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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

01:20:23

Alien Xmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/12

🎄It’s 2020, and a gift-wrapped puppy licked my face and made my skin turn blue. From the Chiodo Brothers comes a charming stop-motion Christmas special 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. **** 🎙 Guests:Michael DiGiovanni (Pop Culture Retrofit, Bluesky) Sammy Hain (Sammy’s Easter Tails, Bluesky) **** 💬

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01:39:36

The Love Boat: The Christmas Presence

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/10

🎄It’s 1982, and I’m trapped at sea while Mickey Rooney butts into everyone’s conversation. 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. **** 🎙 Guests:Guy Hutchinson (Pointless Nostalgia, GuyHutchinson.com) William Bruce West (West Week Ever, Remember That Show?) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1. “The Christmas Presence”

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01:43:00

Blackadder’s Christmas Carol

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/08

🎄It’s 1988, and the Spirit of Christmas just broke down my bedroom door to say hello. This edition of Scrooge Sunday 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. **** 🎙 Guest: Jack Ford (Total Christmas Podcast) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. “Blackadder’s Christmas Carol” on

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01:54:19

Barbie in The Nutcracker

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/06

🎄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. From the makers of “ReBoot” and Dire Straits’ “Money for Nothing” music video comes Barbie’s first feature-length movie, complete with motion capture of the New York City Ballet, revolutionary hair animation, and Tim Curry as an extra sassy Mouse King. **** 🎙 Guests:Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies. **** 💬 Topics & Tangents:1. “Barbie and the Nutcracker”

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01:22:55

You Can’t Do That on Television: Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/04

🎄It’s 1984, and Santa’s in front of a firing squad because his executioner didn’t appreciate the socks he got last Christmas. The slime is an extra festive shade of green in this 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.” **** 🎙 Guests:Shawn Robare (Plastic Rocket Pop, Cult Film Club, Wolfman’s Got Nards) Steven (UFO Club, The Bigfoot Club) **** 💬 Topics &

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01:17:00

Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/12/02

🎄It’s 1995, and Robert Downey Jr. may or may not be holding Kermit the Frog hostage until he gets his perfect Christmas tree. 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. Also starring shy butler Leslie Nielsen, homesick Swedish maid Stockard Channing, and a pre-Bobo Bobo the Bear. **** 🎙 Guests:Anthony

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01:42:00

It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/23

🎄It’s 1992, and there’s no such thing as Buster Bunny. The Advent Calendar House wraps up Christmas in July with the unofficial series finale of “Tiny Toon Adventures,” when Buster wishes he’d never been on the show, and the horrors within Montana Max’s Biff Tannen Pleasure Palace or whatever. **** 🎙 Guests: Adam Pope (Geekster, YouTube, Remember That Show?) William Bruce West (West Week Ever, Remember That Show?) Chad Young (The Horror Movie BBQ) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. I found

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01:15:21

Quantum Leap: A Little Miracle

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/21

🎄It’s 1990… or 1962… and a quantum physicist forgot to powder his boss’s underwear. This Scrooge Sunday edition of the Advent Calendar House involves time travel of a different sort as we follow Dr. Sam Beckett on a mission to save a mission, and the soul of the man trying to tear it down. * CONTENT WARNING: This episode briefly discusses the death of actor Charles Rocket and the would-be death of his Scrooge-like character, Michael Blake. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinevans). Joey O

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01:55:56

Jim Henson’s Turkey Hollow

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/19

🦃 It’s 2015, and in my search for a noisy cryptid I accidentally freed 175 roided-up turkeys, but neither of those things is the real monster. Join us as we rediscover a long lost Thanksgiving special concept Jim Henson dreamed up in the 1960s and meet the Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow. **** 🎙 Guests: Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head) Sammy Hain (Sammy’s Easter Tails) Tony Whitaker (@muppetdude, Muppet

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01:13:52

Adventures in Wonderland: Christmas in Wonderland

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/17

🎄 It’s 1992, and my daydreams of snow are melting into a water getting dumped on my head from an airplane. Join us as we dive down the rabbit hole to the strange world of The Disney Channel’s “Adventures in Wonderland,” where the White Rabbit wears Rollerblades and the halls are decked with fresh produce, the way Christmas was meant to be celebrated. **** 🎙 Guests: Channel KRT: Kit Quinn (@missi0nbreakout, Letterboxd) Randee Martin (@NeonTailzz, YouTube) Tyler Green (@TylerFG, Bluesky, The

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01:12:04

Pillow People Save Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/15

🎄 It’s 1988, the monsters under my bed are real, and they’re stealing Christmas. Follow us under the covers through a wormhole to the home of ’80s kids’ bedding sensation the Pillow People in a Christmas special so obscure, it’s not even listed on IMDb. But it’s real, and it’s ironically nightmarish. **** 🎙 Guest: Ethan (The Hungry Reader, A Special Presentation or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight, Put Your Hand Inside the Puppet Head) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Watch “Pillow People Save

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01:50:48

The Worst Witch

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/13

🎃 It’s 1986, and one student at a magical boarding school is struggling to fit in while having to deal with a hard-nosed potions teacher and bullying from a golden child whose father will hear about this, but finds comfort in broom flying and encouragement from the kindly old headmaster. No, not that one. Before Harry Potter, there was “The Worst Witch,” which was adapted into a TV Halloween special starring a young Fairuza Balk, Dianna Rigg, Charlotte Rae in a dual role, and Tim Curry in the

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01:16:46

The Annie Christmas Show

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/11

🎄 It’s 1977, and the cast of Broadway’s hottest new musical is taking drastic measures to convince 4 different unions keep the theater open for a Christmas party because they forgot to book a venue. Join the original Broadway cast of “Annie” as somewhere in between themselves and their characters in a unique TV Christmas special which may very well have been many TV viewers’ first exposure to the musical. **** 🎙 Guest: Guy Hutchinson (Pointless Nostalgia, GuyHutchinson.com). **** 💬 Topics &

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01:15:56

Around the World with Dot

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/09

🎄 It’s 1981, and a jolly swagman who may or may not be Santa Claus is flying me around the world in a sleigh built out of a bench and some rope we had lying around to search the globe for a lost baby kangaroo. Today’s Christmas in July episode begins where it’s actually winter in July, and only gets stranger and more inappropriate from there. It’s “Around the World with Dot,” also known as “Dot and Santa Claus,” starring the title character from an 1899 Australian children’s book, “Dot and the

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01:15:00

Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/07

🐰 It’s 2004, and a stuffed toy rabbit voluntold me to clean his house. The Advent Calendar House celebrates both Easter in July and Scrooge Sunday with a trip to the Hundred Acre Wood as Rabbit does double duty as both the Easter Bunny and Scrooge, all while Christopher Robin is somewhere else entirely. **** 🎙 Guests: Sammy Hain (Sammy’s Easter Tails) Matt Spaulding (North Pole Radio, Two Broke Geeks) **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Watch “Springtime with Roo” on Disney+. 2. Ads from the

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01:32:24

Santa’s Magic Toy Bag

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/05

🎄 It’s 1983, and my emotional support jack-in-the-box is not providing much help for my Imposter Syndrome. Prepare for a deep dive into another pre-ALF puppet special from Paul Fusco starring a very depressed elf in training trying to find where he belongs in Santa’s workshop by first finding everywhere he doesn’t belong. Plus: Santa’s Swedish Chef-like human hands! A three-eyed purple teddy bear we never get to see! Paul Fusco inserting himself into his own Christmas fan fiction! **** 🎙

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01:36:35

Jack Frost (1979)

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/07/02

🎄It’s 1979, and an evil king is having abandonment issues after his entire kingdom left, so he made an army of robots instead of going to therapy. The Advent Calendar House has once again emerged from hibernation after declaring 4 more months of winter to pretend it’s still winter. Join us as we encounter what might be the least Christmassy Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a friendlier version of Jack Frost, a groundhog dressed like a pro wrestling manager, and the wintry weather neighbors

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01:16:25

Frasier: Look Before You Leap

Advent Calendar House ·

2024/02/29

The Advent Calendar House has awoken early from its long winter’s nap to take the Leap Year challenge as prescribed by Dr. Frasier Crane on one unseasonably warm February morning in 1996. On the way we look up the “Frasier” cast’s Christmas connections, explore the world of complicated opera solos and bad Western ballads, and call in to a PBS pledge drive to try and talk to Big Bird. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans (@mserinevans). Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, @imgonnadj24). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1

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02:21:21

A Christmas Carol (1984)

Advent Calendar House ·

2023/12/24

🎄It’s 1984, and Ebenezer Scrooge is threatening to raise his asking price for a warehouse full of corn. This Christmas Eve episode not only drops on a Scrooge Sunday, but it’s also the Advent Calendar House’s 150th episode. To celebrate, I let listeners vote for which “Christmas Carol” to cover, and the winner is the 1984 TV movie starring George S. Scott, along with original “Equalizer” Edward Woodward as a sassy Ghost of Christmas Present, and we even spotted our favorite Alfred Pennyworth,

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01:30:11

Yogi’s First Christmas

Advent Calendar House ·

2023/12/22

🎄It’s 1980, and my spoiled nephew just got beaten in a ski-jumping contest by a bear who’s never seen winter before. Join us we fail upward through middle to upper hotel management featuring a simultaneously very mature and very immature conversation about cartoon bears discovering mistletoe. What could be the Jellystone Winter Lodge’s final Christmas carnival manages to wake up Yogi Bear, who hibernates directly underneath it but somehow never knew about it before now. **** 🎙 Guest: Bill

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189 results

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