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Displaying 1 - 20 of 76 in total

A Muppet Family Christmas
S1 #2 Dec 04, 17

A Muppet Family Christmas

🎄 How many Muppets can fit inside a farmhouse? We took a head count. It’s a lot.  đŸŽ™ïž Carlin Trammel from Nerd Lunch stops by the Advent Calendar House to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of “A Muppet Family Christmas,” the shredded wheat and cranberry sauce of TV specials. Together, we try and piece together the various home video cuts over music rights, and wrap around heads around the dizzying continuity issues surrounding the Muppet Babies.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Can you say “OshKosh B’gosh”?  A milk PSA and the world’s most forward-thinking bullies.  Osvaldo el Gruñón, Oscar the Grouch’s Puerto Rican counterpart.  Parting words from the guy with the beard doing the dishes.  ****  “A Muppet Family Christmas” © 1987 Jim Henson Productions.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s1 #1980s #muppets
Honey Nut Cheerios Scrooge Commercial
S1 #3 Dec 07, 17

Honey Nut Cheerios Scrooge Commercial

🎄 The taste of nuts and honey thaws Scrooge’s icy heart in this 30-second portrayal of Scrooge for a Christmastime cereal commercial.  đŸŽ™ïž Joey O. stops by to share a sufficient helping of customary gruel as we squeeze every last drop of honey out of this commercial, officially titled “Ebenezer Scrooge Discovers Honey Nut Cheerios,” which ran from around 1987 through at least the end of the 20th century.  Addendum: Thanks to Guy Hutchinson for identifying our Scrooge as actor Bill Gavin!  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  A tale of two Buzz Bees: “It’s Christmas,” vs. “It’s the holidays.”  Arnold Stang, the original voice of the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee, Top Cat, and Nestlé’s Chunky candy bar.  A brief tangent questioning the lifespan and ancestral history of honeybees.  ****  Honey Nut Cheerios © General Mills.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s1 #1980s #commercials
Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial
S1 #5 Dec 14, 17

Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial

🎄 Ho-ho-ho, I’m hu-hu-hungry! Fill your soul with season’s greetings and another batch of cereal commercials from Christmas past.  đŸŽ™ïž Uh-oh, here comes Joey O. to revisit a collection of seasonal ads for Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles, starring Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The main attraction: This Fruity Pebbles Christmas commercial, circa 1986, and a redubbed version with Jim Cummings as Santa from the early ’90s.  An older Fruity Pebbles Christmas commercial, dated 1980.  A Newer Cocoa Pebbles “Christmas Carol” commercial.  “I’m the Master Rapper and I’m here to say, I love Fruity Pebbles in a major way!”  The theory I’m going with: Fred and Barney know about Christmas because they live in a post-apocalyptic future.  The Rock’s Fruity Pebbles promo on John Cena, 2011.  WWE’s Christmas in Baghdad opening from 2003, featuring “Stone Cold” Steve Austin disguised as Santa Claus.  ****  Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereal commercials © Post Consumer Brands / Warner Bros.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s1 #1980s #commercials #hannabarbera #flintstones
The Adventures of the American Rabbit
S1 #10 Jul 02, 18

The Adventures of the American Rabbit

🎆 We’re back for a surprise summertime episode on the 1986 animated movie, “The Adventures of the American Rabbit.”  đŸŽ™ïž Chad Young from the Horror Movie BBQ joins our cross-country adventure through a star-spangled box-office bomb from Fred Wolf Films and Toei Animation, starring the voices of Donatello, Garfield, Baby Piggy, and King Triton.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The late Stewart Moskowitz’s archived gallery and current website, operated by his family.  Too-Loose, the Chocolate Moose.  Ping Pong, the Gorilla who ate Garfield.  ****  “The Adventures of the American Rabbit” © 1985 Wolfkill Productions, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s1 #1980s #4thofjuly
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
S2 #5 Dec 05, 18

The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus

🎄 From the author of “The Wizard of Oz” comes one of the craziest Santa origin stories ever.  đŸŽ™ïž 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.  #s2 #1980s #rankinbass
A Garfield Christmas Special
S2 #6 Dec 06, 18

A Garfield Christmas Special

🎄 Let’s have a good, old-fashioned Christmas down on the farm in 1987’s “A Garfield Christmas Special,” featuring the voices of Squiggy and Ursula.  đŸŽ™ïž The Advent Calendar House welcomes Jeff Somogyi as we contemplate lasagna as a Christmas food, go long on the dinner prayer, and wonder how Binky, “The Clown Who Saved Christmas,” saved Christmas.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Joey O. interviews Gregg Berger, the voice of Odie.  Dinosaur Dracula identifies all the presents in Garfield’s dream.  Better “Weird Al” Yankovic Christmas song: “Christmas at Ground Zero” or “The Night Santa Went Crazy”?  The simultaneously best and worst line in the history of animated Christmas specials for children: “Whoever invented Christmas trees should be drug out into the street and shot.”  Jeff wanted a ringtone of that blaring trumpet when Garfield looks down from the top of the Christmas tree, so here it is!  ****  “A Garfield Christmas Special” © 1987 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #garfield #comics
Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration
S2 #7 Dec 07, 18

Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration

🎄 In 1987, the California Raisins missed their bus, then made a sleigh out of garbage and flew it into space.  đŸŽ™ïž The Advent Calendar House welcomes Erin Evans, Joey O., and Emily Rowley to join in the raisiny reindeer games that make up Will Vinton’s “Claymation Christmas Celebration,” the greatest holiday special out of all holiday specials hosted by clay dinosaurs.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  RIP Will Vinton (1947–2018), the creator of “capital-C” Claymation who may or may not have inspired Leap Day William, and who was still alive when we recorded this.  Vinton also worked special effects on the EPCOT attraction “Captain EO.”  Johnny Counterfit, the voice of Rex (and not at all Johnny Arcade), wrote a JFK time-travel novel.  Rex and Herb’s original appearance in “Dinosaur,” which was later included in a “direct-to-video thing” starring Fred Savage.  Related: “I Just Realized Why We Are All Mean,” by Jon Bois.  “Captain Stormfield’s Visit to Heaven,” from “The Adventures of Mark Twain,” featuring Tim Conner (Herb) as a 3-headed alien in St. Peter’s Place at the wrong “Heaven.”  The California Raisins’ cancelled Nintendo game: “The Grape Escape.”  The California Prunes on “The Simpsons.”  This special ends with a reference to the grossly enormous Mr. Creosote from “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.”  ****  “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration” © 1987 Will Vinton Productions, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #claymation
McDonald’s Holiday Commercials
S2 #10 Dec 10, 18

McDonald’s Holiday Commercials

🎄 Lace up your ice skates for a look at 3 classic holiday commercials starring 3 different iterations of McDonald’s clown in charge: “Happy Holidays” (the ice skating one), “Star Wish,” and “Runaway.”  🎙 Joey O. swoops in just in time to convince me not to leave home and run away to McDonaldland, which is honestly tempting.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Grape jelly is good on Sausage McMuffins. Try it.  McDonald’s Wiki, which exists, runs down all 7 versions of the ice skating commercial. Yes, there are 7, and they’re all on YouTube:  1982: the original, with King Moody as Ronald and the “You Deserve a Break Today” jingle variant.  1983: with the “McDonald’s and You” jingle variant.  1984: with the “It’s a Good Time for the Great Taste” jingle variant.  1986: with Squire Fridell as Ronald, the version I remember most.  1988: with Fridell and the original jingle.  1990: with Fridell and the “Food, Folks and Fun” jingle variant.  1991: with Jack Doepke as Ronald, bad lighting, and “The Wish that Changed Christmas.”  King Booker.  Squire Fridell as Ronald McDonald in “Mac and Me” and Paul Rudd’s ongoing prank on Conan O’Brien.  Grimace’s last appearance as of this recording was at Dodger Stadium, though as we know, nothing can kill the Grimace.  The “World’s Largest Entertainment McDonald’s” in Orlando, home to an animatronic Mac Tonight that hangs from the ceiling.  ****  “Happy Holidays,” “Star Wish,” and “Runaway” © McDonald’s.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #1990s #commercials
He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas Special
S2 #18 Dec 18, 18

He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas Special

🎄 By the power of Grayskull, the only holiday podcast with Battle Damage action is back to be nice, kind, and wonderful to 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra Christmas special, in which Skeletor’s heart grows three sizes.  đŸŽ™ïž Brandon Medley and Chad Young are here to help me identify everyone at Eternia’s first ever Christmas party. And Brandon’s dog stops by because he heard us talking about the Beast Monster!  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  He-Man and She-Ra are between 18 and 21 years old and gave children unreasonable expectations of what they’d look like when they grow up.  Greyskull Wiki has an entire section of Queen Marlena’s entry dedicated to speculating about her religion.  The Monstroids exist because the makers of He-Man toys want you to believe giant robots that can transform are evil.    Skeletor and Hordak are basically Miracle Max and his wife from “The Princess Bride.”  This may have been the first time I’d ever seen someone yank off Santa’s beard.  ****  “He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas Special” © 1985 Mattel, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #filmation
Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special
S2 #21 Dec 21, 18

Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

🎄 Tune in as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pee-wee Herman’s Christmas special the only way we know how: With lots of screaming, lots of fruitcake, and lots more screaming.  đŸŽ™ïž Erin Evans, Lindy Kempe, and Joey O. call into the Podcast Phone to embrace the wackiest holiday party of 1988.  đŸ“ș The “Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special” is available for free on YouTube.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Magic Johnson recorded his segment hours before playing in — and winning — a Lakers game. We don’t know the precise date, but one win was against the SuperSonics, possibly (but probably not) on Ice Cube’s “Good Day.”  One commercial break includes a bizarre Pringles commercial starring a young Brad Pitt.  “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.”  When did fruitcake become a punchline? Christmas Past has something of an answer. Or is fruitcake a byproduct of the Joys of Jell-O era? The working script and storyboards for this special.  Who mailed Grace Jones to the Reagan White House?  Pee-wee in “Back to the Beach.”  The King of Cartoons’ cartoon: 1936’s “Christmas Comes But Once a Year.”  My feelings about snow mirror this one, particular Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, published 5 days after this special aired.  The awkward moment when we realize the Dinosaur Family has a pet dinosaur.  ****  “Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special” © 1988 Paul Reubens.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s
ALF’s Special Christmas
S2 #23 Dec 23, 18

ALF’s Special Christmas

🎄 Remember ALF? He’s back, in podcast form!  đŸŽ™ïž Jeff Somogyi drops by as we salute ALF’s two-part Christmas special from 1987, the single most depressing special starring a wisecracking alien puppet of all time.  🚹 Content Warning: In this Christmas special, the goofy alien with the jokes meets a terminally ill child and a man contemplating suicide.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The heartbreaking true story behind “ALF’s Special Christmas.”  A study in human ignorance: Gordon Shumway has a name, which he’s told everyone, yet everyone still calls him HEY ALIEN!  A study in willful alien ignorance: ALF opens everyone else’s Christmas gifts and succeeds in convincing me it’s because he doesn’t know how any of this works.  Talking ALF: The Storytelling Alien.  “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.”  ****  “ALF’s Special Christmas” © 1987 Alien Productions.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #alf
Garfield’s Halloween Adventure
S2 #26 Oct 10, 19

Garfield’s Halloween Adventure

🎃 Put out the oars and surrender yourself to the mercy of the rivers of time as they take us back to Garfield’s terrifying 1985 Halloween special. đŸŽ™ïž Jeff Somogyi joins us to celebrate the special that turned a generation into scaredy cats.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Jim Davis wanted Garfield’s Halloween Adventure to “at least scare 4-year-olds” (The A.V. Club, 2014)  Samples of the comic book adaptation, “Garfield in Disguise,” from Rotten Ink and Goodwill Hunting 4 Geeks, including even creepier drawings of the old man and pirate ghosts.  The first appearance of Binky the Clown!  The time a raccoon broke into Jeff’s attic and left a hornet’s nest inside a Nativity scene shepherd.  Speaking of attics, the Pink Panther advertising Owens Corning fiberglass insulation.  The Roy Ogle of “Roy Ogle’s roots” was a plant breeder at Clemson. They’re sweet potatoes.  The black cat pajamas may be a callback to the killer panther from 1984’s “Garfield in the Rough,” another good special to put on if you want to give your kids nightmares.  Was the ghost of Jon’s grandfather watching all the Christmas festivities in that special?  C. Lindsay Workman (Old Man) as Garfield’s grandfather in “Garfield on the Town” and God in “Garfield: His 9 Lives.”  The “double burn” glowing effect used on the ghosts reminds us of the “Night on Bald Mountain” sequence of Fantasia.  We had to ask: Did Garfield and Odie really survive the night, or is everything thereafter really Garfield Minus Garfield?  ****  đŸ“Œ Commercials:  McDonald’s Halloween Pumpkin Pails (1986)  ****  “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” ©1985 United Feature Syndicate, Inc./Anderson Digital.  Closing Music: “Witch’s Night Out,” performed by Razoreater, written by Peter Rochon.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  #s2 #1980s #halloween #garfield #comics
Mickey’s Christmas Carol
S3 #1 Dec 01, 19

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

🎄 Season 3 of the Advent Calendar House kicks off with a new regular feature: Scrooge Sunday, celebrating the many adaptations of “A Christmas Carol.”  🎙 Lizzie Twachtman and Adam Pope drop in as we begin with Disney’s 1983 featurette marking the big-screen debut of Scrooge McDuck playing his namesake.  đŸ“ș You can watch “Mickey’s Christmas Carol” on Disney+.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Before Disney+, almost all of this film was hiding on Netflix at the end of “Mickey’s Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse.  Adam’s well-preserved VHS copy.  A 1974 Disneyland Records LP called “Dickens’ Christmas Carol,” Alan Young’s first recording as the voice of Scrooge.  Mickey Mouse’s very detailed, fanmade family tree.  Siskel and Ebert’s 2 Thumbs Down review.  Goofy as Marley’s ghost at Disneyland.  Mickey’s Christmas Carol animatronic window displays in the Magic Kingdom.  We identify every Disney background character at Fezziwig’s party and lament the absence of Pluto from this entire thing.  Quick shout-outs to Totally Minnie and “Disney’s DTV Romancin’” Valentine special.  Willie the Giant as the Ghost of Christmas Present carefully wandering through the tiny streets of London calls back to the ending of “Fun and Fancy Free,” Disney’s 1947 package film featuring “Mickey and the Beanstalk,” which is also on Disney+.  Your now-annual reminder that Pete has been a cat this entire time.  ****  Mickey’s Christmas Carol ©1983 Disney.  Opening Music: “Christmas Was Better in the ’80s,” by The Futureheads, ©2010 Nul Records.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #scroogesunday #disney
Pinocchio’s Christmas
S3 #2 Dec 03, 19

Pinocchio’s Christmas

🎄 The Advent Calendar House gets overrun by earworms strong enough to burrow into wood.  đŸŽ™ïž Michael DiGiovanni and Michael May drop in to help carve into a 1980 Rankin/Bass special starring that beloved Christmas icon
 Pinocchio.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Two songs, “Dancin’” and “The Very Best Friend I Ever Had,” were cut from and later restored to TV broadcasts.  “Starstuff,” a Philadelphia market, Saturday morning kids’ sci-fi TV series starring Todd Porter, the voice of Pinocchio.  The most disappointing gifts we’ve ever received, including what Santa gave me after I allegedly misspelled “Alpha Critters.”  How does Pinocchio’s nose detect lies, and does it grant him a mulligan here?  The strange flash-forward to the rest of Pinocchio’s better-known adventures, even though Rankin/Bass already made a Pinocchio TV series, its first ever stop-motion animation project.  ****  “Pinocchio’s Christmas” ©1980 Rankin/Bass Productions, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #rankinbass
Ziggy’s Gift
S3 #5 Dec 09, 19

Ziggy’s Gift

🎄 Everyone’s after the little guy for no reason.  đŸŽ™ïž Chad Young joins us for a short-statured trip back to 1982 to explore “Ziggy’s Gift,” a one-off TV Christmas special starring no one’s favorite funny papers hero and featuring a beautifully animated puddle of dog pee.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Ziggy’s Gift” on Dinosaur Dracula After Dark.  “The Point,” a Harry Nilsson album turned into an animated movie.  Ziggy’s toothpaste looks like Beetlejuice sandworms.  Ziggy Theories: Is he adult Charlie Brown? A vegetarian? A guardian angel?  The time Chad met Billy West, who stood on a chair because he thought Chad was too tall.  The time I inquired about a job opportunity that wasn’t what I expected.  The terrifying robot Santa window display reminded me a little too much of the equally terrifying “Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure.”  Frank Welker voiced 25 characters in this special if you count each individual turkey.  Ziggy’s kettle has the Glow from “The Last Dragon.”  The “Linus moment” is out; the “Skeletor face turn” is in.  ****  “Ziggy’s Gift” ©1982 Universal Press Syndicate.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #comics
The Glo Friends Save Christmas
S3 #6 Dec 11, 19

The Glo Friends Save Christmas

🎄 It’s Glo! Join Hasbro’s hive of bioluminescent bugs, the Glo Friends, in their own Christmas special from 1985.  đŸŽ™ïž Erin Evans and Joey O. join forces as we learn how to selectively melt only certain ice we’re radiating near to save Santa (Carroll O’Connor), who’s been locked in an icicle cage by Blanche, the Wicked Witch of the North Pole (Sally Struthers), who’s jealous of Santa’s publicity. Take notes, Great Pumpkin
 or, perhaps, don’t.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  This was a pilot for an eventual series that aired alongside the original “My Little Pony & Friends.”  A helpful guide to identifying every Glo Friend.  Nancy Cartwright was the voice of Baby Glo Worm in the series, but in this pilot, it’s Laurie O’Brien doing her Baby Piggy voice.  Joey interviews Pat Fraley (Glo Worm) on his later performance as Krang.  Glo Worm’s purple outfit here, as opposed to the original toy’s green outfit, was apparently a “source of controversy,” according to Wikipedia.  Can all antlered mammals fly if you go far enough north?  Lorenzo Music doing a weird, nervous lisp instead of his usual Resting Garfield Voiceℱ.  Santa sings the least bluesy blues song ever while his reindeer do Rockettes kicks.  More of Mike’s thoughts on The Glo Friends Save Christmas on the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast.  ****  “The Glo Friends Save Christmas” ©1985 Hasbro, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #hasbro
Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire
S3 #9 Dec 17, 19

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire

🎄 Every unstoppable monster has a beginning.  đŸŽ™ïž Erin Evans, Joey O., and Brandon Medley squeeze onto the couch to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Simpsons” and its series premiere, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire,” or, as it was introduced to us in 1989, “The Simpsons’ Christmas Special.”  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The time I accidentally watched “The Tracey Ullman Show,” because I was too sick to get up and change the channel.  We can’t talk about early Simpsons without mentioning Burger King toys, The Simpsons arcade game, and of course, “Do the Bartman.”  Bart’s first Butterfinger commercial.  Al Jean’s 5 favorite Simpsons episodes (The Wall Street Journal, 2014)  Animator Eric Stefani had already founded some band with his sister while working on this episode.  The crowdsourced origins of “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” and the “like a light bulb!” interjections to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”  Real, intentionally unfinished “Moth” tattoos.  The tattoo artist was retroactively named Mervin Monroe, Dr. Marvin’s younger brother.  Early, strange in hindsight prototypes of Springfield citizens, including a more competent Ralph Wiggum, a cockier Milhouse, and a Ned Flanders who says, “Happy holidays.”  The time Brandon cut down his own Christmas tree.  My guest appearance on the Two Bad Neighbors podcast for “Marge Be Not Proud.”  ****  “The Simpsons” and “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire” ©1989 20th Century Fox Television.  Closing Music: The Simpsons Theme, performed by Green Day, ©2007 Reprise Records.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #simpsons
Christmas in Tattertown
S3 #10 Dec 19, 19

Christmas in Tattertown

🎄 Set your sentient clocks back to 1988 for a very wound-up and thrown out into a pile of junk in another dimension episode of the Advent Calendar House.  🎙 Chad Young joins us for a one-time-only trip to Tattertown, the holiday brain-child of Ralph Bakshi and Nickelodeon’s first-ever original animated TV program.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Christmas in Tattertown” sketches from Bakshi Productions.  Nick Knacks on “Christmas in Tattertown.”  Cameos by Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Flip the Frog, and Popeye.  Today’s TV Trope: The Up the Real Rabbit Hole.  A shout-out to the dearly departed Hollywood Video for staying open on Christmas Day for idiots like me who forgot to ask for required accessories like the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak.  Wawa’s Holiday Gobbler hoagie.  Bosko and Honey on “Tiny Toon Adventures.”  A brief introduction to “snoap,” Florida’s fake snow.  ****  “Christmas in Tattertown” ©1988 Bakshi Productions, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s3 #1980s #nickelodeon
The Real Ghostbusters - Xmas Marks the Spot
S4 #3 Jul 05, 20

The Real Ghostbusters - Xmas Marks the Spot

🎄 It’s another Scrooge Sunday in the Advent Calendar House as we’re swept through a rip in the space-time continuum back to 1986 for a Christmas Carol-themed episode of “The Real Ghostbusters.” 🎙 Tommy Coombs and Chad Young join the adventure after our heroes accidentally save Scrooge from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Hey, grown-ups! Remember getting lost while driving when we didn’t all have maps of the entire planet in our pockets?  Scrooge pays the Ghostbusters a mint-condition shilling from 1837, so we looked up its actual value.  You can actually buy Christmas Carol View Master reels from the 1950s online.  Rick and Morty talking about Bill Murray and Lorenzo Music comes up and goes
 somewhere.  Egon entering the ghost containment unit looks like the warp tunnel on Space Mountain.  The other ghosts in the containment unit are callbacks to previous episodes, including Sandman, who bears a passing resemblance to the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.  Santa should not laugh like Megatron.  ****  đŸ“Œ Commercials:  The Real Ghostbusters Firehouse Playset, Tombstone Tackle, and X-Cop (1986)  Tis the Podcast.  ****  “The Real Ghostbusters” and “Xmas Marks the Spot” © 1986 Columbia Pictures Television.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s4 #1980s #scroogesunday #dic
The Tale of the Bunny Picnic
S4 #4 Jul 07, 20

The Tale of the Bunny Picnic

🐰 Hello, sunshine! Join us for a hop back to Easter 1986 to revisit the Jim Henson special, “The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.”  🎙 Emily Rowley hops into the guest chair for this special, which it turns out is about neither Easter, nor a bunny picnic
 but it did introduce the world to Bean Bunny, the Muppets’ Nermal.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Jim Henson’s original intro to this special.  “The Jim Henson Hour.”  Bean Bunny in Muppet*Vision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.  Bean was also a late-series addition to “Muppet Babies,” and his picture is on the playroom wall in Disney’s new “Muppet Babies.”  “The Muppet Musicians of Bremen” and its grotesque, full-size Muppet bad guys.  Sweetums in “Tales from Muppetland: The Frog Prince.”  Bean trying to tell the other bunnies to quiet down or the dog will hear them is also the plot of the first act of “Trolls.”  Every Easter Bunny costume is terrifying.  Y’all remember Puffalumps? You do now.  The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta is home to several Muppets from this special, including both Bean and his Dragon Bunny form from his dream sequence.  Carlin Trammel’s video tour of the Center for Puppetry Arts’ Jim Henson exhibit.  ****  đŸ“Œ Commercials:  McDonald’s Muppet Babies Holiday Huggables (1988)  Christmas Creeps.  ****  “The Tale of the Bunny Picnic” © 1986 Henson Associates.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s4 #1980s #easter #muppets
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