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🎄 It’s time for toys and time for cheer as the Advent Calendar House begins another 12-episode countdown to Christmas in July.  🎙 Sean Sotka and Steven join us as we rewind at twice the normal speed back to 1981 to revisit the Christmas special that helped kick off the revival of Alvin and the Chipmunks.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Steven’s story of accidentally erasing his VHS recording of this special, only to find another recording of the same broadcast years later.  The History of the Chipmunks (RIP The Hourchive).  “Witch Doctor.”  R.J. Williams (Tommy), who was 3 years old in this special, later starred in “Wake, Rattle, & Roll.”  Dave’s 3-story Victorian mansion seen only in this special and never again.  Yes, the Chipmunks wear pants.  Vintage Echo harmonicas are real, but good luck finding a gold one.  Selling photos of Santa with dogs dressed as reindeer looks way more fun than selling dollar store junk door-to-door.  Clyde Crashcup invented a popular “Simpsons” joke.  Today’s TV trope: Talking in Your Sleep.  “Paw Patrol” makes no sense.  ****  📼 Commercials:  A Chipmunk Christmas Soundtrack Album (1981)  7up Countdown to Christmas Posters (1986)   ****   “A Chipmunk Christmas” © 1981 Bagdasarian Productions.   Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1980s

🎄 We’re teaching aliens about Christmas again, but this time, George Lucas is watching.  🎙 Jeff Fox from Name That Christmas Special is our special guest as we go on a domesticated goose chase back to 1977 through “A Cosmic Christmas,” the first fully animated feature by Canadian studio Nelvana.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Jeff’s collection of “A Cosmic Christmas” music and scanned promotional items.  Joanna Wilson’s Christmas TV History.  This special got George Lucas’s attention and led to Nelvana producing the animated segment of the “Star Wars Holiday Special.”  “The Nelvana Story: Thirty Animated Years.”  Today’s TV Trope: Big Ball of Violence.  Jellybean looks like the red-eyed Pac-Man on the side of the arcade cabinet.  Duncan Regehr (Amalthor) as Dracula in “The Monster Squad.”  Marian Waldman, Mrs. Mac from “Black Christmas,” also has a quick line or two.  The Castle Thunder stock sound effect.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Burger King Doll Christmas Commercial (1977)  Weird Christmas.  ****  “A Cosmic Christmas” © 1977 Nelvana Enterprises, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1970s #nelvana

🎄 Tune in as we mysteriously float back to 1983 for an unseasonably warm Christmas adventure through Mexico with our cool grandma and a talking Rubik’s Cube with more powers than Superman.  🎙️ Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas join us for a puzzling revisit to “Rubik, the Amazing Cube,” a Saturday morning cartoon that lasted an even shorter amount of time than the fad it tried to cash in on.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The History of Rubik’s Cube.  The theme song by pre-Ricky Martin Menudo.  Ángela Moya, the voice of the kids’ mother, played a small but grim part in “Gleaming the Cube.”  An ode to the family station wagon.  An archived, early-Internet Rubik fan site.  Las Posadas.  Date a TV show by adding a CB radio.  Rubik ending up in an eagle’s nest reminded me of “The Polar Express.”  Reynoldo’s speed cubing skills compared to the real-life Rubik’s Cube world records in 1983 and today.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Cap’n O.G. Readmore (1985)  Cap’n Crunch Cereal: Crunch vs. Taste (1985)  An Alpha Bits Cereal commercial that’s clearly still trying to ride the Pac-Man wave, but I’m not complaining (1985)  ****  “Rubik, the Amazing Cube” and “Rubik’s First Christmas” © 1983 Ruby-Spears Enterprises, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1980s #rubyspears

🐰 Who is Easter Bunny? OMG, Bear is Easter Bunny! How can that be? 🎙 Emily Rowley and Alan Johnson join us as we hop, hop, hop back to 1981 for our first trip to Bear Country, which it turns out was built on top of the Easter Bunny’s industrial nightmare factory.  📺 You can watch “The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise” for free on YouTube.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Yes, we all collectively mispronounced “Berenstain.”  The VHS cover, for reference.  “The Berenstain Bears: The Very First Easter,” being the story of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus, who is also a bear.  Inside the Berenstain Bears’ Tree House.  The widest tree in the world, for comparison.  Things this special has in common with “Steel Magnolias”: Knowl Johnson and dozens of broken Easter eggs.  An ode to the Bear Family’s tiny, antique, circular porthole TV set.  Today’s TV Trope: Packed Hero.  “Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video,” featuring young Zachary Danziger (Bill Bunny) and a host of way more familiar names.  ****  📼 Commercial:  Kellogg’s Raisin Bran: Morgan the Mockingbird Commercial (1981), preserved from the original airing of this special.  Mike on Alan’s Two Bad Neighbors podcast for “Marge Be Not Proud” and “Monty Can’t Buy Me Love.”  ****  “The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise” © 1981 Joseph Cates Co., Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1980s #easter #berenstainbears

🎄 It’s 2014, but this special about a forgotten holiday mascot feels like it’s from the 1990s. Unfortunately, so do some of the jokes.  🎙 Michael DiGiovanni and Donnie Storms join us on a sleigh ride back through “How Murray Saved Christmas,” which follows Murray Weiner (rhymes with diner) from the hidden hometown of every holiday mascot… but mostly the American ones.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Former “Simpsons” showrunner Mike Reiss’s original books, “How Murray Saved Christmas” and “Santa Claustrophobia.”  The trimmed half-hour cut of the special removes some bad jokes, but also Murray’s backstory.  Speaking of super offensive things, Marc Mero as Johnny B. Badd.  Today’s TV Trope: Santa’s Sweatshop.  “Vishnu” takes “The Problem with Apu” to a new low.  Every LBGTQ+ Joke on The Simpsons Ever (as of early 2021).  There’s an actual National Milkmen Day… on June 26, not August 12.  All 27 or so Holidays Represented:  Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Easter, Arbor Day, Earth Day, Secretary’s Day (maybe), May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Graduation Day?, Father’s Day (maybe), (American) Independence Day, Bastille Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving… oh, and Jack Frost is there.  ****  📼 Commercials:  McDonald’s McDLT Commercial starring Jason Alexander (1985)  Tinsel Tunes.  ****  “How Murray Saved Christmas” © 2014 Universal Animation Studios.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #2010s

🎄 Happy Back to the Future Day! Set your time circuits to 1845 by way of 1991 for a special Christmas in July episode of the “Back to the Future” Saturday morning cartoon featuring hologram clothes, the hoverboard equivalent to texting while driving, and Bill Nye the Science Guy. 🎙 Joey O., along with Joseph Wade from Christmas Creeps and The O/S/T Party, are our partners in time for a “Dickens of a Christmas,” featuring Dan Castellaneta as the voice of the animated Doc, Thomas F. Wilson as Ebiffnezer Tannen, and Christmas movie all-star Mary Steenburger as Clara.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Mary Steenburger playing “Informer” on the accordion in “Last Man on Earth.”  Series art director James S. Baker storyboards his own blog.  The Back to the Future pinball game and its random movie quotes.  Futurepedia on how Doc’s clothing converter camera works.  Weird things we did as kids to show our parents we were responsible.  Some toys in Fedgewick’s shop shouldn’t be there yet in 1845.  Did “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” exist in 1845? Possibly, but not the version we know.  Doc’s wad of cash vs. England’s bank notes circa 1845.  Wilkins’s dog looks like 1980s T-shirt icon Rude Dog.  My Back to the Future-themed Good Friday and Easter Sunday tweets.  The closest thing we could find to a Kaiju Christmas movie is 1962’s “Gorath.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  Back to the Future: The Ride at Universal Studios Florida (1996)  Hi-C Ecto Cooler Commercial (1989), starring David Kaufmann, the voice of Marty.  ****  “Back to the Future,” the Animated Series, and “Dickens of a Christmas” © 1991 Universal Cartoon Studios / Amblin Television.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1990s #scroogesunday

🎃 It’s a wonderful night for eyebrows and the wildest trip to the euphemism we’ve ever taken.  🎙️ James Riley and Ethan “The Hungry Reader” hitch a ride in our paraphernalia wagon as we wheel it back to 1977 for a Grinch Night we’ll never forget.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The worst, non-candy Halloween treats.  “Carlton, Your Doorman.”  Longtime Sesame Street composer Joe Raposo composed this special’s music.  Hans Conried (The Grinch) was also the titular character in Dr. Seuss’s The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.  I badly describe the plot of “Midnight Madness.”  The Hakken-Kraks in “Oh, the Places You’ll Go.”  The Euphemism, and other words I thought Dr. Seuss made up.  “Dr. Seuss Goes to War,” and other creators of great works doing terrible things.  Bogleech’s gallery of the Grinch’s monsters, and our personal favorites.  The Vug under the Rug, the Jibboo, and the Birthday Bird.  “Danse macabre.”  Is this a prequel, and where does “The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat” fit into it?  ****  📼 Commercials:  Franken Berry and Monster Cereals (1986), preserved by Dinosaur Dracula.  Holly Jolly X’masu.  ****  “Halloween is Grinch Night” © 1977 DePatie–Freleng Enterprises.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1970s #halloween #drseuss

🎄 Garbageman is here for your Christmas spirit.  🎙️ Tommy Coombs and Chad Young join us as we look happily deranged back to 1996 to follow Pete and Pete’s brother, Pete, on their mission to keep Christmas going for as long as possible, and keep their Christmas tree safe from the evil Garbageman.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Michael C. Maronna (Big Pete) in “Home Alone,” and in a series of Ameritrade commercials circa 1999.  “Snow Day” was originally conceived as a Pete & Pete movie.  The first Pete & Pete short, “What Would You Do for a Dollar?”  The Pete & Pete 20th Anniversary Reunion.  Danny Tamberelli (Little Pete) as Jimmy De Santa in “Grand Theft Auto 5.”  Hardy Rawls (Dad) as the Maytag Repairman circa 2005.  Sludge Central on “Pete & Pete” filming in New Jersey.  Chad and Michael May talk “Silent Night, Deadly Night.”  David Johansen sings “Garbageman’s Ballad.”  The Max Headroom Pirating Incident.  A mini ode to character actress Marilyn Dobrin as the Wrigleys’ notably loud neighbor.  ****  📼 Commercials:  The Adventures of Pete & Pete: “Mom’s Plate” (1991)  Christmas Clatter.  ****  “The Adventures of Pete & Pete” and “O’ Christmas Pete” © 1995 Viacom.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1990s #nickelodeon

🎄 I know what we’re going to podcast about today!  🎙 James Riley and Brandon Medley join us for a toboggan ride without even getting out of bed back to 2009 to watch Phineas and Ferb save their very nice town’s Christmas Vacation.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Ferb) in “Love Actually” and “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”  The time James accidentally knocked over Ben Stiller.  The Sears Wish Book catalog.  Today’s TV Trope: Look Both Ways.  “What Does He Want?” was cut for time and restored later. Also, it sounds like the “Monster Mash.”  Doofenshmirtz’s Naughty-inator reminds me of the Riddler’s Brain Box from Batman Forever.  “We Are the World.”  Walt Disney World’s Candlelight Processional and Raglan Road.  “Christmas Is Starting Now” by Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.    ****  📼 Commercials:  Sears Wish Book (1992)  Merry Britsmas.  ****  “Phineas and Ferb Christmas Vacation” © 2009 Disney.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #2000s #disney

🦖 It’s the most wonderful time of 60 million years ago, so come in and buy paint.  🎙️ Lindy Kempe joins us with frying pan ready to celebrate Refrigerator Day with the Jim Henson Company’s “Dinosaurs,” which is somehow the Advent Calendar House’s first TGIF episode.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “The Simpsons” parodies “Dinosaurs.”  We go from talking about the “Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ” segment of “Muppets Now” to Netflix’s “Nailed It!”  Sally Struthers (Charlene) for International Correspondence School.  A brief history of the Christmas bonus, or “thirteenth salary.”  Sam McMurray in the very short-lived “A League of Their Own” sitcom, and my own pitch for a TV adaptation on Nerd Lunch’s Fourth Chair Army Invasion.  Pons Maar (Roy’s body actor) as the original voice of The Noid.  Unisaurs: The Dinosaurs equivalent to the Anything Muppet.  The biggest gifts we ended up returning.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Talking Baby Dinosaur and Dinosaurs Figures (1991)  TGI Podcast.  ****  “Dinosaurs” and “Refrigerator Day” © 1991 The Walt Disney Company.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1990s #muppets

🦃 We’re talking turkey as we dig up and dig in to a 1983 Thanksgiving special from puppeteer Paul Fusco, the creator of ALF.  🎙️ Chad Young, Tommy Coombs, and Jayme Kilsby join us the follow a turkey’s dream of stardom that ends with dogs and cats living together.  📺 You can watch “A Thanksgiving Tale” on Youtube, with curated retro Thanksgiving commercials.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Imagicom Productions’ Holiday Specials Collection.  Fred Travalena as the Joker in the 1989 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  A November 16, 1983 TV listing in an archived New York Magazine.  Paul Fusco’s “Space Cats.”  David Lander in “Funland.”  Mental Floss’s Oral History of ALF.  Today’s TV Trope: Invited as Dinner.  The “You Bet Your Life” Duck.  The art of making puppets fight: Throw them into the air from behind a fence.  We compare the Thanksgiving play in this special to the one in Addams Family Values.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Butterball Turkey Commercial (1985)  Christmas Time in the City.  ****  “A Thanksgiving Tale” © 1983 Imagicom Productions, Inc.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1980s #thanksgiving #puppets

🎄 Santa falls off the roof, and a guy who acts like a caveman takes over his job.  🎙 Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas and Sean Sotka from the Christmas Podcasts Podcast join us as we close out another countdown to Christmas in July with a sleigh ride back to the Stone-Age Year of Our Lord 1977.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Our episode on the Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial.  I found a Flintstones chronology on, of all places, Flickr.  The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault.  Domino Rally.    I want to know more about Santa’s reindeer turn signals.  “Daze Before Christmas” for Super Nintendo and Mega Drive (Genesis).  Virginia Gregg (Mrs. Claus) was the uncredited voice of Norman Bates’s mother in the first 3 Psycho movies.  Santa’s workshop should have gotten Flintstone Theming.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Fruity Pebbles: Rapping Barney (1988)  Voice Command Crusher RC Car (1993)  Behind the Bells.  ****  “A Flintstone Christmas” © 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s6 #1970s #hannabarbera #flintstones