The Charmings: Yes, Lillian, There Is a Santa Claus

🎄 Hey, remember the Christmas episode of that show on ABC where Snow White and Prince Charming are transported by the Evil Queen to a land without magic and have to adjust to modern-day America? No, you don’t, because you’re thinking of “Once Upon a Time,” which didn’t have a Christmas episode, which was rude. But we’re going back an even longer time ago to the enchanted year of 1987 to meet The Charmings, who did have a Christmas episode!

You can watch “Yes, Lillian, There Is a Santa Claus” on YouTube, or this VHS-recorded copy with commercials.  

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🎙 Guests:  

Kristi and Bri from Bad Princess Movies.  

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💬 Topics & Tangents:  

This episode was advertised during the original broadcast of “A Muppet Family Christmas.”  

The first season’s opening credits explains the backstory.  

Judy Parfitt (Lillian) as another fairytale queen in “Ever After: A Cinderella Story.”  

Carol Huston Signs for ‘The Charmings’ (L.A. Times, 1987).  

The Calgary Castle and the even crazier themed vacation homes being built near me.  

The Enchanted Forest park in British Columbia.  

John Astin as the Devil in another episode of “The Charmings.”  

The “He-Man village” was actually the massive Eternia playset.  

Tony Steedman (Santa) as Socrates in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”  

Judy Parfitt on the pain of losing her husband (Steedman) to dementia (Daily Mail, 2014).  

Dick Van Dyke’s Learn Not to Burn hot door PSA.  

Gordon Ramsay should play Santa.  

Robert Bork, or: Yes, Virginia, You Can Reject a Supreme Court Nominee.  

One originally cut episode finally aired on CTV in 2021.  

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📼 Commercials:  

Masters of the Universe: Eternia Playset (1986)  

Bad Princess Movies.  

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“The Charmings” and “Yes, Lillian, There Is a Santa Claus” © 1987 Embassy Communications.  

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