🎄 It’s been 10 years since the Muppets’ 2015 TV series gave us the gift of a Christmas episode, so it’s time to stay Up Late with Miss Piggy and find out if we can take it seriously, or if it left us because we couldn’t stop making jokes about it.  Becca Petunia and J.D. Hansel of ToughPigs.com join the chaos including, but not limited to: a rigged Secret Santa! Gross and unhelpful mistletoe strategy! And, of course, Echosmith!  📺 You can find “Single All the Way” on Disney+.  Becca’s also on A Prairie Dawn Companion and Here Comes Tomorrow.  J.D. is also on The Great Muppet Fandom Panel and Stick to Shorts.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  ToughPigs’ review of “Single All the Way” (2015)  The Muppets at Midseason: The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly (ToughPigs.com, 2016)  70 Years, 70 Muppets: Yolanda the Rat and Chip.  The Muppets’ a cappella cover of “Cool Kids” by Echosmith.  “Bright” by Echosmith.  Sam the Eagle’s paintball-themed minigame in “Muppets Party Cruise.”  The Swedish Chef is married because one time Steve Whitmire forgot to take off his wedding ring and they just decided it’s canon now.  Chip has synesthesia.  An extremely rare one-on-one scene with Miss Piggy and Fozzie.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Pizza Hut “4 for All” Pizza Commercial starring the Muppets (2004)   ****  “The Muppets” and “Single All the Way” © 2015 ABC Studios / The Muppets Studio.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.

🎄 If you thought Christmas was fast approaching, hang onto something as we zip back to 1996 and do our best to keep up with Sonic the Hedgehog on a mission to save Christmas.  Mike (Bitter Karella) and Ethan (The Hungry Reader) from A Special Presentation, or ALF Will Not Be Seen Tonight join the quest to rescue Santa from the evil Robotnik Claus, obtain the Secret to Ultimate Velocity, and find a gift for Sonic’s girlfriend from another universe.  📺 You can watch “Sonic Christmas Blast” for free on YouTube.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  How Sonic scored two different animated series at the same time (Polygon, 2020)  This specially was originally called “An X-tremely Sonic Christmas” to promote a Sega Saturn game that ended up getting canceled.  Jay Brazeau (Santa) as the referee in “Air Bud” who says the line.  The robot queen in “The Great Mouse Detective.”  “Let the Heartaches Begin” by Long John Baldry (Robotnik).  The original “Ugly Sonic” movie trailer.  Dr. Robotnik’s in-game design looks like both an Eggman and a walrus.  The other cartoon’s theme song.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Sonic & Knuckles Christmas Elves Commercial (1994)  ****  “Sonic Christmas Blast” © 1996 DIC Productions, L.P.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.

🎄 Found under a pile of too many toys, enough for 442 boys, is a little-known gem of a Christmas special from 1993.  Chad Young from the Horror Movie BBQ, Jeff Loftin from the Lost Christmas Podcast, and Sean Sotka from ChristmasPodcasts.com join us for the story of Jeremy Creek, a kid so greedy, Santa mistook his list for an entire town’s. Featuring the voices of Dick Van Dyke, Hal Smith, and the kid from “Kindergarten Cop” who gave us an anatomy lesson.  📺 You can find “The Town Santa Forgot” on the Internet Archive.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  The original poem: “Jeremy Creek” (Indianapolis Star, 1985)  Jeremy Creek (no relation) from the “Smallville” pilot.   Miko Hughes (Jeremy) in People magazine (2024): “Kindergarten Cop Child Actor Recalls Working with Arnold Schwarzenegger — and the Origin of That Iconic Line.”  Today’s TV Trope: Signs of Disrepair.  One of Hal Smith’s final voice acting roles during his lifetime. (He had a posthumous credit in “Zelda’s Adventure.”)  Larry Walters has a flying lawn chair and a BB gun.  ****  📼 Commercials:  NBC Commercial Break during the original 1993 airing of this special, including “The Muppet Christmas Carol” on VHS, and Wendy’s Big Bacon Classic.  ****  “The Town Santa Forgot” © 1993 Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.

🎄 “This just in: Santa Claus is dead… or he might as well be, because there’s an even fatter man who’s holding families at nice-point!”  ’Tis the Advent Calendar House’s 15th season, so this December’s dozen begins with a similarly titled episode of “The Simpsons” from 2003.  Shane Keating from ToughPigs.com, Erin Evans, and Joey O. join the mission to stop being selfish and start being good.  📺 As of this recording, “’Tis the Fifteenth Season” (Season 15, Episode 7) is available on Disney+.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  This episode premiered the day after Saddam Hussein was caught.  Marge’s couch gag anime costume: Jun the Swan from “Gatchaman.”  “How Low Can DVD Players Go?” (New York Times, 2003)  Kathy from Personnel.  The Joe DiMaggio rookie card is real.  Today’s TV Trope: Art Shift — “Christmas with the California Prunes” and “The Year Santa Got Lost,” animated by the Chiodo Bros.  Animaniacs’ 50 State Capitals.  Of course I looked up the astrolabe’s coordinates.  Convoy, and the cover by Sifl & Olly.  Operation: The Simpsons Edition.  The first on-screen appearance of Nelson’s mom.  The end of “Treehouse of Horror IV.”  Stupid TV, Be More Funny: How the Golden Era of The Simpsons Changed Television — and America — Forever, by Alan Siegel.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991)  Butterfinger - The Power Cut (1993)  A Bomb for Christmas 2: Past, Present, and Future on the Can’t Wait for Christmas Podcast.  ****  “The Simpsons” and “’Tis the Fifteenth Season” © 2003 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.  Hosted by The Retro Network.

🍍 I’ve hidden a pineapple somewhere in this episode, and if you can find it… you get nothing. Sorry.  The Advent Calendar House is back for Christmas Podcast Day. This year, a bunch of your yuletide podcast pals are dropping episodes themed to “It’s a Wonderful Life,” and that gave me a premonition to take a closer look at a very merry episode of “Psych” from 2010.  Gerry Davila from Totally Rad Christmas joins this examination of our superego, taking the form of renowned actor Tony Cox as himself… kind of.  Find more “Wonderful” episodes in the Christmas Podcasts directory.  ****  💬 Topics & Tangents:  “Psych’s Take on ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ Changed Shawn’s Character” (Collider, 2023)  Maggie Lawson (Jules) on “Boy Meets World.”  Corbin Bernsen (Henry) has a collection of over 8,000 snow globes.  Today’s TV Trope: Good Angel, Bad Angel.  Keshia Knight Pulliam as Gus’s sitcom wife.  Behind-the-scenes photo of dream sequence Jules, Lassie, and Chief Vick.  Skyler Gisondo as Young Shawn.  The Canadian Motion Picture Park Backlot standing in for the least Miami-looking Miami.  Oh, there’s the pineapple.  “This Is Christmas” by Curt Smith.  ****  📼 Commercials:  Corn Pops: “Pops Locked in the Car” commercial starring Dulé Hill (1994)  ****  “Psych” and “The Polarizing Express” © 2010 Universal Network Television, LLC.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house.