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🎄 It’s 1981, and a jolly swagman who may or may not be Santa Claus is flying me around the world in a sleigh built out of a bench and some rope we had lying around to search the globe for a lost baby kangaroo.  Today’s Christmas in July episode begins where it’s actually winter in July, and only gets stranger and more inappropriate from there.  🎙 Dan MacPherson joins us for “Around the World with Dot,” also known as “Dot and Santa Claus,” starring the title character from an 1899 Australian children’s book, “Dot and the Kangaroo.”  📺 You can find “Around the World with Dot” on YouTube. You may want to watch “Dot and the Kangaroo” first.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Director Yoram Gross endured World War II in Poland; his family was on Schindler’s list. His studio, now Flying Bark Productions, more recently animated “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and Marvel’s “What If…?”  Barbara Frawley (Dot) singing “The Black Cat” on “Play School.”  Today’s TV Trope: Magical Homeless Person.  “Sakura Sakura,” which I recognized from Punch-Out!!  How a White Lie Gave Japan KFC for Christmas. (Gastro Obscura)  “The Real World of the Circus” opens similarly to the movie “Chaplin.”  “Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon.”  “Alouette” is about plucking the feathers off a lark.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Mortein “Louie the Fly” Commercial (1980s)  Myer “Celebrate Christmas” Commercial (1980s)  Bad Princess Movies. ****  “Dot and the Kangaroo” © 1981 Yoram Gross Filmstudio Pty Ltd.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1980s

🎄 It’s 1977, and the cast of Broadway’s hottest new musical is taking drastic measures to convince 4 different unions keep the theater open for a Christmas party because they forgot to book a venue.  🎙️ Guy Hutchinson joins us to watch the original Broadway cast of “Annie” play somethings in between themselves and their characters in a unique TV Christmas special that may very well have been many TV viewers’ first exposure to the musical.  📺 You can watch “The Annie Christmas Show” on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The original Broadway version of “Annie” ends on Christmas; the 1982 movie ends on the 4th of July.  Andrea McArdle in “Christmas at Walt Disney World.” (Full Episode)  Danielle Brisbois (Molly) in “All in the Family,” and she was a founding member of the band New Radicals.  “It’s Christmas” on the Annie 30th Anniversary Production Cast Recording, featuring multiple Annies and Miss Hannigans.  “I Don’t Care” in “In the Good Old Summertime” and “Back to the Future: The Game.”  “There’s a Broken Heart for Every Light on Broadway” in “Bullets Over Broadway.”  Today’s TV Trope: I Have a Family.  Ethel Merman sings “Tomorrow” in “A Special Sesame Street Christmas.” (Full Episode)  How The Twelve Days of Christmas’ days 9 through 12 got reordered.  Members of the cast reunited in 2019 to perform this Christmas special.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Kinney Shoes (1977)  Fotomat (1977)  Festive Foreign Film Fans.  ****  “The Annie Christmas Show” © 1977 Martin Charmin Productions / NBC Universal Network.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1970s

🎃 It’s 1986, and one student at a magical boarding school is struggling to fit in while having to deal with a hard-nosed potions teacher and bullying from a golden child whose father will hear about this, but finds comfort in broom flying and encouragement from the kindly old headmaster.  No, not that one.  🎙️ Becca Petunia and Lindy Kempe join us for “The Worst Witch,” adapted from the original beloved series of books about a quirky boarding school for witches. This Halloween special stars a young Fairuza Balk, featuring Dianna Rigg, Charlotte Rae in a dual role, and Tim Curry in the trippiest ’80s music video.  📺 You can watch “The Worst Witch” on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Find “The Worst Witch” book at your local library.  St. Michael’s College is for sale.  Pam Jones (Donna) — formerly Kate Buckley before another actress took that name while she was on hiatus — is now a ceramic artist.  The kitten ceremony background music sounds kind of like Zelda’s Lullaby.  Mildred and Ethel’s rivalry gave us “Owl House” vibes.  Toonces the Driving Cat.  One student is a future Teletubby!  Becca on Movin’ Right Along discussing Tim Curry singing in “Muppet Treasure Island.”  Both Tim Curry and Sebastian from “The Little Mermaid” sing “begin the Beguine.”  Tim Curry in “Red Alert 3.”  Other “Worst Witch” TV adaptations, including a college spinoff and a Netflix series.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Carvel Halloween Ice Cream Cakes Commercial (1986)  Hyrule Podcasters, an audio “Let’s Play” through The Legend of Zelda.  ****  “The Worst Witch” © 1986 Central Independent Television Plc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1980s #halloween

🎄 It’s 1988, the monsters under my bed are real, and they’re stealing Christmas.  🎙 Ethan “The Hungry Reader” follows us under the covers through a wormhole to the home of ’80s kids’ bedding sensation the Pillow People in a Christmas special so obscure, it’s not even listed on IMDb. But it’s real, and it’s ironically nightmarish.  📺 You can watch “Pillow People Save Christmas” on YouTube.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Pillow People on the toy collectors’ website Ghost of the Doll.  Toot Sweet Toys, or what’s left of it.  TV listing in New York magazine (November 1988)  Victor DiMattia (Billy) on filming “The Sandlot.”  Window Rattler as seen on “Full House.”  The Who Cares Bears.  Today’s TV Trope: Introdump, example: the worst Rob Liefeld drawing.  Cheryl Chase (Sweet Dreams) mentions working with Cree Summer (Rock-a-Bye Baby) on this special in a 2004 interview about the “Rugrats” spinoff “All Grown Up.”  The Far Side: “…He’s taking it with him!”  Nightmara looks like a cross between Mother Brain in “Captain N: The Game Master” and Madam Hecuba from the 1974 anime adaptation of “Jack and the Beanstalk.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Pillow People: Pillow Valley Commercial (1988)  Holidays After Dark.  ****  “Pillow People Save Christmas” © 1988 TMS Entertainment, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1980s 

🎄 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

🦃 It’s 2015, and in my search for a noisy cryptid I accidentally freed 175 roided-up turkeys, but neither of those things is the real monster.  🎙 Sammy Hain, Tony Whitaker, Ethan “The Hungry Reader” join us as we rediscover a long lost Thanksgiving special concept Jim Henson dreamed up in the 1960s and meet the Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow.  📺 You can find “Turkey Hollow” on Disney+.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  ToughPigs.com Behind the Scenes of Turkey Hollow.  Muppet Wiki on this special, Jim Henson’s original concept, and the 2014 graphic novel.  Some prototype musical monsters: An early Grover, Snerf, and the Rock and Roll Monster.  Director Kirk Thatcher in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.”  On-set interviews with Ludacris, Lisa Henson, and Alice Dinnean.  Hope you like Beets.  Today’s TV Tropes: When You Coming Home, Dad? and Hollywood Law.  Station from “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.”  “Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge.”  Jason Hopley’s (Zorp) IMDb profile picture is from “Goosebumps.”  Lewis, Target’s Halloween Ghoul.  Homer Simpson eating potato chips on the space shuttle.  ****  📼 Commercials:  AT&T “Turkey” Commercial (2008)  TGI Podcast.  ****  “Turkey Hollow” © 2015 The Jim Henson Company, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #2010s #thanksgiving #muppets

🎄It’s 1990… or 1962… and a quantum physicist forgot to powder his boss’s underwear.  🎙 Erin Evans and Joey O. join us for a Scrooge Sunday involving time travel of a different sort as we follow Dr. Sam Beckett on a mission to save a mission, and the soul of the man trying to tear it down.  🚨 Warning: This episode briefly discusses the death of actor Charles Rocket and the would-be death of his Scrooge-like character, Michael Blake.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Episode guide on Al’s Place.  A Christmas story from the Quantum Leap comic: “He Knows If You’ve Been Bad or Good.”  Charles Rocket drops an F-bomb on “Saturday Night Live.”  “Bringing in the Sheaves” on “The Simpsons” and “Batman” (1966).  Polish Christmas desserts piernik and makowiec.  Al’s Ghost of Christmas Future costume looks more like Jacob Marley mixed with the Ghost of Christmas Past from “Scrooged.”  Goldie Wilson III from “Back to the Future Part II.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Squarbles (circa 1987)  Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast.  ****  “Quantum Leap” and “A Little Miracle” © 1990 Universal City Studios, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1990s #scroogesunday

🎄It’s 1992, and there’s no such thing as Buster Bunny.  🎙 Adam Pope, William Bruce West, and Chad Young help the Advent Calendar House wrap up Christmas in July with the unofficial series finale of “Tiny Toon Adventures,” when Buster wishes he’d never been on the show, and the horrors within Montana Max’s Biff Tannen Pleasure Palace or whatever.  📺 I found this special hiding in a 4-hour Christmas special compilation on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Meet the Tiny Toons” in the special edition magazine “Bugs Bunny: He’s 50, Folks” (1990).  “The Chipmunks Go to the Movies.”  Tony Pope (God) as Goofy in “Watch Out for Goofy” (the theme song for Adam’s 2 Goofs Podcast) and as the first voice heard in “Back to the Future.”  John Kassir (who voices Buster in this episode) as the Crypt-Keeper in RD’s Retro Detention Halloween Specials in 2019 and 2023.  Today’s TV Trope: Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal.  Jacoby & Meyers and a 2-minute-long tangent about personal injury lawyer commercials.  Arnold Schwarzenegger’s upcoming role as Santa in “The Man with the Bag.”  American Express Commercials with Mel Blanc and Jim Davis.  Bugs Bunny may have been voiced by an uncredited Noel Blanc, Mel’s son, for a single line at the end.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Godzilla: The Series Promo (1998)  Toy Story: Holiday TV Spot (1995)  ****  “Tiny Toon Adventures” and “It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special” © 1992 Warner Bros.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s12 #1990s #itsawonderfullife #warnerbros

🎄 The Advent Calendar House is back in time for a freakin’ country bear jamberoo as a family of Muppet mice risk their lives to bring home the top of the top of the top of the top of a Christmas tree fit for an eccentric future Iron Man. 🎙 Anthony Strand from ToughPigs.com and Tim Babb from the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast join us for a waltz back to 1995 as Robert Downey Jr. may or may not be holding Kermit the Frog hostage until he gets his perfect Christmas tree. Plus: Shy butler Leslie Nielsen, homesick Swedish maid Stockard Channing, and a pre-Bobo Bobo the Bear!  📺 We watched this 1995 broadcast of “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree,” with 1995 commercials.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree” on Muppet Wiki.  The original book.  An odd TV promo featuring Brian Cummings’ Kermit the Frog impression.  Kermit and Miss Piggy’s music video of “She Drives Me Crazy,” featuring Leslie Nielsen.  Movin’ Right Along talks Kermit: Unpigged.  The Sesame Street Muppets on “The West Wing” with Stockard Channing.  Mama and Papa Bear are Beth from “The Muppets Take Manhattan” and the future Bobo from “Muppets Tonight.”  “Jim Henson’s Animal Show” on Owls… and Humans.  Sandra Bullock plays the glass harp in “Miss Congeniality.”  An Oreo commercial where a mall Santa takes off his beard way too quickly.  ****  📼 Commercials: Dizzy Grizzlies and Ritz Air Crisps (1995)  “Santa in His Own Words,” a book by Matt Spaulding. ****  “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree” © 1995 Jim Henson Productions, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1990s #muppets

🎄 It’s 1984, and Santa’s in front of a firing squad because his executioner didn’t appreciate the socks he got last Christmas.  🎙 Shawn Robare and Steven join us as the slime is in an extra festive shade of green for a Christmas episode of the show that defined Nickelodeon’s early years, featuring an all-star cast of the 5 most featured kid actors of “You Can’t Do That on Television.”  📺 You can watch the episode “Christmas” on Facebook.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Shawn’s piece of the Prevert Family’s living room wallpaper.  Nick Knacks on “You Can’t Do That on Television.”  Mike and Steven pitch their ideas for a sequel to “Santa Claus: The Movie” on SequelQuest (2020)  “UFO Kidnapped,” a TV pilot featuring much of the same cast of kids.  Les Lye as Professor Coldheart in “The Care Bears in the Land Without Feelings.”  How we’ve fielded the question of Santa’s one-night flight.  Abby Hagyard (Mom) on YouTube.  Ice Cream Dolls, The Visible Man, and the G.I. Joe Motorized Battle Tank.  Calvin and Hobbes makes the same “Santa wants beer” joke.  ****  📼 Commercials:  “You Can’t Do That on Television” Green Slime Shampoo (circa 1987)  The Lost Christmas Podcast.  “A Very Zelda Christmas,” by DarkNuck, on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.  ****  “You Can’t Do That on Television” © 1984 Carleton Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1980s #nickelodeon

🎄It’s 2001, and a rock giant is chasing us across the ocean, which has been entirely frozen over by fairies with minty fresh breath.  🎙 Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies join us for Barbie’s first feature-length movie, from the makers of “ReBoot” and Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” music video, complete with motion capture of the New York City Ballet, revolutionary hair animation, and Tim Curry as an extra sassy Mouse King.  📺 You can watch “Barbie and the Nutcracker” on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Barbie in the Nutcracker” on Bad Princess Movies.  Motion capture footage of the New York City Ballet.  Oops, we went on multiple Zelda tangents about Majora’s Mask and the Song of Storms.  It’s usually not a good sign when you find a doll on the ground in a destroyed village.  Of course there’s a toy of Marzipan the horse (no relation to the Marzipan with the answering machine).  Today’s TV Trope: Literal Cliffhanger.  Do the Great Lakes freeze over?  Mod Hair Ken and his stick-on facial hair.  Barbie eyes new horizons (BBC News, 2001)  ****  📼 Commercials:  Barbie in the Nutcracker My Size Sugarplum Princess (2001)  “A Very Zelda Christmas,” by DarkNuck, on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube.  ****  “Barbie in The Nutcracker” © 2001 Mattel, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #2000s #nutcracker

🎄 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 1982, and I’m trapped at sea while Mickey Rooney butts into everyone’s conversation.  🎙 Guy Hutchinson and William Bruce West join us as we embark on a Christmas cruise aboard the Pacific Princess for a very merry episode of “The Love Boat” featuring Maureen McCormick, Donny Osmond, and Mickey Rooney as an angel in disguise as your nosy neighbor.  📺 You can find “The Christmas Presence” on Paramount+, Pluto TV, and Facebook.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Sesame Street’s Love Boat parody and “Song of Ten.”  Guy on the history of the Lacoste Crocodile.  “Brady Bunch” references: Maureen McCormick can’t stop getting hit in the face , and Mrs. Brady gets her voice back.  What’s in Santa Stubing’s bag: Stadium Checkers, a Jeep Honcho model truck, and more.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Toys “R” Us featuring the E.T. Atari 2600 Game (1982)  Remember That Show?  ****  “The Love Boat” and “The Christmas Presence” © 1982 The Love Boat Company.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1980s

🎄 It’s 2020, and a gift-wrapped puppy licked my face and made my skin turn blue.  🎙 Michael DiGiovanni and Sammy Hain join us for a charming stop-motion Christmas special from the Chiodo Brothers about how an alien invasion of the North Pole almost ruined Christmas — and the entire planet’s gravity, but also Christmas. Plus: A “Killer Klowns from Outer Space” Easter egg, some cameos from “Elf,” and Santa with nunchucks.  📺 You can find “Alien Xmas” on Netflix.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  A behind-the-scenes interview with the Chiodo Brothers.  “Alien Xmas” on Bloody Disgusting.  A “Killer Klowns” Easter egg hidden in the Klepts’ chamber of stolen stuff.  The magnetic north pole vs. the geographic North Pole.  Michelle Deco (Noelle) writes Nintendo trailers, including this one for The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD.    Today’s TV Trope: Tablecloth Yank.  “Here’s your problem: Someone set this thing to ‘evil.’”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Coca-Cola “Santa Packs Are Coming” (1994)  Holidays After Dark  ****  “Alien Xmas” © 2020 Netflix US, LLC.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #2020s

🎄 It’s 1990, and Santa’s lost in my confusing network of chimneys.  🎙 Adam Parker Sibun from Merry Britsmas join us for a more silly than spooky Christmas special that takes us from Castle Duckula to a concussion-induced space adventure and back.  📺 You can find “A Christmas Quacker” on the Internet Archive (it’s mislabeled as another episode).  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Count Duckula” on Nick Knacks.  Count Duckula’s first appearance on “Danger Mouse.”  UK Christmas TV, an extensive archive of Christmas TV listings for the UK’s main channels.  Jack May (Igor) was the original English voice of Muzzy.  The Odd Case of Dennis the Menace: 2 separate comic strip characters with the same name debuting on the same day on opposite sides of the Atlantic.  Return to the Turducken Hunger Games.  The daydream scene in “Sidekicks.”  Mike Oldfield’s “In Dulci Jubilo.”  Today’s TV Trope: Blunder-Correcting Impulse.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Shreddies Cereal: Count Duckula Adventure Scratch & Win Game (1989)  Muzzy (circa 1989)  ****  “Count Duckula” and “A Christmas Quacker” © 1990 Carleton Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1990s #nickelodeon

🎄 It’s 1986, and Santa looks different after arriving late to the mall due to a flat reindeer.  🎙 Joe Fulton, the Christmas Aficionado, joins us for a semi-festive Christmas episode of “Mama’s Family” that will have you believing in either Santa or ghosts at the end of it.  📺 You can watch “Santa Mama” on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  A Mama’s Family reunion on “Vicki!”  Vicki Lawrence sings “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia.”  Mama’s house was also seen in “Halloween.”  Ken Berry (Vinton) as Peter-No-Tail.  The cheapest Christmas gifts we got for childhood crushes.  The fragility of one-of-a-kind ornaments.  “You Are My Sunshine” on “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Snuggle Fabric Softener Free Christmas Ornament (1986)  Snow in Southtown  ****  “Mama’s Family” and “Santa Mama” © 1986 Joe Hamilton Productions, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1980s

🎄 It’s 2003, and nothing puts me in a festive mood quite like a bar fight.  🎙 Joey O. and James Riley join us for Christmas break with the Justice League — well, most of it. Wonder Woman’s off doing something else, and Batman… you know, smells.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Mike talks “Comfort and Joy” on Tis the Podcast.  Paul Dini’s notes on “Comfort and Joy,” including what where Wonder Woman and Batman were.  The Shrine of the Silver Monkey from “Legends of the Hidden Temple.”  The “Calvin and Hobbes” snowman gallery of horrors.  Santa gives Darkseid a lump of coal.  Clark and his parents’ cat, Streaky, are this universe’s Jon Arbuckle and Garfield.  One of the stuffed animals on Kara’s bed looks like Zook, one of Martian Manhunter’s comic book sidekicks.  “Sam, the Guy from Quincy” by the Arrogant Worms (re: Robert Ito as the Japanese toy company CEO).  The end of The Simpsons’ “Treehouse of Horror IV.”  Wild Swamp Thing appeared!  Ultra-Humanite is doing a Party Man.  A tangent about Oreo cookies, Martian Manhunter’s favorite food.  ****  📼 Commercial Break: Burger King: Justice League Kids’ Meal Toys (2003)  Oreos for Santa (1986)  Wizards: The Podcast Guide to Comics  ****  “Justice League” and “Comfort and Joy” © 2003 Warner Bros.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #2000s #dc #comics #warnerbros

🎄 It’s 1970, and a couple of bear cubs have jumped through my window and are eating all my marshmallows.  🎙️ Gerry Davila and Ethan “The Hungry Reader” join us on a deeper than expected dive into a Christmas special by former Hanna-Barbera animator Tony Benedict that almost wasn’t released till the owner of a now-defunct Florida theme park swooped in and saved it.  🚨 No animals were harmed in the making of this podcast. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same about one of the 4 versions of this special.  📺 You can watch 4 different versions of “Santa and the Three Bears”:  “A Yellowstone Christmas” (Tony’s Version), the original cut.  The theatrical version with Hal Smith in the intro and added songs and sequences.  The Pirates World version with scenes from Ocean World Marine Park. This version was screened for Rifftrax.  The Modern Sound Pictures version with the songs but no live-action segments.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The Unusual History of Santa and the Three Bears. (The Delbert Cartoon Report, 2021)  The soundtrack and some background info.  Hal Smith in “The Incredible, Indelible, Magical, Physical Mystery Trip.”  Bobby Riha (Chinook) in Hanna-Barbera’s “Jack and the Beanstalk.”  Yellowstone National Park’s Zone of Death.  Today’s TV Trope: Human Snowball.  CBS Storybreak’s “Grinny.”  Homer Simpson tries to catch a rabbit.  Iceman in X-Men #1.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Hardee’s Gift Checks (1970s)  Totally Rad Christmas  ****  “Santa and the Three Bears” © 1970 Tony Benedict Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1970s

🎄 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

🎄 It’s Christmas Eve 1986, and the only way Drew Barrymore can save her new friends is to believe in the magic of toys… and Cincinnati.  🎙 Molly Patton, Becca Petunia, and Adam Pope join us for a bonkers adaptation of “Babes in Toyland” from director Clive Donner and starring Drew Barrymore, Keanu Reeves, and Richard Mulligan as a weird, evil guy who lives in a bowling ball.  📺 You can watch “Babes in Toyland” on Tubi, the 3-hour original broadcast with commercials, or the unofficial “Director’s Cut” without ads.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Misfits in Toyland (NSFW), an unrelated horror-comedy webcomic.  Keanu Reeves (Jack) on “Going Great” (1985)  Googy Gress (Georgie) in “Wayne’s World 2.”  Today’s TV Trope: And You Were There.  The Cookie Jar House of South Jersey.  The Undertaker’s entrance at WrestleMania IX, in the middle of the afternoon.  Sigmund and the Sea Monsters (and Tripping Daisy’s cover of theme song).  The Toymaster’s Santa coat looks like Belle’s from “Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas.”  Was It Great, or Were You 8?  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s: Recital (1986)  Give ’Em All a Little Pat of Butter (1986)  TGI Podcast  ****  “Babes in Toyland” © 1986 The Finnegan Company.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #1980s