Andre Bennett

🎄 It’s 2010, and I’m hiding in a closet from a flying shark that ate half my screwdriver.  I’ve finally caught up with the timeline of people who have been requesting that I watch the “Doctor Who” Christmas specials.  🎙 Andre Bennett, Jack Ford from the Total Christmas Podcast, and Anthony Strand from ToughPigs.com join me for a twisted take on “A Christmas Carol” starring Michael Gambon in the Scrooge role and the 11th Doctor as at least 2 ghosts of Christmas.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Andre’s review of this episode from 2011.  Anthony ranks all of Steven Moffat’s “Doctor Who” episodes.  Amy and Rory’s outfits may or may not be but probably are a nod to a similar scene in a 2001 “Only Fools and Horses” Christmas special.  Michael Gambon in “Toys,” as the Ultragorgon on Jim Henson’s “Monster Maker,” and as the Ghost of Christmas Present in 2001’s “Christmas Carol: The Movie.”  Abigail is basically Nora Fries from Batman.  Katherine Jenkins on “Dancing with the Stars.”  Danny Horn (Young Adult Kazran) on Bandcamp.  Greenland sharks could live for hundreds of years.  “Abigail’s Song (Silence Is All You Know)”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Tesco Christmas Advert: “Mrs. Belcher” (2010)  Tinsel Tunes: The Christmas Music Podcast  ****  “Doctor Who” and “A Christmas Carol” © 2010 BBC.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us 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.  🎙️ Andre Bennett and Tim Babb join us for a ride in our light blue ’54 convertible as we take a joyride through the very last and most overlooked Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a mostly black cast starring Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and a criminally underused Eartha Kitt as a talking cat.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  This special was co-written by Suzanne Collins, who went on to write “The Hunger Games.”  The other co-writer, Peter Bakalian, also has a book series. It’s called “The F.A.R.T. Diaries.”  Patti LaBelle in Philadelphia’s “Get to Know Us” tourism campaign, 1985.  Patti LaBelle on “Sesame Street” singing “How I Miss My X.”  IMDb’s photo gallery for “Santa, Baby!” is full of high-quality promotional images.  RankinBass.com’s first look at “Santa, Baby!” from December 2001.  Gregory Hines in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” and “Running Scared.”  Rankin/Bass finally includes “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in a Christmas special.  Natalie Toro (Samson) lists “Santa Baby!” on her bio page.  Andre’s uncle co-wrote K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s “Wake Up” Breakfast Commercial featuring Patti LaBelle (1990)  Can’t Wait for Christmas.  ****  “Santa, Baby” © 2001 Perisphere Pictures, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we were Dreaming of a White Ranger with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.   This time, they’re away helping Santa, so Zordon surprises Alpha by teleporting in a bunch of children for a Christmas party.  🎙️ Andre Bennett and C.J. Belanger joins us for a very bonkers Power Rangers home video, plus a mini tribute to the late Jason David Frank, who’s seen as both the Green and White Ranger here because nobody cares about continuity during Christmas, I guess.  📺 You can watch “Alpha’s Magical Christmas” on YouTube, preserved by Dinosaur Dracula.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Chosen Sentai Jetman.”  “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once and Always.”  Morphed: Cheryl Saban’s Journey from Beach Bunny to Philanthropist.  The real-life Command Center: The House of the Book at the American Jewish University.  Baby Groot and the bomb that will kill everyone.  Andre proves “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Karate Club Video (1994)  Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Fan Club (1994)  The Magic of the Season.  ****  “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” and “Alpha’s Magical Christmas” © 1994 Saban Entertainment, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s the Advent Calendar House’s 10th season, and to celebrate, every episode is revisiting familiar faces and places already covered on the podcast.  Previously, we spent Christmas with the Joker in “Batman: The Animated Series.” This time, we’re returning to the 1997 premiere of the redesigned, rebranded “New Batman Adventures.”  🎙️ Andre Bennett and Joey O. join us on a festive tour of Gotham City through the Joker’s hideously redrawn eyes.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The Batman Adventures Holiday Special original comic.  “Welcome to Our OOL.”  Dark Night: A True Batman Story, by Paul Dini.  Arleen Sorkin on “America’s Funniest People,” a her appearance as a jester on “Days of Our Lives” that inspired her casting as Harley Quinn.  Kevin Conroy on being recognized while volunteering after 9/11.  “Finding Batman,” by Kevin Conroy, from DC’s Pride 2022.  Paul Dini’s original cel from Harley and Poison Ivy’s shopping spree.  Tim Drake’s animated debut, and a shocking Muppet tangent.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Batman and Alfred Diet Coke Commercial (1989)  Festive Foreign Film Fans.  ****  “The New Batman Adventures” and “Holiday Knights” © 1997 Warner Bros.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.

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