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🎄 It’s 1988, and the Spirit of Christmas just broke down my bedroom door to say hello.  🎙 Jack Ford from the Total Christmas Podcast joins us for an edition of Scrooge Sunday that turns everyone’s favorite festive tale of redemption on its head and blows it out its enormous, muscular backside as great philanthropist and all-around softy Ebenezer Blackadder learns from watching his ancestors and descendants that it’s good to be bad.  📺 You can watch “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” on Vimeo.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Tony Robinson’s “Christmas Wrapping” and the Total Christmas Podcast episode on it.  How have I never heard of humbug candies?  “A Merry Messy Kweznuz.”  A deleted scene.  Miriam Margolyes (Queen Victoria) in “Little Shop of Horrors.”  Jim Broadbent (Prince Albert) as Santa in an Aldi Christmas ad.  “The Last of Scrooge,” and Jack’s review of it.  The cast of “Grange Hill” sings “Just Say No.”  Dennis Lill (Beadle) in “Batman” (1989).  Spitting Image and “The Chicken Song.”  Merry Britsmas on “A Christmas Carol Goes Wrong.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  BBC1 Intro to “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” (1988)  Barclaycard: “Surveillance” (1995), starring Rowan Atkinson.  Festive Foreign Film Fans.  ****  “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” © 1988 BBC.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1980s #scroogesunday

🎄 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.  #s13 #2010s #scroogesunday

🎃 This year, Halloween in July has fallen on a Scrooge Sunday, so we’re hitting two holiday tropes with one garbage disposal.  🎙️ Gerry Davila and Brandon Medley join us on a journey back to 1992 to watch Roseanne endure a haunting by the Ghosts of Halloween Past, Present, and Future.  📺 At press time, the episode “Halloween IV” is available on Peacock.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The Story Behind Roseanne’s Iconic Chicken Shirt (Decider, 2018).  The “Psych” pineapple.  October 30th is Mischief Night in New Jersey and, apparently, nowhere else.  Elks Lodges lodges are real.  Our Halloween costumes from around 1992, and the worst things we’ve gotten while trick-or-treating.  Lee Arenberg (Ghost of Halloween Past) in “The Wizard.”  Mario Reccuzo (Ghost of Halloween Present) on “California Dreams.”  Dan and Jackie’s amazing beheaded Marie Antoinette costume.  A background actor is wearing a Pigs in Space costume.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Walgreens Halloween Decorations (1992)  How a Count Eats a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup (1990)  ****  “Roseanne” and “Halloween IV” © 1992 The Carsey-Werner Company.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s14 #1990s #halloween #scroogesunday

🎄 It is once again Scrooge Sunday, and the time has come to awkwardly smoosh our spirits through the walls of our bedchamber and float back to 2004 for a special TV movie based on Alan Menken’s musical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” starring Kelsey Grammer as Scrooge, Jason Alexander as Marley’s Ghost, Jennifer Love Hewitt as Belle, and Jane Krakowski as the Ghost of Christmas Past.  🎙️ Michael May and Rob Graham from After Lunch join the celebration of abundance, charity, and good will toward men as we forge this podcast link by link and dumb joke by dumb joke.  📺 You can watch “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” for free on YouTube.  Plus: After this episode, listen to the 3 of us on After Lunch review “A Christmas Carol” on “Shower of Stars” from 1954.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Julian Ovenden (Fred) in “Downton Abbey.”  Today’s TV Trope: And You Were There.  Jacob Collier (Tiny Tim) on YouTube, including his Grammy-winning arrangement of “The Flintstones” theme.  Brian Bedford (Fezziwig) on “Frasier” and as Disney’s Robin Hood.  Ebenezer Scrooges Ranked by How Redeemed They Are (FilmHounds, 2024)  ****  📼 Commercials:  KFC “Christmas with Jason Alexander” (2001)  Merry Britsmas.  ****  “A Christmas Carol: The Musical” © 2004 Hallmark Entertainment Distribution, LLC.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.  #s15 #2000s #scroogesunday

🎄 Rise and shine while you still can! Since this year’s December Solstice falls on a Sunday, I’ve come bearing the gift of an unexpectedly very merry Scrooge Sunday episode of “Xena: Warrior Princess” from 1996.  🎙️ April Ryley and Sammy Hain join the mission to warm the cold heart of a king who’s banned all Solstice celebrations on an almost wibbly-wobbly timeline that manages to smash together “A Christmas Carol,” the Three Fates of ancient Greek tradition, a Santa Claus origin story, and the Nativity. It even throws in some “Home Alone” style shenanigans, as a treat!  📺 As of this recording, “A Solstice Carol” is available to watch on Prime Video.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Lucy Lawless in “Spider-Man.”  “Ebenezer and the Invisible World,” the video game.  Moirai: The Three Fates.  The Simpsons: “Desperately Xeeking Xena” from “Treehouse of Horror X” (1999)  Inside Senticles’s toy closet, and his King Friday XIII lookalike jack-in-the-box.  The song: “Solstice Night.”  Karl Urban as Cupid in a Valentine’s Day episode.  ****  📼 Commercials:  7up: Holiday Celebration (1996)  Bad Princess Movies.  ****  “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “A Solstice Carol” © 1996 MCA Television Limited.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.  #s15 #1990s #scroogesunday

🎄 Well, them podcast boys have run into another Scrooge Sunday, and this time, the ghosts from “A Christmas Carol” are haunting Boss Hogg in the Dukes of Hazzard’s Saturday morning cartoon counterpart.  🎙️ Michael DiGiovanni and new guest Ken Kessler from The Sounds of Christmas join the ride through Christmas past, present, and future as the Dukes take a holiday from their race around the world in an episode that made us wish they’d get back to racing.  📺 You can find “A Dickens of a Christmas” on the Internet Archive.  ****  (00:00) - Intro  (02:23) - Personal and Series History  (10:03) - Act 1: Big Jake Marley’s Ghost  (23:27) - Retro Commercial Break  (25:29) - Act 2: Christmas Past and Present  (37:19) - Act 3: Christmas Future and The End of It  (48:35) - Final Thoughts  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  John Schneider and Tom Wopat made a Christmas album.  Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) as Santa on “Full House.”  Christmas in Russia is on January 7th.  Is this story’s Belle substitute the only time we ever meet Uncle Jesse’s late (or, in this case, future) wife?  ****  📼 Commercials:  “The Dukes” Saturday Morning Promo (1983)  Kentucky Fried Chicken Christmas Commercial (circa 1987)  Snow in Southtown  ****  “The Dukes” and “A Dickens of a Christmas” © 1983 Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc.  “The Dukes of Hazzard” © 1983 Warner Bros., Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.  #s16 #1980s #scroogesunday #hannabarbera

🎄 It’s another Scrooge Sunday, which means we’re about to be haunted by a series of spirits as we ride the airwaves back to 1980 for a version of “A Christmas Carol” set in the studios of “WKRP in Cincinnati.”  🎙️ Gerry Davila, Scott Leopold, and Michael May join us on a trip through time that definitely wasn’t fueled by special brownies, so stop asking.  📺 You can find “Bah, Humbug” on the Internet Archive.  ****  (00:00) - Intro  (03:03) - Guest and Episode Histories  (07:55) - Carlson’s Grandfather’s Ghost  (26:03) - Christmas Past  (38:30) - Retro Commercial Break  (39:58) - Christmas Present  (46:42) - Christmas Future and The End of It  (59:17) - Final Thoughts  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  This episode won an Emmy for video editing, beating out an Alice in Wonderland themed episode of “The Muppet Show” starring Brooke Shields.  A teenage Jan Smithers (Bailey) on a 1966 cover of “Newsweek.”  Richard Sanders (Les Nessman) in “Day of the Tentacle.”  There’s now a real, actual WKRP-FM radio station in Cincinnati.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Kmart Christmas Commercial (1980)  Holly Jolly X’masu  ****  “WKRP in Cincinnati” and “Bah, Humbug” © 1980 Company Four.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.  #s16 #1980s #scroogesunday