Advent Calendar House - TV Holiday & Christmas Specials

The Wonder Years: A Very Cutlip Christmas

Episode Summary

Fred Savage spots his gym teacher as a mall Santa, a terrible secret apparently no one else can know. Guest: Andy Gattis. Find show notes at https://adventcalendar.house

Episode Notes

🎄 It’s 1970 by way of 1990, and I just noticed the Santa Claus at the mall is actually my gym teacher.  

Join us on a revealing trip back to The Wonder Years as we salute Robert Picardo’s standout performance as Coach Cutlip… and Santa.  

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🎙 Guest:  

Andy Gattis (Straight Chilling, AndyGattis.com).  

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💬 Topics & Tangents:  

1. Joe Cocker’s version of “With a Little Help from My Friends” over the opening credits was replaced for streaming with a soundalike, only they don’t sound alike.  

2. Almost all the original music is replaced, including a surf rock cover of “Sleigh Ride” by The Ventures.  

3. Fred Savage in “Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time,” featuring Rex and Herb from Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration.  

4. Coach Cutlip’s drawing of the female reproductive system.  

5. Oops, Wikipedia linked to the wrong Jay Lambert (Tommy). Here’s the right guy.  

6. Brandon Crane’s (Doug Porter) new podcast, “The Errorist.”  

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📼 Retro Commercial Break:  

Pepsi “Love Letter” Commercial with Fred Savage, 1990.  

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🎤 And Now, These Messages:  

TGI Podcast, diving into Christmas, Halloween, and Thanksgiving episodes from the 1990s era of TGIF and more.  

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“The Wonder Years” and “A Very Cutlip Christmas” © 1990 New World Television.  

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  

Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.