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PODCAST

The Holiday Specials We Love

Welcome back, fellow Holiday fanatics, escapists, and nostalgics! It"s Season 4 of the newly rebranded The Holiday Specials We Love Podcast! Join us on a walk down memory lane as the HSWL hosts break down all your favorite specials, shows, and movies, covering all aspects of Holidays past and present. Our two-part mission is one: to keep the spirit alive by preserving and promoting these great works. Part two of our mission is to lengthen the spirit of joy and giving that we have all come to know

tv & film

All Episodes

36:45

Black Friday — Why We Really Buy

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/11/26

On this Black Friday edition of Holiday Specials We Love,we talk about how most people don’t buy because they want the item — they buy because they want the feeling they think the item will give them. And how that feeling is almost always tied to some form of scarcity. We look at how consumption becomes an attempt to patch an internal leak with an external object, and how that leak usually carries the same message: you're not enough. We ask the real questions behind the impulse. We get into how

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37:58

Black Friday — The Madness, the Memories & a Few...

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/11/26

On this Black Friday edition of The Holiday Specials We Love, we talk Black Friday Madness and not madness —the years when Black Friday really was Black Friday. We talk numbers-the peak of 2013–2014: midnight openings, camping outside Best Buy, packed malls, doorbuster chaos, and the kind of scenes that made the news (for both the right and wrong reasons). We compare that with Black Friday of today: shopping from your phone, Cyber Week deals starting before the turkey is carved, Buy Now Pay Later

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25:24

Bob’s Burgers — “An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal”...

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/11/13

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love,we dive into Bob’s Burgers and its first-ever Thanksgiving special — An Indecent Thanksgiving Proposal — the episode that launched an entire holiday tradition. We talk about the absurd brilliance of Bob’s devotion to Thanksgiving, his meltdown over being separated from his beloved turkey, and how one too many sips of absinthe send him into a full-blown hallucination starring a talking bird named Lance. Kevin Kline chews the scenery as the landlord

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67:39

Cheers – “Thanksgiving Orphans” (1986)

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/11/11

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we dive into Cheers: “Thanksgiving Orphans” from 1986 — one of the most beloved Thanksgiving sitcom episodes ever made. We talk the chaos that unfolds when everyone’s plans fall through and the gang ends up at Carla’s house. Norm forgets to cook the turkey, Diane arrives in full pilgrim attire, Sam’s date cancels and we are reminded of the struggles of the big box TVs. We talk the sharp writing, perfect pacing, and heart beneath the humor. The

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48:20

The Holiday Specials We Love: Monster Mash, Elvira &...

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/10/31

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, wefinish the Halloween preseason strong. We talk Boris Pickett — the man behind the Halloween anthem that just won’t die — and his forgotten B-sides from the Spooky World days in New England. We then turn to Elvira, Mistress of the Dark — her Groundlings beginnings, her decision to finally hang up the black wig, and Cassandra Peterson’s honesty about aging, authenticity, and her simple truth that keeping secrets makes you sick. She’s still got her

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39:41

The Holiday Specials We Love: The Simpsons –...

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/10/30

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we continue the Halloween preseason with The Simpsons: Treehouse of Horror V from 1994 — widely considered the one of best of the series. We dive in to the three unforgettable segments: “The Shinning,” a brilliant parody of The Shining where Homer unravels without TV or beer; “Time and Punishment,” where a time-traveling toaster sends Homer through chaos and alternate realities with a fun cameo by Sherman and Mr. Peabody; and “Nightmare Cafeteria,”

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31:37

The Holiday Specials We Love: Garfield’s Halloween...

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/10/18

The Holiday Specials We Love: Garfield’s Halloween Adventure (1985)On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we continue the holiday preseason with Garfield’s Halloween Adventure, the 1985 CBS special that gets us rolling into the season. Halloween is our “spring training,” Thanksgiving, the All-Star break, and from here it’s straight into the holidays. After the disappointing Thanksgiving special, this one is a step up. The pirate ghosts land, the 110-year-old man adds some edge, and Odie

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74:59

The Holiday Specials We Love: Candy Thru the Decades

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/10/09

The Holiday Specials We Love: Season 4 Holiday Preseason On this episode of HSWL we cover candy through the decades from the 1950's to the 1980's. The Hershey's chocolate lineup vs. the Nestle lineup. Twizzlers vs. Red Vines. Krackel vs. Nestle’s Crunch. Clark Bar vs. Butterfinger, Now and Laters vs. Mike and Ikes and more. Who was into Necco Wafers, Chuckles and Bit O' Honey? What is gimmick candy and why the gimmick achieved success rather than the taste. Razzles, Pop Rocks, Wax Bottles we

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55:04

Classic Easter Commercials Chat Show

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/04/12

Hey CSWL FANS! A lot of laughs and quite a bit of nostalgia as we watch some of the most iconic Easter Commercials of the 70s & 80s. How Easter was WAY bigger then and why we never hear Easter Carols. How Dudley of ‘Shake and Egg’ fame was the poster child for all things Easter. How the Cadbury Cream Egg commercials were the BEST, but, how they as a candy were ‘just a bit much’. Would helicopter Moms of today drain the yellow and white filling for their kids? Are Pretzel & Peanut Butter M&Ms

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43:46

The Berenstain Bears Easter Surprise Special

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/04/07

Hey CSWL FANS! Well well well – after much back and forth over if we should or should not- we did it- join us for this fun ride as we discuss The Berenstain Bears Easter Surprise Special. While there was some debate that the CSWL research team got the spelling incorrect- it is indeed, according to sources including Wikipedia, The Berenstain Bears, while some still refer to it Berenstein- Berenstain it is! Could THIS fact lead to a future episode covering the Bears? We think not, as an official

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18:21

Easter Season Chat

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/04/02

Hey CSWL on this CWSL Chat edition, we went deeper into the meaningof Easter and the Easter season. Warning: this isn’t a discussion on baskets and bunnies but the emotional and spiritual meanings. Seeing homes with Christmas lights still up and illuminated? Think there’s meaning? Kev has been seeing many. What does AI have to say about the meaning behind that? How AI can really offer insight into dream analysis and our unconscious selves. What our Shadow Self reveals and how some say: “There

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60:41

The Davey & Goliath Easter Special

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/03/31

Hey CSWL FANS! This one had us feeling all the feels as we cover this 5 Easter Basket (Candycanes? Carrots? Bunnies?) Special: The Davey & Goliath Easter Special “Happy Easter” yes- the one where Davey’s grandmother dies. We of course digress to issue a CSWL legal statement and apologies to the Cadbury Egg Community as well as the Berenstain Bear Community. Does D& G as a series need to be revisited? Modernized? How D&G are similar to Roblox and will the Peppa Pig Community also be offended? Why

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60:25

Rankin Bass Here Comes Peter Cottontail

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/03/26

Hey CSWL FANS! Hold on to your Easter Bonnet and snuggle into your leisure suit as we talk most things Here Comes Peter Cottontail. How close was this to our beloved Santa Claus is Coming to Town? Was the interstitial 2D animation a cost cutting measure or for story telling? Was Peter just feeling FOMO when he was ‘overserved’ the night before the biggest day of his life? How Danny Kaye doesn’t “have people”, why we may need to find a new world leading expert on Milk Duds and how so often people

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57:35

Easter Chat & Season 4 Kick Off!

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2025/03/22

Hey CSWL FANS! Happy Easter SEASON and Happy CSWL Season 4 Kickoff! We talk all things Easter past and a bit of present, the Berenstain Bears and Cadbury Egg ‘Communities,’ how Lent and Easter are a time for transformation. From Tony Robbins to the OG Hawaii 5-0 and, should the leisure suit (an Easter Suit staple) or the male jumpsuit make a comeback? The days of receiving baby chicks on Easters of the past and how baskets of yesteryear differ from those of today. Should we cover more Easter

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65:57

Christmas Eve Traditions

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/24

Christmas Eve TraditionsHey CSWL FANS! Merry Christmas Eve! We MADE IT! The CSWL 12 Days of Christmas! We talk all things Christmas Eve past and present, John Denver, why one celebrity hires Catholics and how late night AM Radio on Xmas Eve is go to for Holiday Insomniacs. Northeast folk and Hollywood execs who “don’t disagree.” What do Catholics and the Baby Bear's bed have in common and the true meaning of Boston Strong. Frosty’s airing removes the words 'Christopher Columbus'. How 20 miles

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50:42

40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s Part Two

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/23

40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s Part Two Hey CSWL FANS! We’re doing our best to save Christmas by diving into fan-shared Things Boomers Like: 40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s. In part two, Lawernce Welk’s “too much cheesecake”, Marie Osmond’s hair, Byron Allen's Real People and more as we continue our 12 days of Christmas episode drop. Also, Frosty’s Winter Wonderland and Andy Griffith's A Face in the Crowd. And let’s settle it: Is Rhoda officially cooler than Mary Tyler Moore? How

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47:20

40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s Part One

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/22

40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s Part One Hey CSWL FANS! We’re doing our best to save Christmas by diving into fan-shared Things Boomers Like: 40 Beloved Christmas Specials of the 70s. In part one we tackle the first 20. From Bob Hope’s holiday specials to Cher’s star power and Rich Little’s impressions. Funny how The Glenn Cambell Christmas special led us to discuss how comedy changed with disruptors like Woody Allen and David Letterman, why slapstick like pie-in-the-face humor might’ve

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38:02

Alt Christmas Movie Picks Part 2

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/21

Alt Christmas Movie Picks Part 2 Hey CSWL Fans! We’re back with Part 2 of the Alt Christmas Movie Picks. We’re diving into the genius of Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, why a 100-year-old’s advice still hits hard, and how Christmas is the season to embrace love and connection. Dickens's own story of writing A Christmas Carol may be more moving than the story itself. We talk Spirited, The Man Who Invented Christmas, and the criminally underrated 29th Street. We’re breaking it all down, including how

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38:30

Alt Christmas Movie Picks Part One

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/20

Alt Christmas Movie Picks Part One Hey CSWL Fans! We’re diving into Part One of the must-see Alt Holiday Specials, and – we may have digressed-just a little. Just like "The Little Drummer Boy," we’re giving our all to save Christmas. Ever thought about what "Revenge of the Nerds" and *The Little Drummer Boy* have in common? Discover why "Fat Man" is your gateway to "Violent Night" and why the latter should be retitled to "Santa’s Last Stand.” Is there a love for all things *A Christmas Carol*? Bad

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32:06

Rankin Bass Twas the Night Before Christmas

The Holiday Specials We Love ·

2024/12/18

Rankin Bass Twas the Night Before Christmas Hey CSWL Fans! We're back with a semi-deep dive into the 1974 Rankin/Bass classic, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, awarding it a solid 4½ Candy Canes. Is this special a counterpunch to Hanna-Barbera's The Thanksgiving That Almost Wasn't? What was this time period's obsession with mice and mice living in walls with archway openings in the baseboard? Does Albert the Mouse from this special mirror today's youth? Star Trek's notion regarding intelligence

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