This week on Chain Link Theater, we follow the chain into mid-century winter misery with A Christmas Story—the holiday movie that turned childhood longing, parental exhaustion, and mild seasonal trauma into an annual endurance test on cable television.
We talk about why this movie refuses to age, how it perfectly captures the stakes of being a kid when one gift feels like it might determine your entire future, and why the humor lands harder the more life you’ve lived. From BB guns and frozen tongues to the quiet tragedy of the bunny suit, we dig into how the film balances nostalgia, cruelty, and warmth without ever tipping too far into sentimentality.
We also follow the chain to Peter Billingsley, whose face became inseparable from Christmas itself, even as his career quietly took a much stranger and more successful path behind the scenes. Along the way, we talk dads, disappointment, and why this movie feels less like a comedy and more like a memory you didn’t realize you kept replaying.
Pour yourself some Ovaltine, don’t lick the pole, and hold on to your butts—it’s a special Christmas episode of Chain Link Theater!
