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🎄 It’s 1996, and we’re holding our football-shaped heads high on a quest to find our neighbor’s long-lost daughter… but first, a pair of highly sought after Nancy Spumoni snow boots!  🎙 Anthony Caruso from Tis the Podcast and Matt Eurich from TGI Podcast join us for a very special Christmas episode that solidified “Hey Arnold!” as an unforgettable Nicktoon.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The story behind the iconic Vietnam Episode of ‘Hey Arnold!’ (NBC News, 2021)  Arnold’s Claymation origins: “Arnold Escapes from Church” (1988)  Arnold Uses His Imagination on “Sesame Street.”  Helga in “Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.”  The “Pollyanna,” Philadelphia’s hyper-local Secret Santa.  Mr. Hyunh’s banana wallpaper.  Mr. Hyunh’s flashback includes the iconic helicopter image from the Fall of Saigon.  One-Legged Bob, the Affable Railroad Tramp.  Hey, grown-ups, remember dot matrix printers?  Hiep Thi Le’s life could’ve been a movie; instead the refugee became a star playing someone else (Los Angeles Times, 2018)  ****  📼 Commercials:  Talkboy Voice Recorder from “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”  ****  “Hey Arnold!” and “Arnold’s Christmas” © 1996 Viacom International, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1990s #nickelodeon

🎄 It’s 1990, and we’re looking a gift horse in the mouth.  🎙 Justin O’Connor joins us on a wild ride to the Bar None Ranch for a Very Special Episode™ of Nickelodeon’s “Hey Dude” disguised as a barely festive Christmas in July special.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  An ode to our childhood friends who lied about having an Uncle Who Worked For Nintendo.  Hey Dude Reviewed’s episode rankings and review of “Ride, She Said.”  Kelly Brown (Brad) in “Danger Zone 4: Mad Girls, Bad Girls” (NSFW).  Kelly Brown’s boutique on Long Island.  Christine Taylor (Melody) in “Showdown.”  Susan Sindelar (Cindy) in the background of a fight scene in “Smokey and the Bandit.”  TROT (Therapeutic Riding of Tucson).  The “Hey Dude” set is still somewhat standing in a secluded area of another, actual ranch.  The Hangin’ Out Gang.  The Huron Carol, believed to be the oldest North American Christmas carol, was written in an indigenous language.  The poster for “Miracle on 34th Street” gives no indication that it’s a Christmas movie.  You know what? I’ll just let y’all search for “star registry” on your own if you want to actually look naming a star after someone.  ****  📼 Commercials:  California Games for Nintendo (1987)  Christmas Creeps.  ****  “Hey Dude” and “Ride She Said” © 1990 MTV Networks.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s8 #1990s #nickelodeon

🎄 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.  #s8 #1990s

🎄 It’s 1992, and a group of 30-year-old teenagers are on a bus trip to their doom unless an angel in training can convince her supervisor they’re worth saving.  🎙 Ed Daly, author of “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday,” joins us for a very strange and very special visit to America’s most famous ZIP code in our first adaptation of It’s a Wonderful Life, even though this episode seems to have forgotten to actually adapt it.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Bonnie Urseth (Miriam) in “We’ve Got It Made.”  Brian Austin Green (David) as Metallo on “Smallville.”  Luke Perry (Dylan) in “The Sandlot: Heading Home.”  Of course Donna’s birthday is on Christmas Day.  Brandon’s amazing, generic FOOTBALL/SPORTS poster above his bed.  The West Beverly High Madrigal Singers (no relation) sing the original, drinking song lyrics to “Deck the Hall.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  7up Cool Spot Christmas Commercial (1992)  Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast.  ****  “Beverly Hills 90210” and “It’s a Totally Happening Life” © 1992 Torand Productions, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s8 #1990s #itsawonderfullife

🎄 It’s 1997, and we couldn’t decide which holiday to end the season with, so we’re celebrating them all.  🎙 Joey O. joins us on a journey 20 miles below the surface of the Earth to the very “Pee-wee’s Playhouse”-like split-level cave of “Weird Al” Yankovic as he learns to listen to his friends and family.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Weirdle, the “Weird Al”-themed offshoot of Heardle, the music-themed offshoot of Wordle.  “The Weird Accordion to Al,” by Nathan Rabin.  Joey interviews Ben Kweller about his appearance with Radish on “The Weird Al Show.”  Al’s got a thing for the number 27, which makes its way into this episode.  Stan Freberg’s “Christmas Dragnet,” which I know from a compilation CD from Philadelphia radio station WOGL.  Ed Marques (Varna) as the Surf Guru on ZDTV’s “Internet Tonight.”  I had no idea “I Lost on Jeopardy!” was a full parody of an actual song.  “Weird Al,” Paul Reubens, and Danny Elfman sing “Kidnap the Sandy Claws.”  National Hamster Day exists. It’s May 10.  Funny or Die’s original fake trailer for “Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.”  “Weird Al” Yankovic: There’s No Going Home, part of The Disney Channel’s Going Home concert/documentary series.  ****  📼 Commercials:  1990 Encyclopedia Britannica commercial starring Donavan Freberg (Baby Boolie).  ****  “The Weird Al Show” and “The Obligatory Holiday Episode” © 1997.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s8 #1990s

🎄 It’s 1990, and a little girl’s Christmas wish is about to get shot out of the sky.  🎙 Joey O. join us for the podcast’s first voyage into the Disney Afternoon as Baloo the cargo pilot bear attempts to save his boss’s daughter’s belief in Santa.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Joey’s Christmas TV lineup that he wrote on a piece of paper around 1991 and found again 30 years later.  The TaleSpin/Quantum Leap joke.  Disney’s “The Jungle Book,” the animated one, is somehow Germany’s biggest box office draw ever.  “Tales of the Gold Monkey,” a single-season TV show that inspired “TaleSpin.”  “What a Dummy,” an even shorter single-season TV show featuring Janna Michaels (Molly) and a living ventriloquist’s dummy.  Joey’s Interview with Pat Fraley (Wildcat), again!    Today’s TV Trope: String-on-Finger Reminder.  Cape Suzette and Louie’s Place on the Disney Wiki.  Flunkey, the Einstein-haired monkey from “The Jungle Book” whose “TaleSpin” counterpart appears to be Santa Louie’s “elf,” Waldo.  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s TaleSpin Happy Meal Toys (1990)  Snow in Southtown.  ****  “TaleSpin” and “Jolly Molly Christmas” © 1990 The Walt Disney Company.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s9 #1990s #disney

🎄 It’s 1997, and Tim Curry as an evil pipe organ is literally bringing down the house.  🎙 Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies join us as we journey into the depths of Disney’s direct-to-video library for an unnecessary but charming midquel that explains why the Beast hates Christmas and raises even more questions about the curse on his castle.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Bad Princess Movies on Disney’s original “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Enchanted Christmas.”  Coming Soon previews from the original VHS.  Kathie Lee Gifford sang the soundtrack for “Pooh’s Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin.”  Behind “Prince Adam,” the Beast’s real name Disney never made official but keeps occasionally using.  Tim Curry as Darkness in “Legend”  and as Hexxus in “FernGully: The Last Rainforest.”  How tall is the Beast’s castle compared to the real world’s tallest castle?  Disney can’t keep the Feather Duster’s name straight, either.  The West Wing at Be Our Guest Restaurant in the Magic Kingdom.  The terrifying air conditioner in “The Brave Little Toaster.”  The loudest organ ever built.  Belle wears her dress from this special during Christmastime at Disney parks.    Lisa Temming on designing Belle’s Christmas dress.  ****  📼 Commerciasls:  Disney Home Video Collection (1997)  Tiger Electronics Beauty and the Beast handheld game (1994)  Holidays After Dark.  ****  “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas” © 1997 Disney Enterprises, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s9 #1990s #disney

🎄 It’s 1970 by way of 1990, and I just noticed the Santa Claus at the mall is actually my gym teacher.  🎙 Andy Gattis joins us on a revealing trip back to The Wonder Years as we salute Robert Picardo’s standout performance as Coach Cutlip… and Santa.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  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.  Almost all the original music is replaced, including a surf rock cover of “Sleigh Ride” by The Ventures.  Fred Savage in “Dinosaurs! A Fun-Filled Trip Back in Time,” featuring Rex and Herb from “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration.”  Coach Cutlip’s drawing of the female reproductive system.  Oops, Wikipedia linked to the wrong Jay Lambert (Tommy). Here’s the right guy.  Brandon Crane’s (Doug Porter) new podcast, “The Errorist.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Pepsi “Love Letter” Commercial with Fred Savage (1990)  TGI Podcast.  ****  “The Wonder Years” and “A Very Cutlip Christmas” © 1990 New World Television.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s9 #1990s

🕎 It’s 1998, and we’re praying for a miracle after getting stuck in a snow bank on the side of a dark highway with only an eighth of a tank of gas.  🎙 April Ryley joins us on an enlightening revisit to the Flashy Girl from Flushing on her first Hanukkah as a married woman. Also, Ray Charles is here!  📺 You can watch “The Hanukkah Story” for free on Facebook.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  April visits the Sheffield residence, and so can you.  Fran Drescher in “UHF.”  Fran Drescher says she had to fight to let ‘The Nanny’ be Jewish (L.A. Times, 2020)  Benjamin Salisbury (Brighton) on “Teen Celebrity Jeopardy” in 1997.  Daniel Davis (Niles) on “The Fran Drescher Tawk Show” in 2010.  Max’s childhood memory of his dad at Christmas reminded me of Bruce Wayne’s long dining room table.  What to do if you’re stranded in a car during a winter storm.  Kenny Rogers Roasters still exists, but only in Asia.  ****  📼 Commercials:  3 Musketeers Commercial starring Fran Drescher (1998)  Hyrule Podcasters, an audio “Let’s Play” through The Legend of Zelda.  ****  “The Nanny” and “The Hanukkah Story” © 1998 Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co. Medien KG.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s9 #1990s #hanukkah

🎄 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.  #s10 #1990s #dc #comics #warnerbros

🫓 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we helped our favorite talking babies stop a true meanie in “A Rugrats Chanukah.”  This time, we’re ignoring the rules of another long-standing tradition as “Rugrats” reimagines the story of Passover.  🎙️ Sarah Shay and Zach Gozlan join us as we witness grown men throwing temper tantrums and ending up locked in the attic.  📺 I found this special hiding in a 4-hour VHS recording of Nick on CBS from 2003.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Pilot House on “I Dream of Jeannie,” which would not be seen the night this premiered.  Fact-Checking “Fact-Checking A Rugrats Passover.”  As of this recording, the Sultan of Brunei in 1995 is still sultan.  “Noozles,” which co-starred Cheryl Chase (Angelica) and was not “The Adventures of the Little Koala.”  The 4 categories of Jewish holidays.  Melanie Chartoff (Didi, Minka) as the principal in “Parker Lewis Can’t Lose.”  The controversy over Boris and Minka’s design.  “The Song That Doesn’t End” from “Lamb Chop’s Play Along.”  The Maxwell House Haggadah.  A Haggadah of Our Own.  “Bible Adventures.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Country Crock Spreadable Sticks (1994), featuring Jack Riley (Stu).  Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards (2003)  The Studio Demands It!  ****  “A Rugrats Passover” © 1995 Viacom International Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s10 #1990s #passover #nickelodeon

🎄 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.  #s10 #1990s

🎃 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we flew a sleigh made out of a dumpster into space with the California Raisins in “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration.”  This time, we’re reanimating a creepier creation of his from 1991 — a Halloween special that premiered in May for some reason.  🎙 Sammy Hain and Chad Young join us for “Claymation Comedy of Horrors,” starring the scheming Wilshire Pig on a quest to uncover the secret lab of Dr. Frankenswine.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  IMDb’s photo gallery from this special.  “The Adventures of Mark Twain.”  Todd Tolces’ website and YouTube résumé.  Michele Mariana (Wilshire) on “Sesame Street” as Cecile, the singing ball of clay.  Herb from Burger King.  Will Vinton wanted to build a theme park called Claymation Station with Wilshire Pig as its Mickey Mouse.  Raphael opened the floodgates for characters made for children saying curse words.  Sheldon the Snail bears a passing resemblance to The Noid.  A closer examination of the bathroom graffiti.  Today’s TV Trope: Removable Shell.  Does Famine’s business card say he’s from Limbo, Illinois?  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s Coke Float Commercial, 1991, aired during this special.  Another Zelda Podcast.  ****  “Claymation Comedy of Horrors” © 1991 Will Vinton Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s10 #1990s #halloween #claymation

🎄 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we spent Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Hanukkah on “Shalom Sesame,” and even uncovered the oddity, “A Special Sesame Street Christmas.”  This time, join us as we fly faster than time backwards around the globe to 1996 to watch Elmo save, then ruin, then fix Christmas.  🎙 Becca Petunia and Anthony Strand from ToughPigs.com drop in to watch Elmo’s wish for Christmas Every Day cause economic and environmental disaster in a star-studded special narrated by Maya Angelou and featuring Harvey Fierstein as the Easter Bunny and “Doc Hopper,” himself, Charles Durning, as Santa.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Brats of the Lost Nebula.”  Early “proto-Elmo” appearances.  Miss Piggy’s cookbook has a recipe by Maya Angelou.  Baby Bear is Jewish.  14 Karat Soul sings “Down Below the Street.”  Cookie Monster disguised as Ernie.  A petition to remake “White Christmas” with Elmo and Rosita’s military veteran dads.  This special’s unique News Flash logo.  The soundtrack that’s not actually a soundtrack.  Big Bird sings “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” but not THAT one.  Elmo as the ring bearer at Luis and Maria’s wedding.  Ranking all the jokes in “Elmo Says BOO!”  Bert and Ernie meet their “It’s a Wonderful Life” counterparts.  ****  📼 Commercials:  “Elmo Saves BOO!” (1997)  Returning Student, a 40-year-old’s journey to finish the college degree he never got.  ****  “Elmo Saves Christmas” © 1996 Children’s Television Workshop.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s10 #1990s #muppets #christmaseveryday

🎄 Previously on the Advent Calendar House, we watched a cavemen take over Santa’s job after he fell off the roof in “A Flintstone Christmas.”  This time, our reunion tour of previously podcasted-about characters makes its final stop of the season in Bedrock, where Fred Flintstone is letting the lead role of “Ebonezer” Scrooge go to his head.  🎙️ “Ant-stony” Strand and “Mi-coal” May join us as we watch Wilma do the workload of I lost count of how many victims of the highly contagious Bedrock Bug. We also make the strongest case yet that this Modern Stone-Age Family does, indeed, know about who made lame beggars walk and blind men see.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “A Flintstone Family Christmas,” from a year before, was the last appearance of adult Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm.  “The Flintstones & WWE: Stone-Age Smackdown!”  The latest we’ve waited to shop for our spouses.  A grown-up Philo Quartz from “The Flintstone Kids” appears here and then never again.  The Piltdown Man hoax.  How big is the stage, and how are the actors playing ghosts appearing translucent?  They added a “love scene” with Belle, and Maggie Magma is way too excited about it.  Brian Cummings (Ernie/The Ghost of Christmas Present) did a weird Kermit the Frog voice in a promo for “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree.”  Other Dickens characters have headstones in the graveyard.  IMDb credits Rip Taylor as the voice of a Venus flytrap tuba in the orchestra pit.  (These show notes originally included a link to vote on which version of “A Christmas Carol” we’d cover for Christmas Eve! Here’s what won.)  ****  📼 Commercials:  Cocoa Pebbles “Christmas Carol” commercial (1998)  “Dinner & a Movie” makes standing rib roast with “Rockshire” pudding (1996)  ****  “A Flintstones Christmas Carol” © 1994 Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s10 #1990s #scroogesunday #hannabarbera #flintstones

🎄 After spending 3 months locked in a water tower, the Advent Calendar House has escaped in time for Christmas Podcast Day, a fake holiday originally made up for a hashtag back when social media was slightly less stupid.  It’s not Scrooge Sunday, but the theme for this year’s Christmas Podcast Day is “A Christmas Carol,” so I’m playing a long, but also cheating a little by covering both segments of a 1993 Christmas episode of “Animaniacs.”  🎙 Erin Evans and Joey O. join us for a totally insane-y Christmas Podcast Day-ny!  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The Animanicast.  Animaniacs Wiki entry for this episode.  Sherri Stoner (Slappy Squirrel) was the live action reference model for Disney princesses Ariel and Belle.  “A Christmas Plotz: The Hip-Hop Musical.”  Jess Harnell (Wakko) sang the Taz-Mania theme.  Jess Harnell’s band, Rock Sugar.  Forest Lawn Memorial Park.  Today’s TV Tropes: Sensational Staircase Sequence and Scooby Stack.  Baby Jesus is in a thatched-roof cottage.  Kathryn Page’s gag credits.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Animaniacs McDonald’s Happy Meal Toys (1994)  Snow in Southtown.  ****  “Animaniacs,” “A Christmas Plotz,” and “Little Drummer Warners” © 1993 Warner Bros.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  “Christmas Podcast Day” song by Tim Babb from the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast. Parody of “Weasel Stomping Day” by “Weird Al” Yankovic.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s10 #1990s #scroogesunday #warnerbros #nativity

🎄 It’s 1991, and Santa Claus is fighting with a talking dog over a park bench.  By some Christmas miracle, this obscure special was rediscovered over 30 years later. For years, people on the Internet tried to identify it on a TV in the background of an old family photo, until finally, thanks to the power of positivity, it was identified as “The Soulmates in The Gift of Light.”  🎙️ Michael DiGiovanni and Jeff Somogyi join us as we meet the intergalactic Soulmates in what seems like a pilot that never got off the ground.  📺 You can watch “The Soulmates in The Gift of Light” for free on YouTube, courtesy of the special’s creator, Gabrielle St. George.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The original Tumblr post: “Can You Figure Out Who This Is?” by Sophie Campbell (2016)  Will Sloan’s tweet of the screenshot, September 2022.  CBC News: Canadian cartoon mystery finally solved after 6 years, thanks to the internet (2022)  “The Littles,” for comparison.  Today’s TV Trope: Mind-Control Eyes.  Soulmates Productions, Inc. defaulted in 2007.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Canadian Tire: Scrooge / Nintendo Action Set Commercial (1991)  Pop Tarts Commercial starring Dan and Dave (1990)  Remember That Show?  ****  “The Soulmates in The Gift of Light” © 1991 Soulmates Productions, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s11 #1990s

🎄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.  #s11 #1990s #dc #comics #warnerbros

Let’s all go to the taco show!  The Advent Calendar House has awoken early from its long winter’s nap to take the Leap Year challenge as prescribed by Dr. Frasier Crane on one unseasonably warm February morning in 1996.  🎙 Erin Evans and Joey O. get dressed up in buttons and boys to look into the “Frasier” cast’s Christmas connections, explore the world of complicated opera solos and bad Western ballads, and call in to a PBS pledge drive to try and talk to Big Bird.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Kelsey Grammer in “Mr. St. Nick” and “The Twelve Days of Christmas Eve.”  Our adventures on the mid-1990s internet, when it was All About the Pentiums.  “Frasier” episodes ranked on Variety, Frasier Online, and Thrillist.  “When You Had Left Our Pirate Fold” from “The Pirates of Penzance,” in which Leap Day becomes a plot point.  Oleg Cassini and the worst title card gag.    KACL is a real radio station, but not in Seattle.  “Rigoletto” and the aria “Ella mi fu rapita / Parmi veder le lagrime.”  Kelsey Grammer sings “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the 1996 Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Philadelphia.    “Buttons and Bows,” as sung by Bob Hope in “The Paleface” and by Leap Day baby Dinah Shore.  Adam “Edge” Copeland talks “Money Plane” on Hey! (EW).  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s “Morning Break” Commercial starring Kelsey Grammer (1995)  Remember That Show?  ****  “Frasier” and “Look Before You Leap” © 1996 Paramount Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1990s #leapday

🎄 It’s 1992, and my daydreams of snow are melting into a bucket of water getting dumped on my head from an airplane.  🎙 Kit Quinn, Randee Martin, and Tyler Green from Channel KRT join us as we dive down the rabbit hole to the strange world of The Disney Channel’s “Adventures in Wonderland,” where the White Rabbit wears Rollerblades and the halls are decked with fresh produce, the way Christmas was meant to be celebrated.  📺 You can find “Christmas in Wonderland” on Disney+, or this copy with a commercial bumper in front of it.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Channel KRT on the episodes “Pie Noon” and “Wonderland: The Movie.”  “White Rabbits Can’t Jump,” an unaired episode guest starring O.J. Simpson.  One Movie Later: Alice Through the Looking Glass.  Deadline’s obituary for Armelia McQueen (The Red Queen) uses a photo from this special.  Armelia McQueen on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” and… “The Fesh Pince of Blair.”  Patrick Richwood (White Rabbit) lied to the casting director about knowing how to rollerblade.  Cast members on The Tiara Talk Show.  The Christmas Pickle.  Harry Waters Jr. (Tweedle Dee) in “Back to the Future,” and Wesley Mann (Caterpillar) in “Part II.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Disney Channel Holiday Preview Bumper with Jane Seymour (1992) Juicy Fruit Skiing Commercial (circa 1989)  Cool Kids Club, a nostalgia-filled trip back to childhood.  ****  “Adventures in Wonderland” and “Christmas in Wonderland” © 1992 The Walt Disney Company.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1990s #disney