990s. Unfortunately, so do some of the jokes. 🎙 Michael DiGiovanni and Donnie Storms join us on a sleigh ride back through “How Murray Saved Christmas,” which follows Murray Weiner (rhymes with diner) from the hidden hometown of every holiday mascot… but mostly the American ones. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Former “Simpsons” showrunner Mike Reiss’s original books, “How Murray Saved Christmas” and “Santa Claustrophobia.” The trimmed half-hour cut of the special removes some bad jokes, but also Murray’s backstory. Speaking of super offensive things, Marc Mero as Johnny B. Badd. Today’s TV Trope: Santa’s Sweatshop. “Vishnu” takes “The Problem with Apu” to a new low. Every LBGTQ+ Joke on The Simpsons Ever (as of early 2021). There’s an actual National Milkmen Day… on June 26, not August 12. All 27 or so Holidays Represented: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Easter, Arbor Day, Earth Day, Secretary’s Day (maybe), May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Graduation Day?, Father’s Day (maybe), (American) Independence Day, Bastille Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving… oh, and Jack Frost is there. **** 📼 Commercials: McDonald’s McDLT Commercial starring Jason Alexander (1985) Tinsel Tunes. **** “How Murray Saved Christmas” © 2014 Universal Animation Studios. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🐰 Who is Easter Bunny? OMG, Bear is Easter Bunny! How can that be? 🎙 Emily Rowley and Alan Johnson join us as we hop, hop, hop back to 1981 for our first trip to Bear Country, which it turns out was built on top of the Easter Bunny’s industrial nightmare factory. 📺 You can watch “The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise” for free on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Yes, we all collectively mispronounced “Berenstain.” The VHS cover, for reference. “The Berenstain Bears: The Very First Easter,” being the story of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus, who is also a bear. Inside the Berenstain Bears’ Tree House. The widest tree in the world, for comparison. Things this special has in common with “Steel Magnolias”: Knowl Johnson and dozens of broken Easter eggs. An ode to the Bear Family’s tiny, antique, circular porthole TV set. Today’s TV Trope: Packed Hero. “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video,” featuring young Zachary Danziger (Bill Bunny) and a host of way more familiar names. **** 📼 Commercial: Kellogg’s Raisin Bran: Morgan the Mockingbird Commercial (1981), preserved from the original airing of this special. Mike on Alan’s Two Bad Neighbors podcast for “Marge Be Not Proud” and “Monty Can’t Buy Me Love.” **** “The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise” © 1981 Joseph Cates Co., Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Tune in as we mysteriously float back to 1983 for an unseasonably warm Christmas adventure through Mexico with our cool grandma and a talking Rubik’s Cube with more powers than Superman. 🎙️ Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas join us for a puzzling revisit to “Rubik, the Amazing Cube,” a Saturday morning cartoon that lasted an even shorter amount of time than the fad it tried to cash in on. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The History of Rubik’s Cube. The theme song by pre-Ricky Martin Menudo. Ángela Moya, the voice of the kids’ mother, played a small but grim part in “Gleaming the Cube.” An ode to the family station wagon. An archived, early-Internet Rubik fan site. Las Posadas. Date a TV show by adding a CB radio. Rubik ending up in an eagle’s nest reminded me of “The Polar Express.” Reynoldo’s speed cubing skills compared to the real-life Rubik’s Cube world records in 1983 and today. **** 📼 Commercials: Cap’n O.G. Readmore (1985) Cap’n Crunch Cereal: Crunch vs. Taste (1985) An Alpha Bits Cereal commercial that’s clearly still trying to ride the Pac-Man wave, but I’m not complaining (1985) **** “Rubik, the Amazing Cube” and “Rubik’s First Christmas” © 1983 Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 We’re teaching aliens about Christmas again, but this time, George Lucas is watching. 🎙 Jeff Fox from Name That Christmas Special is our special guest as we go on a domesticated goose chase back to 1977 through “A Cosmic Christmas,” the first fully animated feature by Canadian studio Nelvana. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Jeff’s collection of “A Cosmic Christmas” music and scanned promotional items. Joanna Wilson’s Christmas TV History. This special got George Lucas’s attention and led to Nelvana producing the animated segment of the “Star Wars Holiday Special.” “The Nelvana Story: Thirty Animated Years.” Today’s TV Trope: Big Ball of Violence. Jellybean looks like the red-eyed Pac-Man on the side of the arcade cabinet. Duncan Regehr (Amalthor) as Dracula in “The Monster Squad.” Marian Waldman, Mrs. Mac from “Black Christmas,” also has a quick line or two. The Castle Thunder stock sound effect. **** 📼 Commercials: Burger King Doll Christmas Commercial (1977) Weird Christmas. **** “A Cosmic Christmas” © 1977 Nelvana Enterprises, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s time for toys and time for cheer as the Advent Calendar House begins another 12-episode countdown to Christmas in July. 🎙 Sean Sotka and Steven join us as we rewind at twice the normal speed back to 1981 to revisit the Christmas special that helped kick off the revival of Alvin and the Chipmunks. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Steven’s story of accidentally erasing his VHS recording of this special, only to find another recording of the same broadcast years later. The History of the Chipmunks (RIP The Hourchive). “Witch Doctor.” R.J. Williams (Tommy), who was 3 years old in this special, later starred in “Wake, Rattle, & Roll.” Dave’s 3-story Victorian mansion seen only in this special and never again. Yes, the Chipmunks wear pants. Vintage Echo harmonicas are real, but good luck finding a gold one. Selling photos of Santa with dogs dressed as reindeer looks way more fun than selling dollar store junk door-to-door. Clyde Crashcup invented a popular “Simpsons” joke. Today’s TV trope: Talking in Your Sleep. “Paw Patrol” makes no sense. **** 📼 Commercials: A Chipmunk Christmas Soundtrack Album (1981) 7up Countdown to Christmas Posters (1986) **** “A Chipmunk Christmas” © 1981 Bagdasarian Productions. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s Christmas Eve in the Advent Calendar House as we walk through a ring of fire back to 1982 to dance with the Smurfs and watch goodness make the badness go away. 🎙 Thom Crowe from Tis the Podcast and Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas join us for a heaping help of Greedy Smurf’s cauldron of pink pudding. 📺 You can watch “The Smurfs’ Christmas Special” for free on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: My son thinks the king of Hyrule is Santa. I just now learned about Watergate salad. The Smurfs in theme parks. Danny Goldman (Brainy Smurf) in “Young Frankenstein.” Paul Winchell (Gargamel) invented an artificial heart. The mysterious Stranger may or may not be the actual Devil. Teaser for a new Smurfs animated series. **** 📼 Commercial: The Smurfs at Kings Dominion (1984) **** “The Smurfs” and “The Smurfs’ Christmas Special” © 1982 Hanna-Barbera Productions. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 10 years after “The Simpsons” debuted, Matt Groening presented another Christmas special about another Santa’s little helper. 🎙 Erin Evans and Joey O. joins us on a 2-dimensional flight back to 1999 to revisit “Olive, the Other Reindeer,” a misheard but not forgotten doggie treat. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The Making of “Olive, the Other Reindeer.” “PaRappa the Rapper.” “Mr. Lunch Takes a Plane Ride,” the first book by “Olive” creators Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold. “The Goonies II.” Jay Mohr in “Camp Wilder.” Famous mondegreens and the stupidest lyric I’ve ever misheard. Dan Castellaneta’s Postman voice sounds like his Robot Devil. “You’re no Jack Kennedy.” Bullwinkle tried to kidnap my baby. R U Talkin’ R.E.M. Re: Me?, formerly U Talkin’ U2 to Me? and currently U Talkin’ Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head? Michael Stipe on “The Adventures of Pete & Pete.” The pope gets a Phillies hat. **** 📼 Commercials: Amazon.com Christmas Countdown Commercial (1999) Santa by the Minute. The Christmas Podcasts Podcast. **** “Olive, the Other Reindeer” © 1999 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Take a hop, a skip, and a jump scare through the uncanny valley on a trip back to 2009 to rewatch Disney’s feature-length version of “A Christmas Carol.” 🎙 Matt Weiland joins us for Robert Zemeckis’s motion capture nightmare starring 4 Jim Carreys, 3 Gary Oldmans, 2 Robin Wrights, and a Cary Elwes in a pear shape. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Respect to a Disney movie that jumps from a storybook opening to a corpse’s face. Despite being the 5th highest grossing Christmas movie as of 2020, this is also one of history’s biggest box-office bombs. Coins on a corpse’s eyes in 19th century England had less to do with paying the ferryman’s toll and more to do with keeping their eyes closed. Cary Elwes (one of the “portly” solicitors) is a descendant of John Elwes, the real-life inspiration for Scrooge. Christopher Walker forgetting his lines as Captain Hook in “Peter Pan Live.” Disney’s Movies website accidentally credited Gary Oldman as both Kermit and Robin the Frog. Philadelphia’s Dickens Village. The Ghost of Christmas Present flying Scrooge’s entire room around London is a weird mix of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Soarin’. Jim Carrey on his various accents. “Roundhouse” alumna Julene Renee as Want. **** 📼 Commercials: McDonald’s: Scrooge’s Party (1984), preserved by Dinosaur Dracula. Merry Britsmas. Yuletide TV. **** Disney’s “A Christmas Carol” © 2009 Disney. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Doug uses weaponized cupcakes to break Porkchop out of doggie death row. 🎙 Gregiffer Stevens from the Pop Arena and Nick Knacks joins us as we skate on thin ice back to 1993 for a very educational trip to Bluffington that I forgot was a Christmas episode while I was watching it. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Disney’s “Doug” was fine, y’all. “Doug” creator Jim Jinkins worked on Nickelodeon’s first show, “Pinwheel.” Early versions of Doug in a bumper for USA Network and a PSA for Florida Grapefruit Juice narrated by Lorenzo Music. Today’s TV Trope: Danger: Thin Ice. Alice Playten (Beebe) in “Really Rosie” as Alligator. Constance Shulman (Patti) in “Weekend at Bernie’s II.” Every car in Bluffington looks like Homer Simpson designed it. Greg Lee from “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” voices the now-former mayor White, and boy, am I glad we recorded this after election week. “The Phred on Your Head Show.” Mr. Dink’s last name is apparently an acronym for “Double Income, No Kids.” Don’t wrap pets in boxes! What is Pork Chop? The topper on the Funnies’ Christmas tree is Mr. Dink’s face. **** 📼 Commercials: Nicktoons Pizza Hut Kids’ Pizza Pack Commercial, (1991) SequelQuest. TGI Podcast. **** “Doug” and “Doug’s Christmas Story” © 1993 Jumbo Pictures, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Young Conan the Barbarian meets baby Jesus on this episode of the official holiday podcast for people who hate all humans — which, in 2020, is most of us. 🎙️ Brandon Medley and Michael May join the dance to the beat of our own drum back to 1968 and back into the Rankin/Bass universe for their stop-motion follow-up to “Rudolph.” **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: This was Romeo Muller’s favorite Christmas special he wrote for Rankin/Bass. Also, that link on Rankin/Bass’s website is from 2003 and looks like it hasn’t been touched since 2003. Paul Frees voices of 8 different characters in this special, if you count animal noises. The song, originally called “Carol of the Drum,” was written more recently than I’d thought — in 1941 — and first recorded in 1951 by the Trapp Family Singers. Aaron’s origin story is the same as Conan the Barbarian’s. Here’s an isolated recording of “One Star in the Night,” without the narration. Burl Ives wouldn’t have felt out of place narrating this special, since he’d go on to narrate one about another caravan. The special also mixes up its kings, at least as they’re traditionally named. Our definitive versions of the song. Young Brandon insists on adding the Little Drummer Boy to a church Nativity pageant. **** 📼 Commercials: Kentucky Fried Chicken: Christmas Carol (1989) NetfliXmas. Feliz Christmas, Merry Navidad. **** “The Little Drummer Boy” © 1968 Rankin/Bass Productions. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Wrapping, unwrapping, and rewrapping a bow on a comedy classic. 🎙 Guy Hutchinson joins us as we second-, third-, and fourth-guess ourselves back to 1960 to go Christmas shopping with Jack Benny, the last televised version of a longtime radio favorite. 🚨 Warning: In one scene, a character shoots himself offscreen. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The Television Academy Foundation on Jack Benny’s Christmas Shopping show, including a video interview with show writer George Balzer. The earliest “Christmas Shopping” recording I could find, from 1937. Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, the progression of race relations, and his racehorse. Finally I get to talk about Mel Blanc, the real star of this show. Adjusting the $1.98 and $40 wallets for inflation. A 2002 message board post on JackBenny.org answering whether Jack was a practicing Jew. A tribute to Frank “Yeees?” Nelson. Dennis Day and the dying practice of actors legally changing their names to their most popular characters’. Stupid “the customer is always right” stories. **** 📼 Commercials: Norelco Santa (circa 1961). Weird Christmas. **** “The Jack Benny Program” and “Jack Goes Christmas Shopping” ©1960 J&M Productions, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 We may all exist in the dreams of 2 kids and their dog. 🎙 Michael DiGiovanni and Christian Nielsen help us responsibly deforest our way back to 1980 to dig up the first appearance of early Disney Channel imports The Raccoons and the greedy Cyril Sneer. 📺 You can watch “The Christmas Raccoons” on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: This special and an accompanying story album were narrated by Rich Little, a “Man of a Thousand Voices,” in his own, regular voice. Rupert Holmes (Forest Ranger Dan) is the singer/songwriter behind “Escape (The Piña Colada Song).” Tammy Bourne (Julie) and Hadley Kay (Tommy) were both in 1980 movies as children who fall from great heights. Today’s TV Trope: Human Snowball. Where does the dream end and reality begin? Maybe it’s all in the St. Elsewhere Snow Globe Universe of Tommy Westphall (no relation). **** 📼 Commercials: Canadian Tire’s “Scrooge Approved” Prices (1987) Christmas Creeps. **** “The Christmas Raccoons” ©1980 PFS Christmas Raccoons / PFS Pooled Film Services, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🕎 Marc Weiner and his puppets won’t stop screaming in Nickelodeon’s first Hanukkah special. 🎙 April Ryley joins us as we noisily snowmobile back to 1995 to try and figure out what everyone’s yelling about. Unexpectedly, it all started in outer space. 📺 You can watch “The Weinerville Chanukah Special” on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Weinerville.com is alive and well in 2020. Marc Weiner as Swiper the Fox and the Map in “Dora the Explorer.” Marc Summers on his OCD being “blown out of freakin’ proportion,” and why he dropped his given last name. Sour cream vs. applesauce for latke dipping. Michael Gunst (Sinrek) may or may not be this puppeteer and mask maker. Brian O’Connor (Antidorkus) as Schemer on “Shining Time Station.” Thanks to Nickelodeon being under the MTV Networks umbrella, this special featured music by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Miami Sound Machine, and the B-52’s. The bulk of this special was filmed at the Summit Lodge in Killington, Vermont. Telephone booths still exist at Walt Disney World. Liver as a go-to food kids hate. Kevin “Diesel” Nash was still WWF Champion during taping, but lost it shortly before the special aired. The art of making your own menorah out of household items, recyclable objects, or fruit. **** 📼 Commercials: Kmart Holiday Commercial starring Rosie O’Donnell and Penny Marshall (1995) Holly Jolly X’masu. **** “The Weinerville Chanukah Special” © 1995 Nickelodeon. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 A well-deserved punch in the face that’s a little bit rock ’n’ roll. 🎙 James Riley joins us on a last-minute flight to the North Pole to catch up with 2001’s “A Johnny Bravo Christmas,” a special that first aired less than 3 months after 9/11, on Pearl Harbor Day, and opens with Johnny unnecessarily calling the fire department to tell them he’s “the bomb.” **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: “’Twas the Night,” a 1997 Johnny Bravo segment which this special accounts for in the show’s continuity… sort of. “Larry & Steve,” Seth MacFarlane’s proto-“Family Guy” short film before from before he worked as a “Johnny Bravo” staff writer. People on TV who wait till Christmas Eve to start decorating. Homer Simpson’s sandwich, and the worst things we’ve found in our couches. The latest you can mail something to guarantee arrival before Christmas, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s Holiday Shipping Deadlines. Vanessa Marshall (Truck Driver) may or may not have provided the scream of Samus dying in the Metroid Prime games. Santa’s village looks like the Wicked Witch of the West’s castle and is cloaked like Wakanda. **** 📼 Commercials: American Online Keyword eBay (2001) Season’s Eatings. The Retro Network. **** “A Johnny Bravo Christmas” ©2001 Cartoon Network. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Filmation’s space western gets a dickens of a backstory. 🎙 Joey O. and Sammy Hain saddle up for a Scrooge Sunday edition of the Advent Calendar House looking back at a 1987 Christmas episode of “BraveStarr.” 📺 You can watch “Tex’s Terrible Night” on YouTube. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: The Fisher-Price Western Town I used as a backdrop for the much larger Bravestarr action figure. Joey’s interview with Pat Fraley (Marshal BraveStarr). This episode uses flashback scenes from the movie “BraveStarr: The Legend,” which explains why the animation quality isn’t consistent. Young Tex Hex looks like a purple Faker from “He-Man.” Stampede, the show’s even bigger bad, grants Tex Hex the power of transformation, because Filmation really wanted to teach kids that things that transform are evil. The “present-day” husband of Tex’s former love, Ursula, looks like Fred Ward. The time BraveStarr found a kid dead of a drug overdose. **** 📼 Commercial: Marshal BraveStarr, Tex Hex, and Neutralaser Toy Commercial (1986) Christmas Time in the City. **** “BraveStarr” and “Tex’s Terrible Night” ©1987 Filmation Associates. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Join us on a stroll down Jim Henson’s dark hall of nightmares to 1986 to rewatch “The Christmas Toy,” an idea no one has repeated since. 🎙 Beth Cieslik, Adam Jurotich, and Donnie Storms are the newest friends in the playroom who have to learn the horrors of getting caught out of place. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Kermit was cut from the DVD release, but he’s back in the version on Amazon Prime Video. Rugby crashing his skateboard into a block tower is the 1980s Muppet version of WWE’s Titus O’Neil tripping and sliding underneath the ring. “Teacup Furby.” “Mother Goose Rock ’n’ Rhyme” and the song “Gordon (Never Really Learned to Play).” Apple is closer to a female My Buddy than Kid Sister, the actual female My Buddy. The inevitable “Toy Story” comparison. Somehow we worked in a “Christmas Shoes” joke. I’m not linking to that. I just wanted you to know. “Don't Eat the Pictures: Sesame Street at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.” “The Secret Life of Toys,” the short-lived 1994 sequel series. **** 📼 Commercials: Kraft Holiday Recipes featuring “The Christmas Toy” poster (1986), preserved by Dinosaur Dracula. Crispy Critters Cereal (1987) Snow in Southtown. **** “The Christmas Toy” ©1986 Henson Associates, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Santa’s sleigh is grounded in the original video game crash. The Advent Calendar House kicks off another Christmas countdown by rewinding back to 1982, when Santa found himself stranded in Pac-Man’s neighborhood. 🎙 Lindy and Alicia join us for a stroll through “Christmas Comes to Pacland,” where no one knows about Christmas, but somehow the Ghost Monsters know the words to “Jingle Bells.” 🚨 Warning: Santa spoilers from 11:25 to 13:30. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Santa is flying with 8 reindeer, including Rudolph. Who got the night off? Why some reindeer actually have red noses. This might be the first time a Christmas special shows Santa using a computer. Russi Taylor’s Pac-Baby has the same voice she later used for Robin in “Muppet Babies.” Absent from this special is the Ghost Monsters’ boss, Mezmaron. **** 📼 Commercials: Pac-Man Cereal (1984) Chef Boyardee Pac-Man Pasta (1984) A Bomb for Christmas, made for podcast Christmas movie by Tim Babb of the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast, co-starring Mike as “Captain Willis.” **** “Christmas Comes to Pacland” © 1982 Hanna-Barbera Productions. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🦃 The Gaslighting of Dr. Liz Wilson. Join us as badly dancing back to 1989 to celebrate the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season. 🎙️ Jeff Somogyi joins us to dig into “Garfield’s Thanksgiving,” the clear bronze medalist of Garfield’s holiday trilogy, thanks to Jon Arbuckle going from goofy pet owner to hopelessly inept creep. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Orson the Pig from “U.S. Acres” makes a cameo in Liz’s waiting room. The dumbest things we’ve done to get a date pale in comparison to Jon holding his breath until Liz concedes to going out with him. Please don’t do that. Pat Carroll is back as Grandma in her 2nd greatest vocal performance of November 1989. Julie Payne (Liz) was also briefly the voice of another cartoon doctor, Janice N!Godatu, from the other animated segment of “The Tracey Ullman Show.” A brief history of sock garters. This special confirms Jon can’t hear Garfield speaking, but somehow Garfield’s computerized, fat-shaming scale can. The best of Calvin’s dad from Calvin and Hobbes. Grandma Arbuckle’s Sweet Potatoes, as prepared by Dinosaur Dracula. Cranberry sauce tastes better when it’s shaped like the inside of a can. Desirée Goyette, the female singing voice in Garfield’s specials and also the voice of Nermal, also sang the title theme from “It’s Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown.” **** 📼 Commercial: Garfield Alpo Cat Food Commercial (1989) **** “Garfield’s Thanksgiving” © 1989 United Feature Syndicate, Inc./Anderson Digital. Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 S-s-season’s greetings-s-s! You better watch out, because today we’re kindly rewinding back to a 1985 Christmas episode of “G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero,”🎙️ Joey O. parachutes in for “Cobra CLAWs Are Coming to Town,” featuring the incredible shrinking Cobra troops and a giant parrot. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: We don’t even get 4 minutes into this before bringing up the U.S.S. Flagg. Then we get caught up in the Crossfire. A brief history of the G.I. Joe toy line, from “America’s Movable Fighting Man” to the Adventure Team, to “A Real American Hero.” “The Toys That Made Us” on Netflix. The “opening monologue that explains the show” has nothing on Voltron’s. Neil Ross (Shipwreck, Dusty, and Buzzer in this episode) has an audio camero in “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “I Can’t Watch This.” Joey’s interviews with Pat Fraley (Wild Weasel), Gregg Berger (Firefly), Michael Bell (Duke, Blowtorch, Major Bludd), and Rob Paulsen (Tripwire, his earliest known voice credit). “The Viper is Coming” is both our favorite G.I. Joe episode and my dad’s favorite dad joke. “King Koopa’s Kool Kartoons,” starring Chris Latta (Cobra Commander). We try and find Keystone City, which may or may not be somewhere in eastern Pennsylvania. The titular Cobra CLAW (Covert Light Aerial Weapon), an odd name for a Cobra vehicle, because snakes don’t have claws. Fenslerfilm’s G.I. Joe PSAs. **** 📼 Commercials: William “The Refrigerator” Perry G.I. Joe Action Figure (1987) Weird Christmas.**** “G.I. Joe” and “Cobra CLAWs Are Coming to Town” © 1985 Hasbro, Inc. Find us at adventcalendar.house.