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🎄 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

🕎 It’s the year 2000, and Christmas and Hanukkah have crossed paths at my doorstep in the form of Santa Claus and his part-Jewish friend… a weird turtle man.  🎙 Becca Petunia and April Ryley join us as we revisit some old Friends in honor of Christmas Day and the first night of Hanukkah sharing a day on the calendar this year. Plus: An escaped tarantula, a restaurant we may never be allowed in or out of again, and an unforgettable interfaith holiday mascot fit for a new millennium.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  How often does the first night of Hanukkah fall on Christmas? (Vox, 2016)  What the ‘Friends’ Holiday Armadillo Episode Gets Right About Interfaith Families (Hey Alma, 2021)  The “Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas” drum roll outtake reel.  A transcript including deleted scenes reveals Ben wants Santa to bring him an ant farm.  Formication (with an M, y’all), the false sense of feeling like bugs are crawling on you.  Halloween Adventure is real and still open.  Hoppy the Marvel Bunny.  ****  📼 Commercials:  AT&T True Savings with David Schwimmer (circa 1996)  The Studio Demands It!  ****  “Friends” and “The One with the Holiday Armadillo” © 2000 Warner Bros. Television.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s13 #2000s #hanukkah