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PODCAST

Advent Calendar House

A salute to all TV holiday specials, but mostly the Christmas ones. Revisit 12 holiday classics and not-so-classics each December and July.

tv & film tv reviews

All Episodes

01:00:50

Shalom Sesame: Chanukah

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/22

🕎 To kick off Hanukkah, we’re shining a light on a 1990 episode of Shalom Sesame, an on-again, off-again co-production of Sesame Street and its Israeli counterpart, Rechov Sumsum, featuring the objectively better son from Growing Pains. **** 🎙 Guest: Sarah Shay (SarayShay.com, Bandcamp, Pilot House Podcast, @thesarahshay). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. A brief history of Shalom Sesame, provided by the ever-thorough Muppet Wiki. 2. Israel’s Big Bird stand-in, Kippi Ben Kippod, is

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01:05:01

Christmas in Tattertown

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/19

🎄 On a very wound-up and thrown out into a pile of junk in another dimension episode of the Advent Calendar House, we set our sentient clocks back to 1988 for a one-time-only trip to Tattertown, the holiday brain-child Ralph Bakshi and Nickelodeon’s first-ever original animated TV program. **** 🎙 Guest: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Christmas in Tattertown info and sketches from Bakshi Productions. 2. Christmas in Tattertown review on Nick

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01:07:31

Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/17

🎄 Every unstoppable monster has a beginning. Squeeze onto the couch as a perfectly cromulent panel of Advent Calendar House regulars celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Simpsons and its series premiere, Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire, or as it was advertised to us in 1989, “The Simpsons’ Christmas Special.”CONTENT WARNING: We briefly discuss Mall Santas and 10-year-olds’ feelings on Mall Santas. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed Are the Geek). Erin Evans (@mserinmevans)

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00:54:07

Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/15

🎄 It’s a very special Scrooge Sunday episode as we nearly-blindly fumble back to 1962 to celebrate TV’s first ever animated Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Anthony Caruso (@acaruso929) and Julia Colburn from Tis the Podcast. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jim Backus, the voice of Mister Magoo, based his portrayal of Thurston Howell III from Gilligan’s Island on another character he played on a radio show hosted by another famous future Scrooge, Alan Young. 2. Nephew Fred is cut entirely to

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00:40:36

Sealab 2021: Feast of Alvis

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/13

Content Warning: If you usually let your children listen to your podcast feed with you, you may want to get the kids out of the pool for this one as we dive into a very festive, very inappropriate 2002 episode of the Adult Swim cartoon Sealab 2021 to wage war on the Feast of Alvis. **** 🎙 Guests: Zac Shipley (@zacshipley). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Sealab 2020, the very different, very boring original 1972 cartoon that serves as the butt of Sealab 2021’s joke. 2. The usual Sealab theme

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00:45:05

The Glo Friends Save Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/11

🎄 It’s Glo! We learn how to selectively melt only certain ice we’re radiating near with Hasbro’s hive of bioluminescent bugs, the Glo Friends, in their 1985 Christmas special starring Carroll O’Connor as Santa and Sally Struthers as Blanche, the Wicked Witch of the North Pole, who exists and is jealous of Santa’s publicity. Take notes, Great Pumpkin… or, perhaps, don’t. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (@ImGonnaDJ24, Y-Not Radio, Words With Nerds). **** 💬 Topics &

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00:51:40

Ziggy’s Gift

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/09

🎄 Take a short-statured trip back to 1982 to explore one-off TV Christmas special starring no one’s favorite funny papers hero, Ziggy, and featuring a beautifully animated puddle of dog pee. **** 🎙 Guests: Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Ziggy’s Gift on Dinosaur Dracula After Dark. 2. The Point, a Harry Nilsson album turned into an animated movie. 3. Ziggy’s toothpaste looks like Beetlejuice sandworms. 4. Ziggy Theories: Is he adult

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00:47:23

Cricket on the Hearth

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/07

🎄 Experience Rankin/Bass’s first festive follow-up to Rudolph through our eyes as we explore a 1967 TV special based on Charles Dickens’s other Christmas story. **** 🎙 Guest: Brian Earl (Christmas Past, @XmasPastPodcast). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The history of legends about crickets on hearths bringing good luck. 2. The Cricket on the Hearth soundtrack. 3. Brian’s Christmas Past episode on Golden Age Christmas TV Cartoons. 4. Christmas TV History’s Joanna Wilson on Rankin/Bass Voice

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00:53:42

A Wish for Wings That Work

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/05

🎄 Grab an emergency parachute as we dive in to a 1991 TV Christmas special starring Opus the Penguin and Bill the Cat from the comic strip series Bloom County and Outland. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. This is based on a book version you can watch someone read to you on YouTube, if you’d like. 2. Bloom County creator Berkeley Breathed was not happy with this special. He also confirmed the

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01:04:40

Pinocchio’s Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/03

🎄 The Advent Calendar House gets overrun by earworms strong enough to burrow into wood as we carve into the 1980 Rankin/Bass Christmas special starring Pinocchio. **** 🎙 Guests: Michael DiGiovanni (@theatomicgeeks, The Atomic Geeks, Classic Film Jerks, Pop Culture Retrofit). Michael May (@michaelmaycomix, MichaelMay.online, Sleigh Bell Cinema, Mystery Movie Night, Nerd Lunch Fourth Chair Army Invasion, and I think that might be it… FOR NOW). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Two songs, Dancin’

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01:09:39

Mickey’s Christmas Carol

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/12/01

🎄 Season 3 of the Advent Calendar House kicks off with a new regular feature: Scrooge Sunday, celebrating the many adaptations of A Christmas Carol. We begin with Disney’s 1983 featurette, marking the big-screen debut of Scrooge McDuck playing his namesake. **** 🎙 Guests: Lizzie Twachtman (@thelizzietea, Moorage Thrift House, Random Chatter). Adam Pope (@hojukoolander, SequelQuest, 2 Goofs, Retro-Daze, Retro Detention). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Mickey’s Christmas Carol on Disney+. 2

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01:20:58

Garfield’s Halloween Adventure

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/10/10

🎃 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. **** 🎙 Guests: Jeff Somogyi (@sommerjam, Talkin’ Chopp). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Jim Davis wanted ‘Garfield’s Halloween Adventure’ to ‘at least scare 4-year-olds’ (The A.V. Club, 2014). 2. 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

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00:48:57

The Muppets Valentine Show

Advent Calendar House ·

2019/02/13

Love and dynamite are in the air as I introduce 2 guests to an early pilot of what would eventually become The Muppet Show from 1974, guest-starring a pregnant Mia Farrow. **** 🎙 Guests: Brian Arnold (@phillyradiogeek, Me and You and a Blog Named Boo). Joey O. (@ImGonnaDJ24, Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The Muppets Valentine Show on YouTube. 2. Muppet Wiki on The Muppets Valentine Show. 3. Jim Henson’s Red Book entry about getting this pilot green-lit by

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01:04:08

Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/24

It’s Christmas Eve! Tune in as we bring Advent to a close with the first Christmas special I ever remember watching, from 1978. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. My taped copy of this is interrupted in the middle by a WHYY telethon with Philadelphia TV legend Ed Cunningham. 2. The Count’s amazing ice-skating cape. 3. The wibbly-wobbly physics of Oscar’s trash can. 4. Olivia married the Predator

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00:57:51

ALF’s Special Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/23

Remember ALF? He’s back, in podcast form! Tune in 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. **** 🎙 Guest: Jeff Somogyi (Talkin’ Chopp, Down the Rabbit Hole, @sommerjam). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. The heartbreaking true story behind ALF’s Special

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00:55:23

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: We Wish You a Turtle...

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/22

Tune in as we unearth a 1994 cash-grab video starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — or at least some version of them — a special so low-quality, it happens in a sewer. **** 🎙 Guests: Shawn Robare (Branded in the ’80s, Cult Film Club, @ShawnRobare). Jonathan Zelenak (@TheSewerDen). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. About the Sewer Den, Jonathan’s massive TMNT collection, and his blog post about We Wish You a Turtle Christmas. 2. Of course we touch on the Turtles’ Coming Out of Their Shells

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01:22:36

Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/21

Tune in as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special the only way we know how: With lots of screaming, lots of fruitcake, and lots more screaming. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinmevans). Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. 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

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01:01:48

Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/20

Mickey Mouse drags his pals into third dimension in this 2004 direct-to-DVD Disney Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Drew Crowley (@pizzanautgo) and John Dedeke (@johndedeke) from The Hourchive. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. If you haven’t been to a Disney theme park in the last year or two, Mickey has a different face now. 2. The hippo and crocodile from “Fantasia” have names. 3. Chuck McCann, the voice of Santa, was the Dreamfinder in the original Journey Into Imagination. 4. A quick

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00:59:55

Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/19

Tune in as we attempt to make sense of time, space, and the Disney fowl food chain as we watch Disney’s 1999 direct to video Christmas special. **** 🎙 Guests: Drew Crowley (@pizzanautgo) and John Dedeke (@johndedeke) from The Hourchive. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Donald Duck’s comically enormous, fanmade family tree. 2. Happy Duck to the Future Day! 3. The Quack Pack intro will tell you everything you need to know about Quack Pack. 4. Does Donald’s Christmas cabin exist in a turducken

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01:25:28

He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas Special

Advent Calendar House ·

2018/12/18

We are not nice, not kind, and not wonderful to 1985’s He-Man and She-Ra Christmas special, in which Skeletor’s heart grows three sizes. **** 🎙 Guests: Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Blessed are the Geek). Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ, TPIF: Thank Pod It’s Funny, @horrormoviebbq). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. 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. 2. Thank goodness Chad is here to identify

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