Shows
Advent Calendar HouseSantabear’s High Flying Adventure🎄 This episode is stuffed with surprises, so get your propeller spinning and take off back to 1987 as we nosedive into the history of Santabear, a Midwest Christmas tradition we wish found a place to land elsewhere. At press time, you can find “Santabear’s High Flying Adventure” on the Internet Archive, or a recording with the original commercials on YouTube. **** 🎙 Guests: Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: Mike on “Special Presentation…” for “Poochie” and “The Hugga...
2025-07-171h 05
Advent Calendar HouseJustice League: Comfort and Joy🎄It’s 2003, and nothing puts me in a festive mood quite like a bar fight. Join us as we spend Christmas break with the Justice League — well, most of it. Wonder Woman’s off doing something else, and Batman… you know, smells. **** 🎙 Guests:Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Bluesky) James Riley (Twitter) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1. Mike talks “Comfort and Joy” on Tis the Podcast. 2. Paul Dini’s notes on “Comfort and Joy,” including what where Wonder Woman and Batman were. 3. The Shrine of the...
2024-12-181h 07
Advent Calendar HouseCount Duckula: A Christmas Quacker🎄It’s 1990, and Santa’s lost in my confusing network of chimneys. Prepare yourself for a more silly than spooky Christmas special that takes us from Castle Duckula to a concussion-induced space adventure and back. **** 🎙 Guest:Adam Parker Sibun (Merry Britsmas) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1. “A Christmas Quacker” on the Internet Archive (it’s mislabeled as another episode). 2. Nick Knacks on “Count Duckula.” 3. Count Duckula’s first appearance on “Danger Mouse.” 4. UK Christmas TV, an extensive archive of Christmas TV listings for the UK’s ma...
2024-12-1457 min
Advent Calendar HouseYou Can’t Do That on Television: Christmas🎄It’s 1984, and Santa’s in front of a firing squad because his executioner didn’t appreciate the socks he got last Christmas. The slime is an extra festive shade of green in this Christmas episode of the show that defined Nickelodeon’s early years, featuring an all-star cast of the 5 most featured kid actors of “You Can’t Do That on Television.” **** 🎙 Guests:Shawn Robare (Plastic Rocket Pop, Cult Film Club, Wolfman’s Got Nards) Steven (UFO Club, The Bigfoot Club) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1...
2024-12-041h 22
Advent Calendar HouseTales From the Crypt: And All Through the 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 Fan...
2023-12-1243 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Little Drummer Boy, Book II🎄 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we went on an apocryphal adventure with the story of The Little Drummer Boy. This time, Rankin/Bass drums up an unnecessary sequel from 1976, its busiest year for holiday specials. Join Aaron on a side quest to retrieve the stolen silver bells from a troop of greedy Roman soldiers in the “Rogue One” of Christmas stories. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, 📸 @blessedarethegeek) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Allen Swift (Melchior) as Twinkie the Kid. 2. Simeon the bellmaker is very loosely based on th...
2023-07-1952 min
Advent Calendar HouseMy Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: A Hearth’s Warming Tail🎄 It’s 2016, and a Scrooge-like unicorn is brewing a potion to eliminate Hearth’s Warming Eve from the calendar. That’s how potions work, right? Join us for a Scrooge Sunday canter through a “Christmas Carol” adaptation set in Equestria, the world of “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.” **** 🎙 Guests: Jon and Bin (Bin’s Toy Bin, Santa by the Minute). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Watch “A Hearth’s Warming Tail” on YouTube. 2. Mike on Santa by the Minute. 3. The first My Little Pony special, from 1...
2022-12-181h 05
Advent Calendar HouseThe First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow🎄 It’s 1975, and a shepherd boy just lost his sight after staring directly at a lightning bolt. Join us as we return to enchanted world of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials for an overlooked, underrated, and redundantly titled hidden gem about neither the first Christmas, nor the first Christmas snow. **** 🎙 Guest: Mike Troxell (@Prune_Tracy, Mastodon: PruneTracy@sharetron.com). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Vox’s Emily St. James ranks all the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. 2. A very brief history of the Christmas card. 3. Was...
2022-12-1048 min
Advent Calendar HouseQ*bert: Thanksgiving for the Memories🦃 It’s 1983, and we’re spending Thanksgiving in July at the Saturday Supercade. 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). Tom Coombs (The Pop Daddy, @thepopdaddy). Jayme Kilsby (@brainexploderrr). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. We all tried to remember who brought up the Q*bert special last year...
2022-07-211h 18
Advent Calendar HouseA Special Sesame Street Christmas🎄 It’s 1978, and celebrities pretending to be ghosts are gaslighting Oscar the Grouch into participating in Christmas. Also, Michael Jackson shows up. This Scrooge Sunday, witness the other Sesame Street Christmas special from 1978, featuring 3 whole, entire Muppets. **** 🎙 Guests: Alan Johnson (@AlanJ) from Two Bad Neighbors in the 31st Century, now a Futurama Podcast. Donnie Storms (@boxcar45, Bronwen’s Ghost). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Our episode on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street. 2. I thought Tough Pigs made up this special in 2001 to be funny, but nope, i...
2021-12-121h 26
Advent Calendar HouseThe Dick Van Dyke Show: The Alan Brady Show Presents🎄 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. **** 🎙 Guest: Tim Babb (Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast, @TimBabbComedian, @ChristmasPod). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Dick Van Dyke as Tubby the Tuba. 2. 8 great little details you never noticed in The Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode (MeTV). 3. Every Episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ranked (Vult...
2021-12-0446 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Snowman☃️ It’s 1982, and we’re walking in the air. The Advent Calendar House takes flight for its 7th season as we melt over a British Christmas classic and a personal favorite I wish was more beloved stateside. **** 🎙 Guest: Adam Parker Sibun from the Merry Britsmas Podcast (@MerryBritsmas). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. New theme song! Thanks, Bronwen’s Ghost! 2. Merry Britsmas episode on Raymond Briggs. 3. The British Film Institute’s Top 100 British TV Programmes of the 20th Century. 4. The special’s 3 openings, featuring Brigg...
2021-12-021h 16
Advent Calendar HouseA Flintstone Christmas🎄 We close out another countdown to Christmas in July with a sleigh ride back to the Stone-Age Year of Our Lord 1977 to watch Santa fall off the roof and a guy who acts like a caveman take over his job. **** 🎙 Guests: Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas, @RadChristmas). Sean Sotka (The Christmas Podcasts Podcast, @xander0527). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Our episode on the Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial. 2. I found a Flintstones chronology on, of all places, Flickr. 3. The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault.
2021-07-231h 21
Advent Calendar HouseA Thanksgiving Tale🦃 We’re talking turkey as we dig up and dig in to a 1983 Thanksgiving special from puppeteer Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF. **** 🎙 Guests: Chad “Ecto” Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). Tom Coombs (@ClassicTomedy, TPIF). Jayme Kilsby (@brainexploderrr). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Imagicom Productions’ Holiday Specials Collection. 2. A Thanksgiving Tale, with curated retro Thanksgiving commercials. 3. The Joker at the 1989 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. 4. A November 16, 1983 TV listing in an archived New York Magazine...
2021-07-211h 14
Advent Calendar HouseDinosaurs: Refrigerator Day🦖 Get your frying pan ready and join us on a journey to what feels like 60 million years ago back to 1991 to observe the most wonderful time of the year for the Jim Henson Company’s Dinosaurs, which by some Fridge Day miracle is the Advent Calendar House’s first TGIF episode. **** 🎙 Guest: Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Dinosaurs parody on The Simpsons. 2. We go from talking about the Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ segment of Muppets Now to Netflix’s Nailed It! 3. Sally Stru...
2021-07-191h 10
Advent Calendar HousePhineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation🎄 I know what we’re going to podcast about today, so get ready 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, @blessedarethegeek). James Riley (@yourbuddyspooky). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Ferb) in Love Actually and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. 2. The time James accidentally knocked over Ben Stiller. 3. The Sears Wish Book catalog. 4. Today’s TV Trope: Look Both Ways...
2021-07-171h 19
Advent Calendar HouseThe Adventures of Pete & Pete: O’ Christmas Pete🎄 It’s Garbage Day! Join us as we look happily deranged back to 1996 to follow Pete and Pete’s brother, Pete, on their mission to keep the Christmas spirit alive for as long as possible, and keep their Christmas tree safe from the evil Garbageman. **** 🎙 Guests: Tom Coombs (@ClassicTomedy, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny). Chad “Ecto” Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Michael C. Maronna (Big Pete) in Home Alone, and in a series of Ameritrade commercials circa 1999. 2. Sno...
2021-07-151h 01
Advent Calendar HouseHalloween Is Grinch Night🎃 It’s spooky time as we wheel our paraphernalia wagon back to 1977 for a Grinch Night we’ll never forget. **** 🎙 Guests: James Riley (@yourbuddyspooky). Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, @TeeAitchAre). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Halloween is Grinch Night on the Dr. Seuss Wiki. 2. The worst, non-candy Halloween treats. 3. Carlton, Your Doorman. 4. This special’s music was by Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo. 5. Hans Conried (The Grinch) was also the titular chara...
2021-07-131h 21
Advent Calendar HouseBack to the Future: Dickens of a Christmas🎄 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. The actually animated segments of the animated series feature Dan Castelleneta as Doc, plus the return of Thomas F. Wilson (Batman: The Animated Series) as various Tannens throughout history, and Christmas movie all-star Mary Steenburgen (Elf, One Magic Christmas) as Clara. **** 🎙 Guests: Joey O.(Y-Not R...
2021-07-1156 min
Advent Calendar HouseHow Murray Saved Christmas🎄 Take a sleigh ride back to 2014 as the fate of Christmas is in the hands of Murray Weiner (rhymes with diner), from the hidden hometown of every holiday mascot… but mostly the American ones. **** 🎙 Guests: Michael DiGiovanni (Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, @theatomicgeeks). Donnie Storms (Bronwen’s Ghost, @boxcar45). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Former Simpsons showrunner Mike Reiss’s original books, How Murray Saved Christmas and Santa Claustrophobia. 2. The trimmed half-hour cut of the special removes some bad jokes, but also Murray’s backstory...
2021-07-091h 23
Advent Calendar HouseThe Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise🐰 Hop, hop, hop with us 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Alan Johnson (Two Bad Neighbors – A Simpsons Podcast, Talespin Trivia, @AlanJ). Emily Rowley (smiling politely, @mlerowley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise on the official YouTube channel. 2. Yes, we all collectively mispronounced “Berenstain.” 3. The VHS cover, for reference. 4. The Berenstain Bears: The Very First Easter, being the story...
2021-07-0752 min
Advent Calendar HouseRubik, the Amazing Cube: Rubik’s First Christmas🎄 Tune in as we mysteriously float back to 1983 on an unseasonably warm Christmas adventure through Mexico on a Saturday morning cartoon that lasted a shorter amount of time than the fad it tried to cash in on. **** 🎙 Guest: Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas, @RadChristmas). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The History of Rubik’s Cube. 2. The theme song by pre-Ricky Martin Menudo. 3. Ángela Moya, the voice of the kids’ mother, played a small but grim part in Gleaming the Cube. 4. An ode to the family stat...
2021-07-0559 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Cosmic Christmas🎄 By special request, this episode of the official podcast of teaching aliens about Christmas takes you on a domesticated goose chase back to 1977 through the first fully animated feature by Canadian studio Nelvana. **** 🎙 Guest: Jeff Fox (Name That Christmas Special, @chrspecials). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jeff’s collection of A Cosmic Christmas music and scanned promotional items. 2. Joanna Wilson’s Christmas TV History. 3. This special got George Lucas’s attention and led to Nelvana producing the animated segment of the Star Wars Holiday Special.
2021-07-031h 10
Advent Calendar HouseA Chipmunk Christmas🎄 It’s time for toys and time for cheer as the Advent Calendar House begins another 12-episode countdown to Christmas in July, starting by rewinding at twice the normal speed back to 1981 to revisit the Christmas special that helped kick off the revival of Alvin and the Chipmunks. **** 🎙 Guests: Steven (Wizards: The Podcast Guide to Comics, @StevenStaples81). Sean Sotka (The Christmas Podcasts Podcast, @xander0527). **** 💬 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 Chipmu...
2021-07-011h 01
Advent Calendar HouseThe Smurfs’ Christmas Special🎄 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Thom Crowe (Tis the Podcast, @thomcrowe). Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas, @RadChristmas). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Watch The Smurfs’ Christmas Special on the official Smurfs YouTube channel. 2. We want to try Greedy Smurf’s cauldron of pink pudding. 3. My son thinks the king of Hyrule is Santa. 4. I just...
2020-12-241h 09
Advent Calendar HouseOlive, the Other Reindeer🎄 10 years after The Simpsons debuted, Matt Groening presented this misheard but not forgotten doggie treat from 1999. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds, @imgonnadj24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Making of Olive, the Other Reindeer. 2. PaRappa the Rapper. 3. Mr. Lunch Takes a Plane Ride, the first book by Olive creators Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold. 4. The Goonies II. 5. Jay Mohr in Camp Wilder. 6. Famous mondegreens and the stupidest lyric I’ve ever mishe...
2020-12-221h 05
Advent Calendar HouseDisney’s A Christmas Carol🎄 Venture into the uncanny valley on a trip back to 2009 to rewatch Disney’s motion capture nightmare starring 4 Jim Carreys, 3 Gary Oldmans, 2 Robin Wrights, and a Cary Elwes in a pear shape. **** 🎙 Guest: Matt Weiland (Matt’s Dream Destinations, @DinnahDawg). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Respect to a Disney movie that jumps from a storybook opening to a corpse’s face. 2. Despite being the 5th highest grossing Christmas movie as of 2020, this is also one of history’s biggest box-office bombs. 3. Coins on a corpse’s eyes in 19th...
2020-12-201h 27
Advent Calendar HouseDoug’s Christmas Story🎄 We’re skating on thin ice back to 1993 for a very educational trip to Bluffington in an episode of Doug that I forgot was a Christmas episode I was watching for the podcast. **** 🎙 On This Episode: Greg Stevens (Pop Arena, Nick Knacks, @pop_arena). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Disney’s Doug was fine, y’all. 2. Doug creator Jim Jinkins worked on Nickelodeon’s first show, Pinwheel. 3. Early versions of Doug in a bumper for USA Network and a PSA for Florida Grapefruit Juice narrated...
2020-12-1857 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Little Drummer Boy🎄On this episode of the official holiday podcast for people who hate all humans — which, in 2020, is most of us — we 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. **** 🎙 Guests Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Star Weirdos). Michael May (MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, AfterLUNCH, Mystery Movie Night, @michaelmaycomix). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This was Romeo Muller’s favorite Christmas special he wrote for Rankin/Bass. Also, that link on Rankin/Bass’s website i...
2020-12-1653 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Jack Benny Program: Jack Goes Christmas Shopping⚠️ CONTENT WARNING: This podcast discusses a 1960 episode of The Jack Benny Program in which a character shoots himself offscreen. 🎄 Join 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. **** 🎙 Guest: Guy Hutchinson (GuyHutchinson.com, Drunk On Disney Podcast, @GuyHutchinson). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Television Academy Foundation’s page on Jack Benny’s Christmas Shopping show, including a video interview with show writer George Balzer. 2. The earliest Christm...
2020-12-1453 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Christmas Raccoons🎄 We’re responsibly deforesting our way back to 1980 to dig up the first appearance of early Disney Channel imports The Raccoons and the greedy Cyril Sneer. **** 🎙 On This Episode: Michael DiGiovanni (Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, @theatomicgeeks). Christian Nielsen (Pop Culture Retrofit, @hunkburger). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This special and an accompanying story album were narrated by Rich Little, a “Man of a Thousand Voices,” in his own, regular voice. 2. The voice of Forest Ranger Dan is Rupert Holmes, the singer/songwriter behin...
2020-12-1257 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Weinerville Chanukah Special🕎 Tune in as we noisily snowmobile back to 1995 to try and figure out what everyone’s yelling about in Nickelodeon’s first Hanukkah special, created by Marc Weiner and his puppets who can’t stop screaming. **** 🎙 Guest: April Ryley (@Where2NextApril). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. We watched this videotaped original broadcast of The Weinerville Chanukah Special, complete with commercials. 2. Weinerville.com is alive and well in 2020. 3. Marc Weiner went on to be the voice of Swiper the Fox and the Map in Dora the Explorer. ...
2020-12-1054 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Johnny Bravo Christmas🎄 It’s time to catch a last-minute flight to the North Pole and do the monkey with me back to 2001 for a well-deserved punch in the face that’s a little bit rock ’n’ roll. **** 🎙 Guest: James Riley (@yourbuddyspooky). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. ’Twas the Night, a 1997 Johnny Bravo segment which this special accounts for in the show’s continuity… sort of. 2. Larry & Steve, Seth MacFarlane’s proto-Family Guy short film before from before he worked as a Johnny Bravo staff writer. 3. People on TV who wait till C...
2020-12-0854 min
Advent Calendar HouseBraveStarr: Tex’s Terrible Night🎄 Hang on to your hats as we blast back to 1987 to revisit the Filmation space western BraveStarr and its dickens of a backstory. **** 🎙 Guests: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). Sammy Hain (@SammyHain). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The official BraveStarr YouTube channel. 2. The Fisher-Price Western Town I used as a backdrop for the much larger Bravestarr action figure. 3. Joey’s interview with Pat Fraley (Marshal BraveStarr). 4. This episode uses flashback scenes from the movie BraveStarr: The Legend, which exp...
2020-12-0647 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Christmas Toy🎄 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Beth Cieslik (@BethTheObscure). Adam Jurotich (The Hourchive). Donnie Storms (Bronwen’s Ghost, @boxcar45). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Kermit was cut from the DVD release, but he’s back in the version on Amazon Prime Video. 2. Rugby crashing his skateboard into a block tower is the 1980s Muppet version of WWE’s Titus O’Neil tripping and slidin...
2020-12-041h 26
Advent Calendar HouseChristmas Comes to Pacland🎄 The Advent Calendar House kicks off another Christmas countdown by rewinding back to 1982, when Santa found himself stranded in Pac-Man’s neighborhood in the original video game crash. WARNING: This episode contains spoilers about Santa Claus from 11:25 to 13:30. **** 🎙 Guests: Lindy (@ieatvideogames) and Alicia (@thinkbluee), the Sour Puss and Chomp-Chomp to my Pac-Baby. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Santa is flying with 8 reindeer, including Rudolph. Who got the night off? 2. Why some reindeer actually have red noses. 3. This might be the first time a Christma...
2020-12-0250 min
Advent Calendar HouseGarfield’s Thanksgiving🦃 We end our countdown to Christmas in July by badly dancing back to 1989 to celebrate the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season in Garfield’s Thanksgiving, the clear bronze medalist of Garfield’s holiday trilogy, thanks to Jon Arbuckle going from goofy pet owner to gaslighting, mansplaining, hopelessly inept creep. **** 🎙 Guest: Jeff Somogyi (Talkin’ Chopp, @sommerjam). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Orson the Pig from U.S. Acres makes a cameo in Liz’s waiting room. 2. The dumbest things we’ve done to get a date pale in compari...
2020-07-2356 min
Advent Calendar HouseG.I. Joe: Cobra CLAWs Are Coming to Town🎄 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, entitled Cobra CLAWs Are Coming to Town. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. We don’t even get 4 minutes into this without talking about the U.S.S. Flagg. 2. Crossfire comes up for no reason. 3. A brief history of the G.I. Joe toy line, from “America’s Movable Fighting Man” to th...
2020-07-2140 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Stingiest Man in Town🎄 On another Scrooge Sunday edition of the Advent Calendar House, we fly back in time to 1978 to revisit Rankin/Bass’s turn at A Christmas Carol. **** 🎙 Guests: Michael DiGiovanni (Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, @theatomicgeeks). Michael May (MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, Mystery Movie Night, AfterLUNCH, @michaelmaycomix). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This is specifically an adaptation of a 1956 production on The Alcoa Hour starring Basil Rathbone as Scrooge. Rankin/Bass uses most of the songs from that special. 2. The original Stingiest Man in To...
2020-07-191h 02
Advent Calendar HouseThe Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold🎄 Sail back to 1981 with us as we dig up Rankin/Bass’s penultimate and possibly most obscure stop-motion Christmas special ever, which may or may not only exist because they had the rights to use Christmas in Killarney and needed someplace to put it. **** 🎙 Guests: Michael DiGiovanni (Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, @theatomicgeeks). Michael May (MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, Mystery Movie Night, AfterLUNCH, @michaelmaycomix). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Ken Jennings (the voice of Dinty Doyle, not the Jeopardy! guy) in the short-lived Epcot...
2020-07-1751 min
Advent Calendar HouseSuper Mario Bros. Super Show: Koopa Klaus / Santa Claus is Coming to Flatbush🎄 Hey, paisanos! Join us as we warp back to 1989 for a double dose of Christmas segments from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show — the live-action Santa Claus is Coming to Flatbush, featuring Santa losing his “transportation” in Brooklyn; and the animated Koopa Klaus, featuring a plot to… freeze the North Pole. **** 🎙 Guest: Adam Pope (Retro-Daze, Retro Detention, The Retro Network, @hojukoolander). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Nintendo Power’s Preview of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, as tweeted by Adam, and preserved on the Internet Archive (for now) (it’s o...
2020-07-1552 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Halloween That Almost Wasn’t🎃 It’s the 13th of July, so it’s time for the Advent Calendar House to unearth one of our favorite Halloween haunts, 1979’s The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t, starring an exceptionally great Judd Hirsch as Count Dracula. **** 🎙 Guest: Tom Coombs (TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @ClassicTomedy). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This was renamed for its VHS release as The Night Dracula Saved the World, except no, he doesn’t. 2. Lyndhurst Mansion plays the role of both Dracula’s castle and the Witch’s castle. It’s locat...
2020-07-1347 min
Advent Calendar HouseInspector Gadget Saves Christmas🎄 Go-go Gadget podcast! It’s time to spring back to 1992 to take Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas in for questioning. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Nick Knacks, a show-by-show video history of Nickelodeon. 2. Halloween 1992 was the year of white kids dressing like Steve Urkel. 3. Inspector Gadget’s run on Nickelodeon got me into Get Smart on Nick at Nite. 4. The time Chad got an crew jacket from the set of the Inspector Gadget movie. 5. The...
2020-07-1156 min
Advent Calendar HouseDeck the Halls with Wacky Walls🎄 Join us as we slowly slink sideways back to 1983 to celebrate the time someone literally threw an idea at the wall to see if it would stick. It’s Deck the Halls with Wacky Walls, an animated Christmas special about Wacky WallWalkers. But first, we need to talk about the man behind the WallWalkers, Dr. Fad. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Dr. Fad Show. 2. Eight ’80s Xmas Specials You Might’ve Forgotten, from Dinosaur Dracula. 3. X...
2020-07-0943 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Tale of the Bunny Picnic🐰 Hello, sunshine! Join us for a hop back to Easter 1986 to revisit the Jim Henson special, The Tale of the Bunny Picnic — which is about neither Easter, nor a bunny picnic — but it did introduce the world to Bean Bunny, the Muppets’ Nermal. **** 🎙 Guest: Emily Rowley (@mlerowley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jim Henson’s original introduction to The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. 2. The Jim Henson Hour. 3. Bean Bunny is still around at Muppet*Vision 3D in Disney’s Hollywood Studios. 4...
2020-07-0751 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Real Ghostbusters: Xmas Marks the Spot🎄 It’s another Scrooge Sunday in the Advent Calendar House as we’re swept through a rip in the space-time continuum back to 1986 for a Christmas Carol-themed episode of The Real Ghostbusters, who accidentally save Scrooge from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. **** 🎙 Guests: Tom Coombs (@ClassicTomedy, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny). Chad “Ecto” Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Hey, grown-ups! Remember getting lost while driving when we didn’t all have maps of the entire planet in our poc...
2020-07-0543 min
Advent Calendar HouseRudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July🎄 Rankin/Bass’s Avengers assemble in 1979’s Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July. The studio’s longest holiday special ever opens with the shine on Rudolph’s nose blipping out of existence, and what happens to Frosty and his whole family is worse. **** 🎙 Guest: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek, Star Weirdos). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Frosty’s a dad! And Rudolph’s a fake uncle! 2. King Winterbolt’s genie of the ice scepter, allegedly Thurl Ravenscroft, is the stuff of nightmares. 3. The Life...
2020-07-031h 07
Advent Calendar HouseFrosty’s Winter Wonderland🎄 Happy birthday! The Advent Calendar House kicks off a countdown to Christmas in July by setting the table for Rankin/Bass’s eventual epic crossover, starting with Frosty’s Winter Wonderland, a snowy sequel from 1976 starring a strange, tall goblin claiming to be Andy Griffith.**** 🎙 Guest: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek, Star Weirdos). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. A brief guide to finding obsure things on Disney+, like Melody Time, starring Dennis Day, (the voice of Parson Brown) as Johnny Appleseed. 2. Barbara Jo Ewing voiced one...
2020-07-0144 min
Advent Calendar House30 Rock: Leap DayHow do you do, fellow holiday special enthusiasts? The Advent Calendar House has emerged from its slumber in the Mariana Trench a few months early for an important visit to the 30 Rock universe and its celebration of Leap Day. As such, nothing that happens in this episode counts, and we’re just your imaginary friends whom no one else can hear. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Steve Buscemi, whose name I mispronounce right out of the gate, quotes himself...
2020-02-2952 min
Advent Calendar HouseRudolph’s Shiny New Year🎉 It’s a special, post-Christmas bonus episode of the Advent Calendar House as we turn back the years to 1976 and tip our oversized hat hiding our oversized ears to Rankin/Bass’s first sequel special, in which Rudolph has to save the Baby New Year from a big, angry bird. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Rudolph devolves into a younger-looking reindeer, because the original model may have been lost. But also he see...
2019-12-3044 min
Advent Calendar HouseRudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer🎄 It’s the 50th episode of the Advent Calendar House, so it’s time to address the spotted elephant in the room and tackle the 1964 Christmas special that put Rankin/Bass on the map and into our hearts. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Is Santa really this big of a jerk or just hangry? 2. The History Channel on the creation of Rudolph. 3. Mashable’s 12 ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein...
2019-12-2457 min
Advent Calendar HouseShalom Sesame: Chanukah🕎 To kick off Hanukkah, we’re shining a light on a 1990 episode of Shalom Sesame, an on-again, off-again co-production of Sesame Street and its Israeli counterpart, Rechov Sumsum, featuring the objectively better son from Growing Pains. **** 🎙 Guest: Sarah Shay (SarayShay.com, Bandcamp, Pilot House Podcast, @thesarahshay). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. A brief history of Shalom Sesame, provided by the ever-thorough Muppet Wiki. 2. Israel’s Big Bird stand-in, Kippi Ben Kippod, is mistranslated as a porcupine despite clearly being a hedgehog. A similar but unclothed costume was...
2019-12-221h 00
Advent Calendar HouseChristmas in Tattertown🎄 On a very wound-up and thrown out into a pile of junk in another dimension episode of the Advent Calendar House, we set our sentient clocks back to 1988 for a one-time-only trip to Tattertown, the holiday brain-child Ralph Bakshi and Nickelodeon’s first-ever original animated TV program. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Christmas in Tattertown info and sketches from Bakshi Productions. 2. Christmas in Tattertown review on Nick Knacks, a show-by-show Nickelodeon retrospective. 3. Muffet initially appears to be the v...
2019-12-191h 05
Advent Calendar HouseSimpsons Roasting on an Open Fire🎄 Every unstoppable monster has a beginning. Squeeze onto the couch as a perfectly cromulent panel of Advent Calendar House regulars celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Simpsons and its series premiere, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, or as it was advertised to us in 1989, “The Simpsons’ Christmas Special.”CONTENT WARNING: We briefly discuss Mall Santas and 10-year-olds’ feelings on Mall Santas. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents...
2019-12-171h 07
Advent Calendar HouseMister Magoo’s Christmas Carol🎄 It’s a very special Scrooge Sunday episode as we nearly-blindly fumble back to 1962 to celebrate TV’s first ever animated Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Anthony Caruso (@acaruso929) and Julia Colburn from Tis the Podcast. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jim Backus, the voice of Mister Magoo, based his portrayal of Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island on another character he played on a radio show hosted by another famous future Scrooge, Alan Young. 2. Nephew Fred is cut entirely to make room for a song about Broadway th...
2019-12-1554 min
Advent Calendar HouseSealab 2021: Feast of AlvisContent Warning: If you usually let your children listen to your podcast feed with you, you may want to get the kids out of the pool for this one as we dive into a very festive, very inappropriate 2002 episode of the Adult Swim cartoon Sealab 2021 to wage war on the Feast of Alvis. **** 🎙 Guests: Zac Shipley (@zacshipley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Sealab 2020, the very different, very boring original 1972 cartoon that serves as the butt of Sealab 2021’s joke. 2. The usual Sealab theme song by Calamine is...
2019-12-1340 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Glo Friends Save Christmas🎄 It’s Glo! We learn how to selectively melt only certain ice we’re radiating near with Hasbro’s hive of bioluminescent bugs, the Glo Friends, in their 1985 Christmas special starring Carroll O’Connor as Santa and Sally Struthers as Blanche, the Wicked Witch of the North Pole, who exists and is jealous of Santa’s publicity. Take notes, Great Pumpkin… or, perhaps, don’t. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (@ImGonnaDJ24, Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Like many Christmas specials, this is a...
2019-12-1145 min
Advent Calendar HouseZiggy’s Gift🎄 Take a short-statured trip back to 1982 to explore one-off TV Christmas special starring no one’s favorite funny papers hero, Ziggy, and featuring a beautifully animated puddle of dog pee. **** 🎙 Guests: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Ziggy’s Gift on Dinosaur Dracula After Dark. 2. The Point, a Harry Nilsson album turned into an animated movie. 3. Ziggy’s toothpaste looks like Beetlejuice sandworms. 4. Ziggy Theories: Is he adult Charlie Brown? A vegetarian? A guardian angel? 5. The tim...
2019-12-0951 min
Advent Calendar HouseCricket on the Hearth🎄 Experience Rankin/Bass’s first festive follow-up to Rudolph through our eyes as we explore a 1967 TV special based on Charles Dickens’s other Christmas story. **** 🎙 Guest:Brian Earl (Christmas Past, @XmasPastPodcast). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1. The history of legends about crickets on hearths bringing good luck. 2. The Cricket on the Hearth soundtrack. 3. Brian’s Christmas Past episode on Golden Age Christmas TV Cartoons. 4. Christmas TV History’s Joanna Wilson on Rankin/Bass Voice Actors. 5. This special takes a bizarre, hard lef...
2019-12-0747 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Wish for Wings That Work🎄 Grab an emergency parachute as we dive in to a 1991 TV Christmas special starring Opus the Penguin and Bill the Cat from the comic strip series Bloom County and Outland. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This is based on a book version you can watch someone read to you on YouTube, if you’d like. 2. Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed was not happy with this special. He also confirmed the animators hid some...
2019-12-0553 min
Advent Calendar HousePinocchio’s Christmas🎄 The Advent Calendar House gets overrun by earworms strong enough to burrow into wood as we carve into the 1980 Rankin/Bass Christmas special starring Pinocchio. **** 🎙 Guests: Michael DiGiovanni (@theatomicgeeks, The Atomic Geeks, Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit). Michael May (@michaelmaycomix, MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, Mystery Movie Night, Nerd Lunch Fourth Chair Army Invasion, and I think that might be it… FOR NOW). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Two songs, Dancin’ and The Very Best Friend I Ever Had, were cut from and later restored to TV...
2019-12-031h 04
Advent Calendar HouseMickey’s Christmas Carol🎄 Season 3 of the Advent Calendar House kicks off with a new regular feature: Scrooge Sunday, celebrating the many adaptations of A Christmas Carol. We begin with Disney’s 1983 featurette, marking the big-screen debut of Scrooge McDuck playing his namesake. **** 🎙 Guests: Lizzie Twachtman (@thelizzietea, Moorage Thrift House, Random Chatter). Adam Pope (@hojukoolander, SequelQuest, 2 Goofs, Retro-Daze, Retro Detention). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Mickey’s Christmas Carol on Disney+. 2. Almost all of this film is hiding at the end of Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House...
2019-12-011h 09
Advent Calendar HouseGarfield’s Halloween Adventure🎃 Put out the oars and surrender yourself to the mercy of the rivers of time as they take us back to Garfield’s terrifying 1985 Halloween special. **** 🎙 Guests: Jeff Somogyi (@sommerjam, Talkin’ Chopp). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jim Davis wanted ‘Garfield’s Halloween Adventure’ to ‘at least scare 4-year-olds’ (The A.V. Club, 2014). 2. Samples of the comic book adaptation, Garfield in Disguise, from Rotten Ink and Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks, including even creepier drawings of the old man and pirate ghosts. 3. The first appearance of Binky the Clown...
2019-10-101h 20
Advent Calendar HouseThe Muppets Valentine ShowLove and dynamite are in the air as I introduce 2 guests to an early pilot of what would eventually become The Muppet Show from 1974, guest-starring a pregnant Mia Farrow. **** 🎙 Guests: Brian Arnold (@phillyradiogeek, Me and You and a Blog Named Boo). Joey O. (@ImGonnaDJ24, Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Muppets Valentine Show on YouTube. 2. Muppet Wiki on The Muppets Valentine Show. 3. Jim Henson’s Red Book entry about getting this pilot green-lit by some guy at ABC named...
2019-02-1348 min
Advent Calendar HouseChristmas Eve on Sesame StreetIt’s Christmas Eve! Tune in as we bring Advent to a close with the first Christmas special I ever remember watching, from 1978. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. My taped copy of this is interrupted in the middle by a WHYY telethon with Philadelphia TV legend Ed Cunningham. 2. The Count’s amazing ice-skating cape. 3. The wibbly-wobbly physics of Oscar’s trash can. 4. Olivia married the Predator. 5. An actual clue...
2018-12-241h 04
Advent Calendar HouseALF’s Special ChristmasRemember ALF? He’s back, in podcast form! Tune in as we salute ALF’s two-part Christmas special from 1987, the single most depressing special starring a wisecracking alien puppet of all time. Content Warning: In this Christmas special, the goofy alien with the jokes meets a terminally ill child and a man contemplating suicide. **** 🎙 Guest: Jeff Somogyi (Talkin’ Chopp, Down the Rabbit Hole, @sommerjam). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The heartbreaking true story behind ALF’s Special Christmas. 2. A study in human ignorance: Gordon Shum...
2018-12-2357 min
Advent Calendar HouseTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: We Wish You a Turtle ChristmasTune in as we unearth a 1994 cash-grab video starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — or at least some version of them — a special so low-quality, it happens in a sewer. **** 🎙 Guests: Shawn Robare (Branded in the ’80s, Cult Film Club, @ShawnRobare). Jonathan Zelenak (@TheSewerDen). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. About the Sewer Den, Jonathan’s massive TMNT collection, and his blog post about We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. 2. Of course we touch on the Turtles’ Coming Out of Their Shells Tour. 3. The Turtles’ smil...
2018-12-2255 min
Advent Calendar HousePee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas SpecialTune in as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special the only way we know how: With lots of screaming, lots of fruitcake, and lots more screaming. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Magic Johnson recorded his segment hours before playing in — and winning — a Lakers game. We don’t know the precise date, but one win was against the SuperSonics, possibly (but probably not) on Ice C...
2018-12-211h 22
Advent Calendar HouseMickey’s Twice Upon a ChristmasMickey Mouse drags his pals into third dimension in this 2004 direct-to-DVD Disney Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Drew Crowley (@pizzanautgo) and John Dedeke (@johndedeke) from The Hourchive. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. If you haven’t been to a Disney theme park in the last year or two, Mickey has a different face now. 2. The hippo and crocodile from “Fantasia” have names. 3. Chuck McCann, the voice of Santa, was the Dreamfinder in the original Journey Into Imagination. 4. A quick lesson on how time zones work.
2018-12-201h 01
Advent Calendar HouseMickey’s Once Upon a ChristmasTune in as we attempt to make sense of time, space, and the Disney fowl food chain as we watch Disney’s 1999 direct to video Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Drew Crowley (@pizzanautgo) and John Dedeke (@johndedeke) from The Hourchive. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Donald Duck’s comically enormous, fanmade family tree. 2. Happy Duck to the Future Day! 3. The Quack Pack intro will tell you everything you need to know about Quack Pack. 4. Does Donald’s Christmas cabin exist in a turducken thunderdome...
2018-12-1959 min
Advent Calendar HouseHe-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas SpecialWe are not nice, not kind, and not wonderful to 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra Christmas special, in which Skeletor’s heart grows three sizes. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed are the Geek). Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. He-Man and She-Ra are between 18 and 21 years old and gave children unreasonable expectations of what they’d look like when they grow up. 2. Thank goodness Chad is here to identify everyone at Eternia’s Christmas pa...
2018-12-181h 25
Advent Calendar HouseA Pinky and the Brain ChristmasTune in as we apply North Pole to Pinky and the Brain’s 1996 Christmas special, probably the closest the lab mouse duo ever got to actually taking over the world. **** 🎙 Guests: Joey Letson (The Animanicast, @Animanicast). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This special won the 1996 Primetime Emmy award for outstanding animated program. 2. Joey O.’s interviews with Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche. 3. The Animanicast’s interview with Maurice LaMarche. 4. Powerhouse: Warner Bros.’ go-to “a...
2018-12-1752 min
Advent Calendar HouseEmmet Otter’s Jug-Band ChristmasJoin us as we gush about the Riverbottom Nightmare Band and Kermit riding a bicycle in this episode about the 1977 Jim Henson special, Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas. Pa would’ve loved this podcast. **** 🎙 Guest: Emily Rowley (@mlerowley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Muppet Wiki has the lowdown of all 5 cuts of this. 2. The official outtake reel. 3. The drum roll outtake reel. 4. Of Muppets and Men: The Making of The Muppet Show. 5. The Christmas Price Index. 6. The “ass sliding” sce...
2018-12-161h 07
Advent Calendar HouseSaved by the Bell: Home for ChristmasHang on to your creepy mistletoe hat as we hit the Bayside Mall for a 2-part Saved by the Bell Christmas special from 1991, in which Zack gets shook upon learning the latest girl of his dreams is homeless. **** 🎙 Guests: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). Tom Coombs (@ClassicTomedy). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Chad’s 2013 write-up on Home for Christmas.2. That time WWE’s Daniel Bryan got fired for choking out an announcer. 3. Puppy Surprise, the...
2018-12-151h 03
Advent Calendar HouseBatman, the Animated Series: Christmas with the JokerTune in as we trace the origins of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, in the 1992 Christmas episode of Batman, the Animated Series. **** 🎙 Guests: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). Jay Ryan (Sludge Central, the Purple Stuff Podcast, @SludgeCentral). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The crowdsourced origins of Jingle Bells, Batman Smells. 2. More discussion on Christmas with the Joker on Batman, the Animated Podcast’s Batman, the Animated Podcast and The Arkham Sessions. 3. Gotham City is in New Jersey. 4. Mark Hamill’s...
2018-12-1453 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Small OnePart 2 of our Christmas donkey double feature takes a deep dive into Don Bluth’s last Disney project, a short film released in front of the 1978 re-release of Pinocchio.**** 🎙 Guests: Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames). Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed are the Geek). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Like so many Disney movies, it’s based on a book — The Small One: A Story for Those Who Like Christmas and Small Donkeys. 2. Dragon’s Lair. 3. The Land Before Time toys from Pizza Hut. 4. Mouse in Transi...
2018-12-1341 min
Advent Calendar HouseNestor the Long-Eared Christmas DonkeyWe try to make more accurate donkeys in Nativity displays catch on like a certain elf on a certain shelf by revisiting the 1977 Rankin/Bass special, Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey. **** 🎙 Guests: Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames). Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed are the Geek). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Roger Miller performing Do Wacka Do in 1966 with another guitarist, “Stubbs,” who’s wearing a Batman T-shirt. 2. Roger Miller’s Whistle Stop intro to Disney’s Robin Hood is secretly the Hamster Dance. 3. Tilly’s ascension back to...
2018-12-1239 min
Advent Calendar HouseJingle Bell RapWe dig down like dogs to the bottom of the VHS bargain bin for an overlooked special from 1991 that had all the potential to become a Christmas classic, but none of the airtime. You can watch Jingle Bell Rap on Amazon Prime. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Perennial Pictures’ webpage for Jingle Bell Rap. 2. Chad’s on, so of course we talk about Roy Rogers. 3. Fetch and Uncle Jesse are t...
2018-12-111h 03
Advent Calendar HouseMcDonald’s Holiday CommercialsLace up your ice skates for a look at 3 classic holiday commercials starring McDonald’s clown in charge: 1. Happy Holidays (the ice skating one). 2. Star Wish. 3. Runaway.**** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Grape jelly is good on Sausage McMuffins. 2. McDonald’s Wiki, which exists, runs down all 7 versions of the ice skating commercial. Yes, there are seven different edits, and they’re all on YouTube: 1982: the original, with King Moody as Ron...
2018-12-1042 min
Advent Calendar HouseChristmas at Walt Disney World (1978)It’s mime time at the Most Magical Place on Earth in 1978’s Christmas at Walt Disney World, featuring Shields and Yarnell as the most 1978 couple imaginable, Pablo Cruise and their indifference to help a screaming woman escape from pirates, Phyllis Diller in the world’s poofiest princess dress, the Doritos guy as a wildly off-model Geppetto, Dee from What’s Happening as an ungrateful passenger in a magical pumpkin coach, and Broadway’s original Annie singing Christmas carols with surprisingly reverent Disney villains. **** 🎙 Guests: Drew Crowley (@pizzanautgo) and John Dedeke (@johndedeke) from...
2018-12-091h 43
Advent Calendar HouseJohn Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas TogetherWe blur the lines of reality, time, and space and practice peace on Earth and good will to men, women, chickens, bears, and Dizzy Gillespie in the 1979 TV special, John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. **** 🎙 Guests: Bill Hanstock (SBNation, IMDb, Progressive Boink, @sundownmotel). Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch, Dragonfly Ripple, @nerdlunch). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Bill’s Uncle Deadly tattoo. 2. Pro-wrestler and Muppets Most Wanted cast member Hornswoggle’s tattoo tribute to the Muppets. 3. The Muppet Show Season 4 DVD promised at Dis...
2018-12-081h 13
Advent Calendar HouseWill Vinton’s Claymation Christmas CelebrationIn 1987, the California Raisins missed their bus, then made a sleigh out of garbage and flew it into space in the greatest holiday special out of all holiday specials hosted by clay dinosaurs. WARNING: This episode inexplicably contains a major spoiler for the 2014 movie How to Train Your Dragon 2. **** 🎙 Guest: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). Emily Rowley (@mlerowley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. RIP Will Vinton (1947–2018), the creator of (capital-C) Claymation who may or may not have insp...
2018-12-0750 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Garfield Christmas SpecialLet’s have a good, old-fashioned Christmas down on the farm in 1987’s A Garfield Christmas Special, featuring the voices of Squiggy and Ursula. **** 🎙 Guest: Jeff Somogyi (Talkin’ Chopp, Down the Rabbit Hole, @sommerjam). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Joey O. interviews Gregg Berger, the voice of Odie. 2. On lasagna as a Christmas food and how including shrimp as one of the Seven Fishes is cheating, you cheaters. 3. Dinosaur Dracula identifies all the presents in Garfield’s dream. 4. Going long on the dinner prayer, p...
2018-12-061h 15
Advent Calendar HouseThe Life and Adventures of Santa ClausRankin/Bass goes off the rails in its last-ever stop motion animated Christmas special, 1985’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, based on the 1902 book by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum, which explains a lot. **** 🎙 Guests: Paxton Holley (Cavalcade of Awesome, I Read Movies, Nerd Lunch, Cult Film Club, Hellbent for Letterbox, @paxtonholley). Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Santa Claus’s growth to manhood, from J.D. Roth to Mumm-ra, and the rest of the Thundercats a...
2018-12-051h 08
Advent Calendar HouseLamb Chop’s Special ChanukahHanukkah is here, so here’s a 1995 special starring sock puppets hanging out with Mr. Miyagi, the dad from Growing Pains, and the mayor of Gotham City. **** 🎙 Guest: Sarah Shay (Pilot House Podcast, Bandcamp, @thesarahshay). Check out her 2 new albums: You Have Queer Street Cred and The Shay & Shay Radio Hour! **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The special audio featured here is from a YouTube upload by some guy holding his iPad’s camera up to his TV screen. 2. Shari Lewis’s amazing single-color red dreamcoat and s...
2018-12-041h 21
Advent Calendar House’Twas the Night Before ChristmasTurn back the clock till it goes kerplunk — or kerplooey — to make some time for Rankin/Bass’s 1974 retelling of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas from the perspective of the mouse and his know-it-all nerdy son. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The worst thing we’ve broken that ruined multiple peoples’ day. 2. We prepared for this episode by listening to Green Day’s Kerplunk! 3. South Park covered the song Even a Miracle Needs a Hand. 4. Albert re...
2018-12-0341 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Star Wars Holiday SpecialGet ready to blast off for Space Church as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Star Wars Holiday Special, the farthest point from the bright center of our favorite galaxy far, far away. **** 🎙 Guest: Liz Twachtman (@thelizzietea, Random Chatter Network, Enchanted Chatter) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. “Some folks are in space for the benefit of nobody,” by Jon Bois for SB Nation. 2. Our disappointment that Chewbacca’s family didn’t show up in Solo, but at least we got L3-37, who was great. 3...
2018-12-021h 02
Advent Calendar HouseHow the Grinch Stole ChristmasIt’s time once again to count down to Christmas Eve, starting with 3 versions of Dr. Seuss’s classic Christmas tale from 1966, 2000, and 2018. **** 🎙 Guest: Michael DiGiovanni (The Atomic Geeks, Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit, @theatomicgeeks). Michael May (MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, @michaelmaycomix). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T., Dr. Seuss’s first — and last — feature film screenplay. 2. DiGio discovers Thurl Ravenscroft, the voice behind “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch,” was also Tony the Tiger. 3. Grinchmas, the annual C...
2018-12-011h 11
Advent Calendar HouseChristmas Podcast Network Crossover / Season 2 TeaserIt’s time to dust off the cobwebs and get the Advent Calendar House ready for Season 2, featuring a new episode every day from December 1 through Christmas Eve, 2018. In between commercial teasers for all 24 episodes coming in Season 2 — though not necessarily in order — the members of the all-new Christmas Podcast Network share stories of Christmas music traditions. **** 🎙 Guests: 1. Brian Earl (Christmas Past) 2. Tim Babb (Can’t Wait for Christmas) 3. Craig Kringle (Weird Christmas) 4. Duane Bailey (Tinsel Tunes) 5. Joseph Wade (Christmas Creeps), with Libby Cudmore...
2018-11-2234 min
Advent Calendar HouseWitch’s Night OutThe Advent Calendar House presents a dazzling display of magical mischief as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Witch’s Night Out, an often remembered, then forgotten, then re-remembered Halloween classic from 1978. You can watch Witch’s Night Out at Shout! Factory TV. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. WitchsNightOut.com, the official website. 2. @BazooeyWNO on Twitter. 3. Anytown Series, a planned sequel and other holiday specials in development. 4. Toys “R” Us TV commercial from 1980...
2018-09-241h 02
Advent Calendar HouseThe Adventures of the American RabbitWe’re back for a surprise summertime episode on the 1986 animated movie, The Adventures of the American Rabbit, a star-spangled box-office bomb starring the voices of Donatello, Baby Piggy, and King Triton. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Fred Wolf Films. 2. Toei Animation. 3. The late Stewart Moskowitz’s archived gallery and current website, operated by his family. 4. Too-Loose, the Chocolate Moose. 5. Ping Pong, the Gorilla who ate Garfield. **** “The Adventures of t...
2018-07-031h 13
Advent Calendar HouseThe First Easter RabbitWe’re back! This surprise bonus episode covers the 1976 Rankin/Bass special, The First Easter Rabbit, which despite its name and main theme, still relies heavily on Christmas. **** 🎙 Guest: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. A very obvious and very uncredited Velveteen Rabbit connection. 2. Easter Valley’s odd location next door to the North Pole, and Rankin/Bass’s habit of giving bad directions. 3. They named the talking snowball “Br-r-ruce,” a joke I didn’t notice until JUST NOW. ...
2018-03-3053 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Christmas Carol Cast DraftIn our Christmas Eve season finale, the Advent Calendar House is haunted by 3 spirited guests as we each draft our own casts of A Christmas Carol from a pool of characters from Christmas past. **** 🎙 Guests: Sue London (@cmdrsue), romance novelist of Christmas past. Jonathan MacFarlane (@otherjmac), Discoverography podcast host of Christmas present. Joey O. (@ImGonnaDJ24), Y-Not Radio and Words with Nerds co-host of Christmas yet to come. **** 🎄 A Christmas Carol Renditions Mentioned: In chronological order: 1951: Scrooge (starring Alastair Sim...
2017-12-241h 22
Advent Calendar HousePennsylvania Lottery Christmas CommercialJoin us as we spend 17 times the length of a 30-second lottery commercial talking about the spot that had a whole commonwealth singing “FIVE CASH FIVES!” **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The original Pennsylvania Lottery Christmas Commercial from 1992. 2. The updated commercial from 2012, remade shot-for-shot like 1998’s Psycho. 3. PA Lottery’s Holiday Ad Gets Makeover (CBS Philly, 2012). 4. “Move Closer to Your World,” the greatest broadcast news theme song ever composed. 5. Philadelphia Eagles fans’ longing for kelly green footba...
2017-12-2108 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Rugrats ChanukahIn the Advent Calendar House’s first Hanukkah episode, we follow the Rugrats on their mission to stop the “Meanie of Chanukah” and make him take a nap, counting all the Yiddish words and misspoken “babyisms” along the way. **** 🎙 Guest: Sarah Shay (Pilot House Podcast, Bandcamp, @thesarahshay). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Sarah’s top 2 favorite spellings of “Hanukkah.” 2. Going back to watch Pee-wee’s Big Adventure with the knowledge that Dottie (E.G. Daily) is the voice of Tommy Pickles. 3. A tale of 2 panics: Babies climbin...
2017-12-181h 03
Advent Calendar HouseFruity Pebbles Christmas CommercialHo-ho-ho, I’m hu-hu-hungry! Fill your soul with season’s greetings as we revisit a collection of Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereal commercials of Christmas past. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Fruity Pebbles Christmas commercial, dated between 1986 and 1989. 2. Recut commercial, with Jim Cummings as Santa, dated between 1992 and 1995. 3. Older Fruity Pebbles Christmas commercial, dated 1980. 4. Newer Cocoa Pebbles “Christmas Carol” commercial. 5. “I’m the Master Rapper and I’m here to say, I love Fruity Pebbles in a major...
2017-12-1410 min
Advent Calendar HouseThe Gift of WinterTrudge back to 1974 as we dig up a rare gem, The Gift of Winter, which introduces a colorful cast of characters better known from its Halloween sequel, Witch’s Night Out! You can watch The Gift of Winter online on Shout! Factory TV. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Pre-SNL appearances by the voices of Gilda Radner and Dan Aykroyd. 2. The special’s true heroes: A couple of gay trees. 3. Whenever Bazooey’s not on screen, all th...
2017-12-1151 min
Advent Calendar HouseHoney Nut Cheerios Scrooge CommercialNobody can’t say no to this 30-second portrayal of Scrooge in a Christmastime commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios. Officially titled “Ebenezer Scrooge Discovers Honey Nut Cheerios,” this commercial ran from around 1987 through at least the end of the 20th century. **** 🎙 Guest: Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. A tale of two Buzz Bees: “It’s Christmas,” vs. “It’s the holidays.” 2. Arnold Stang, the original voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, Top Cat, and Nestlé’s Chunky candy bar. 3. Stranger Christmas...
2017-12-0708 min
Advent Calendar HouseA Muppet Family ChristmasTo mark the 30th anniversary of the shredded wheat and cranberry sauce of TV specials, we take a head count of every unexpected guest Fozzie Bear’s mother graciously welcomed into her home on Christmas Eve, 1987. It’s a lot. **** 🎙 Guest: Carlin Trammel (Nerd Lunch, Dragonfly Ripple, @nerdlunch). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. We try and piece together the various home video cuts and music rights issues. 2. The dizzying continuity issues surrounding the Muppet Babies. 3. Can you say “OshKosh B’gosh”? 4. A milk PSA and the w...
2017-12-0458 min
Advent Calendar HouseFrosty the SnowmanHappy birthday! Join us as we begin our salute to all holiday specials, but mostly the Christmas ones by attempting to answer questions no one asked about the 1969 Rankin/Bass TV special, Frosty the Snowman. **** 🎙 Guest: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. How to easily escape a locked greenhouse. 2. When does something you throw away stop legally being yours? 3. Oatmeal is a perfectly adorable name for a snowman. 4. Frosty Day in Armonk, New York. 5. A closer...
2017-12-0136 min