Advent Calendar House

Latest Episodes:

Back to the Future - Dickens of a Christmas Jul 11, 2021

Show notes

🎄 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.

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💬 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.”

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📼 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.

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#s6 #1990s #scroogesunday

How Murray Saved Christmas Jul 09, 2021

Show notes

🎄 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.

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💬 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.

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📼 Commercials:

McDonald’s McDLT Commercial starring Jason Alexander (1985)

Tinsel Tunes.

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#s6 #2010s

The Berenstain Bears’ Easter Surprise Jul 07, 2021

Show notes

🐰 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.

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💬 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.

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📼 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.”

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#s6 #1980s #easter #berenstainbears

Rubik, the Amazing Cube - Rubik’s First Christmas Jul 05, 2021

Show notes

🎄 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.

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💬 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.

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📼 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)

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#s6 #1980s #rubyspears

A Cosmic Christmas Jul 03, 2021

Show notes

🎄 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.

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💬 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.

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📼 Commercials:

Burger King Doll Christmas Commercial (1977)

Weird Christmas.

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#s6 #1970s #nelvana

A Chipmunk Christmas Jul 01, 2021

Show notes

🎄 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.

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💬 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.

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📼 Commercials:

A Chipmunk Christmas Soundtrack Album (1981)

7up Countdown to Christmas Posters (1986)

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#s6 #1980s

The Smurfs’ Christmas Special Dec 24, 2020

Show notes

🎄 It’s Christmas Eve in the Advent Calendar House as we walk through a ring of fire back to 1982 to dance with the Smurfs and watch goodness make the badness go away.

🎙 Thom Crowe from Tis the Podcast and Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas join us for a heaping help of Greedy Smurf’s cauldron of pink pudding.

📺 You can watch “The Smurfs’ Christmas Special” for free on YouTube.

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💬 Topics & Tangents:

My son thinks the king of Hyrule is Santa.

I just now learned about Watergate salad.

The Smurfs in theme parks.

Danny Goldman (Brainy Smurf) in “Young Frankenstein.”

Paul Winchell (Gargamel) invented an artificial heart.

The mysterious Stranger may or may not be the actual Devil.

Teaser for a new Smurfs animated series.

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📼 Commercial:

The Smurfs at Kings Dominion (1984)

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#s5 #1980s #hannabarbera

Olive the Other Reindeer Dec 22, 2020

Show notes

🎄 10 years after “The Simpsons” debuted, Matt Groening presented another Christmas special about another Santa’s little helper.

🎙 Erin Evans and Joey O. joins us on a 2-dimensional flight back to 1999 to revisit “Olive, the Other Reindeer,” a misheard but not forgotten doggie treat.

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💬 Topics & Tangents:

The Making of “Olive, the Other Reindeer.”

“PaRappa the Rapper.”

“Mr. Lunch Takes a Plane Ride,” the first book by “Olive” creators Vivian Walsh and J. Otto Seibold.

“The Goonies II.”

Jay Mohr in “Camp Wilder.”

Famous mondegreens and the stupidest lyric I’ve ever misheard.

Dan Castellaneta’s Postman voice sounds like his Robot Devil.

“You’re no Jack Kennedy.”

Bullwinkle tried to kidnap my baby.

R U Talkin’ R.E.M. Re: Me?, formerly U Talkin’ U2 to Me? and currently U Talkin’ Talking Heads 2 My Talking Head?

Michael Stipe on “The Adventures of Pete & Pete.”

The pope gets a Phillies hat.

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📼 Commercials:

Amazon.com Christmas Countdown Commercial (1999)

Santa by the Minute.

The Christmas Podcasts Podcast.

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#s5 #1990s

Disney’s A Christmas Carol Dec 20, 2020

Show notes

🎄 Take a hop, a skip, and a jump scare through the uncanny valley on a trip back to 2009 to rewatch Disney’s feature-length version of “A Christmas Carol.”

🎙 Matt Weiland joins us for Robert Zemeckis’s motion capture nightmare starring 4 Jim Carreys, 3 Gary Oldmans, 2 Robin Wrights, and a Cary Elwes in a pear shape.

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💬 Topics & Tangents:

Respect to a Disney movie that jumps from a storybook opening to a corpse’s face.

Despite being the 5th highest grossing Christmas movie as of 2020, this is also one of history’s biggest box-office bombs.

Coins on a corpse’s eyes in 19th century England had less to do with paying the ferryman’s toll and more to do with keeping their eyes closed.

Cary Elwes (one of the “portly” solicitors) is a descendant of John Elwes, the real-life inspiration for Scrooge.

Christopher Walker forgetting his lines as Captain Hook in “Peter Pan Live.”

Disney’s Movies website accidentally credited Gary Oldman as both Kermit and Robin the Frog.

Philadelphia’s Dickens Village.

The Ghost of Christmas Present flying Scrooge’s entire room around London is a weird mix of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Soarin’.

Jim Carrey on his various accents.

“Roundhouse” alumna Julene Renee as Want.

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📼 Commercials:

McDonald’s: Scrooge’s Party (1984), preserved by Dinosaur Dracula.

Merry Britsmas.

Yuletide TV.

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#s5 #2000s #scroogesunday #disney

Doug’s Christmas Story Dec 18, 2020

Show notes

🎄 Doug uses weaponized cupcakes to break Porkchop out of doggie death row.

🎙 Gregiffer Stevens from the Pop Arena and Nick Knacks joins us as we skate on thin ice back to 1993 for a very educational trip to Bluffington that I forgot was a Christmas episode while I was watching it.

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💬 Topics & Tangents:

Disney’s “Doug” was fine, y’all.

“Doug” creator Jim Jinkins worked on Nickelodeon’s first show, “Pinwheel.”

Early versions of Doug in a bumper for USA Network and a PSA for Florida Grapefruit Juice narrated by Lorenzo Music.

Today’s TV Trope: Danger: Thin Ice.

Alice Playten (Beebe) in “Really Rosie” as Alligator.

Constance Shulman (Patti) in “Weekend at Bernie’s II.”

Every car in Bluffington looks like Homer Simpson designed it.

Greg Lee from “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” voices the now-former mayor White, and boy, am I glad we recorded this after election week.

“The Phred on Your Head Show.”

Mr. Dink’s last name is apparently an acronym for “Double Income, No Kids.”