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[0:49] Jess: Happy holidays and welcome back. I am joined by Christi and Emily again. And today we are counting down our top ten, our top five Christmas specials.

[1:01] Christi Esterle: How would you define a special?

[1:03] Jess: What makes it different from a film?

[1:04] Christi Esterle: It's on TV.

[1:06] Jess: Yeah, that's pretty much my criteria.

[1:08] Christi Esterle: If it aired on TV, it's on this list.

[1:10] Jess: Yeah, mine too.

[1:11] Christi Esterle: All right, that's fair. Um, so it could be an episode of a television show or a special or any of those sorts. Um, it just it's film, so Eyes Wide Shut cannot be considered this list.

[1:26] Jess: Um, I'm very excited. Um, so Emily, why don't you start us this time?

[1:32] Emily Clark: Yes. Okay, so um, this is the Christmas Carol that I grew up with because I'm an old. Um, this would be Mickey's Christmas Carol. Um, I loved this special, uh, when I was oh a wee little one. Um, it's it's all of like 30 minutes, but the animation is stunning. Um, they do a great job condensing the story into a nice little package. I think it's the first time we see Scrooge McDuck. I think because his name is Scrooge. I don't know.

[2:06] Christi Esterle: Yeah, possibly.

[2:08] Emily Clark: I could be I I don't know. I don't know if there was some comic appearance before that. I think he was in the comics before that, but it was the first like kind of mainstream at least, uh or at least that I could see in a pre-DuckTales world, um, which came not long after. Um I I just love it. And and you know, I I re-watched it uh a few years ago after not seeing it in a while, and I was like, you know, this still really, really holds up. Um I think it's just beautifully animated. There's uh there's some like really kind of dark, excuse me, there's some dark moments in it. Like um when Scrooge kind of breaks Belle's heart, or I think Daisy is playing her, it's really devastating. And then when Mickey is crying over Tiny Tim's movie.

[2:51] Christi Esterle: Oh yeah.

[2:52] Emily Clark: That's I have never seen Mickey. I wouldn't do that ever. He does this slow eye-open cry, and it's so good. And I just think it's I don't I don't know, it's really neat. And I think it's one of those um Mickey Christmas Eve specials that kind of could have only happened like in the eighties, I think. It's in a pre-Disney Renaissance world also, so all the characters they're using, they don't have Ariel to use or like any of those. So they're kind of using a classic core characters. It's the classic core characters and then some other like kind of randos, which I kind of like. And um just before the Muppets, before even I saw Scrooge, which is you know, in my top five movies. Um, this was the one that was the first exposure of the story of A Christmas Carol to me when I was a young one.

And I still think it really holds up, and I I think you could still watch it now and and really enjoy it. It's a nice like 30 minutes and and hey, it's darker than most, you know, kind of Mickey content even dares to go nowadays. So I I highly recommend.

[3:54] Christi Esterle: Um, it's not on my list, but I gotta give it a shout out. Uh my first Christmas Carol was Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol. Way back when I was way back when I was in elementary school, they would show this film every year. And uh that's this is how old I am. This was not a VHS. This was actually film on a reel in a canister. But they showed it to me, and you know, it was my first exposure. So for the longest time, Scrooge was a blind guy who talked like Jim Backus. But it's very cute with the Razzleberry dressing and yeah. Bingle jingle coined when they wrangle. It's great.

[4:29] Jess: Um, I agree with that one. Um, Christi, why don't you go next?

[4:33] Christi Esterle: Okay, so my number five is a bit of an odd choice, and it's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, which is was the last Rankin' Bass um stop motion. It's just a lot of things.

[4:43] Emily Clark: Is that the one where they go through like his whole lore from when he was like young as an adult?

[4:48] Christi Esterle: Okay, yeah. Yes, and um so this is the thing. I saw this and like probably when it first broadcast in the mid-80s, and for the longest time it was one of those things where you look back at it and was like, okay, was there really a special where Santa was raised by a fairy who was upset because some guy with antlers told her that they would never have children? And um or did I just you know have a man in the forest, right?

[5:09] Emily Clark: There's that wizard man.

[5:11] Christi Esterle: Yeah, or did or did I just imagine that? But it's very much real. It's based on a book by L. Frank Baum, and you can kind of see it in that, especially in the naming. He's got like the great uh the the the great woodsman, the great alk ac and uh the laughing valley of Ho Haho, and all that silly stuff. And uh, like I mentioned on the movies one, I love, you know, like Santa Mythos, where they get into his backstory and why he delivers toys and everything like that. So it's kind of a nostalgic favorite. It's you know, this really odd one with you know this uh strange fantasy bent and the whole framing sequence there discussing whether or not Santa gets to be an immortal or whether the angel of death will come for him at the end of Christmas. So good.

[5:55] Emily Clark: Um yeah, I remember that special, but there's like one specific scene I remember that's like ingrained in my four-year-old brain watching it on ABC Family or whatever it was called back then. Um now it's Freeform. Um where it's just like one of those fairies like, why does he get to live forever? And I'm like, why is he southern?

[6:13] Christi Esterle: Yeah, there's always Rankin' Bass.

[6:15] Emily Clark: It's got some great vi it's got some great visuals too. Like the design of all the immortals, they've got like the wind demons and like the light princes, and it's fantastic.

[6:25] Christi Esterle: And Santa's like raised by a lion. I mean, how cool is that?

[6:28] Emily Clark: Very, very cool. Um, yeah, it's a great special. Um, not on my list though.

[6:35] Christi Esterle: Um my number five. Um uh Christi and I were talking about this off mic a little bit. Um and this isn't it's kind of a meme answer, but I do sincerely watch it every year, and it's the Star Wars Holiday Special. Um I'm hello, it has B. Arthur in it. Why wouldn't you watch it? Um, I love this fucking thing. I every year um before COVID, there was at a bar I had, um, they played it, and they would have a drinking game, and you'd call out to the screen, and it was so much fun. And I know every song in that five years. It's like the Plan Nine of Outer Space of Christmas specials. It's not good by any stretch of the imagination, but it is so much fun and so weird. I will never turn down any opportunity to watch a Star Wars Holiday Special.

Um and especially, and this is the caveat I you need. You need to watch the one with the commercials because you need that break where you can laugh at the Union ad song or the commercial for the Whiz or other things like that that really are a good palate cleansers to go back into what is a very wild ride, and sincerely I don't think my own. And the very first appearance of Boba Fett, seriously.

[7:48] Christi Esterle: Yeah, and in that little cartoon section.

[7:50] Emily Clark: Oh god, it's played by Swords. What a badass. Um, oh god, it's like Kree uh Kree Summer's father. That is the voice of Boba Fett. Yeah, and it's uh done by Nelvana, who I think did also did like Rock and Rule and a bunch of other weird 80s stuff. So sincerely, I wish they had just done a Star Wars TV show in that style. I would have watched the hell out of it. And this also is very keen to me it as a youth because as soon as I found out about this, I was about eight. I couldn't get a hold of it. It wasn't posted online the way it is nowadays, where I'm like begging like people to get it for me on eBay and they're just not doing it because they don't understand the internet yet. Um so it was like a holy grail for me. So getting to watch it as bad as it was was very good.

[8:34] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it was the ultimate, you know, um circulate the tapes thing in like the 70s and 80s, but before YouTube, because they aired it once, it tanked, you know, George Lucas, you know, wanted to erase it from everybody's memory, so but people kept it along. Disney Plus people put it on Disney Plus. Technically, some of it is actually yeah, and now they're actually doing like Star Wars, you know, Star Wars Chris Lego Star Wars Christmas specials and Guardians of the Galaxy holiday um specials. So put it as a special feature, honestly, on some DVDs somewhere. Restore it, give it a proper revamp. Include those commercials though.

[9:12] Emily Clark: Yeah, like Rift Tracks Rift Tracks has a good riff on it, it's a lot of fun. So um, if you can't get drunk at a bar with it watching the Rift Tracks or maybe an upcoming riff uh coming back from the case, yeah, maybe yeah, it might be something happening, something here. Um we'll make it a lot better.

[9:28] Jess: On that note, um, I think it's back to Emily for yours.

[9:33] Emily Clark: Okay, so number four is my Rankin' Bass uh contribution, and this would be The Year Without a Santa Claus movie. I love this special. I love the Heat Miser and the Snow Miser.

[9:48] Christi Esterle: I like that there's a part where the elf is riding little baby Vixen in town, and completely unironically the cop is like riding a Vixen through state streets, and I'm like, Well, that's way more vulgar than I thought it would be.

[10:03] Emily Clark: Um, I love the Mickey Rooney Santa Claus. I love the weird jerky movements. Um I love that um Mrs. Claus is like I could be Santa, and then she's like, Oh no, and I'm like, you you could though. Um there's movies where she takes over for Santa for a year, so and she's like, Oh no, it won't be me. Um I I just think it's it's it's there's so many Rankin' Bass specials, and obviously they're great, but that's the one I don't know why. It's so it's so dumb. It's so dumb. Maybe it's the Heat Miser Snow Miser stuff, which don't get me wrong, is iconic. Um, but it's the one I always come back to every year, and I just have such a blast watching.

[10:48] Christi Esterle: Um, and um, yeah, it's I like uh I like Mickey Rooney Santa Claus. Who would so? No, um, 10 out of 10.

[10:57] Jess: Um, I I think it's a great choice. Um it's also probably the most iconic Rankin' Bass special as far as longevity of iconic. I mean, I don't know. Rudolph is pretty much pretty much up there.

[11:08] Christi Esterle: But just that it's great. That entire Rankin' Bass aesthetic is very much, you know, crit uh Christmas thing.

[11:15] Jess: I'm gonna add a caveat to my statement. Um, it is probably the most iconic um Rankin' Bass original characters because Rudolph existed before that special.

[11:25] Christi Esterle: That is true.

[11:30] Jess: That and have long outlived it. Harvey Fierstein has played them in live action, like they've had their own spin-offs. They have entered the lexicon just as those.

[11:40] Christi Esterle: So I love it.

[11:42] Emily Clark: Um so me and Andrew are actually working on a Rankin' Bass retrospective where we're covering every Rankin' Bass film at the moment.

[11:49] Christi Esterle: That's uh pretty wide range of quality right there.

[11:52] Emily Clark: It is, it is.

[11:54] Christi Esterle: Um and this is probably like the first or second best, um, in my opinion.

[11:59] Jess: Um so yeah, I can't disagree with that.

[12:01] Christi Esterle: Um, so what about your next one?

[12:04] Christi Esterle: Okay, so mine is kind of the one I grew up with um, you know, on the you know, uh throughout uh my childhood, and that is The Muppet Family Christmas. Um yeah, it you know, uh you know, the John Denver thing back in the 70s, you know, that was wonderful, but for me that's always been more about you know the album itself rather than the special. This was the special of my childhood, and it's just this great, wonderful mashup of like all the Muppet properties at the time. They have the Fraggles from Fraggle Rock, they have Bert and Ernie doing The Night Before Christmas, and it's just this wonderful. It's just a wonderful premise where Fozzie invites like all of his friends to his mom's for Christmas, and it gets really crowded, and Piggy's like caught in a snowstorm, but they don't know if she's gonna make it, but of course she does. And there's this running gag where everybody slips on the icy patch, and you know, a lot of Muppet crazy, but you know, a lot of Muppet heart too.

[13:00] Christi Esterle: There's this bit at the end where they just do this beautiful Christmas medley, and that just touched my heart so much as a kid. And the very end, um, you see Henson himself, you know, just looking and smiling and seeing, you know, everybody so happy and so happy that they're happy, and that's just so much.

[13:19] Emily Clark: Oh, yeah, yes, that little bit where he's like, yeah, and then he like goes and does the dishes.

[13:25] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it's fantastic. I don't know if it's on YouTube or anything, but if you can find it, check it out.

[13:32] Emily Clark: I think it's somewhere. I feel like I watched it last year.

[13:35] Christi Esterle: Yeah, it's just like a beautiful bit of, you know, classic Muppet nostalgia. So it really is like the 80s to me. It's like what an idiot childhood was to me was that special.

[13:47] Jess: Yes, a lot of, you know, basically a lot of IPs in the 80s, they had Christmas specials. Like there was, yeah. If there were, if you had like a cartoon or something, they had a Christmas or, you know, something that was kind of like Christmas in their universe and they did a story about it.

[14:12] Christi Esterle: So yeah, I can't argue with that. That's a great choice, Christi. I love that special. Me and Andrew covered it a couple years ago. Wonderful, wonderful special. I could watch it any time of day. Sadly, it's not on my list.

[14:24] Christi Esterle: Um, my next choice is one that maybe might just be part of the generation I grew up in, but this played all the time and was always the one that they pulled out in schools during the holiday season, and it's Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas.

[14:39] Emily Clark: Um, have you? Okay, I think I only just watched that recently. Is that the one where Huey, Dewey, and Louie have Christmas every day?

[14:46] Christi Esterle: Yes. Okay, they take like three Christmas ideas, like you got the gift of the magi, Christmas every day. But the middle one is probably my favorite where Goofy tries to convince Max that Santa exists, and then Max like is such a stick in the mud, and then he realizes how much he hurt his dad, and then he tries to convince his dad that Santa exists.

[15:09] Jess: It's like each one of them is like such a cute story and goes a little darker and doesn't pull the punches. They go for the actual like how upsetting it would be. And I really enjoy it. I really appreciate, you know, what they did in general with the Max and Goofy dynamic where yes, you know, you're, you know, sometimes your dad embarrasses you, and sometimes, you know, your kid is off doing something that you do not understand, but they really do love each other and they're there for each other when the chips are down, and it's just a fantastic father-son dynamic.

[15:45] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[15:46] Emily Clark: Me too. And I watched it with my significant other last year for the first time because we were just like watching Christmas stuff a bunch, um, because she doesn't really get into it as much as I do, because I'm a freak.

[15:58] Christi Esterle: Um, so I turn this to the case.

[16:00] Emily Clark: Yeah, I'm such a weirdo for liking Christmas. I mean, nowadays it is like a little less of a popular opinion because it's difficult. We're in like the divorce age where it's much more difficult to see everyone. It's not as fun as it was in like the 50s in the Norman Rockwell paintings and all that.

[16:19] Christi Esterle: Um, but she reacted very hard. Like Goofy is supposed to be a Kingdom Hearts character. Why is he donating like to the poor and like making sure that these like poor kids get gifts?

[16:25] Emily Clark: Give me Kingdom Hearts character? What? Like, that's like all she saw him. She's like, he's like this like developmentally disabled character that barely functions and can't walk. What is he doing being an actually decent dad? This isn't how I thought he was.

[16:49] Christi Esterle: Obviously, I've never seen Kingdom Hearts, but yeah, Goofy, you know, for me is like, you know, I saw the VHSs of all the old, uh, I mean, I was gonna say even before the 90s show, like those old shorts where it's like Goofy plays football, Goofy goes skiing.

[17:01] Emily Clark: Yeah, and they have the narrator, you know, explaining what he's doing, and it's like, you know, the pre-proto-dorf thing where he's doing like all this goofy stuff.

[17:10] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I do sincerely believe the best thing that happened to Goofy's character was giving him Max and giving a foil and that like so many of like millennials and folks latched on to a Goofy movie specifically because of that relationship, and now because of that sideways video.

[17:27] Emily Clark: Um, I really think that that has done a lot to signify solidify Goofy as a character and a human being, even more than Mickey Mouse or Donald, who had such a long life before that.

[17:40] Christi Esterle: Um, I just find that interesting. Um, Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, um, played every year right before the end of school. So I just think of it as, hey, I get tomorrow off. Fantastic. Nostalgia.

[17:53] Jess: Um, all righty. I think we are back to Emily now.

[17:56] Emily Clark: Yes, we are. It's number three. Going with a classic here, everybody. Charlie Brown Christmas.

[18:02] Christi Esterle: Hey.

[18:04] Emily Clark: You can't go wrong with this.

[18:05] Christi Esterle: Oh no, no, no, no. You cannot go wrong with it. It's like your favorite holiday sweater. It's cozy, it's warm, it's, it just works.

[18:16] Emily Clark: I love all those little kids in the 60s, like just reading their lines off the script. I mean, all I want is my fair share. All I want is what's coming to me.

[18:27] Christi Esterle: Um, I, you know, the animation is so basic because they had no money, but I don't know how they managed to just capture this idea that this little six-year-old is like, I'm just disillusioned with the commercialization of Christmas.

[18:40] Emily Clark: Like, what a novel idea for the time. When you think about it.

[18:44] Christi Esterle: You know, that was Charles Schultz, though. He was a lot more melancholy and philosophical, um, than I think a lot of people realize.

[18:52] Emily Clark: I agree, I agree. And um, you know, the Vince Guaraldi, um, soundtrack and underscoring all those songs, classic, they're in my Christmas playlist rotation.

[19:03] Christi Esterle: Yep. Got the album, it's fantastic.

[19:06] Emily Clark: Yeah, I think, yeah. Um, I think there's a lot more songs on the album that sound yes more like Christmas than Linus and Lucy, which is always hard for me when they play Linus and Lucy during Christmas, because I'm like, this is just their theme song, it's not necessarily a Christmas song.

[19:20] Christi Esterle: But it's okay, I'll allow it. But Christmas is coming, which is the card where they're where they're dancing.

[19:26] Emily Clark: I love that. Uh-huh. Christmas time is here, which is like just a beautiful melancholy song.

[19:35] Christi Esterle: Beautiful.

[19:35] Emily Clark: And um, when they all are like singing Hark the Herald Angels Sing and they all breathe at the same time.

[19:41] Christi Esterle: Yeah, they all, they're just a really well-rehearsed little choir of children. They knew it to breathe at the comma, and that's what you're supposed to do.

[19:49] Emily Clark: So I love it. I'll watch it forever. I don't care how old I get, I love it, and um, it's perfect.

[19:56] Christi Esterle: Um, have either of you read any of the Charles Schultz original comics at all?

[20:02] Emily Clark: Yes.

[20:03] Christi Esterle: Like the comics, like the PI comics.

[20:05] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[20:05] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I, you know my kids. I used to read them in the Sunday funnies every day. I remember when he, I remember him when he was like, yeah, when he was like, I'm done with collections of them.

[20:15] Emily Clark: I check them out all the time.

[20:16] Christi Esterle: So do both of you know the story of Charlotte Braun?

[20:19] Emily Clark: No.

[20:20] Christi Esterle: Okay, all right. So this is something Andrew and I have been obsessed with for years. Um, and we talk about it basically anytime we meet in person. Charlotte Braun was this like anti-Charlie Brown character with literally the same name, had no personality. One kid wrote into Charles Schultz about how much they hated Charlotte Braun so much, and Charles Schultz wrote them back like fine, from this point forward, she is discontinued because I killed her with a hatchet and then drew a picture of her murdered with a hatchet in her head.

[20:46] Emily Clark: Just remember what you did, and you killed this child because you hated her so much.

[20:51] Christi Esterle: And I think about that every time it's Charles Savage. That is incredible and hilarious, and sums up the kind of cynicism that man had. I love it.

[21:02] Emily Clark: I love it.

[21:03] Christi Esterle: Um, incredible. Christy, you're next one.

[21:06] Christi Esterle: Okay, so my number three. Um, it could have been on the movie thing, but it originally aired on television, so I'm putting it here, and it's the Patrick Stewart Christmas Carol.

[21:15] Emily Clark: Yes, it's good.

[21:16] Christi Esterle: Um, it's a fantastic version. Um, it's one of the ones that I think he was closest to the original Charles Dickens. First off, if you have not read Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol, please go do that. I mean, you know, it's been done to death in the media, but you really need to go back to the original to see um the mood of it and what he was trying to say about social justice and um the, you know, how wealth and the acquisition, you know, kind of, you know, basically kills the soul, and it's fantastic.

[21:48] Emily Clark: Uh Patrick Stewart again is a great Scrooge.

[21:52] Christi Esterle: Uh, they've got a great cast with Richard E. Grant as uh Cratchit. Um, Joel Gray is the Ghost of Christmas Past, which again is fantastic casting because if you read the original, um, Dickens describes the Ghost of Christmas Past as looking as like a child but as an old man at the same time.

[22:10] Emily Clark: And yeah, that's just Joel Gray right there.

[22:13] Christi Esterle: So that's fantastic. Um, and they include such these little brace notes that not all of them include. They have like the ignorance and want scene, but my favorite is the scene where the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge like to all these different places around the world, like to a coal mine and to like this lonely lighthouse, and all these places where people are singing Christmas carols wherever they are with whoever they're with, and you, it eventually becomes this big whirlwind of, you know, song and love all around them, and it's just a fantastic moment that never gets included in adaptations, and I love it.

[22:53] Emily Clark: So there's that, and again, I love um, you know, the ending, uh of course, after Scrooge's redemption, you know, you always see him, you know, very happy and joyful and hugging everybody, and we get some of that too. But Patrick Stewart also plays like this little uncertainty, like he's not sure people will forgive him, and he feels like he doesn't deserve to be forgiven.

[23:13] Christi Esterle: Like when he goes to his nephew's house and says, 'Will you let in an old man who doesn't want to be out in the cold anymore?' And it's just a beautiful moment, and I love it. Go watch it. It's beautiful, wonderful.

[23:26] Christi Esterle: I also want to point out, just because this is a pet theory of mine, um, Dominic West plays Fred, Scrooge's nephew in that version. And I have a theory that the hottest people alive play Fred in almost every um Christmas Carol adaptation.

[23:43] Emily Clark: Because you got Julian Ovenden who plays it in the 2004 version.

[23:46] Christi Esterle: You got that little bit.

[23:52] Emily Clark: Yes, he was.

[23:53] Christi Esterle: Um, Fred is kind of hot in Scrooge.

[23:56] Emily Clark: He well, yeah, he's pretty hot in the Muppet Christmas Carol, too.

[24:00] Christi Esterle: So yeah, he's a little twink boy. And then, of course, you got Octavia Spencer in um, what you call it, in Spirited.

[24:06] Emily Clark: Um, is she playing Fred?

[24:07] Christi Esterle: Um, she's the uh Fred of Cherry. I mean the Fred type, yeah, yeah. And then you also have, oh god, um, Alfre Woodard in Scrooge and Scrooge.

[24:09] Emily Clark: Yeah, yeah.

[24:18] Christi Esterle: Um, so many good choices, so many so many snacks played.

[24:22] Emily Clark: Wait, no, she's the Cratchit.

[24:23] Christi Esterle: She's the Cratchit. I just thought of that.

[24:25] Emily Clark: I just did a double take. I for some reason I thought he's got like a brother or something in that, I think who's the Fred or he's cute too.

[24:34] Christi Esterle: Like he's cuter than Bill Murray. Um, if you want to find like your golden retriever boyfriend in Hollywood, go look and see who's played Fred in your local community theater's production of Scrooge? Because they're gonna be the energy you want in a husband.

[24:53] Emily Clark: Yes, real husband material.

[24:54] Christi Esterle: Um, is it my turn now?

[24:56] Emily Clark: I believe it is your turn, yes.

[24:57] Christi Esterle: Um, here is a recent one, but this is one I love watching around the holiday season. Um, very cynical, very unpleasant. I cannot stop laughing anytime I watch it, and that is the Always Sunny in Philadelphia Christmas special, A Very Sunny Christmas.

[25:12] Emily Clark: Um, everything in this special is incredible. Like, uh, Charlie Day screaming at Santa Claus, did you fuck my mom, Santa?

[25:20] Christi Esterle: Um, Danny DeVito crawling naked out of a couch. Um, anything that you want from a holiday special is in this one.

[25:27] Emily Clark: And sincerely, I could watch it three times a day and I would still find new things to laugh at.

[25:32] Christi Esterle: Um, it is very cynical, very unpleasant. Um, but it is exactly what you want in an Always Sunny Christmas special. Have both of you seen it?

[25:42] Emily Clark: I haven't, no.

[25:43] Christi Esterle: What you guys should if you, this might just be like what?

[25:47] Emily Clark: I saw the musical episode. That's it.

[25:49] Christi Esterle: I mean, that episode's great. Um, but this one is probably my favorite episode of the entire series just because it still is.

[25:56] Emily Clark: I am so far behind on television, it is not even funny.

[25:59] Christi Esterle: So I completely understand. And this one has been going on for like nearly two decades at this point, so it would be very difficult to catch up. But Danny DeVito just sweating and crawling his way out of a couch that he decided to sew himself into to spy on people. But I'm just telling you, I guarantee you neither of you have seen my number one choice. So that is fair. I'm pretty sure both of you have seen my number one choice. So all right. Um, on that note, if you guys are gonna get an extra hour this Christmas, just watch this episode. It's on Hulu. Um, and let me know what you think. Um, I'm talking this specifically to Emily and Christi at this point. I love you both so much. Trust my judgment here. Um, always. I'm I mean, I don't always have the best taste. Come on. Um, Emily, you're next.

[26:46] Emily Clark: Okay, so uh number two. So this is my favorite TV episode, uh, Christmas special, and this would be the regional holiday music episode. I think it's the number third, did I do math wrong? Oh no, you're first. Number two, sorry. Yeah, we're at number two. Yeah. It's the regional holiday music episode of Community. And this is the episode where they're basically they're doing two things. It's very Christmassy, but they're also just fucking shitting on Glee the whole time. And in the process, wrote some of the best parody Christmas music I've ever heard. Um, it's one of the first moments where you really see what Donald Glover is capable of as a rapper. Like they do this Jehovah's Witness Secret Christmas song, which is so funny.

And it's one of the first times you hear him doing his flow, and you're like, oh my god, he's really good. It's the one with the iconic Alison Brie Santa Baby parody, Teach Me How to Understand Christmas, where throughout the song she just gets progressively dumber and dumber, and it's so effing funny. Um, it has a really good message that even if you're awful, you should be able to sing your heart song. And um, it's also fun because my Taryn Killam, who I went to high school with, is basically playing this like weird alternate universe version of what I could have been as an educator. Um, little Will Schuster. Yeah, yeah, and it's just so funny as a parody of Glee. Um, so if you remember any of that, it's funny, but it's also just fun because it just makes fun of Christmas songs and the idea of like people performing at Christmas.

Um, and I kind of do think comedy is at its best when everyone's agreeing, and so I do like kind of the message at the end when Britta comes out and she's awful that everyone's like trying to be on the same page with her because they're like it's an inclusive school, and I think that's so fun, and I just watch it every year. I know every line, I know all the songs, I've had people perform songs from this at Cabaret. I love it so much. So yeah, I think Community has like three really good Christmas episodes, but to me this is one of the best Christmas episodes on TV ever.

[29:07] Christi Esterle: I remember when that first aired watching it and being upset that the lip sync was off. I remember being just pissed off because the lip sync is really rough, especially with Chevy Chase who probably did it in one take. Baby Boomer Santa is such a funny song. It's just so fun to watch Donald Glover and Danny Pudi just like have fun and do musical shit at Christmas time. It's too much to admit the mixing on the songs are pretty rough except for that rap number, the Jehovah's Witness song.

[29:34] Emily Clark: Oh, I've never noticed it.

[29:37] Christi Esterle: Sorry, I was just like man, that's like a weird transition into a song. I love the Baby Boomer Santa song. I love when Shirley is like, I gotta tell the babies, Jesus Christ. I love the little invasion of the body snatchers moment. Like I just, it's one of my favorite Christmas episodes.

[29:55] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[29:55] Christi Esterle: Hell yeah. I relate to it so much.

[29:58] Emily Clark: I understand, I understand.

[30:01] Christi Esterle: Because I hated Glee too.

[30:03] Emily Clark: I hated Glee.

[30:04] Christi Esterle: You say that in the past tense.

[30:06] Emily Clark: Did you stop hating Glee?

[30:07] Christi Esterle: No, it's because I say it like that because when I first started teaching, Glee was coming up. So all my students wanted to do Glee songs, and I had a Glee Club because they wanted me to have a Glee Club. So it was a thing where I was like, I hate this, but I have to use all these songs because they love it.

[30:23] Christi Esterle: So yeah. Christi, you're number two.

[30:27] Christi Esterle: Okay, Charlie Brown Christmas. Everything, everything that Emily said, it's just fantastic. It's classic. And you know, when I was a kid, you know, I was all about, you know, the jokes and you know, the goofy dancing that the kids do. I always got a big kick out of that. Yeah, but the older I get, you know, the more I kind of get Charlie Brown's ambivalence about the whole holiday because you know, I love Christmas. I love Christmas music, I love, you know, giving gifts and receiving gifts. Um, but at the same time, there is a lot of baggage to the holiday in the commercialism and the pressure, and that is, you know, very that can be very draining. Um, so yeah, I understand why he's, you know, kind of feeling, you know, this kind of conflict about the holiday and trying to figure out, you know, what this good why, you know, why he loves why he should love this so much.

[31:19] Christi Esterle: Um, and I also, you know, um, coming at it from my faith perspective, I love that it actually talks about the religious significance of Christmas without being too heavy-handed about it. Because, you know, it's just this beautifully simple moment where Linus goes out, he recites from the gospel, Luke, and then he goes and says, and that's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. I love when he goes, lights, please.

[31:42] Emily Clark: Lights, please, yes, please.

[31:43] Christi Esterle: It's fantastically understated. And then afterwards, you know, Charlie Brown goes out and sees the star and remembers him talking about it. It's beautiful. I mean, I think you know, could use a lot more of that, especially, you know, when you have so many people saying, if anything is not about if everything is not about Christmas, 24-7 through all December, you hate baby Jesus.

[32:05] Emily Clark: Yeah, it's, you know, and the whole We're on Christmas shit, which, you know, I can, I am so, I yeah, have issues with, but yeah, it's just like a classic. It's warm and comfortable, and how can you hate it? It's magnificent. I do want to say a little piece of how much it pissed me off that they don't air it on TV anymore.

[32:27] Christi Esterle: Oh, yeah.

[32:29] Christi Esterle: Yeah, um, we've got like all the old Peanuts specials on Blu-ray, so um, we've got that. We've got like Easter Beagle and uh Great Pumpkin and everything.

[32:41] Christi Esterle: So yeah, that's not the same as having a lot of people. We need to be able to just pull it up on TV.

[32:44] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[32:46] Christi Esterle: You should be, yeah, you need to be able to watch it on TV with like the Dolly Madison commercials. Come on.

[32:51] Emily Clark: No, I'm showing my age again, so um, all right. I'll go on to my number two, which is a tie. I do this, I don't know why I keep doing this, but for all my number twos, it's always a tie. Um, but I think these two I couldn't place them differently. And this is a first one is a different Community episode. It's Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas, the stop motion episode.

[33:14] Christi Esterle: Um, I was about to call them Abed because I just watched the episode.

[33:18] Emily Clark: Yeah, Abed.

[33:19] Christi Esterle: Yeah. Um, this one's very incredible. I think they lay on the sentiment a lot, and I really like the animation style and how much they just stick to the bit with it. The message is so good. It's one of the best Christmas messages I've ever seen. And it's just about like being there and emotionally being available to your friends because uh XYZ reasons the holidays.

[33:42] Emily Clark: Christmas means whatever you want.

[33:43] Christi Esterle: Exactly. Um, it means to you.

[33:46] Emily Clark: Yeah.

[33:46] Christi Esterle: My second one is a much more depressing episode despite being aimed at children. That's the Hey Arnold Christmas. Did either of you watch that one before?

[33:55] Emily Clark: That's a little pet that's a little bit too old, baby.

[33:57] Christi Esterle: Yeah, come on.

[34:01] Christi Esterle: So this is like Hey Arnold is a show that deals with like dramatic themes more often than never. Um, and this one specifically, Arnold draws a secret Santa for his entire building, and his is Mr. Huan, um, who is really just wants his daughter back that he gave up during the Vietnam War to get sent to America for a better life.

[34:21] Emily Clark: So Arnold is trying his best to find his neighbor's daughter, um, and it's a difficult thing to do. And his and Helga, his crush, eventually has to blackmail people to get it done, but eventually gets it done. And it's just a beautiful, like really understated story about like actually what Christmas is about and helping people and giving up the things that you want to help others, even though they'll never know that you did it.

[34:49] Christi Esterle: It is one of the best Christmas specials, and very, very understated, very beautiful, and very made for my generation, and nothing else has really done something like this.

[35:01] Emily Clark: So I really respect the fuck out of it. Um, go watch that one if you haven't. Alright, and that's my number two, and now we're back around.

[35:09] Emily Clark: Emily, it's your chore. Your turn.

[35:11] Emily Clark: Okay, so this is not by any stretch of the imagination, the best Christmas special ever made. I would argue that it's pretty bad. However, it has become this kind of tradition amongst my kind of chosen family to watch it every year because it's on YouTube because it reminds me of a very certain time. And it's also just everything I love in terms of like celebrities and um camp. Um, and that would be the Nick and Jessica Christmas special.

[35:47] Christi Esterle: What now?

[35:49] Emily Clark: As in, yes, you might be a little too young to know this. So back in the early 2000s, pop stars, Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey were married, and they had a TV show called Newlyweds, and it was ridiculously popular. So to in order to take advantage of that popularity, they made a Christmas special, and you can watch it on YouTube, and it's awful, um, but I love it.

[36:16] Christi Esterle: Um, but it's amazing because they're trying to emulate like 70s Christmas specials.

[36:22] Emily Clark: Well, they're gonna get divided a few years later.

[36:25] Christi Esterle: Uh-huh.

[36:25] Emily Clark: They bring the best part of it, the best part of it is that there's a lot. There's a lot. Jessica has, I love Jessica Simpson, but she has this way of singing, which is hilarious. Um, she just does the most. And so this is when they're trying to make Ashley Simpson a thing.

[36:41] Christi Esterle: So she brings Ashley Simpson out, and the two of them sing the little drummer boy.

[36:48] Emily Clark: And the way they sing it is they go, gum bab.

[36:55] Christi Esterle: So they go bum rum bum bum over and over again.

[37:00] Emily Clark: It is my happy place. And it is I watch it with my friends every year, and we go back, we go back to college in our brains and we watch it. I don't recommend it. Um, unless you remember that time. Now I will say 98 Degrees does make an appearance because they're actually really good at doing Christmas stuff.

[37:20] Christi Esterle: They do Christmas shows like every year because they're like a, you know, a quartet of like, you know, harmonizing guys, so they actually are really good when they get together and sing some Christmas stuff.

[37:29] Emily Clark: But it's when Nick and Jessica are like, oh my god, we we're doing this, and we're we're a couple, and we're it they they sing a duet with Bing with Frank Sinatra, but he's dead, so he's just in the background singing.

[37:42] Christi Esterle: Oh, wait, is it Frank Sinatra?

[37:43] Emily Clark: It might be Bing Crosby.

[37:44] Christi Esterle: It's one of them.

[37:45] Emily Clark: But there's that's dead. It's one of them, and they're playing off of the whole trope at the time, which is like Jessica's like, I'm dumb, which is like a thing she played into at the time.

[37:53] Christi Esterle: Yeah, like that was the whole bit.

[37:55] Emily Clark: So she's trying to be like kind of dumb. It's so bad. Um, but I love it, and I watch it every year, and it is a wonderful, beautiful tradition amongst my kind of circle of friends. And if you're maybe my age, you might get a real kick out of it. I don't know, Jess, if you would get any.

[38:13] Jess: I am watching it right now.

[38:15] Emily Clark: Um, as we're talking about, it's on YouTube.

[38:18] Christi Esterle: I think it also has some like janky ads and commercials in between.

[38:22] Emily Clark: Yes, it does. It really is a delightful time capsule.

[38:25] Christi Esterle: Yeah, I want to give credit to the whoever posted this who said posted for nostalgia only.

[38:31] Emily Clark: It truly is. It is wonderful, and I we already have a date, like in a couple weeks, we have a party where we're all gonna get together and watch it, and it's just this wonderful silly tradition, which is kind of the fun of these kind of holiday specials and Christmas. When you think about it, like it doesn't even matter if it's good. What matters is that you have kind of friends and family and people who matter to you kind of tied to this dumb thing that you all watch together and have a good time watching.

[38:56] Christi Esterle: So, um, it's a fun time capsule.

[38:59] Jess: You maybe you like it, maybe you won't, but I love it. I love it. I love I love so bad as good shit, and I am fucking enjoying the shit out of this. I am going to watch this tomorrow. I am watching. No, but like watch it with friends. You have to watch it with friends.

[39:13] Christi Esterle: What friend could I convince to watch this, Emily?

[39:15] Emily Clark: Well, I don't know. Someone old like me.

[39:18] Jess: Like I don't want your old friends. Emily, if you sit down with me and watch this, I will make it Patreon content.

[39:25] Christi Esterle: I would do that.

[39:27] Jess: Yeah, there we would see. There we go. We can watch that. Like it's so good, but I'm telling you guys and they slide off of it like it's a hard note to sing. It's so amazing. The best part is they frame the drummer and the band in the shot while they're singing. It's incredible. Also, Jessica sings "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," which is one of her Christmas standards, but she kind of she does it like a little too sexy, and you're like, Jessica, Jessica.

[39:54] Christi Esterle: Okay, just ask a bit too much.

[39:59] Jess: Like, I love her, but she is so weird. I love her. God, anyway, do something sentimental now. Wonderful. Emily, thank you for introducing this into my life. Um podcast listeners.

[40:14] Christi Esterle: Is Nick Lachey or Latchie um a Michigander?

[40:18] Jess: Because he has uh Michigan hat through some of these.

[40:21] Emily Clark: Nick Lachey.

[40:22] Jess: Nick Lachey.

[40:24] Christi Esterle: I don't know. He might be. He so his brother Drew Lachey is in 98 Degrees, so it's Nick and Drew.

[40:30] Jess: Um that's funny. You said that they have a Christmas song called "Season of Love," which is actually pretty good.

[40:35] Christi Esterle: And in the case of the case, no relation to the Ren thing, right?

[40:38] Jess: No, no relation to the Ren thing. It's C Zun. But it's fun because at the beginning, Joey Fatone is there.

[40:43] Christi Esterle: And I love me some Joey Fatone.

[40:45] Jess: And um the whole joke is he's like, I'm directing this video. I'm not gonna make it like a dumb NSYNC Christmas video with the green screen. I'm gonna make it good. But he does say, hey, Nick Lackey at the beginning, which I think is kind of fun.

[40:57] Christi Esterle: So yeah, it's Lache. Good to know.

[40:59] Jess: Um Joey Fatone calls him Nick Lackey. So Emily, I am so grateful for you to do this. Um we need to watch this together.

[41:07] Christi Esterle: Okay, we'll content.

[41:09] Jess: Patreon content. Sincerely, and make me so happy to do that. Um Christi, you're number one.

[41:14] Christi Esterle: Okay, mine's a bit more conventional. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." I mean, come on, it's just like this perfect mold it's this perfect combination of the right talent for the right material. I mean, you start with Dr. Seuss and you know, his whimsical poetry and everything, and then you bring in Chuck Jones, who is one of the great animation directors of all time, especially when you have those characters who are like just a little bit wicked and just enjoy being nasty, and he gets to do like a great nasty character, and then you've got Boris Karloff narrating, you've got Thurl Ravenscroft.

[41:52] Jess: Legitimately one of the best villain songs of all time.

[41:56] Christi Esterle: And it's you know, it's fun, it's got great comedy, it's got, you know, one of the, you know, one of the all-time, you know, simple greatest Christmas messages. Christmas, you know, doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more. And yeah, I just love it. There's not a whole lot um that I watch every year as far as Christmas goes, but that is a must on Christmas Eve.

[42:21] Jess: So, you know, they've tried multiple times to redo it as feature films, but you can't really beat it. It's you know, they've you know got it right now. They get it down in that nice tight 30-minute. And the thing is, and the thing is, even then, you know, they had to like add stuff to get it to 22 minutes because the Grinch goes on this, you know, whole thing where he's talking about the different types of toys and everything that they're doing, and this little bit where they got all the different kinds of food and the songs, so yeah, it's um it's just fantastic, it's perfect.

[42:52] Christi Esterle: I wouldn't change a thing about it, and I love it to death.

[42:56] Jess: Absolutely great choice. Um, both of you had very good number one choices. Mine, mine's kind of stupid now that I'm thinking about it, but I have no regrets. Um, mine is the "Pee Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special."

[43:10] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[43:11] Jess: Um I know it's not really my joke.

[43:13] Christi Esterle: How are you even aware of the Pee Wee's Playhouse? Were you even a were you even a twinkle in your parents' eyes?

[43:20] Jess: I watched that when I was a kid.

[43:23] Christi Esterle: Um, yes.

[43:24] Jess: Um I had VHS of the Pee Wee's Playhouse C that's a good one.

[43:29] Christi Esterle: Oh.

[43:30] Jess: Yes. I I I'm I'm like an elder I know some stuff.

[43:35] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[43:35] Jess: I'm an elder zoomer, like late millennial. I'm a straggler. I'm like between two worlds.

[43:41] Christi Esterle: Um yeah, I get that.

[43:43] Jess: Me too. This special has everything. This like it has like the cynicism, it has like the dirtier jokes, it has goofy like side acts. And the thing is, often I as a kid I would get very bored during like musical numbers where it's like, here's a musical act that's gonna sing at you for a couple seconds. The choices of musical acts in this special are some of the wildest, strangest people.

[44:08] Christi Esterle: Like Cher's in the episode, she ain't gonna sing though.

[44:11] Jess: Little Richard's in the episode, she's not singing. We got Dinah Shore, but we're gonna cut away from her when she starts singing. Katie Lang has a full-ass musical number for about two minutes. Who's gonna sing the entirety of "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"? The Del Rubios triplets, who knows who they are? The three old ladies with a guitar.

[44:29] Christi Esterle: I love it.

[44:32] Jess: Um, and the idea that people can just wander into this playhouse and want to be in the special and he'll get rejected. Oprah Winfrey's like, hey, uh, do you have space for me?

[44:42] Christi Esterle: Oh no, it's Whoopi Goldberg.

[44:44] Jess: Hey, do you have space for me in this special? And he's like, nah, not this year, maybe next year.

[44:48] Christi Esterle: Yeah.

[44:49] Jess: Bye. And the fact that they don't just ignore that other cultures exist. There's an entire like specifically, they turn to the camera and say it's time for the Jewish section of the special where they talk about dreidels. Um, it's honestly top-tier Christmas content that gives me all the feelings that you want and has the message of you can't ask anything from Santa, everything from Santa, and you know what? If you give up all your gifts, maybe you can go on a ride with him.

[45:16] Christi Esterle: Um, and it's great.

[45:18] Jess: Every joke still lands for me, everything is still wonderful. The opening segment where you just have military men singing, and then it just goes into pure insanity. Nothing compares. I really really do highly recommend you watch this, especially the remastered Shout Factory version. It is just a beautiful restoration.

[45:35] Christi Esterle: Um, and it doesn't feel like Christmas unless I watch this at some point.

[45:41] Jess: Glorious.

[45:43] Christi Esterle: Um, very, very good. Not my generation, but fuck it's great.

[45:46] Jess: Katie Lang singing "Jingle Bell Rock." Incredible.

[45:49] Christi Esterle: Yeah, better generation.

[45:51] Jess: I love I love that we have this like wide range of like all this different stuff on there. I mean, you know what? We didn't have a whole lot of duplicates. And that just shows you know how the breadth and depth of you know media that you can find on this.

[46:06] Christi Esterle: So also just like the weird things you connect with, like depending on what hits you at what time of life.

[46:12] Jess: Like, no matter what your taste is no matter where you are in your life, there is Christmas stuff out there for you.

[46:18] Christi Esterle: So Where are you Christmas?

[46:21] Jess: Christmas Well I can wait.

[46:27] Christi Esterle: Hold on. The one thing I didn't bring up in the Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas special, and it connects to the Jessica Simpson one. Um Grace Jones gets delivered to the Playhouse, but it was meant for the White House, and then she does a strip tease for Pee-Wee Um to the song "The Little Drummer Boy."

[46:44] Jess: Oh my goodness.

[46:45] Christi Esterle: Oh, it was supposed to go to the White House?

[46:47] Jess: Yes, and I think Clinton was present at the time.

[46:51] Christi Esterle: That's entirely possible. I mean, you know, that would make more sense than it being like Reagan or Bush.

[46:56] Jess: So yeah. So I'm just like and she it's the best version of uh "The Little Drummer Boy," where she's just like, no, they call me perupa bumbo. And it was a sexual awakening, because even when she takes off the jacket and the gloves, all she has on is like this like plastic like thing covering her breast and torso, and you can see her bare shoulders.

[47:17] Christi Esterle: I'm like, man, I shouldn't be able to watch it.

[47:22] Jess: It it is incredible. Watch that special, kids. Um, it's a great um pairing with the Nick Lachey uh Jessica Simpson Christmas special.

[47:30] Christi Esterle: Who did Barupra Bum Bum better?

[47:31] Jess: The I'm so excited to watch this now, Emily. I I'm gonna put put it off until we do it for Patreon, but we're watching this shit.

[47:42] Christi Esterle: Okay.

[47:43] Jess: Um, but we have a wonderful countdown here, and as well as last week of a lot of things you might not know of, um, depending on what generation you're in. So let us know if you watched it, which was your favorite. Which of us do you think has really terrible taste? Let us know.

[47:57] Christi Esterle: And on that note, they all do wonderful content. Why don't you promote it for the world?

[48:03] Emily Clark: Yes, you can find me at Stealing Focus on YouTube, and I am at Emily A. B. Clark. It looks like Emily Clark uh on all the socials that my old ass can handle. So right now it's just uh Instagram, TikTok, and uh ye old Twitter.

[48:23] Christi Esterle: Um join us on Tumblr, Emily.

[48:26] Emily Clark: I feel like I'd had to do so much catching up. Um maybe, I don't know, we'll see. But uh you can find me in those places, and uh uh yeah, that's that's all I recommend.

[48:38] Christi Esterle: All right, Christi.

[48:39] Christi Esterle: All right, I am at Musical Hell on YouTube, Tumblr, Facebook. I am at as of this recording still on Twitter at Elon Musk hasn't um complete yet. Um so I'm there until something better comes along. I've got merch on Redbubble and Teespring. I've got a Patreon, I've got some fun Christmas stuff coming up. Jess might have hinted at something a little earlier, but it's gonna be a lot of fun, hopefully. So uh come check it out.

[49:07] Jess: That's wonderful. I'm on Twitter at Jesse D. McInally. It's spelled McAnally. It's pretty awkward. Um and I'm uh Jesse Mac and Alley everywhere else. Also, I have a podcast called Musicals with Cheese. Check that out if you like cheese or musicals.

[49:21] Christi Esterle: On that note, I I'm so happy I got a chat with you guys for the holidays. I love you both so fucking good.

[49:27] Jess: Merry, Merry has happy holidays, you know, every whatever you celebrate.

[49:31] Christi Esterle: Marry all the things.

[49:33] Jess: Yes. Um and be safe out there. Wear a mask when you go to these family gatherings because the COVID rate's pretty rampant up, and apparently it's doing really damaging things to your brain.

[49:44] Christi Esterle: I don't know if either of you have gotten the Rona yet.

[49:46] Jess: Oh, I have.

[49:48] Christi Esterle: I'm if I have, I haven't tested positive for it.

[49:51] Jess: So I had it when I came back from goddamn New York City.

[49:56] Christi Esterle: Me too, bitch!

[49:58] Jess: And then I had and then I hear in January. I'm gonna be wearing my K95 everywhere.

[50:05] Christi Esterle: I wore my mask everywhere, it didn't even matter. But the thing is is that like I got sick, but then the thing that lasted was vertigo.

[50:11] Jess: Vertigo!

[50:12] Christi Esterle: Who would have known?

[50:14] Jess: I I wouldn't whatever.

[50:16] Christi Esterle: So now I know what vertigo feels like. Thank you.

[50:18] Jess: Okay.

[50:19] Christi Esterle: I got sucks.

[50:20] Jess: It feels like you're on a boat all the time.

[50:22] Christi Esterle: Yes.

[50:22] Jess: Oh, jeez. My vertigo went away after like the second day, but the thing that I'm still dealing with is the brain fog and the skin sensitivity. Like I did not realize how much I valued having very firm skin, but before it now, like even my girlfriend just like I'm gonna scratch your back. I'm like, please stop, that hurts.

[50:37] Christi Esterle: I feel like like laying down in the wrong spot hurts.

[50:43] Jess: So COVID fucking sucks. Don't get it.

[50:45] Christi Esterle: Don't get it.

[50:46] Jess: Don't get it, folks.

[50:48] Christi Esterle: Is that Jeff in the background?

[50:50] Jess: Jeff! I was your PJ! Jess is screaming for you, honey.

[50:59] Christi Esterle: Oh man, it was really good.

[51:00] Jess: We had a good house. My husband is doing a show, an immersive nineteen forties submarine show, everyone. Come see it, nice.