Advent Calendar House - TV Holiday & Christmas Specials

🎄It’s 1992, and there’s no such thing as Buster Bunny.  The Advent Calendar House wraps up Christmas in July with the unofficial series finale of “Tiny Toon Adventures,” when Buster wishes he’d never been on the show, and the horrors within Montana Max’s Biff Tannen Pleasure Palace or whatever.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Adam Pope (Geekster, YouTube, Remember That Show?)  William Bruce West (West Week Ever, Remember That Show?)  Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. I found this special hiding in a 4-hour Christmas special compilation on the Internet Archive.  2. “Meet the Tiny Toons” in the special edition magazine “Bugs Bunny: He’s 50, Folks” (1990).  3. “The Chipmunks Go to the Movies.”  4. Tony Pope (God) as Goofy in “Watch Out for Goofy” (the theme song for Adam’s 2 Goofs Podcast) and as the first voice heard in “Back to the Future.”  5. John Kassir (who voices Buster in this episode) as the Crypt-Keeper in RD’s Retro Detention Halloween Specials in 2019 and 2023.  6. Today’s TV Trope: Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal.  7. Jacoby & Meyers and a 2-minute-long tangent about personal injury lawyer commercials.  8. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming role as Santa in “The Man with the Bag.”  9. American Express Commercials with Mel Blanc and Jim Davis.  10. Bugs Bunny may have been voiced by an uncredited Noel Blanc, Mel’s son, for a single line at the end.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Godzilla: The Series Promo (1998)  Toy Story: Holiday TV Spot (1995)  ****  “Tiny Toon Adventures” and “It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special” © 1992 Warner Bros.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1990… or 1962… and a quantum physicist forgot to powder his boss’s underwear.  This Scrooge Sunday edition of the Advent Calendar House involves time travel of a different sort as we follow Dr. Sam Beckett on a mission to save a mission, and the soul of the man trying to tear it down.  * CONTENT WARNING: This episode briefly discusses the death of actor Charles Rocket and the would-be death of his Scrooge-like character, Michael Blake.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Erin Evans (@mserinevans).  Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @imgonnadj24).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Episode guide on Al’s Place.  2. A Christmas story from the Quantum Leap comic: “He Knows If You’ve Been Bad or Good.”  3. Charles Rocket drops an F-bomb on “Saturday Night Live.”  4. “Bringing in the Sheaves” on “The Simpsons” and “Batman” (1966).  5. Polish Christmas desserts piernik and makowiec.  6. Al’s Ghost of Christmas Future costume looks more like Jacob Marley mixed with the Ghost of Christmas Past from “Scrooged.”  7. Goldie Wilson III from “Back to the Future Part II.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Squarbles (circa 1987).  Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast.  ****  “Quantum Leap” and “A Little Miracle” © 1990 Universal City Studios, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🦃 It’s 2015, and in my search for a noisy cryptid I accidentally freed 175 roided-up turkeys, but neither of those things is the real monster.  Join us as we rediscover a long lost Thanksgiving special concept Jim Henson dreamed up in the 1960s and meet the Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head)  Sammy Hain (Sammy’s Easter Tails)  Tony Whitaker (@muppetdude, Muppet Wiki)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Turkey Hollow” on Disney+.  2. ToughPigs.com Behind the Scenes of Turkey Hollow.  3. Muppet Wiki on this special, Jim Henson’s original concept, and the 2014 graphic novel.  4. Some prototype musical monsters: An early Grover, Snerf, and the Rock and Roll Monster.  5. Director Kirk Thatcher in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.”  6. On-set interviews with Ludacris, Lisa Henson, and Alice Dinnean.  7. Hope you like Beets.  8. Today’s TV Tropes: When You Coming Home, Dad? and Hollywood Law.  9. Station from “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.”  10. “Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge.”  11. Jason Hopley’s (Zorp) IMDb profile picture is from “Goosebumps.”  12. Lewis, Target’s Halloween Ghoul.  13. Homer Simpson eating potato chips on the space shuttle.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  AT&T “Turkey” Commercial (2008)  TGI Podcast, diving into holiday episodes from TGIF and more.  ****  “Turkey Hollow” © 2015 The Jim Henson Company, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1992, and my daydreams of snow are melting into a bucket of water getting dumped on my head from an airplane.  Join us as we dive down the rabbit hole to the strange world of The Disney Channel’s “Adventures in Wonderland,” where the White Rabbit wears Rollerblades and the halls are decked with fresh produce, the way Christmas was meant to be celebrated.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Channel KRT:  Kit Quinn (@missi0nbreakout, Letterboxd)  Randee Martin (@NeonTailzz, YouTube)  Tyler Green (@TylerFG, Bluesky, The Mask: Gone Viral)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Christmas in Wonderland” on Disney+, or this copy with a commercial bumper in front of it.  2. Channel KRT on the episodes “Pie Noon” and “Wonderland: The Movie.”  3. “White Rabbits Can’t Jump,” an unaired episode guest starring O.J. Simpson.  4. One Movie Later: Alice Through the Looking Glass.  5. Deadline’s obituary for Armelia McQueen (The Red Queen) uses a photo from this special.  6. Armelia McQueen on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and… “The Fesh Pince of Blair.”  7. Patrick Richwood (White Rabbit) lied to the casting director about knowing how to rollerblade.  8. Cast members on The Tiara Talk Show.  9. The Christmas Pickle.  10. Harry Waters Jr. (Tweedle Dee) in “Back to the Future,” and Wesley Mann (Caterpillar) in “Part II.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Disney Channel Holiday Preview Bumper with Jane Seymour (1992)  Juicy Fruit Skiing Commercial (circa 1989)  Cool Kids Club, a nostalgia-filled trip back to childhood.  ****  “Adventures in Wonderland” and “Christmas in Wonderland” © 1992 The Walt Disney Company.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1988, the monsters under my bed are real, and they’re stealing Christmas.  Follow us under the covers through a wormhole to the home of ’80s kids’ bedding sensation the Pillow People in a Christmas special so obscure, it’s not even listed on IMDb. But it’s real, and it’s ironically nightmarish.  ****  🎙 Guest:  Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Pillow People Save Christmas” on YouTube.  2. Pillow People on the toy collectors’ website Ghost of the Doll.  2. Toot Sweet Toys, or what’s left of it.  3. TV listing in New York magazine, November 1988.  4. Victor DiMattia (Billy) on filming “The Sandlot.”  5. Window Rattler as seen on “Full House.”  6. The Who Cares Bears.  7. Today’s TV Trope: Introdump, example: the worst Rob Liefeld drawing.  8. Cheryl Chase (Sweet Dreams) mentions working with Cree Summer (Rock-a-Bye Baby) on this special in a 2004 interview about the “Rugrats” spinoff “All Grown Up.”  9. The Far Side: “…He’s taking it with him!”  10. Nightmara looks like a cross between Mother Brain in “Captain N: The Game Master” and Madam Hecuba from the 1974 anime adaptation of “Jack and the Beanstalk.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Pillow People: Pillow Valley Commercial (1988)  Holidays After Dark, exploring the strange, unusual, and dark sides of the holidays.  ****  “Pillow People Save Christmas” © 1988 TMS Entertainment, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎃 It’s 1986, and one student at a magical boarding school is struggling to fit in while having to deal with a hard-nosed potions teacher and bullying from a golden child whose father will hear about this, but finds comfort in broom flying and encouragement from the kindly old headmaster.  No, not that one.  Before Harry Potter, there was “The Worst Witch,” which was adapted into a TV Halloween special starring a young Fairuza Balk, Dianna Rigg, Charlotte Rae in a dual role, and Tim Curry in the trippiest ’80s music video.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Becca Petunia (ToughPigs.com, Hubba-Wha?!)  Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames.bsky.social)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “The Worst Witch” on the Internet Archive.  2. Find “The Worst Witch” book at your local library.  2. St. Michael’s College is for sale.  3. Pam Jones (Donna) — formerly Kate Buckley before another actress took that name while she was on hiatus — is now a ceramic artist.  4. The kitten ceremony background music sounds kind of like Zelda’s Lullaby.  5. Mildred and Ethel’s rivalry gave us “Owl House” vibes.  6. Toonces the Driving Cat.  7. One student is a future Teletubby!  8. Becca on Movin’ Right Along discussing Tim Curry singing in “Muppet Treasure Island.”  9. Both Tim Curry and Sebastian from “The Little Mermaid” sing “begin the Beguine.”  10. Tim Curry in “Red Alert 3.”  11. Other “Worst Witch” TV adaptations, including a college spinoff and a Netflix series.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Carvel Halloween Ice Cream Cakes Commercial (1986)  Hyrule Podcasters, an audio “Let’s Play” through The Legend of Zelda.  ****  “The Worst Witch” © 1986 Central Independent Television Plc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1977, and the cast of Broadway’s hottest new musical is taking drastic measures to convince 4 different unions keep the theater open for a Christmas party because they forgot to book a venue.  Join the original Broadway cast of “Annie” as somewhere in between themselves and their characters in a unique TV Christmas special which may very well have been many TV viewers’ first exposure to the musical.  ****  🎙 Guest:  Guy Hutchinson (Pointless Nostalgia, GuyHutchinson.com).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “The Annie Christmas Show” on the Internet Archive.  2. The original Broadway version of “Annie” ends on Christmas; the 1982 movie ends on the 4th of July.  3. Andrea McArdle in “Christmas at Walt Disney World.” (Full Episode)  4. Danielle Brisbois (Molly) in “All in the Family,” and she was a founding member of the band New Radicals.  5. “It’s Christmas” on the Annie 30th Anniversary Production Cast Recording, featuring multiple Annies and Miss Hannigans.  6. “I Don’t Care” in “In the Good Old Summertime” and “Back to the Future: The Game.”  7. “There’s a Broken Heart for Every Light on Broadway” in “Bullets Over Broadway.”  8. Today’s TV Trope: I Have a Family.   9. Ethel Merman sings “Tomorrow” in “A Special Sesame Street Christmas.” (Full Episode)  10. How The Twelve Days of Christmas’ days 9 through 12 got reordered.  11. Members of the cast reunited in 2019 to perform this Christmas special.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Kinney Shoes (1977)  Fotomat (1977)  Festive Foreign Film Fans, a podcast covering festive movies and music from around the world.  ****  “The Annie Christmas Show” © 1977 Martin Charmin Productions / NBC Universal Network.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1981, and a jolly swagman who may or may not be Santa Claus is flying me around the world in a sleigh built out of a bench and some rope we had lying around to search the globe for a lost baby kangaroo.  Today’s Christmas in July episode begins where it’s actually winter in July, and only gets stranger and more inappropriate from there. It’s “Around the World with Dot,” also known as “Dot and Santa Claus,” starring the title character from an 1899 Australian children’s book, “Dot and the Kangaroo.”  ****  🎙 Guest:  Dan MacPherson (@danmacpherson.bsky.social)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Around the World with Dot” on YouTube (Aussie Kids TV).  2. But you may want to watch “Dot and the Kangaroo” first.  3. Director Yoram Gross endured World War II in Poland; his family was on Schindler’s list. His studio, now Flying Bark Productions, more recently animated “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and Marvel’s “What If…?”  4. Barbara Frawley (Dot) singing “The Black Cat” on “Play School.”  5. Today’s TV Trope: Magical Homeless Person.  6. “Sakura Sakura,” which I recognized from Punch-Out!!  7. How a White Lie Gave Japan KFC for Christmas. (Gastro Obscura)  8. “The Real World of the Circus” opens similarly to the movie “Chaplin.”  9. Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.  10. “Alouette” is about plucking the feathers off a lark.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Mortein “Louie the Fly” Commercial (1980s)  Myer “Celebrate Christmas” Commercial (1980s)  Bad Princess Movies, a catalogue of terrible movies about princesses and princesses-to-be. ****  “Dot and the Kangaroo” © 1981 Yoram Gross Filmstudio Pty Ltd.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🐰 It’s 2004, and a stuffed toy rabbit voluntold me to clean his house.  The Advent Calendar House celebrates both Easter in July and Scrooge Sunday with a trip to the Hundred Acre Wood as Rabbit does double duty as both the Easter Bunny and Scrooge, all while Christopher Robin is somewhere else entirely.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Sammy Hain (Sammy’s Easter Tails)  Matt Spaulding (North Pole Radio, Two Broke Geeks)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Springtime with Roo” on Disney+.  2. Ads from the 2004 DVD, plus a video of some dude walking through the menu screen.  3. Why do Christopher Robin’s toys have American accents?  4. John Fiedler (Piglet) in “The Golden Girls” and “12 Angry Men.”  5. “Christmas in the Stars,” the Star Wars Christmas album.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Sears Video Game Arcade Christmas Sale (1983)  ****  “Winnie the Pooh” and “Springtime with Roo” © 2004 Disney Enterprises, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1983, and my emotional support jack-in-the-box is not providing much help for my Imposter Syndrome.  Prepare for a deep dive into another pre-ALF puppet special from Paul Fusco starring a very depressed elf in training trying to find where he belongs in Santa’s workshop by first finding everywhere he doesn’t belong.  Plus: Santa’s Swedish Chef-like human hands! A three-eyed purple teddy bear we never get to see! Paul Fusco inserting himself into his own Christmas fan fiction!  ****  🎙 Guests:  Tom Coombs (The Pop Daddy)  Jayme Kilsby (Forever Bogus Podcast)  Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Santa’s Magic Toy Bag” on Tubi.  2. Sherman looks like A Gnome Named Gnorm.  3. The hot dog puppet from “Funland.”  4. The History of the Nickelodeon Hotel (Defunctland).  5. The keeper of Santa’s Magic Toy Bag reminds me of the presidential designated survivor.  6. Superman impales some jerk’s truck on a telephone pole in “Man of Steel.”  7. Cracked: We Ruined Santa With Math.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Sears Video Game Arcade Christmas Sale (1983)  The Studio Demands It!, a podcast that recreates, reimagines, or flat out fixes existing film franchises when a hypothetical studio demands more films.  ****  “Santa’s Magic Toy Bag” © 1983 Imagicom Productions, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1979, and an evil king is having abandonment issues after his entire kingdom left, so he made an army of robots instead of going to therapy.  The Advent Calendar House has once again emerged from hibernation after declaring 4 more months of winter to pretend it’s still winter. Join us as we encounter what might be the least Christmassy Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a friendlier version of Jack Frost, a groundhog dressed like a pro wrestling manager, and the wintry weather neighbors of those angels your grandmother told you were bowling whenever there was a thunderstorm.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas)  Matt Spaulding (North Pole Radio)  Jeff Loftin (Lost Christmas)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “Jack Frost” on YouTube.   2. Toei Animation’s “The Little Mermaid” (1975).  3. Gilbert Gottfried on his favorite death scene: Buddy Hackett as Lou Costello in “Bud and Lou.”  4. Today’s TV Trope: Inevitable Waterfall.  5. The Christmas tradition of “dream presents” is like the dinner scene from “Hook.”  6. February 2 is Candlemas, the 40th day of Christmas.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Pennsylvania Lottery: Like Holiday Morning, starring Gus, the 2nd most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania (2018)  Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Hedgehog Day (1992)  ****  “Jack Frost” © 1979 Rankin/Bass Productions.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

The Advent Calendar House has awoken early from its long winter’s nap to take the Leap Year challenge as prescribed by Dr. Frasier Crane on one unseasonably warm February morning in 1996. On the way we look up the “Frasier” cast’s Christmas connections, explore the world of complicated opera solos and bad Western ballads, and call in to a PBS pledge drive to try and talk to Big Bird.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Erin Evans (@mserinevans).  Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @imgonnadj24).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Kelsey Grammer in “Mr. St. Nick” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve.”  2. Our adventures on the mid-1990s internet, when it was All About the Pentiums.  3. “Frasier” episodes ranked on Variety, Frasier Online, and Thrillist.  4. “When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold” from “The Pirates of Penzance,” in which Leap Day becomes a plot point.  5. Oleg Cassini and the worst title card gag.   6. KACL is a real radio station, but not in Seattle.  7. “Rigoletto” and the aria “Ella mi fu rapita / Parmi veder le lagrime.”  8. Kelsey Grammer sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Philadelphia.   9. “Buttons and Bows,” as sung by Bob Hope in “The Paleface” and by Leap Day baby Dinah Shore.  10. Adam “Edge” Copeland talks “Money Plane” on Hey! (EW).  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  McDonald’s “Morning Break” Commercial starring Kelsey Grammer, 1995.  Remember That Show?, a podcast journey to explore obscure and forgotten TV series.  ****  “Frasier” and “Look Before You Leap” © 1996 Paramount Productions.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1984, and Ebenezer Scrooge is threatening to raise his asking price for a warehouse full of corn.  This Christmas Eve episode not only drops on a Scrooge Sunday, but it’s also the Advent Calendar House’s 150th episode. To celebrate, I let listeners vote for which “Christmas Carol” to cover, and the winner is the 1984 TV movie starring George S. Scott, along with original “Equalizer” Edward Woodward as a sassy Ghost of Christmas Present, and we even spotted our favorite Alfred Pennyworth, Michael Gough, as a not-so-portly gentleman.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Erin Evans (@mserinevans).  Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @imgonnadj24).  Anthony Strand (ToughPigs.com, Movin’ Right Along, @durwoodclapper.bsky.social).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. David Warner in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.”  2. George S. Scott in “Angus” and “Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.”  3. “God Bless Us Everyone,” this movie’s theme music by Nick Bicât.  4. Wikipedia and NO ONE ELSE names one Cratchit child “Michael,” played by Susannah York’s (Mrs. Cratchit) real-life son, Orlando Wells.  5. Michael Carter (Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) as Bib Fortuna in “Return of the Jedi.”  6. “It’s Corn,” and My favorite “Futurama” joke.  7. Scrooge’s grave, allegedly a real, reinscribed headstone, at St. Chad’s Church in Shrewsbury.  8. Twelve Hundred Ghosts - A Christmas Carol in Supercut.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  IBM Sponsored Commercial Break from the original airing of “A Christmas Carol.”  George C. Scott “Read More About It” PSA.  The Christmas Podcast Network All-Star Comedy Christmas Show!  ****  “A Christmas Carol” © 1984 Travenol Laboratories Limited.  In memory of Jason Gross (1976–2023).  “Christmas in Your Heart” (from “A Garfield Christmas Special”) performed by Todd from Vista Blue/Second Saturday.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1980, and my spoiled nephew just got beaten in a ski-jumping contest by a bear who’s never seen winter before.  Join us we fail upward through middle to upper hotel management featuring a simultaneously very mature and very immature conversation about cartoon bears discovering mistletoe. What could be the Jellystone Winter Lodge’s final Christmas carnival manages to wake up Yogi Bear, who hibernates directly underneath it but somehow never knew about it before now.  ****  🎙 Guest:  Bill Hanstock (@sundownmotel, “We Promised You a Great Main Event: An Unauthorized WWE History”)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. This special opens with a typo: The sign reads “Yellystone Park.”  2. Daws Butler’s Snagglepuss voice was a Bert Lahr impression that was so spot on, Lahr threatened to sue when Snagglepuss started endorsing Kellogg’s cereal.  3. Hanna-Barbera’s Christmas Sing-A-Long album, featuring songs from this special.  4. Yogi was in “Casper’s First Christmas” in 1979, so this isn’t really Yogi’s First Christmas.  5. Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial episode, 2017.  6. The Wonkamobile.  7. ClickHole: “Which One of My Garbage Sons Are You?” Clickhole, 2014.  8. Eddie the Eagle.  9. Mickey Mouse’s shirtless (and hatless) Steamboat Willie winter look at Disneyland.  10. “Mean, Sour, Crafty, and Cruel” in “Oliver and the Artful Dodger” and “Smurfs.”  11. The Zone of Death in the part of Yellowstone National Park that’s in Idaho.  12. “Christmas Is Here” in “A Flintstone Christmas.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Cocoa Krispies Snagglepuss “Heavens to Murgatroyd” Commercial, circa 1963.  Bad Princess Movies, a catalogue of terrible movies about princesses and princesses-to-be.  ****  “Yogi’s First Christmas” © 1980 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1970, and Santa’s been locked up in an underground cave with 2 giant Muppet monsters.  Join us as we venture through the tunnels under Santa’s workshop to uncover Jim Henson’s first ever TV holiday special, presented by The Ed Sullivan Show and featuring the first Muppet performances by Richard Hunt, Fran Brill, Marilyn Sokol, and John Lovelady, as well as the first appearances of Thog and a familiar-looking Frackle who’d later be reworked into the Great Gonzo.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Tori Schmidt (Muppets No Context, The Muppetwt Awards)  Tony Whitaker (@muppetdude, Muppet Wiki)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. “The Great Santa Claus Switch” on Muppet Wiki.  2. ToughPigs.com’s transcript of the special, 2004.   3. Jim Henson, Thog, and Lothar on “The Dick Cavett Show,” 1971.  4. Taminella Grinderfall in “Tales of the Tinkerdee.”  5. Jim Henson’s Red Book entries on the special’s casting and debut.  6. Tony’s art of the Two-Headed Monster as the Miser Brothers.  7. So Many Muppets Are Named Fred.  8. Daniel Seagren as Spider-Man on “The Electric Company.”  9. Richard Hunt as Elmo.  10. Snarl, the Frackle who would become Gonzo.  11. My Emmet Otter’s Teenage Mutant Jug-Band Christmas T-shirt.  12. We have dubbed the green Frackle who looks like Thig with a beak and horns “Theg.”  13. “This Is Halloween” in a Sesame Place parade.  14. “8 Balls of Fur.”  15. Stop calling them “Muppeteers.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  FritoLay Holiday Party Display Commercial, 1970.  “Noëlco” Razor Santa Commercial, 1970.  Merry Britsmas, all things Christmas from a British perspective.  ****  “The Great Santa Claus Switch” © 1970 Sullivan Productions, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1983, and the Worst Kids in the World are taking over the church Nativity play, smoking in the ladies’ room, and helping themselves to the sacramental grape juice.  Join us as we meet the Herdmans in a classic Christmas story turned TV movie starring Loretta Swit from M*A*S*H and a young Fairuza Balk in her on-screen debut.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Scott Leopold (Holly Jolly X’masu)  Bob Baker (Festive Foreign Film Fans)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Today’s TV Tropes: It’s the Best Whatever, Ever and Title Drop.  2. Author Barbara Robinson wrote 2 sequels: “The Best School Year Ever” (1994) and “The Best Halloween Ever” (2004).  3. Fairuza Balk (Beth) in “The Waterboy.”  4. Loretta Swit (Grace) interview: “Meanest kids in town make the best pageant,” AP via The Free Lance-Star, 1983.  5. Jason Michas (Leroy) as Johnny Arcade in “The Power Team” animated segment from Season 1 of “Video Power.”  6. Antony Holland (Reverend Hopkins) as Dr. Light — er, “Dr. Wright” — in “Captain N: The Game Master.”  7. Ocean Hellman (Alice) in “Danger Bay,” which keeps coming up this season.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Duracell “No Longer Under the Christmas Tree” Commercial, 1983.  Festive Foreign Film Fans, covering festive movies and music from around the world.  ****  “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” © 1983 Comworld Productions.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1994, and the Jeffersons are poisoning Metropolis with greed spray from toy atomic space rats.  Join us on an unpredictable flight through the first Christmas episode of “Lois and Clark,” written by Dean Cain and starring Sherman Hemsley as the Toyman and Isabel Sanford as his reluctant assistant, plus Denise Richards, Dick Van Patten, Doug Llewellyn, and terrible special effects.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas)  Paxton Holley (Cavalcade of Awesome, Cult Film Club, Hellbent for Letterbox)  Jeeg (Nerd Lunch)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. C.T. brings up this episode and Jeeg seals his fate on Nerd Lunch’s “Nerdstradamus 2013 Redux.”  2. Winslow Schott’s plan to dump his greed toxin into Metropolis’s water supply is similar to Scarecrow’s plan in “Batman Begins.”  3. Progressive Insurance “Barbie” Commercial.  4. Denise Richards (Angela) in “Tammy and the T-Rex.”  5. Eddie Jones (Jonathan Kent) in “A League of Their Own.”  6. Christmas at Graceland.  7. Totally Rad Christmas on “It’s Gary Shandling’s Christmas Show” featuring Dom Irrera (Hecklebaum).  8. Homer Simpson licking poisonous toads.  9. Today’s TV Trope: Anticipatory Breath Spray.  10. “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by The Pretenders.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  Burger King Holiday Disney Glasses Commercial, 1994.  Children First “Read a Book” PSA featuring Brett Butler, 1994.  Totally Rad Christmas, celebrating all things Christmas in the ’80s. ****  “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” and “Season’s Greedings” © 1994 Warner Bros. Television.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 2001, and a magical partridge is sending me on a coat drive for some kind of Karate Kid-style Santa training.  Hop in our light blue ’54 convertible and buckle up as we take you on a joyride through the very last and most forgotten Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a mostly black cast starring Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and a criminally underused Eartha Kitt as a talking cat.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Andre Bennett (Cult Cinema Cloister, Philadelphia Championship Rock Paper Scissors).  Tim Babb (Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. This special was co-written by Suzanne Collins, who went on to write “The Hunger Games.”  2. The other co-writer, Peter Bakalian, also has a book series. It’s called “The F.A.R.T. Diaries.”  3. Patti LaBelle in Philadelphia’s “Get to Know Us” tourism campaign, 1985.  4. Patti LaBelle on “Sesame Street” singing “How I Miss My X.”  5. IMDb’s photo gallery for “Santa, Baby!” is full of high-quality promotional images.  6. RankinBass.com’s first look at “Santa, Baby!” from December 2001.  7. Gregory Hines in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” and “Running Scared.”  8. Rankin/Bass finally includes “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in a Christmas special.  8. Natalie Toro (Samson) lists “Santa Baby!” on her bio page.  10. Andre’s uncle co-wrote K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life.”  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  McDonald’s “Wake Up” Breakfast Commercial featuring Patti LaBelle, 1990.   Can’t Wait for Christmas, the podcast dedicated to keeping the spirit of Christmas alive all year round.  ****  “Santa, Baby” © 2001 Perisphere Pictures, Inc.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄It’s 1989, and a killer in a Santa suit is making it really hard to hide my dead husband’s body.  You better watch out as we dig up the first filmed episode of “Tales From the Crypt,” a cozy Christmas nightmare directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring his then-wife and talented screamer, Mary Ellen Trainor, and the kid who gets her hoverboard stolen by Marty McFly.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Jamie Ray (Fave Five From Fans, Complete Disarray with Jamie Ray)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Mike on Fave Five From Fans with my Fave Five Christmas TV Specials (already covered them all here).  2. Fave Five Christmas Horror Movies.  3. The Vault of Horror No. 35, from 1954.  4. “And All Through the House” segment of the 1972 “Tales from the Crypt” movie.  5. HBO Feature Presentation opening, 1983.  6. John Kassir (The Crypt-Keeper) in a commercial for The Legend of Zelda, 1987.  7. Mary Ellen Trainor (Elizabeth) and Lyndsey Whitney Barry (Carrie Ann) in “Back to the Future Part II.”  8. Today’s TV Trope: Tempting Fate.  9. Elizabeth calls the operator because 9-1-1 was only available in about half the U.S. by 1989.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  The Crypt-Keeper’s Ghoulish Guide to the Howlidays on Kids’ WB, 2001.  Holidays After Dark, exploring the strange, unusual, and dark sides of the holidays.  ****  “Tales From the Crypt” and “And All Through the House” © 1989 Tales From the Crypt Venture.   Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s 1979, by way of 1933 — or the other way around — and the human from Fraggle Rock has broken into my garage with a haunted choir of singing children.  Join us as we turn the dial on our haunted time-traveling radio to find Henry Winkler at the height of his fame as the Fonz hiding under multiple layers of makeup as a Scrooge figure in Great Depression-era New England.  ****  🎙 Guests:  Tom Coombs (The Pop Daddy)  Scott Leopold (Holly Jolly X’masu)  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  1. Watch “An American Christmas Carol” on YouTube, courtesy of Shout Factory.  2. Henry Winkler interview on being asked to play a Scrooge figure.  3. The Ford Model TT truck, in example.  4. Dorian Harewood (Matt Reeves/Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come) filling in for James Avery as Shredder.  5. Today’s TV Trope: Recursive Fiction — and “The Identical.”  6. Robin Williams on “Sesame Street” showing Elmo different ways to play with a stick.  7. “Sister Kenny,” based on the true story of an Australian nurse.  ****  📼 Commercial Break:  McDonald’s Gift Certificates Christmas Commercial, 1979.  Holly Jolly X’masu, your podcast destination for Japanese Christmas music.  ****  “An American Christmas Carol” © 1979 Scrooge Productions, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house. Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.