Advent Calendar House - TV Holiday & Christmas Specials
TV & Film:TV Reviews
🎄 It’s 1975, and a shepherd boy just lost his sight after staring directly at a lightning bolt. Â
Join us as we return to enchanted world of Rankin/Bass Christmas specials for an overlooked, underrated, and redundantly titled hidden gem about neither the first Christmas, nor the first Christmas snow. Â
**** Â
🎙 Guest: ÂMike Troxell (@Prune_Tracy, Mastodon: PruneTracy@sharetron.com). Â
**** Â
đź’¬ Topics & Tangents: Â1. Vox’s Emily St. James ranks all the Rankin/Bass Christmas specials. Â
2. A very brief history of the Christmas card. Â
3. Was There Really Any Winter’s Snow at the Time of the Nativity in Bethlehem? Â
4. Flash blindness is real. Â
5. Arthur Rankin Jr. recalling how Irving Berlin really, REALLY didn’t want “White Christmas” in the special. Â
6. This exact sound of a wolf howling (or, actually, a coyote) is heard over and over again. Â
**** Â
đź“Ľ Retro Commercial Break: ÂToys “R” Us Time of Year Christmas Commercial, 1976. Â
**** Â
🎤 And Now, These Messages: ÂChristmas Creeps, keeping the Christmas spirit alive through the magic of terrible holiday films. Â
**** Â
“The First Christmas: The Story of the First Christmas Snow” © 1975 Rankin/Bass Productions. Â
Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. Â
Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.
Mickey’s Twice Upon a Christmas
Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas
He-Man/She-Ra: A Christmas Special
A Pinky and the Brain Christmas
Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas
Saved by the Bell: Home for Christmas
Batman, the Animated Series: Christmas with the Joker
The Small One
Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey
Jingle Bell Rap
McDonald’s Holiday Commercials
Christmas at Walt Disney World (1978)
John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together
Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration
A Garfield Christmas Special
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Lamb Chop’s Special Chanukah
’Twas the Night Before Christmas
The Star Wars Holiday Special
How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
A Christmas Carol: Dramatic Reading
Tis the Podcast
Christmas Past
The Professional Santa Claus’ Podcast
Can’t Wait for Christmas