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☃️ It’s 1982, and we’re walking in the air. 🎙️ Adam Parker Sibun from the Merry Britsmas Podcast visits the Advent Calendar House as we melt over a British Christmas classic and a personal favorite I wish was more beloved stateside.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  We have a new theme song! Thanks, Bronwen’s Ghost!  Merry Britsmas episode on Raymond Briggs.  The British Film Institute’s Top 100 British TV Programmes of the 20th Century.  The special’s 3 openings, featuring Briggs, David Bowie, and Mel Smith as Father Christmas.  The original picture book wasn’t a Christmas story.  Other Briggs works mentioned: “Father Christmas,” “Fungus the Bogeyman,” “Ethel and Ernest,” and “When the Wind Blows.”  How The Snowman melted David Bowie’s heart (The Guardian, December 2016)  Duncan Jones finds his dad’s scarf.  Video of an owl flying over snow I eerily shared on Facebook the night David Bowie died.  The Maccabees cover “Walking in the Air.”  The Royal Pavilion and Brighton Palace Pier.  Today’s TV Trope: Polar Bears and Penguins.  The Snowman in a commercial for Barbour outerwear.  Irn-Bru soft drink’s parody commercial, and its sequel.  ****  📼 Commercials:  1985 Toys “R” Us Snowman Commercial featuring Aled Jones covering “Walking in the Air” (sung in the special by Peter Auty).  ****  “The Snowman” © 1982 Snowman Enterprises Ltd.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s

🎄 It’s 1963, and we’re watching a show about a show within a show putting on a show for Christmas. Don’t ask us to make sense of it. We can’t stop tripping over our own home furniture.  🎙️ Tim Babb from the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast joins us to watch a show within a show put on a Christmas show, then sing the theme from the show it’s within.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Dick Van Dyke as Tubby the Tuba.  8 great little details you never noticed in The Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode (MeTV)  Every Episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ranked (Vulture)  92-year-old Dick Van Dyke dancing to Step in Time.  Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins Returns.”  “John Brown’s Body.”  Key & Peele’s “Negrotown” sketch and the trope of interrupting someone’s song.  “The Dick Van Dyke Show” cast reunites on “Comic Relief” (1992)  Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book’s history of “I Am a Fine Musician.”  The theme song’s secret lyrics.  ****  📼 Commercial:  Learn Not to Burn: Holiday Fire Safety PSA (1977)  Also mentioned, this Fire Safety PSA with Dick Van Dyke pretending to be a door.  ****  “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “The Alan Brady Show Presents” © 1963 Calvada Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1960s

🕎 It’s 1988, and we’re getting lit at Bubbe’s Boarding House for Hanukkah. 🎙 April Ryley joins us for a spin with a bunch of puppets you’ll never hear from again.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  A Simpsons animator designed the puppets for this weird, wonderful ’80s Hanukkah special (Splinter, 2014)  “Caps for Sale”  Anton and his Easter Island head.  April’s very non-kosher latke recipe.  Mayim Bialik explains the letters on the dreidel and other Hanukkah facts.  Calvin getting trolled by his dad in “Calvin and Hobbes.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  1970s/’80s PBS Logo ID.  1985 Teddy Ruxpin “Frankenstein” Commercial, preserved by Dinosaur Dracula. Teddy Ruxpin voice actor Phil Baron co-wrote this special.  Cool Kids Club.  ****  “Chanuka at Bubbe’s” © 1988 Pan-Imago, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s #hanukkah #puppets

🎄 It’s 1988, and the Care Bears are threatening to take hostages on a quest to save Toyland.  🎙 Lindy Kempe and Karen Flieger join us to stare intensely at the totally nuts series finale of “The Care Bears Family,” the Care Bears’ last TV appearance for 16 years.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The World’s Smallest Tenderheart Bear.  Karen’s awesome Nutcracker socks.  Abby Hagyard (Ms. Walker, and also the mom on “You Can’t Do That on Television”).  “The Wild Puffalumps.”  Billie Mae Richards, the voice of Rudolph, as Tenderheart Bear in “The Care Bears Movie.”  That time a goose flew into Fabio’s face on a roller coaster.  Today’s TV Tropes: Identity Amnesia, Evil Chancellor, Rail-Car Separation.  “The Sad Story of Henry” from Thomas the Tank Engine.  The train runs on soda, like the time machine in the first draft of “Back to the Future.”  When we recorded this, the special’s Wikipedia entry was oddly specific about setting this story in 1967.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Care Bears Drinking Glasses from Pizza Hut (1984)  “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday,” by Ed Daly.  Snow in Southtown.  ****  “Care Bears Nutcracker Suite” © 1988 Nelvana Ltd.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s #nutcracker #nelvana

🎄 It’s 1980, and we’re having a hiccuping fit that can literally move mountains.  🎙 Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies join us on a trip back to the World of Filmation for a barely Christmassy Snow White sequel starring Snow White’s daughter, also named Snow White, who meets Seven Friendly Giants, each with their own involuntary reflexes.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Bad Princess Movies on Filmation’s “Happily Ever After.”  “Lou Scheimer: Creating the Filmation Generation.”  Cash-grab home videos including “The Reef,” “Ratatoing,” and Toei Animation’s “The Little Mermaid,” which I discovered in a Toys “R” Us in 1989.  Larry Mann (Yukon Cornelius) as the Magic Mirror vs. Dom DeLuise as the Looking Glass in “Happily Ever After.”  “The Thief and the Cobbler.”  Am I Hot or Not?  The word CLINK appears as a key is dropped onto a table, but this is the only time that effect happens in the whole special.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Barbie Dreamhouse (1982)  Weird Christmas.  ****  “A Snow White Christmas” © 1980 Filmation Associates.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s #filmation

🎄 It’s 1978, and celebrities pretending to be ghosts are gaslighting Oscar the Grouch into participating in Christmas. Also, Michael Jackson shows up. 🎙 Alan Johnson and Donnie Storms join us for another Scrooge Sunday episode to witness the 2nd best “Sesame Street” Christmas special from 1978… out of 2.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Our episode on “Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.”  I thought Tough Pigs made up this special in 2001 to be funny, but nope, it’s real.  Sesame Street lost an Emmy to Sesame Street.  “A Special Sesame Street Christmas” on Muppet Wiki.  “Elmo’s Delicious Christmas.”  “Anne Murray Sings for the Sesame Street Generation,” an American re-release of “There’s a Hippo in My Tub.”  “Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.”  Michael Jackson inadvertently saved Sesame Street from a lawsuit.  “Just One Person” at Jim Henson’s memorial service. Mike talks about “Snoopy! The Musical” on A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Sesame Place (1984)  Kringle Talks Kristmas.  ****  “A Special Sesame Street Christmas” © 1978 Bob Banner Associates.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1970s #scroogesunday #muppets

🎄 It’s 1978, and we’re glued to the TV… whether we like it or not.  🎙 Molly Patton and Adam Pope join us as we catch the next reindeer flight to save Santa’s workshop from being taken over by a palette swapped Wile E. Coyote.  ****  “Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure” and The Greedy.  Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, in example: “A Sheep in the Deep.”  The Gloopstik Corporation’s address on Google Maps.  Santa’s Reindeer species profile by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.  The Star-On and Star-Off machines from “The Sneetches.”  ****  📼 Commercials:  1978 M&M’s Christmas Commercial.  A Cozy Christmas.  ****  “Raggedy Ann” and “Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper” © 1978 The Bobbs-Merrill Company, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1970s #chuckjones

🎄 It’s 1995, and a cozy Christmas at X-Mansion has quickly turned into a risky blood transfusion in a sewer.  🎙 I call upon the raging wind and the retired hosts of The Hourchive — Drew Crowley, John Dedeke, Adam Jurotich, and Nick Main — to send us flying into the Marvel Animated Universe as we size up the X-Mansion Christmas tree, praise Storm’s fashion sense, and berate her leadership skills.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The Hourchive on The X-Men (2013) and ReduX-Men (2019).  “California Dreams.”  “Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits” home video starring Drew Barrymore.  “Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas” on the Marvel Animated Universe Wiki.  Ross Petty (Ape) and his annual holiday pantomime theatre.  “Captive Hearts,” featuring the introduction to the Morlocks, Rogue and Gambit in swimsuits, and the Wolverine Crush meme.  ****  📼 Commercials:  The Uncanny X-Men ToyBiz Action Figures.  Lit for Christmas.  “The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday” by Ed Daly.  ****  “X-Men” and “Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas” © 1995 Filmation Associates.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1990s #marvel

🎄 It’s 1986, and we’re hiding out in a cabin in the mountains with modern-day Snow White and real-life Christmas angel Dolly Parton.  🎙 April Ryley joins us as we try to wrap our heads around this Henry Winkler-directed TV movie that gets really weird really quickly.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Dolly Parton Meets the Kids.”  Muppet doppelgänger Polly Darton.  Dolly Parton saved a girl’s life on the set of “Christmas on the Square.”  Gennie James (Cindy) in “The Hugga Bunch Movie.”  Claude Earl Jones (Bartender) in the Seinfeld episode, “The Race.”  Lee Majors (Mountain Dan) and Jean Speegle Howard (Old Woman Jezebel) in “The Night the Reindeer Died,” the movie-within-a-movie from “Scrooged.”  How South Jersey Keeps Muskrat on the Menu (Gastro Obscura)  ****  📼 Commercials:  Dollywood Commercial (1988)  Christmas Clatter.  Santa by the Minute.  ****  “A Smoky Mountain Christmas” © 1986 Sandollar Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s

🎄 It’s 1984, and the most 1984 pair I can think of, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis, are taking us on the most romantic date through New York City on the way to a Christmas party at Radio City Music Hall.  🎙 Guy Hutchinson joins us as we spoil David Copperfield’s magic tricks, leave our emergency contact information with Willie Tyler and Lester, share our favorite Christmas songs with Maureen McGovern, and fall asleep while watching the Rockettes rehearse.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  I Pity the Yule: Remembering A Christmas Dream, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis’s Lost Holiday Special (Mental Floss, 2020)  “Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool.”  New York Mayor Ed Koch in “The Muppets Take Manhattan.”  David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear.  Sesame Street’s Don Music.  Willie Tyler and Lester on Letterman.  Vintage Christmas tree color wheels.  The other verses of “Silent Night” you’ve never heard.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Soft Scrub Cleaner.  The GE 2800 Dishwasher commercial that reminds me of the last scene of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.  Masters of the Universe: The Fright Zone Play Set.  Behind the Bells.  Totally Rad Christmas.  ****  Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis in A Christmas Dream” © 1984 Radio City Music Hall Television Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1980s

🎄 It’s 1996, and we’re holding our football-shaped heads high on a quest to find our neighbor’s long-lost daughter… but first, a pair of highly sought after Nancy Spumoni snow boots!  🎙 Anthony Caruso from Tis the Podcast and Matt Eurich from TGI Podcast join us for a very special Christmas episode that solidified “Hey Arnold!” as an unforgettable Nicktoon.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The story behind the iconic Vietnam Episode of ‘Hey Arnold!’ (NBC News, 2021)  Arnold’s Claymation origins: “Arnold Escapes from Church” (1988)  Arnold Uses His Imagination on “Sesame Street.”  Helga in “Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.”  The “Pollyanna,” Philadelphia’s hyper-local Secret Santa.  Mr. Hyunh’s banana wallpaper.  Mr. Hyunh’s flashback includes the iconic helicopter image from the Fall of Saigon.  One-Legged Bob, the Affable Railroad Tramp.  Hey, grown-ups, remember dot matrix printers?  Hiep Thi Le’s life could’ve been a movie; instead the refugee became a star playing someone else (Los Angeles Times, 2018)  ****  📼 Commercials:  Talkboy Voice Recorder from “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.”  ****  “Hey Arnold!” and “Arnold’s Christmas” © 1996 Viacom International, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1990s #nickelodeon

🎅 It’s the 100th episode of the Advent Calendar House, and what better day than Christmas Eve to return to the World of Rankin/Bass?  🎙 Erin Evans, Michael DiGiovanni, Michael May, Brandon Medley, and Joey O. join us as we put one foot in front of the other back to 1970 to revisit a Christmas classic that dares to answer children’s questions about Santa Claus while illegally opening his mail.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  Both IMDb and Wikipedia had the premiere date wrong because of a typo in an old book. Rich Goldschmidt’s “The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Daydreamer” gets it right.  Former pro-wrestler Special Delivery Jones (no relation).  Burgermeister Meisterburger is a dead ringer for Mauser from “Police Academy 2.”  Hey, IMDb, I highly doubt the Greg Thomas voicing young Kris Kringle grew up to play the saxophone in Parliament Funkadelic.  For a while, Topper was renamed Waddles.  Kris’s weird face he makes after being caught by the Winter Warlock’s angry trees.  Save the Earth from Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.  Weddings on Christmas Day used to be popular.  The first known recording of the song “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” and our favorite versions.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Folgers Coffee: Peter Comes Home for Christmas (1982)  ****  “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town” © 1970 Rankin/Bass Productions.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Find us at adventcalendar.house.  #s7 #1970s #rankinbass