Paxton Holley

🎄It’s 1994, and the Jeffersons are poisoning Metropolis with greed spray from toy atomic space rats.  🎙 Gerry Davila, Paxton Holley, and Jeeg join us on an unpredictable flight through the first Christmas episode of “Lois and Clark,” written by Dean Cain and starring Sherman Hemsley as the Toyman and Isabel Sanford as his reluctant assistant, plus Denise Richards, Dick Van Patten, Doug Llewellyn, and terrible special effects.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  C.T. brings up this episode and Jeeg seals his fate on Nerd Lunch’s “Nerdstradamus 2013 Redux.”  Winslow Schott’s plan to dump his greed toxin into Metropolis’s water supply is similar to Scarecrow’s plan in “Batman Begins.”  Progressive Insurance “Barbie” Commercial.  Denise Richards (Angela) in “Tammy and the T-Rex.”  Eddie Jones (Jonathan Kent) in “A League of Their Own.”  Christmas at Graceland.  Totally Rad Christmas on “It’s Gary Shandling’s Christmas Show” featuring Dom Irrera (Hecklebaum).  Homer Simpson licking poisonous toads.  Today’s TV Trope: Anticipatory Breath Spray.  “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” by The Pretenders.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Burger King Holiday Disney Glasses Commercial (1994)  Children First “Read a Book” PSA featuring Brett Butler (1994)  Totally Rad Christmas. ****  “Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman” and “Season’s Greedings” © 1994 Warner Bros. Television.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 It’s the Advent Calendar House’s 5th anniversary, so instead of celebrating one Christmas special, we watched three!  🎙️ Jeff Somogyi and Paxton Holley help us clear the runway as we salute Disney’s trilogy of 2009’s “Prep & Landing,” 2010’s “Operation: Secret Santa,” and 2011’s “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice.”  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Disney’s Prep & Landing Website from 2009 is still up with character and gadget profiles.  “Tiny’s Big Adventure,” a minute-long short starring Magee’s assistant.  Super Golden Crisp Cereal’s Sugar Bear musical Christmas ornament.  Prep & Landing Easter eggs.  Santa’s castle looks familiar.  Noel’s early cameo in “Operation: Secret Santa.”  A hat tip to the Classic Film Jerks.  Captain Avalanche and Snowball’s poster looks like a Batman and Robin Detective Comics cover.  “Naughty, Naughty Children” by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.  “Nuttin’ for Christmas” by the Plain White T’s.  “The Ballad of Nessie,” who makes 2 cameos.  Ralphie from “A Christmas Story” appears.  “Mansion: Impossible,” featuring Wayne and Lanny prepping the Avengers Mansion.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Coca-Cola: Santa Packs are Coming (1994)  Campbell’s Soup: Snowman (1995)  Can’t Wait for Christmas’s reminder to play “Underneath the Tree” by Kelly Clarkson more.  ****  “Prep & Landing,” “Operation: Secret Santa,” and “Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice” © Disney.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.

🎄 From the author of “The Wizard of Oz” comes one of the craziest Santa origin stories ever.  🎙️ Brandon Medley and Paxton Holley stop by to witness Rankin/Bass go 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 L. Frank Baum, which explains a lot.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Santa Claus’s growth to manhood, from J.D. Roth to Mumm-ra, and the rest of the Thundercats are here, too!  L. Frank Baum’s original book on the Internet Archive, in ebook, PDF, and audiobook format.  Pax’s review of the book and “Road to Oz,” which also features Santa.  Baum’s sequel story, “A Kidnapped Santa Claus.”  King Awgwa looks like My Pet Monster.  The Most Pagan Christmas Special You Will Ever See (Fit for Dragon Con, 2013)  That’s not Santa in “Return to Oz.” That’s the Shaggy Man.  A Doom Metal Tribute to The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus.  ****  “The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus” © 1985 Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.Find us at adventcalendar.house.