Advent Calendar House - TV Holiday & Christmas Specials
TV & Film:TV Reviews
🎄It’s 2001, and a magical partridge is sending me on a coat drive for some kind of Karate Kid-style Santa training. Â
Hop in our light blue ’54 convertible and buckle up as we take you on a joyride through the very last and most forgotten Rankin/Bass Christmas special, featuring a mostly black cast starring Patti LaBelle, Gregory Hines, and a criminally underused Eartha Kitt as a talking cat. Â
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🎙 Guests: ÂAndre Bennett (Cult Cinema Cloister, Philadelphia Championship Rock Paper Scissors). Â
Tim Babb (Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast). Â
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đź’¬ Topics & Tangents: Â1. This special was co-written by Suzanne Collins, who went on to write “The Hunger Games.” Â
2. The other co-writer, Peter Bakalian, also has a book series. It’s called “The F.A.R.T. Diaries.” Â
3. Patti LaBelle in Philadelphia’s “Get to Know Us” tourism campaign, 1985. Â
4. Patti LaBelle on “Sesame Street” singing “How I Miss My X.” Â
5. IMDb’s photo gallery for “Santa, Baby!” is full of high-quality promotional images. Â
6. RankinBass.com’s first look at “Santa, Baby!” from December 2001. Â
7. Gregory Hines in “The Muppets Take Manhattan” and “Running Scared.” Â
8. Rankin/Bass finally includes “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” in a Christmas special. Â
8. Natalie Toro (Samson) lists “Santa Baby!” on her bio page. Â
10. Andre’s uncle co-wrote K-Ci & JoJo’s “All My Life.” Â
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đź“Ľ Commercial Break: ÂMcDonald’s “Wake Up” Breakfast Commercial featuring Patti LaBelle, 1990.  Â
Can’t Wait for Christmas, the podcast dedicated to keeping the spirit of Christmas alive all year round. Â
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“Santa, Baby” © 2001 Perisphere Pictures, Inc. Â
Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.
Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.
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Alvin and the Chipmunks: Merry Christmas, Mr. Carroll
A Rugrats Passover
’Tis the Season to be Smurfy
The Berenstain Bears’ Comic Valentine
The New Batman Adventures: Holiday Knights
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
The Snowman and The Snowdog
The Nanny: The Hanukkah Story
My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic: A Hearth’s Warming Tail
A Very Merry Cricket
The Wonder Years: A Very Cutlip Christmas
Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas
The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow
TaleSpin: Jolly Molly Christmas
Pat Boone and Family Christmas Special
A Christmas Carol (1971)
Prep & Landing Trilogy
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1948)
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