The Holiday Specials We Love

Latest Episodes:

The Holiday Specials We Love: Candy, Mints, and the Five-Cent Decision Jan 30, 2026

Show notes

Hey HSWL FANS!

On this The Holiday Specials We Love, we are simulcasting a Heal Squad Regular Guy Friday with — candy history, childhood memory, Hollywood mess, and why certain things just don’t work the way they used to.

We correct a major oversight and talk Life Savers. The rolls. The hole. Pep-o-mint, Wint-O-Green, butter rum. Checkout counters, impulse buys, and whether Life Savers have been quietly pushed down. Cherry opinions. Mint loyalty. The rich-kid Life Saver gift packs.

Old gum, novelty candy, and flavors you remember forever — sometimes for the wrong reasons. Gumballs at the bottom. Screwballs vs. Cannonballs. Circus Fun. Push-Ups. Why half of childhood treats were about the prize, not the taste.

We also talk sick kids, late nights, steam showers, middle-of-the-night cleanups, and the moment you know everything’s fine again — when a kid looks at you and says, “Get up.”

We pivot to talk Hollywood. The Ryan Reynolds / Blake Lively / Justin Baldoni situation, power plays, public pile-ons, and why the old Hollywood rules don’t seem to apply anymore.

Tiki bars. Bar-arcades. Neon lights. Why vibe matters. Why independence matters.

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple.
Text us your thoughts at 351 251 2511

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Merry Christmas Eve Dec 24, 2025

Show notes

Hey HSWL FANS!

Merry Christmas Eve Holiday Specials We Love Fans, coming to you from our phones and cars as we squeeze in the must-needed Christmas Eve chat. We talk the catering, colored lights, cookies, candies and a little Kardashians.

Kev is on the seen with Elf Emily at the Mart reporting on the status of the decoration availability. We talk the much anticipated Cookies of the Past Podcast launch, why fried dough is better than any holiday extravagant dessert display and why it really is all A few shout outs- a few laughs and a bit of MPedness.
This one is raw- no edits- so if there please be patient with any flubs.

Merry Christmas Eve!

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. Text us your thoughts at 351 251 2511 and find us on Patreon.

Talk Shawtly.

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Dec 23, 2025

Show notes

Hey HSWL FANS!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve Holiday Specials We Love Fans, coming to you from our phones as we squeeze in one more holiday chat. We talk the true meaning of the season, give an update on the progress of getting Rankin/Bass their duly deserved Star on the Hollywood walk of fame, and talk and how holiday spirit shouldn’t end when December 25th does.

We talk Boxing Day — what it actually is, why it needs better branding — and how Kwanzaa perfectly carries the season through the post-Christmas week. Why Church shouldn’t be from 6 to 8 and then AGAIN, the next day- and how choosing between that and hanging with Dad and friends will empower your kids. We talk Christmas Eve expectations, and why this time of year should be about joy, generosity, family, and kids in pajamas — not obligation or guilt.

Keep pressing to make this day official – with “and so unto you” as your response!

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
Text us your thoughts at 351 251 2511 and find us on Patreon.

Talk Shawtly.

Rankin Bass The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

Hey HSWL fans! This episode of Holiday Specials We Love we take on one of the more obscure — and mystical — Rankin/Bass specials: The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus from 1985.

We talk the opening with immortals, spirits, and endless titles, and how it immediately signals that this one hits different. We talk candy-cane ratings -nine, plus an advent calendar or was it really a bag of circus peanuts? We talk reused puppets, Japanese animation, immortals, whimsy, wizardry and just WHY.

We talk the Wizard of Oz connection with a little inside baseball into L. Frank Baum — including his Hollywood home and how far ahead of his time he really was. More inside baseball when we realize the actor who voiced young Santa went on to produce shows we all know and love.
Let us know if you are amongst the cult members who watch this one on the regular-we- are not.

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, find us on Patreon and text us your thoughts at 351-251-2511.

Talk Shawtly.

Christmas Sunday - Sunday Setup Simulcast Dec 21, 2025

Show notes

Hey HSWL FANS!

Welcome to a very Special Christmas Sunday Sunday Set UpHoliday Specials We Love/ Heal Squad simulcast.

We talk Christmas decorations, neighborhood light displays — the joy of driving around, tuning in, and appreciating the effort people put in just to make strangers smile. No competition, no spectacle — just holiday spirit doing what it does best.

We talk seasonal standards. Holiday cookies should not be everyday cookies. Holiday popcorn tins should not be carried by the tin alone. Is Crumble Cookie overrated? Is a more peanut, less brittle campaign needed?

We talk about missing people who are no longer here, and how the holidays can make that absence feel louder — especially during firsts. We talk remembering, honoring, and the belief that those we love never really leave us. They’re still with us, in small moments, signs, and memories that show up right on time.

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, text us your thoughts at 351-251-2511, and find us on Patreon-It’s Free

Christmas Sunday is here.å

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Christmas Q & A Chat Dec 20, 2025

Show notes

Hey HSWL fans! It’s another Holiday Specials We Love – Chat Edition, driven by your questions and fueled by pure holiday nostalgia.

This time, we dive into childhood Christmas memories — from first-grade holiday plays and forgotten Christmas songs to paper-plate reindeer, glitter disasters, and classroom parties powered by Doritos, cupcakes, and Elmer’s glue. There’s a deep dive into when we all really found out about Santa, including one reveal that lingered in the Pumpkin Patch a little longer than most, and another that hit hard on a kindergarten bus ride home.

We talk Gen-X parenting realities, why a little holiday magic still matters, favorite Christmas movies, unforgettable gifts like Atari and Pong, and why fourth grade might have been peak Christmas for a lot of us. We shout out listeners, candy-cane ratings, Monkees trivia, and the shared memories that keep this season feeling magic — even when the truth eventually catches up.

As always, please give us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts, text us your thoughts at 351-251-2511, and find us on Patreon. The holiday season is in full swing.

Talk Shawtly.

The Monkees’ Christmas Show Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we dive into The Monkees’ Christmas Show — an episode that sparks debate right away and lands somewhere between two and a half candy canes and a half a ribbon candy-a new Holiday Specials We Love Low!

We talk the odd babysitting story, the ultra-serious rich kid who has everything except love, and the way the show bounces between kid-show chaos and 60s hippie weirdness. We talk the long stretches, the mistakes and the moments where the message finally starts to click.

We go a little inside baseball on— the a cappella performance of “Ríu Ríu Chíu.” how bold the choice was, how difficult it is to pull off , and why it’s especially impressive coming from a group that was cast as actors first, not an a cappella quartet.

We talk the fourth-wall-breaking finale, when the Monkees bring the cast and crew on screen, thank them by name, and do something television simply didn’t do at the time.

Our new mission- to get the Monkees in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — they beat the best, outselling the Beatles and the Stones at their peak, actually sang their own songs, they’re due!

The march to Christmas is in full swing!

Text us your thoughts to 351-251-2511. We are now on Patreon- It’s Free and shows drop early! Please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.

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Davey and Goliath: Christmas Lost and Found Dec 18, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we dive into Davey and Goliath: Christmas Lost and Found — the 1965 holiday special that takes a quieter, more serious approach to Christmas- and earns a solid four to four and three-quartas Candy Canes!

We talk Davey starting the special with no Christmas spirit at all, his attempt to find it by decorating the house, buying presents, smelling the tree, eating cookies, and organizing a nativity play with the Jickets- who- by the way- may have turned dark in their teen years. Goliath stays by his side, Sally anchors the story, and the creche-whatever that is- sits at the center as Davey tries to make sense of what Christmas actually means.

We talk what makes this one feel so different — kids running the world, no adults in sight, Christmas trees being sold on the side of the road, long stretches of silence, and the bold choice to open a Christmas special with “I hate Christmas”.

We talk why it works — how Christmas isn’t found through decorations or tradition, but when Davey gives up the one thing he enjoyed most to help someone else. It’s understated, sincere, and lands without ever spelling out the lesson.

Text us your thoughts to 351-251-2511, and please leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts!

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Gilligan's Island- Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we head to the island for Gilligan’s Island’s one and only Christmas episode — “Birds Gotta Fly, Fish Gotta Talk.”

We talk candy cane ratings, the reused pilot footage, and why this episode feels different from most holiday specials. We break down the early TV budget tricks, the “bottle episode” energy, and how this installment doubles as both a Christmas episode and an origin story.

We also talk the moment that makes it all work — Santa’s appearance. Not explained. Not the Skipper. Just Santa. And the simple reminder that gratitude matters: the castaways may be stranded, but they have each other, and that counts for something.

We talk the perfect casting that couldn’t be replicated, and how time has been kind to shows once written off as corny. We have a little Kev on the scene on Tina Louise, her weight of carrying an iconic role, her complicated relationship with the show, and why Ginger Grant remains unforgettable.

As always let us know your thoughts as we march into the 12 days of Christmas

Text us at 351-251-2511

Please us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.

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Brady Bunch The Voice of Christmas Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

On this episode of The Holiday Specials We Love, we go all things Brady with the 1969 classic “The Voice of Christmas,” the very first holiday outing for The Brady Bunch.

How the Brady’s Zoom-before-Zoom opening sends us into a nostalgia spiral — three channels, UHF antennas, and a time when families watched TV together. We talk the mix of sweetness and “wait… was this always a little dribble?” that hits on rewatch, and how losing Carol’s voice turns into one of the most faith-forward Christmas plots network TV ever allowed before the 70s sanitized everything.

We talk how Cindy emerges as the show’s true believer, the iconic church finale, and Florence Henderson’s real-life hoarseness woven into the storyline. We also break down the episode’s writing bumps — from the suddenly “worst Christmas ever” meltdown to the mall Santa who’s clearly just working for his Schlitz, Winstons, and scratch-offs.

We talk cast chemistry, how this episode cemented the Bradys as favs, and why the nostalgia hits harder now as their fanbase ages out. Plus: real trees shedding under hot lights, politically incorrect musical cues, HGTV’s Brady renovation, and even a detour that adds Gilligan’s Island’s Christmas episode to the winter viewing program.

This one lands a solid 3½ candy canes.

Text your thoughts or favorite Brady holiday memories to 351-251-2511, and don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts!

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