Mike Westfall

🎄 Cowabunga! In nearly 40 years of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, 2004’s “The Christmas Aliens” is somehow their only animated Christmas episode.  Anthony Strand, Shawn Robare, and Jaime Hood join the ride as we follow Michelangelo and a kitty named Klunk on a Christmas Eve car chase to save a truckload of stolen Little Orphan Alien dolls meant for a group of little orphan human Earthlings, all while Splinter makes a sewer full of guests wait for Mikey to arrive before they eat.  At press time, “The Christmas Aliens” is available on Paramount+.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Read the original 1985 comic on Mirage Studios’ old, preserved website.  Our episode on “We Wish You a Turtle Christmas.”  The Lost and Unused Theme Songs of the 2003 series.  Bruce Wayne’s long dining room table.  Similar chase scenes in “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Speed.”  Terence Archie (Silver Sentry) as Apollo Creed in “Rocky: The Musical.”  Ice Cream Kitty!  ****  📼 Commercials:  Happy Honda Days: Ninja Turtles, featuring the original 1980s voice cast (2018).  WIZARDS The Podcast Guide to Comics.  ****  “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “The Christmas Aliens” © 2004 4Kids Entertainment, Inc., and Mirage Licensing, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.

🐰 It’s Easter in July, and those two things together are the least confusing thing about today’s episode.  It’s a race across the calendar with Michael May and Sammy Hain as we follow Peter Cottontail through time on his quest to reclaim the title of Chief Easter Bunny from the evil January Q. Irontail, voiced by Vincent Price, in Rankin/Bass’s first non-Christmas holiday special from 1971.  Find “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” on Tubi, or this restored version on the YouTube channel “The Rankin Bass Archive.”  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “The Easter Bunny That Overslept,” the book, and a read-along video.  This special has the same opening as Disney’s “Aladdin.”  Vincent Price hosting “Read, Write, and Draw” on The Disney Channel.  Jim and Dwight are the worst party planning committee on “The Office.”  Patton Oswalt on Easter eggs.  Seymour S. Sassafras is probably a Time Lord.  Today’s TV Trope: Loophole Abuse.  The Halloween segment reuses music from “Mad Monster Party?”  Is the title of Chief Easter Bunny always on the line like a 24/7 wrestling championship?  Johnnie Fedora and Alice Bluebonnet.  Yosemite Sam attempts to cook hasenpfeffer.  The Easter Bunny in Hell in “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.”  This special got a sequel in 2005.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Cadbury Easter Creme Eggs (1978)  FOLCs Forever: A Lois & Clark Rewatch Podcast.  ****  “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” © 1971 Videocraft International Limited.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 We’re snowed in a bit earlier than expected, so we’ve hunkered down to have a Christmas feast from around the world with the WJM TV family in a 1974 non-Christmas Christmas episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”  Joining the party is film critic and author Alonso Duralde, who recommended this episode. A newly Revised and Updated edition of Alonso’s book, “Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas,” is being released in September, but you can pre-order it now.  You can also find Alonso at The Film Verdict; check out his other book, Hollywood Pride; and listen to Linoleum Knife, Maximum Film, Breakfast All Day, and Deck the Hallmark.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Pre-order the Revised and Updated Edition of “Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas.”  IMDb’s photo gallery for this episode has 20 screenshots of Mary in a towel.  Betty White’s amazing Christmas dress.  Harrison Ford recalls what he told George Lucas while shooting the first “Star Wars” movie.  I couldn’t find a recipe for “soufflé tour légende,” but here’s one for “Mr. Grant You Took Half Veal Prince Orloff!”  Today’s TV Trope: Social Semi-Circle.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Burger King Gift Certificates Christmas Commercial (1974)  Season’s Eatings.  ****  “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and “Not a Christmas Story” © 1974 MTM Enterprises, Inc.Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.

If you’re taller than this, prepare to die. (Guests: Michael DiGiovanni, Erin Evans, Joey O., Donnie Storms)

Santa Claus is gunnin’ you down. (Guests: Michael DiGiovanni, Erin Evans, Joey O., Donnie Storms)

Santa, Superman, and their part-Jewish friend save Ross’s son’s dueling holidays. Guests: April Ryley, Becca Petunia

Drew Barrymore connects with her inner child thanks to the power of Cincinnati. Guests: Molly Patton, Becca Petunia, Adam Pope.

The Doctor prescribes what’s been missing from A Christmas Carol: A flying shark. Guests: Andre Bennett, Jack Ford, Anthony Strand.

No porpoises were harmed during the making of this podcast. Guests: Gerry Davila, Ethan the Hungry Reader

Let’s have a good, old-fashioned Christmas down on Kent Farm. Guests: Joey O., James Riley

Mama saves the day for a bunch of kids whose parents waited till Christmas Eve to see Santa at the mall. Guest: Joe Fulton.

Christmas pudding sends the count on a concussion-induced space adventure. Guest: Adam Parker Sibun.

Color me impressed by this 2020 stop-motion special by the Chiodo Brothers. Guests: Michael DiGiovanni, Sammy Hain.

Mickey Rooney invades everyone’s personal space trying to earn his wings. Guests: Guy Hutchinson, William Bruce West.

A merry, messy Kweznuz. Guest: Jack Ford.

Wood and plastic. It’s fantastic! Guests: Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies.

Slime to the world. Guests: Shawn Robare, Steven.

Robert Downey Jr. may or may not be holding Kermit the Frog hostage until he gets his perfect tree. Guests: Tim Babb, Anthony Strand.

Buster Bunny gets erased by his guardian toon angel. Guests: Adam Pope, William Bruce West, Chad Young

Dr. Sam Beckett Scrooges Charles Rocket. Guests: Erin Evans, Joey O.