It’s the 100th episode of the Advent Calendar House! Join us as we put one foot in front of the other back to 1970 to revisit a Rankin/Bass Christmas classic that dares to answer children’s questions about Santa Claus while illegally opening his mail.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/santa-claus-is-comin-to-town.

****

🎙 Guests:

• Michael DiGiovanni (@theatomicgeeks) from the Classic Film Jerks and Pop Culture Retrofit podcasts.

• Erin Evans (@mserinevans).

• Michael May (@michaelmaycomix) from MichaelMay.online and AfterLUNCH.

• Brandon Medley (@brandmed, Instagram: @blessedarethegeek).

• Joey O. (@imgonnadj24) from Y-Not Radio.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• Both IMDb and Wikipedia had the premiere date wrong because of a typo in an old book. Rich Goldschmidt’s The Making of Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town and The Daydreamer gets it right.

• Former pro-wrestler Special Delivery Jones.

• Burgermeister Meisterburger is a dead ringer for Mauser from Police Academy 2 and 3.

• Context clues place this special in Sweden.

• Hey, IMDb, I highly doubt the Greg Thomas voicing young Kris Kringle grew up to play the saxophone in Parliament Funkadelic.

• For a while, Topper was renamed Waddles.

• Kris’s weird face he makes after being caught by the Winter Warlock’s angry trees.

• Save the Earth from Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster.

• Weddings on Christmas Day used to be popular.

• The first known recording of the song Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town, and our favorite versions.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Folgers Coffee: Peter Comes Home for Christmas, 1982.

****

Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town © 1970 Rankin/Bass Productions.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.

It’s 1984, and the most 1984 pair I can think of, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis, are taking us on the most romantic date through New York City on the way to a Christmas party at Radio City Music Hall. Along the way, we spoil David Copperfield’s magic tricks, leave our emergency contact information with Willie Tyler and Lester, share our favorite Christmas songs with Maureen McGovern, and fall asleep while watching the Rockettes rehearse.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/mr-t-emmanual-lewis-a-christmas-dream.

****

🎙 Guest:

• Guy Hutchinson (GuyHutchinson.com, Drunk on Disney, Twitter: @guyhutchinson).

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• I Pity the Yule: Remembering A Christmas Dream, Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis’s Lost Holiday Special, (Mental Floss, 2020).

• Be Somebody… or Be Somebody’s Fool.

• New York Mayor Ed Koch in The Muppets Take Manhattan.

• David Copperfield makes the Statue of Liberty disappear.

• Sesame Street’s Don Music.

• Willie Tyler and Lester on Letterman.

• Vintage Christmas tree color wheels.

• The other verses of Silent Night you’ve never heard.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Soft Scrub Cleaner.

• The GE 2800 Dishwasher commercial that reminds me of the last scene of Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress.

• Masters of the Universe: The Fright Zone Play Set.

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• Behind the Bells.

• Totally Rad Christmas.

Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis in A Christmas Dream © 1984 Radio City Music Hall Television Productions.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.

It’s 1995, and I call upon the raging wind and the retired hosts of The Hourchive to send us flying into the Marvel Animated Universe where the X-Men spend an uncanny Christmas in the sewer trying to save a sick Morlock. Join us as we size up the X-Mansion Christmas tree, praise Storm’s fashion sense, and berate her leadership skills.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/x-men.

****

🎙 Guests:

• Drew Crowley (Pizzanaut.com, Twitter: @pizzanautgo, Instagram: @gopizzanaut).

• John Dedeke (JohnDedeke.com, Twitter: @johndedeke, Instagram: @gratefuldedeke).

• Adam Jurotich (The Ambassadors of Harmony, Instagram: @adam_sr).

• Nick Man (Eat Me in St. Louis, Twitter: @EatMeInStLouis, Instagram: @eatmeinstlouispodcast).

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• The Hourchive: The X-Men (2013) and ReduX-Men (2019).

• California Dreams.

• Saturday Morning Cartoons’ Greatest Hits home video starring Drew Barrymore.

• Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas on the Marvel Animated Universe Wiki.

• Ross Petty (Ape) and his annual holiday pantomime theatre.

• Captive Hearts, featuring the introduction to the Morlocks, Rogue and Gambit in swimsuits, and the Wolverine Crush meme.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• The Uncanny X-Men ToyBiz Action Figures.

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• Lit for Christmas.

• The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday.

X-Men and Have Yourself a Morlock Little X-Mas © 1995 Filmation Associates.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. The Hourchive closing theme by Jeff Wilson.

It’s 1978, and celebrities pretending to be ghosts are gaslighting Oscar the Grouch into participating in Christmas. Also, Michael Jackson shows up. This Scrooge Sunday, witness the other Sesame Street Christmas special from 1978, featuring 3 whole, entire Muppets.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/a-special-sesame-street-christmas.

****

🎙 Guests:

• Alan Johnson (@AlanJ) from Two Bad Neighbors in the 31st Century, now a Futurama Podcast.

• Donnie Storms (@boxcar45) from Bronwen’s Ghost.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• Our episode on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

• I thought Tough Pigs made up this special in 2001 to be funny, but nope, it’s real.

• Sesame Street lost an Emmy to Sesame Street.

• Muppet Wiki on A Special Sesame Street Christmas.

• Elmo’s Delicious Christmas.

• Anne Murray Sings for the Sesame Street Generation, an American re-release of There’s a Hippo in My Tub.

• Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street.

• Michael Jackson inadvertently saved Sesame Street from a lawsuit.

• Just One Person at Jim Henson’s memorial service.

• Mike talks about Snoopy! The Musical on A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Sesame Place, 1984.

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• Kringle Talks Kristmas.

A Special Sesame Street Christmas © 1978 Bob Banner Associates.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.

It’s 1988, and we’re staring intensely at the totally nuts series finale of The Care Bears Family, the Care Bears’ last TV appearance for 16 years.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/care-bears-nutcracker-suite.

****

🎙 Guests:

• Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames).

• Karen Flieger (@karenflieger8) from The Retro Network.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• The World’s Smallest Tenderheart Bear.

• Karen’s awesome Nutcracker socks.

• Abby Hagyard on Twitter (Ms. Walker, and also Mom on You Can’t Do That on Television).

• The Wild Puffalumps.

• Billie Mae Richards, the voice of Rudolph, as Tenderheart Bear in The Care Bears Movie.

• That time a goose flew into Fabio’s face on a roller coaster.

• Today’s TV Tropes: Identity Amnesia, Evil Chancellor, Rail-Car Separation.

• The Sad Story of Henry from Thomas the Tank Engine.

• The train runs on soda, like the time machine in the first draft of Back to the Future.

• This special’s Wikipedia entry is oddly specific about setting this story in 1967.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Care Bears Drinking Glasses from Pizza Hut, 1984.

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• The Christmas Book: The Ultimate Guide to Your Favorite Holiday.

• Snow in Southtown.

Care Bears Nutcracker Suite © 1988 Nelvana Ltd.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.

It’s 1963, and we’re watching a show about a show within a show putting on a show for Christmas. Don’t ask us to make sense of it. We can’t stop tripping over our own home furniture.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/dick-van-dyke-show-christmas.

****

🎙 Guest:

• Tim Babb from the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast (@TimBabbComedian, @ChristmasPod).

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• Dick Van Dyke as Tubby the Tuba.

• 8 great little details you never noticed in The Dick Van Dyke Show Christmas episode (MeTV).

• Every Episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Ranked (Vulture).

• 92-year-old Dick Van Dyke dancing to Step in Time.

• Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins Returns.

• John Brown’s Body.

• Key & Peele’s Negrotown sketch and the trope of interrupting someone’s song.

• The Dick Van Dyke Show cast reunites on Comic Relief, 1992.

• The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book’s history of I Am a Fine Musician.

• The theme song’s secret lyrics.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Learn Not to Burn: Holiday Fire Safety PSA, 1977.

• Also mentioned, this Fire Safety PSA with Dick Van Dyke pretending to be a door.

****

The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Alan Brady Show Presents © 1963 Calvada Productions.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.

We close out another countdown to Christmas in July with a sleigh ride back to the Stone-Age Year of Our Lord 1977 to watch Santa fall off the roof and a guy who acts like a caveman take over his job.

Full show notes with links at https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/a-flintstone-christmas.

****

🎙 On This Episode:

• Mike Westfall (@fallwestmike), loudly demanding an audience with Santa Claus.

• Gerry Davila (@RadChristmas), who has season’s greetings in his soul and yummy Fruity Pebbles in his bowl, from Totally Rad Christmas.

• Sean Sotka (@xander0527), who tied whiskers tied onto his hat, or at least that’s what it looks like on the cover of the Christmas Podcasts Podcast.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• Our episode on the Fruity Pebbles Christmas Commercial.

• I found a Flintstones chronology on, of all places, Flickr.

• The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault.

• Domino Rally.

• I want to know more about Santa’s reindeer turn signals.

• Daze Before Christmas for Super Nintendo and Mega Drive (Genesis).

• Virginia Gregg (Mrs. Claus) was the uncredited voice of Norman Bates’s mother in the first 3 Psycho movies.

• Santa’s workshop should have gotten Flintstone Theming.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Fruity Pebbles: Rapping Barney (1988)

• Voice Command Crusher RC Car (1993)

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• Behind the Bells.

“A Flintstone Christmas” © 1977 Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

****

Get your frying pan ready and join us on a journey to what feels like 60 million years ago back to 1991 to observe the most wonderful time of the year for the Jim Henson Company’s Dinosaurs, which by some Fridge Day miracle is the Advent Calendar House’s first TGIF episode.

Full show notes with links at: https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/dinosaurs-refrigerator-day

****

🎙 On This Episode:

• Mike Westfall (@fallwestmike), unidentified furry creature about to become breakfast.

• Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames), the hot toddy serving middle manager of my dreams.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• The Dinosaurs parody on The Simpsons.

• We go from talking about the Økėÿ Døkęÿ Køøkïñ segment of Muppets Now to Netflix’s Nailed It!

• Sally Struthers (Charlene) for International Correspondence School.

• A brief history of the Christmas bonus, or “thirteenth salary.”

• Sam McMurray in the very short-lived A League of Their Own TV sitcom, and my own pitch for a TV adaptation on Nerd Lunch’s Fourth Chair Army Invasion.

• Pons Maar (Roy’s body actor) as the original voice of The Noid.

• Unisaurs: The Dinosaurs equivalent to the Anything Muppet.

• The biggest gifts we ended up returning.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• Talking Baby Dinosaur and Dinosaurs Figures (1991).

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• TGI Podcast.

“Dinosaurs” and “Refrigerator Day” © 1991 The Walt Disney Company.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

****

It’s Garbage Day! Join us as we look happily deranged back to 1996 to follow Pete and Pete’s brother, Pete, on their mission to keep the Christmas spirit alive for as long as possible, and keep their Christmas tree safe from the evil Garbageman.

Find full show notes and links at: https://adventcalendar.house/episodes/adventures-of-pete-and-pete-o-christmas-pete

****

🎙 On This Episode:

• Mike Westfall (@fallwestmike), pile of garbage slowly and steadily growing at the front curb.

• Tom Coombs (@classictomedy), armed with a flamethrower I got him for Christmas to help clean his room.

• Chad Young (@HorrorMovieBBQ), crusher of dreams, from the Horror Movie BBQ.

****

💬 Topics & Tangents:

• Michael C. Maronna (Big Pete) in Home Alone, and in a series of Ameritrade commercials circa 1999.

• Snow Day was originally conceived as a Pete & Pete movie.

• The first Pete & Pete short, “What Would You Do for a Dollar?”

• The Pete & Pete 20th Anniversary Reunion.

• Danny Tamberelli (Little Pete) as Jimmy De Santa in Grand Theft Auto 5.

• Judy Grafe’s (Mom) résumé, and her current work for FEMA.

• Hardy Rawls (Dad) as the Maytag Repairman circa 2005.

• Sludge Central on Pete & Pete filming in New Jersey.

• Chad and Michael May talk Silent Night, Deadly Night on Sleigh Bell Cinema.

• David Johansen sings “Garbageman’s Ballad.”

• Garbageman’s hijacking of Little Pete’s Yule Log reminds us of the Max Headroom Pirating Incident.

• A mini ode to character actress Marilyn Dobrin as the Wrigleys’ notably loud neighbor.

****

📼 Retro Commercial Break:

• The Adventures of Pete & Pete: “Mom’s Plate” (1991).

****

🎤 And Now, These Messages:

• Christmas Clatter.

“The Adventures of Pete & Pete” and “O’ Christmas Pete” © 1995 Viacom.

Find the Advent Calendar House on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

****

The Adventures of Pete & Pete: O’ Christmas Pete