Christmastime with Mister Rogers

🎄 It’s 1977, and Happy Gilmore’s grandmother is surrounded by dancing chickens.  

It’s a beautiful day for a podcast, and this season of the Advent Calendar House begins with a visit to Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood in a Christmas special that hadn’t been available for more than 40 years until it resurfaced in 2022. It’s surprisingly less festive than some might expect, but it makes up for that with some extremely bizarre adventures.  

****  

🎙 Guests:  

Guy Hutchinson (Pointless Nostalgia, GuyHutchinson.com).  

Tim Lybarger (The Neighborhood Archive, Third Quarter Run, TimLybarger.com).  

****  

💬 Topics & Tangents:  

1. Watch “Christmastime with Mister Rogers” at MisterRogers.org.  

2. The Neighborhood Archive entry on “Christmastime with Mister Rogers.”  

3. “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: A Visual History,” co-written by Tim.  

4. Frances Bay (Mrs. Hamilton) in “The Karate Kid.”  

5. Today’s TV Trope: Hollywood Giftwrap.  

6. Mr. Rogers and François Clemmons sharing a wading pool.  

7. Lesser-known Christmas hymns “The Friendly Beasts,” “Rise Up, Shepherd, and Follow,” and “My Sheep Were Grazing.”  

8. Was Music Man Stan from “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” inspired by the Music Man from this special?  

9. “The Littlest Angel,” 1969.  

10. Chuck Ozeas (Andrew) is now a director of photography.  

11. “A Very Young Dancer” and The Life That Followed, 2011.  

12. Stephanie Selby’s obituary, 2022.  

****  

📼 Commercial Break:  

Hershey’s Kisses Christmas Bells Commercial, 1989.  

Dirt Cheap Liquors Chicken Commercial.  

Closer to Christmas, a podcast featuring a random Christmas topic every episode.  

****  

“Christmastime with Mister Rogers” © 1977 Family Communications, Inc.  

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  
Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.