Monday Memory: Andy Williams & the NBC Kids Search for Santa (w/ Tim Babb)

What’s up, dudes? Tim Babb from Can’t Wait for Christmas joins me to dive into the bonkers special “Andy Williams & the NBC Kids Search for Santa!”

Andy Williams is on a mission to restore his family's honor. Years ago his ancestor used to help Santa with his mail until one day he abandoned his mission out of frustration. Andy convinced  several NBC kid stars from The Cosby Show, Silver Spoons, and more to join him. You see, if 12 true believers accompany him to Santa's, there's a chance Santa will forgive his bloodline. Dark!

After searching for clues at political assemblies, museums, and churches, he finally finds the mailman that delivers to the North Pole. Of course, there's also a detour at a dinner where the NBC kids show the Finnish how 'Muricans sing and dance at Christmas. Eventually, they make their way through Lapland to the North Pole, where Andy forces the kids to freeze outside while he gets to be warm and cozy with Santa.

Is there kidnapping? Sort of. Is there a funky “Jingle Bells?” Definitely! Does Santa explode? Absolutely! So grab your snow shoes, search for clues, and follow Santa’s mailman to this episode on Andy Williams & the NBC Kids Search for Santa!”

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Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

We're up here in the Arctic Circle in the northernmost part of Finland. Behind me, not very far away, is the North Pole, and somewhere out there, Santa Claus lives, and we'd like to find him. We're talking Andy Williams and the NBC Kids search for Santa. Hit it! The wreckage of the Titanic was located in the northern Atlantic. Wham sang Careless Whisper. Michael J. Fox was Teen Wolf, and Andy Williams led a bunch of TV star kids on a strange adventure to find Santa. I'm your host, Jerry D with another episode of Totally Rad Christmas, the podcast that talks all things Christmas in the 80s, toys, movies, specials, music, and fads. If it was gnarly during Christmas in the 80s, we got it covered. Now, before I introduce my guest, it's time for the 80s word of the day. As always, this comes from the Dictionary of 1980 slang by Rick Carlisle. Today's word is dino rhino, adjective, meaning cool, awesome. The origins unclear, but possibly simply a rhyming elongation of dino, or in consideration of the awe-inspiring aspects of dinosaurs and rhinoceroses. For example, this dude is Dino Rhino from Team The Early Adolescence Magazine, Volume 1, 1986. Use it all the time. Now joining me is a totally rad Christmas All-Star from Can't Wait for Christmas. It's two-time ratty winner, Tim Babb. Tim, what's happening? All-star? Yeah. Hey now.

SPEAKER_07 2:09

Somebody once told me the world was gonna roll me.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

You know, you should uh get paid, I guess. I all of a sudden I blanked on the lyrics to All-Stars.

SPEAKER_07 2:24

I mostly know it these days from that meme where like they'll play the song over somebody hurting themselves or falling over something, like it'll go so and it'll pause for a second, and someone go like, wham, body once told me, and then they usually cut it after that.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

You know what? If you're gonna use a meme to remember something, that's a very worthy one.

SPEAKER_07 2:43

Also, hello and thank you for having me. Yes. I got off of my smash mouth tangent and didn't actually say hello and thank you.

SPEAKER_02 2:54

You know, if only all podcasts started with a smash mouth tangent, it might be a better world.

SPEAKER_07 3:01

Well, I mean, some of those true crime podcasts would be pretty awkwards. Today's a grizzly murder. Might as well be walking all the sun.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Not gonna lie, I'm kind of into it. All right. Oh how are you doing today? Uh, not bad. How about you? Yeah, I'm I'm all right today. I'm much better now that talking to you.

SPEAKER_07 3:30

Oh, well, thank you.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

It's hot here in Texas. It's uh how hot is it? Oh, it's so hot. This uh this TV special kind of made sense. Oh, well then, yeah, that's too hot. That's pretty darn hot, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:48

Friday, join the kids from the Cosby Show, Hockey Brewster, Silver Spoons, and Gimme a Break on an all-new holiday treat when Andy Williams and the NBC Kids search for Santa.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Yeah, so we're we're talking Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa, which is like a mouthful of a title. The crazy thing is, this actually got a sequel. So in 1987, there was Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Easter in Rome. So I'm like super excited to try to hunt that one down.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Friday begins with a musical Easter tree as Andy Williams and the NBC Kids visit the beautiful city of Rome. Experience the fun Roman style from the spectacular site to the Pope's special holiday blessings. Andy Williams for the NBC Kids celebrate Easter in Rome Friday.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

Yeah, I mean, this is already a little problematic with uh him just taking a bunch of kids out of the country.

SPEAKER_07 4:47

I mean, yeah, I'm sure we'll get there, but yeah, wow, so many issues with this.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

But imagine going to Rome.

SPEAKER_07 4:55

So yeah, I mean, win in Rome, do as the Andy Williams do.

SPEAKER_02 5:02

Seeing everything. Oh man, yeah. So before we like deep dive into this, like, what what's your experience with uh Andy Williams in general? Because I most people don't know the special in particulars.

SPEAKER_07 5:16

No, and I did when you said, Okay, we're gonna watch this Andy Williams special, I'm like, Oh, I watched a bunch of Andy Williams specials when I was getting ready to do my episode for the podcast about Andy Williams, and I expected it to be like the ones I watched from like, you know, I was like, Oh, yeah, I I've I've seen a million of these. I'm sure it's just the same thing, but with you know, 80s actors. And then I watched this, I was like, What is happening? Although, honestly, before I did my episode on Andy Williams, I only really knew him from most wonderful time of the year and holiday season. No, holiday, what's it called? Holiday season? Happy holidays or something. Happy holidays. I was like, why can't I think of the title of it? But I but anyway, those two songs are mostly what I knew him from. Um I mean, and then when I was doing the deep dive on him, I was like, Oh, I knew Moon River. I mean, he didn't originate it, but I I knew I I have heard him sing Moon River, I'm sure, over the course of my life. And then, like a couple other like music to watch girls by, I had heard before, and then like rediscovered when I was doing the podcast. I'm like, Oh, this, I mean, again, a problematic song today, because it's just about guys, they're in it women, hey. But it just it bops. So if you just take if you divorce yourself from the you know, digging too deep into the meaning of it, you're like, uh I mean, in the in the spirit of the song, the women are into it, so that it's like right, I'm here to be looked at and I'm here to look at you. So everybody's getting what they want. But you know, if you but if you dig too much deeper in than that, you're like yeah, so yeah, all that being said, I don't have I don't have a ton of Andy Williams' knowledge other than knowing who he is and hearing him every year for the basically those two main songs, and um he does other, you know, like holiday uh standard covers, but those are like his two yeah original Christmas songs that I know really well.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Yeah, exactly. And that's how I knew him mostly growing up as well, too. Just those two songs later on. One of my favorite songs of his was Kay Thompson's Jingle Bells. It's like an uptempo version that's of jingle bells that was arranged by well, I don't remember who arranged it, but Kay Thompson like popularized this. It's like crazy. There's a bunch of different sections, it's like not just jingle bells, but I was like, man, this song is actually really cool.

SPEAKER_03 7:25

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. Oh what fun minutes to land and one of the stuff can play. Jingle bellows, jingle bellows, jingle all the way.

SPEAKER_02 7:52

And then I started same kind of same thing when I was just looking into Annie Williams, looking into some of his specials. There was a lot with the Osmonds that I remembered and and his brothers. I vaguely, like like super vague memories of going to my grandma's house and it being on, you know, something like that. That's that's really about it.

SPEAKER_07 8:10

What's crazy is he like he always had his family in those shows and he got divorced in the middle of making those, but she's they still came back. Yeah, but the wife and the kids still came back, the ex-wife at that point still came back and did more specials after that. And like, and then they didn't acknowledge it per se, but they didn't really, but they didn't try to sweep it under the rug either, which was I guess kind of progressive for that time. Oh, totally, yeah. Yeah, so I th I found that that was again something I found only when doing not this is not like Andy Williams knowledge I had on the top of my head, it was just something I did when I was doing a deep dive into Andy Williams.

SPEAKER_02 8:46

And I I just learned that as well today, actually. I saw an interview, it was like a quick little interview about him. He was like, Yeah, NBC wanted to do a special, and I was like separated from my wife at the time, and you know, they're like they didn't care. So, so we made it work. It's like, okay, well, there you go. Hmm, interesting. No, no, so this particular special, though, I don't remember this like at all. This was completely new to me, and it really didn't help when as I was doing the research, I found that it was originally a 60-minute special, and the the segments that I found online for it only add up to like 24 minutes or so. So I said, Okay, something's wrong here. So I you know quickly ordered this a bootleg copy. It's actually pretty decent quality for a bootleg copy. Oh, and uh and saw the whole thing, made furious notes today, and so I I'm hoping to fill in some gaps because when I first watched this online, like you, I imagine, I was completely confused. I had no idea what was going on. Things just jumped from one section to another, and it didn't make any sense.

SPEAKER_07 10:00

No, it and like, yeah, the only place you can find this is in three parts on YouTube, and it's not three complete parts. I'll tell you that right now. Nope, it's really not, not at all. And it's not like one of those things where, like, oh, it's big like in the space in between part one and part two, there's something missing. No, no, no. In chunks in part one are missing, like in between each other and in part two and in part three. Like, because it makes it all the way to the end in part three, but like, I feel like I've missed something, I hope. Otherwise, this was wretched, not wretched and yeah. I mean, it just this was just like mean to people, like, okay, here's the story we're gonna tell. Just kidding, we're over.

SPEAKER_02 10:35

And I wonder if like someone like cut some stuff out for like copyright reasons. Oh, I wonder if it kept getting flagged by YouTube for the specific things. They just kept cutting until until it makes absolutely no sense. Because yeah, there's actually like a story and a plot to this thing that I had no idea when I first watched it existed. Yeah, I mean, the basic like nutshell version is that Andy Williams recruits some popular child actors from NBC and they go on a trip to try to find Santa. So that's like the yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, and where do you go? Finland.

SPEAKER_07 11:14

Which, as you said in the opening, and as he said in the opening of the thing, is really close to the North Pole. It's almost 2,000 miles away from the North Pole.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

So okay, strike one, but no, there actually is a reason for him going to Finland, which is crazy in the plot. It actually makes sense. So oh, yeah, yeah. So I'm hoping I can fill in a couple of things here and there, but we start off, you know, with the intro, because I I think the best way to cover this is just to kind of deep dive. And uh, as we see, you know, things unusual, we can just talk about them, but which I'm sure we'll do all the time. So he he starts off like, Hey, I'm gonna tell you the story, it's a fun adventure, and it like fades to California, you know, at his house, and he's like writing letters to all these, well, we don't know who yet, but he's writing letters to these these people. Turns out it's these NBC child stars who don't play their characters, they actually play themselves.

SPEAKER_07 12:13

And it should also be mentioned, he is singing the entire time. This is not like, oh, hell, hey, everybody, it's me, Eddie Williams. I'm gonna write a letter. It's like, I'm gonna write a letter to them to come to with me.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

So I actually I actually wrote down some of these lyrics. There, okay. He goes, Dear friend, I recommend you get permission if you intend to join our expedition. And then this is the weird part. He goes, practice praying on your knees, practice saying pretty, please, do anything to get the powers that be to agree to let you come with me.

SPEAKER_04 12:46

We were headed for the Arctic Circle, but these young friends of mine were all underage, so I added the following suggestion. Dear friend, I recommend you get permission if you intend to join our expedition. I just say pretty pleas. Do anything to get the power to be To agree to let you come with me.

SPEAKER_02 13:22

I don't know, man. That's uh by today's standards, that's a little sketch right there.

SPEAKER_07 13:29

And the and the crazy part, like, I is it too early to cut to what happens next? No, go for it. So they cut to the set of the Cosby show where all the Cosby kids are asking Felicia Rashad to go on this trip. Felicia Rashad is their TV mother, she does not have any jurisdiction over them or what they do. Like, because like you said, they're not playing their characters, like it's not Theo and Rudy and Denise, it's Keisha Nike Pullium, Malcolm Jamal Warner, Lisa Bonet. Like, like they don't need to ask Felicia Rashad for permission. And even if she gave it, it means nothing.

SPEAKER_02 14:03

It means absolutely nothing.

SPEAKER_07 14:04

Like, even like it's she's not even the boss on the show. Although, thank goodness the boss on the show wasn't there because that would have made it even more awkward. Like, hey, what are you kids doing?

SPEAKER_02 14:19

It's it's yeah, it and at first I thought, okay, so that so they're their characters, but no, they're not, because we get we we get Punky Brewster and her family. So again, I thought, okay, they're characters, but then we get the sound stage for Gimme a Break, where Joey and Matt Lawrence come out, and then the sound stage to Silver Spoons, where Alfonso Rivero and he meets like Mindy Cohn come out. I mean, just randomly, yes, from Facts of Life.

SPEAKER_07 14:46

And am I not mistaken? Or is that her one and only like is there more of her in the uncut? So she's okay. So Alfonso comes out. I I need listeners, come come with me on this. Alfonso comes out, he's like, I'm sure gonna miss these silver spoons, and then Watsonhead from Facts of Life goes, Well, I know the facts of life, so just stick with me and you'll be okay. She literally bounces from the special after she says, Stick with me.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

She was warning him, like, like, dude, come, don't go that way, stay with me.

SPEAKER_07 15:21

What happened did like she get written out? Like, how then why leave that part in? Why not reshoot? Like, I so many questions I have with the directing of the special.

SPEAKER_02 15:30

Yeah, I don't know. I have no idea, but that was like, you know, like another clue that okay, they're playing themselves because she actually names herself while she's singing. Stick with me, Mindy Cone.

SPEAKER_07 15:41

That's what it was, yes.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

And then Mindy Cone bounces straight out of no, never again do we see her. Never to be heard from again. Yeah. I was hoping that when I watched like the full version of this bootleg, that you know, maybe she'd reappear at the end or do something. Nope, that's it. It's the one and only scene. I don't know why, but okay. I'm along for the ride. You can tell it's like early Cosby so Cosby show too, because she's credited as like Felicia Ayers Allen. So she's she hasn't even married Ahmad Rashad yet. Oh, I don't think I saw the credits. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Are they on the YouTube version?

SPEAKER_07 16:21

I can't. I don't think they are.

SPEAKER_02 16:23

I don't think they are either. Yeah, yeah. So it's okay. He he's writing the letters, we get all this. Uh oh, when they ask, okay, one thing I want to bring up when when they ask permission from you know their fake TV mom if they can go on this, she says, Yeah, yeah, but on one condition, you gotta ask Santa why you didn't bring me the roller skates in 1953. Okay, yeah, we'll ask him that. Lady who has no authority over him.

SPEAKER_07 16:52

I also like that when they cut, like you said, they cut a punky brewster, and those three kids ask Punky Brewster's uh adoptive, like Punky Brewster, even in the world of Punky Brewster, he's only in charge of Punky Brewster, like those other two kids don't need to ask him, right? Exactly. Yeah, like it's three levels of that guy doesn't have any say in this matter. But one of my favorite things is they cut to the dog at one point, like because these kids are singing the best they can, but clearly none of them was hired because they were great singers on their respective shows. So they cut to the dog, and the dog just gives a look like, what are we doing right now?

SPEAKER_02 17:25

Why are you dragging me into this? Well, well, what's even funnier is they they also cut back to Andy Williams and he's like, Well, that's four. I mean, he's singing the whole time, but he's like, That's four down, let's get some more. That's not enough.

SPEAKER_07 17:38

Yeah, yeah. It cannot be overstated that everything we're talking about happens while they're singing, like, there's almost no regular dialogue. Like it reminds me of uh when I was in high school, my choir went to go see a performance of Miss Saigon at USC, not USC, but in Southern California. I didn't know anything about it going in, and they just sing the entire show, there's no spoken parts. It's all I didn't know that, and so I'm like, this opening number is going on forever. And then it was like the act break. I was like, You gotta be kidding me. Like, don't you know the whole that was like several songs, like the whole thing is sung.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

I'm like, oh and I I only know that because when my sophomore year in high school, we we marched that in our show, so that's the only reason I know that.

SPEAKER_07 18:24

But I was like, wait, this is the longest opening number in the history of musicals.

SPEAKER_02 18:29

It's it's operatic.

SPEAKER_07 18:32

But scene changes, character changes, and and so yes, this special is like that. You're like, okay, now they're gonna start talking. Keep on singing.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

Yeah, there is there is a little bit of uh spoken stuff later on. Oh, okay. Yeah, yeah, but like this whole bit, I mean it's one long song, and it's something like on our way to meet Santa or something like that. Search for Santa Claus. That's like this whole opening number. Yes, which okay, the next open or the next number is uh cuckoo bananas, but we'll get to that in a little bit.

SPEAKER_07 19:04

So is that the jumping on the bed one, or is there one in between it on the yeah, yeah, the jumping on the bed one? Yeah, yeah, that yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:13

I have thoughts. So after Mindy Cone, they're like at the airport, and you know, they're they're on their way, they're going down the aisles, and then all of a sudden it's Finn Air just flying on a plane. It's like, okay, so they're flying to Finland. But he actually tells them a story once they get to Finland. And this is like like where we get the big the big reveal of the plot. So uh after yeah, after the credits, it says, you know, introducing a special guest, whatever, whatever. He tells the kids, okay, you guys gotta get to sleep because of jet lag. He also says that searching for Santa is not like child's play. Okay, well then why bring kids?

SPEAKER_07 19:54

Yes, I have to say, when I heard Felicia Rasad singing, I'm like, why don't you bring her along? I would much rather see her for the rest of the special.

SPEAKER_02 20:00

Heck yeah. But so they they get to the cottage that they're gonna stay, and this is where the plot comes in. So apparently his ancestor, Lars Sven Olaf Williams from Finland, of course, he was like he was like one of Santa's helpers, and he like opened up some letters and started reading them, but thought the kids were too greedy, and he like just lost faith in children. So he went to Santa like super angry, started tearing up the letters, and Santa banished him basically. So whoa! So he could only be forgiven if one of his direct descendants brought 12 true believers to Santa Claus and apologized. So that's why he got 12 kids and why they're going to Finland. Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 20:56

How ironic that your great-grandson or whatever is Mr. Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Right? Yeah, so that's like the main plot there. Okay. There's all this stuff was cut out in the YouTube version. There's like clues on the way, too, that he's like, he's looking for this, and maybe this will be a clue to where Santa is. And it's just completely missing from that version that just ships and jumps. Oh man, yeah. And Lisa Bonet makes a a joke about, you know, I'm gonna go shopping and get some new stuff, of course. Because you know, Lisa Bonet was like all about fashion back in the day. But I mean, you know, what little 80s boy didn't have a crush on her. So oh man, yeah. So that's like his whole plot. He he doesn't really care if they go find Santa, he just wants like to be forgiven for his ancestors. He's just trying to break the curse on his family name.

SPEAKER_07 21:47

Break the curse. So the I'll kidnap a thousand children before I let this company die.

SPEAKER_02 21:58

It's very, it's very B Z. From Santa Claus the movie. Yeah. So he's there in their cottage. It's he's like, okay, kids, we gotta go to bed. And this is where we get the the scene. Like, this is where it jumps to that that bed scene. Okay. And so they start their song after he's kind of told them about this whole thing. This is where the older kids are like, Well, we don't really believe in Santa, but we'll play along for you. So he's like, Okay, great. And then he's like assaulted by like Punky Brewster and Rudy, and they just like, can we really meet him? They're so excited and everything. And he just starts like singing his song and like jumping on the beds. And one point he's on his knees on the bed and he kind of like does this crazy like wall. I don't even know what you would call it. Waddle, I guess. Well, I know what I'm gonna get, all of you.

SPEAKER_04 22:55

Alright, I just don't know how to wrap it.

SPEAKER_08 22:57

You have to wrap it up, please.

SPEAKER_04 23:03

How do you go about kind of love? Where is the package, big little hole? What you get from Christmas? That's what you're getting from me. Only thing I wonder how to get it under the tree. Christmas morning can't write.

SPEAKER_07 23:32

It's bizarre. I kind of dug it though. And the whole song is about how what are they getting for Christmas? Love. Love. Like, don't worry about it, you don't have to rap it. It's one size fits all. And these kids are so excited to be getting this technically non-present for Christmas. Like they love it, they're all on board. Like, I've been around kids and talked about what they're getting for Christmas. That would not be a let's break this song.

SPEAKER_06 23:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 23:54

I mean, other than the fact that they seem to be able to extend their bedtime a little bit and jump on the bed. Like, they would not be down for this song.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

Well, and then but like in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, like, the kids gotta know he's like famous, right? So he's gotta have money. There's like someone, you know, come on, cheat.

SPEAKER_07 24:11

Like, he's just he just pop for a private plane to Finland. He's gonna have some scratch. You gotta get us something for Christmas. Come on, man. We came all the way to Finland. There's no Wi-Fi out here because it hasn't been invented yet, but that's not the point.

SPEAKER_02 24:25

You know, I bet Santa had Wi-Fi. I bet he did. So uh okay, so they they go to sleep, they wake up, and this is where Andy Williams starts narrating. He's like, Okay, the first clue is this portrait that used to hang in Sven's in Sven's house, but now where his house was, the conservatory of music is like is built there. So that's where the portrait hangs now. So he goes to the conservatory of music. I don't know why this portrait has anything to do with anything, they don't actually explain why, but apparently that's the first clue. So he's going to see that.

SPEAKER_07 25:01

Does it have a map on it, like the back of the Declaration of Independence?

SPEAKER_02 25:05

We're gonna we're gonna steal the the portrait from the city. I'm more of a Santa protector. It's funny because last night I just did a show on national treasure. I was a guest uh on this show. Oh, really? So works out perfectly. Those movies are better than they have any right to be. Agreed, yes, I completely agree. But apparently, because Santa banished him, he had like he didn't have very many skills, so he went into politics. And like, okay, I get it. But he eventually made his way into this portrait that hangs in this place, and so as he's going in, he hears the Helsinki children's strings, so it's just like a Helsinki string orchestra from Finland there, and he listens to them play something from I think it's Sabali Jan Sibelius, his Andante Festival, and he starts talking to the conductor, and the conductor is like, Oh, yeah, you know, we play different things, we even play some Christmas songs because it's Christmas time, and he's like, Oh, I sing, and so of course, perfect opportunity for do you hear what I hear? And so it's just typical Andy Williams singing kind of thing. So all that kids, not on YouTube, not on YouTube, yeah. You can search for it, it's not anywhere. If I get the chance to dig up my old desktop, maybe I'll digitize this bootleg copy. Ooh, skin. You didn't hear that from me. But yeah, so he sings, Do you hear what I hear? And the conductor, I guess, is so impressed that he invites them to that Christmas party, which is like that next cut. Okay, is this where Alfonso does the little tap dance? Yeah, yeah. Okay, but there's actually, of course, more before then. Of course, of course there is, yeah. So he mentions, of course, in voiceover that they all go shopping and they get some slick new outfits and get all dolled up. And as they're at the party, there's some native Laplanders that uh the conductor says can help them find Santa's place. They they live up there much further north, they know a lot of that area. So he's like, All right, cool, let's check it out. And so, of course, we get the cute little joke about Punky Brewster saying, you know, well, you know, we better find Santa because otherwise my dog won't forgive me for leaving him for so long. Whatever. You gotta you gotta have the joke. There's some cool, there's some cool like dancing, traditional folk dancing that the Laplanders do, and then there's like a cool again interaction. It this is all like just musical dancing stuff. There's no real plot to it, but the Helsinki children's choir sing jingle bells in Finnish, and as soon as they're done, the NBC kids sing like a funky version of jingle bells with like percussion breaks and jazz dancing and all sorts of things. Like, okay, we'll we'll show you up.

SPEAKER_07 28:01

Like, show you how the Americans of the 80s do it.

SPEAKER_02 28:05

Muraco.

SPEAKER_05 28:16

Jingle bell. Jingle bell, jingle all the way.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Yeah, and then this is the strange part. So Andy Williams, he you know. This is the strange part. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So he gets he he goes and he like sits down. Excuse me. He goes, he sits down at the table. He's got like Rudy and forgot the name of the little girl from Punky Brewster, not Punky, her friend. It's I think it's like Marcia or something like that. Yeah, I have no idea who that is either. So like they're sitting on his lap and he just starts singing. Yes, I was trying to tell my family about this too. So they sit on his lap. He just starts singing like White Christmas, yes, white Christmas, and most wonderful time of the year, like together.

SPEAKER_07 29:15

Which are two songs that do not mash up together.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

They don't go at all. No, they don't, but as he's doing it, he's like he's imagining it cuts to like him outside with like the Laplanders and they're building snowmen and they're like making a stew.

SPEAKER_07 29:29

Oh, is that who those were? I thought it was just a random wintery scene, like the like he's done in his other specials, or they'll just be like here, cut to Andy Williams singing in like this outdoor gazebo and it's snowing and there's other people there. Like, that's what it seemed like. Oh, that's just throwback to his other specials.

SPEAKER_02 29:43

I didn't know it was also part of what we've been seeing, and it could have been, but it's it's like these these dancers, and they're it's as if he's there spending like time just with these dancers doing their thing, but he's still there physically at the the party. So this is just all in his imagination now.

SPEAKER_07 30:02

And there's like I wonder if they just got uh they got pretty far into it, and like, wait, we haven't worked in most wonderful time of the year yet. We'll just put in a uh dream sequence. A dream sequence, you'll be singing a song, you'll sing like Christmas, and then that will flash forward, that will flash to a dream sequence of you singing most wonderful time of the year. How does anything that you just said made sense? Trust me, trust me. We'll fix it in post, it'll all be beautiful.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

We'll we'll workshop it, it's okay. We'll fix it, fix it in post. Nope, nothing. It just all of a sudden it fades out, and he's just sitting there again with the two little girls on his lap singing his songs at the party. It's the weirdest thing, but like when I saw them, the first thing I thought of was like they look like they're wearing the outfits from like Frozen and Claws or Klaus or whatever that was. Yeah, it's like okay, I recognize these folks now. So yeah, but they get back to the party, and I gotta say, I actually kind of like the decorations at the party. The tree is decorated with like real candles, so you know, super fire hazard, so old school there, but yeah, it was just real nice. So this is where there's more dancing, and they do like one of those round dances where you know, like the outer circle moves one way, the inner circle moves another way, and everybody else is in the middle, and they they do that to sleigh ride, and that's when Alfonso, after everybody's done dancing, he kind of just like takes off, you know, and it's just like, Hey, Carlton's dancing, cool, and like tap dancing, tapping, he like taps the heck out of it too. Like, I was pretty impressed because I can't tap to save my life. I did it for one year as a kid, and yeah, I'm not great at it. Gotcha, yeah. So then, and then they all like get back together and they finish with jingle bells. Okay, so this is like the second commercial break, or whatever. There's little credits on there.

SPEAKER_07 31:55

They okay, so they just finish with jingle bells because they're in Finland.

SPEAKER_02 32:00

That's actually one of the jokes he says earlier. Oh, of course it is.

SPEAKER_07 32:03

You can't you can't leave that on the table. You gotta use it. It's right there.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

It's right there, yeah. So yeah, the second commercial break, when they come back, again, they there's like no seg. You don't see any of this, it's just voiceover. So it's like, I think I would have rather like actually seen this, man. But he says one of the locals suggested going to this old 17th century church because like what he needed was prayer at this point, if he was gonna find it in Santa Claus. So he's like, Well, where do you go when you pray? To church. So he goes to this church and that uh Helsinki Children's Choir, they're rehearsing again for their Christmas Eve service, and so he's like you know, listening to him, and he says, Hey, rumor is that uh when you guys sing, Santa comes and like stops outside the church and like just listens to y'all, you know. So is it okay if you just keep singing so that maybe I can catch him? And so they sing like I think they sing silent night and finish, and then they all sing silent night together in English. Another after another commercial break, he goes out and he says, Well, I didn't see Santa there, but I did find a letter to Santa that he must have dropped. And so it got me thinking, you know, who knows where Santa lives? Well, the post office. So I gotta go find a Finnish postman that delivers to Santa. So there's a lot of it's very rise of Skywalker. Go find this. Okay, go find this.

SPEAKER_07 33:28

Oh, that that that but this really does. If you only watch the YouTube, you are really filling in the you really fill in the blanks because it's like, yeah, how do they how what are they doing? Like uh because I think the next thing we see is them just like traping around in the snow in their sled.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

Yep, yeah, that's exactly the next thing you see. In this case, they actually go, they find the this post post worker that like delivers the the mail to Santa. Is it Cliff Claven from Cheers? Oh, that would have been like he's on NBC.

SPEAKER_07 33:56

What do you again? NBC leaving money on the table, like right there for the taking guys.

SPEAKER_02 34:03

Santa Claus is uh the Finland isn't actually uh it's 2,000 miles from the North Pole. But it's only 4,000 miles if you uh I don't know. I got nothing. So they talk with this guy, he says, you know, they offer to help him. They're like, look, we'll help you out. We just we need to talk to Santa, we gotta find him. He's like, no, nobody's allowed to help me. Nobody's allowed to go up to Santa's because years ago, this one dude read the mail, got mad about the what the kids were saying, thought they were too selfish toward us. So basically, he's like, and this guy's name was Lars Van Olaf Williams. And so, of course, they all say it at the same time. He's like, Oh, you know him. He's like, uh, you know, maybe something, something ridiculous like that, you know, one of those jokes. The guy's like, Well, I gotta go. Santa needs these letters, it's his busy time of year. He gets on a snowmobile and rides off, and they're like, Well, we can't help him, but he didn't say anything about not following him, so they they all just get on like their their uh dog sleds and their skis and snowshoes and whatever else, and they just start following this this guy riding on the snowmobile all the way to Santa's house, and this is where it cuts to that YouTube part where now it's like part three, and they're actually there at Santa's house. So that's how they find Santa's house, they just follow the snowman, as you do, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 35:31

Of course, follow the mailman who only apparently has one route to deliver to, just Santa's house.

SPEAKER_02 35:37

Ask SD Kluger, he'll tell you. Yeah, so they get there, and then this is again, I love the chase because before they get there, there's like the Benny Hill style, you know, super fast, you know. They get there, and this is the the odd part because what's his name? Andy Williams is like, okay, let me go in first, and but here's the plan. And he gives them like all these, he sings them all these crazy directions. But like, if yeah, like tip my hat, he doesn't wear that.

SPEAKER_07 36:07

He says, if I tip my hat, he's not wearing a hat. He's not wearing a hat. I was like, where was props? Why didn't somebody not go cut? Andy, you forgot your hat. Andy, you made your hat, man.

SPEAKER_02 36:20

I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 36:24

And he's like they're standing feet from the door and they're doing this plan, like, okay, if there's a monster or if this, or and then I'll give you this code, like, just walk. It's right there. There's no knock on the door and go in. The time for planning was all before all the shenanigans in the forest in the snow. Like, now is the time for action.

SPEAKER_04 36:41

We're here. How you all wait here while I head over there? And when I reach the house, I will shoot up a flare. Better still by removing my. You know when you see me do that. And we pass the first perimeter, the outer ring defenses. See the mission through. Each and every one of you must do what I taught you to do.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

Oh man. So he's like, All right, I'm gonna go in first. You know, watch this because if I do this, then you guys gotta move that way. Of course, he doesn't say like where, he's just like, go that way. You guys go that way. It's like, well, what they're gonna surround him or circle in the wagons or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_07 37:34

We got the building surrounded, Santa.

SPEAKER_02 37:37

Come out. So he goes in, the door like locks behind him, and he he tries, he's like, it won't open, but he gives the most feeble attempt to try that door.

SPEAKER_07 37:49

Like, uh, I I pulled at it slightly for more than half a second, and it won't open. I guess it's closed forever. I guess, kids, you have to ban the snow until you die. Bye.

SPEAKER_02 37:59

Yeah, what are you gonna do? Yeah, he's like in this nice, warm, cozy house, and the kids are like freezing outside.

SPEAKER_07 38:06

And you can see them like through the window, they're like banging on the door. Like, please, please, I'm on an NBC sitcom and I'm freezing.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

He's gotta go get uncursed, man. Nothing takes precedence over that. So yeah, yeah. So he goes in, there's a room with some presents with familiar faces or familiar names on it. It's a charming room, and then he doesn't see anything, so he goes to the next room, which is even more charming, and there's even more presents. It's like, all right, guys, like new adjectives. Come on.

SPEAKER_07 38:40

I think they just wanted a second set so the kids wouldn't have to be in shot for the whole thing. That's exactly why. Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_02 38:47

Yep, kids are still in frame.

SPEAKER_07 38:50

And I I have to describe how this next part is for YouTube when you're done, when we're done describing the first this song, like so. Before we move on to what actually happens in the unedited special, like it is so crazy how it goes for YouTube, but we'll but for right now, so he's in the second room, and okay.

SPEAKER_02 39:05

So he's in the second room, he sees Santa's hat, which is comically large. It's like no one has a hat that big. It's big.

SPEAKER_07 39:18

It's not fit a human head. It's like if Santa was like one of those college mascots, like that hat would fit.

SPEAKER_02 39:27

Exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 39:28

It's the Alabama fighting Santa's. I don't know why I picked Alabama. Don't write in. I was just Alaska?

SPEAKER_02 39:39

I guess Alaska would be the best. Alaska would probably be the best one. Yeah. So he he finds a hat, he turns around, there's Santa. Except we're like seeing Santa's point of view. So it's like he's singing to us, yeah. He's singing to Santa.

SPEAKER_07 39:55

It's like it's just so super awkward. Like, am I super do you want me to do what you asking, Andy? I I I I mean, sure. I I'm just sitting here watching this. I didn't, I was not, I was not informed I would have to be involved.

SPEAKER_02 40:09

Yeah. Am I getting uh like what what kind of pay am I getting here? Exactly. So we're we're supposed to be, you know, quote unquote Santa here as he's singing. We see uh he gives us the hat and we like reach out our our gloved hand to to grab the hat and he sings the song is called The Plea to Santa Claus, and he's like, you know, please undo this curse and whatever, whatever.

SPEAKER_07 40:33

And does he say anything about the curse? Because I I feel like he just okay, because like on the YouTube vision, like I still didn't know anything about the curse. And I listen to the song, I'm like, he really wants Santa to meet these kids, and he's more urgent about it.

SPEAKER_02 40:46

Yeah, it's more about the kids meeting Santa.

SPEAKER_07 40:49

But like, and but it like now that I understand the backstory of the curse, I understand the emotion behind the song. But on YouTube, it's just like you are really invested in these random 12 celebrities meeting Santa Claus. These random kids you have zero connection to meeting Santa that you're just random pen pals with because you happen to know somebody at NBC because they want their ratings.

SPEAKER_04 41:16

You don't know me, but I know you and all my little friends, they believe in you too. We've traveled very far to reach this place, and they'd all be thrilled if they could see your face.

SPEAKER_02 41:42

Yeah, so he uh no, he actually says, you know, please, these kids want to meet you, and then he gives Santa his pipe, and then afterwards he's like, Oh, by the way, my ancestor was, you know, Sven, whatever, whatever. Can you please remove this curse? I've got 12 true believers here. And then this is like the best cheesy TV 1985 special effects. The the screen spins, you see Santa's chair, and it kind of like like the little mini firework like explodes kind of a thing, and then Santa's gone. There's like smoke, and Santa's gone. There's just just nothing there.

SPEAKER_07 42:19

Oh, wait, wait, wait, okay. So before only the pipe is left. So, but but before that, so that part is not in the YouTube clip. So we watch, we watch Andy Williams sing this impassioned song to Santa. He stands up, looks like he's gonna walk out of the room, turns back as if to say something, cut. It's Andy Williams. Well, thanks for watching the special, everybody. I was like, that's it. Did the kids meet Santa? Did the kids go home? What happened? We just cut straight from you being locked in a room with Santa to well, have a good Christmas and a happy new year. Ultimate troll. Hope you're hope you're all good to each other. All right, Andy Williams and someone pick up the bodies of those kids out there in the snow.

SPEAKER_02 42:58

Andy Williams out. That surprised me too. I was like, wait, okay. Like, there's gotta be more, right? Like there's a part four or something I'm missing.

SPEAKER_07 43:13

Yeah, like where is it? Did it get removed?

SPEAKER_02 43:17

Nope. It yeah, it's this weird, this weird thing where like Santa explodes, all that's left is like a pipe on the chair. And so he uh he goes to let the the kids in because he finally realizes, oh yeah, they're freezing out in the cold. So they all come in, they they see the presents with their names on it. All the kids, you know, they're like, Where's Santa? Where's Santa? He's like, Oh, he's not here. Like, well, did you get to see him? Did you meet him? He's like, Yeah, I talked with him, everything's cool. And so he starts handing out the presents. He starts handing out the presents, and everybody except the three oldest gets something. Oh and they're like, Well, where's ours? He's like, I guess, you know, Santa knew you weren't true. Believers. And so then Malcolm Jamal Warner is like, Well, you know, I've been thinking about that. And after everything we've kind of been through this last couple of days, I mean, I think, I think I'm really starting to believe in him. And the other two, you know, uh, Denise and Carlton are also like, Yeah, we we are too, we are too, yeah. And so he's like, Well, I don't know, maybe if you maybe Santa can hear and we'll see what's going on. And so we hear Santa like like ho ho hoing outside, and you hear on dasher, on dancer, they run outside and they find a big golden box, and it's got like the last presents for them, the big kids. But their present is that he's going to give uh gifts to a thousand poor children in their names. So, so you know that's what you get, Scrooges.

SPEAKER_07 44:48

Let me guess, they're actually happy about it in the special, though. Of course, yeah of course. Well, they're also I got a present of love. Now Santa's giving presents on my behalf. This is just what I hope for. Best Christmas ever.

SPEAKER_02 45:04

Well, there is a card, and they open up the card, and it says, PS, all is forgiven for Lars. Oh, well, that's good. So, yeah. So, and then Punky Brewster says, And as Tiny Tim used to say, God bless us, everyone, and everybody laughs. But then Rudy says, Who's Tiny Tim? And that's when it cuts to you know, everybody's uh Andy Williams there saying, 'Well, that was our adventure.' And so there's actually a story here.

SPEAKER_07 45:33

It's it's a bizarre story, but and then uh so do you actually get to see Santa Claus before he explodes?

SPEAKER_02 45:42

You never actually get to see him, although you you get to see like his silhouette with the sleigh and reindeer being pulled. So you see the silhouette, but you never see him.

SPEAKER_07 45:50

Yeah, that's just so it's not unlike it's it's like almost worse than Rise of Skywalker, where like you know, you're trying to see Luke Skywalker, not Rise of Skywalker, Force Awakens. The entire movie is like, okay, we're gonna go see Luke, we're gonna see Luke. We found Luke credits. This is like we're gonna see Santa, we're gonna see Santa. You never see Santa. Never.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

It's it's the strangest thing.

SPEAKER_07 46:10

It turns out Santa was inside you all along.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

He must be because the Andy Williams is singing to me.

SPEAKER_05 46:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 46:22

Although I think I can now check off the box of uh, you know, that I have lived a full life because Andy Williams has now sung to me. This special was directed by Dwight Hemian, who also directed the the Amy Grant Christmas special from 1986. Yeah. Oh yeah, strange. And there's another one that he did, but the writer was Buzz Cohen, or or also named Alan Cohen, and the composers were Ian Frazier and Larry Grossman. Now, if those if those names sound familiar to anybody, it's because those guys were the composers of the little drummer boy Peace on Earth medley that Bing Crosby and Jim David Bowie sang.

SPEAKER_07 47:06

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 47:07

Yeah, exactly. So yeah, that's and they've done a few other things, but in fact, uh the editor Mark West, who I I actually reached out to Mark West. I think it was too little too late. I I really wanted to get his, I was hoping he could join us because I think that'd be fun so much fun just trying to make heads or tails of it. Yes, but yeah, it's definitely too little too late. So I asked him, you know, hey, what was it like working on the special? You know, all sorts of things. But hopefully I'll hear back from him and I can do a follow-up episode here.

SPEAKER_07 47:36

Well, hopefully he doesn't hear this. Just remember the opinions of Tim Bab do not reset represent totally rad Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 47:44

I I mean it's a very charming special, it really is, even though it it is strange.

SPEAKER_07 47:49

It's very crazy, but also enjoyable. So it's but it's it's uh being a Star Trek fan, I I've always grown up being able to you know make jokes about something I truly legitimately enjoy. Like just take it apart, but enjoy it immensely.

SPEAKER_02 48:04

Yeah, agreed, yeah. Yeah, so this was strange. Mark West, though, that editor, actually wrote the very first episode of Hawkeye. Oh, so yeah, he's also a writer, so that's kind of cool.

SPEAKER_07 48:16

For some reason, I immediately thought you meant the character from MASH. I was like, wait, he didn't have his own spinoff. Oh, you mean Hawkeye, the Disney, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 48:24

The the Christmas one, yeah. Oh, well, that's he also edited that Amy Grant special and uh a couple of other Christmas specials, so it's like, oh okay, cool. Let's uh so I these guys just I guess liked Christmas because they did a lot of these these types of shows here. So it's good to see he's still got his feet in the Christmas game, yeah, even as of last year, as of last yeah, strangest thing, but okay. So that was yeah, that's that was a special. Having watched the full version, I it makes more sense, but that that abridged version is actually you know, if you want like just uh just weirdness for a day, you know, just yeah, go go watch those.

SPEAKER_07 49:10

Like you get a little Christmas and a little bit of what what's happening?

SPEAKER_02 49:15

If you want to feel like you've had a stroke, uh no, I no, uh, but it does make me wonder what would you say would be your hap, hap happiest memory. Well, I guess we don't really have memories, but moment of this special.

SPEAKER_07 49:32

I'm trying to there was one part that literally made me laugh out loud, and I had to pause it and then rewind it so I could go back, but not in uh like they were trying to make me laugh on purpose kind of way. I think it might have been the dog. I think like the like just the way I can't just like on an audio podcast, I can't describe it, but the dog, like the kids are just sort of warbling at at the dad from or not the dad, well, yeah, the dad from Punky Brewster, and the dog just picks his habit, like, what? It's like it's such a funny cut-in. Like, I don't know what they were like, clearly they were cutting around something. It wasn't like, oh, we need the dog reaction right now because we need to know what he's feeling. So they were cutting around, they like we just need to put put an insert of the dog, and so the dog's head just pops up, but it's not a pop-up like, hey, I'm really enjoying this. It really has the dog has a look like that's good.

SPEAKER_02 50:28

I mean, for me, because I I also have like zero nostalgia for this. I think it would probably just be seeing the Cosby kids with with their mom. That is no, you know what? It's Andy Williams waddling on his knees on the bed. Yeah, that's gotta be it. But okay, two quick questions before we we move on to the next bits. If you could be in this special, like in any way, shape, or form, replace a kid or or replace Andy Williams or whatever, who would you be and why?

SPEAKER_07 51:03

I feel like I might want to be the postman.

SPEAKER_02 51:06

Right? He he knows Santa.

SPEAKER_07 51:08

Yeah, and like I don't have to sing, right? Or unless the postman does sing. Nope, he does not sing. Oh, sorry, because in other movies the postman always sings twice. Oh, that's rings. Never mind.

SPEAKER_02 51:20

Ring sings, you know. Uh but he'll be here all week, folks. Hey, oh good night, everybody. Don't forget to tip your waitress. Um, yeah, I think for me, I think I'd want to be one of the Cosby kids because they're always seemed pretty cool to uh to have uh you know Felicia Rashad as like your mom.

SPEAKER_07 51:41

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:42

Yeah, that'd be cool. Okay, now my second question if you could put Superman in this, where would you put him and why?

SPEAKER_07 51:52

I think I'm sorry to go to the same well twice, but I think it'd be super funny if he was the postman, like the Fortress of Solitude also doubled as a post office. I mean, I know it's Finland, so it's not technically the North Pole where the Force of Solitude is, but that you know that would canonically make it work because Fortress of Solitude would be near the North Pole, right? That would be so funny, and then they have to try and keep up with Superman as he's going to Santa, which would be way harder. Come on, kids, just follow me. They'd have to involve the flash or something to keep up with him because you know he's superman.

SPEAKER_02 52:28

He went that way, okay. What if what if Santa's workshop were in the fortress of solitude? Oh that would be better to guard it than Superman. I think it would be funny seeing Superman tap dance. I'd like to put him tap dancing with uh with Carlton.

SPEAKER_07 52:50

When you have a good idea, you have a good idea. Just seeing the red cape flow around as he's spinning. I'm telling you. Oh he does the big finish and cracks the floor. Like, did you push everybody just kind of shakes? That causes an avalanche.

SPEAKER_02 53:12

Oh, sorry, everybody. Oh man. Oh but that does me bring me to my favorite part of the show, which is a little segment I like to call Gag Me with a Spoon. So this is where we do our best impressions of our least favorite part of the episode. So if you have something ready, as I guess I'll let you go first. If you don't, I can go first if you'd like. I got it. I got it. Hopefully, I can do this well.

SPEAKER_07 53:34

Okay. All right. It's the most wonderful time. It's the most wonderful time.

SPEAKER_03 53:46

May your days be merry.

SPEAKER_07 53:50

What just happened? Like I'm like, you can't hear the music behind me as the orchestra just radically just downgrades the temple.

SPEAKER_02 53:59

There's like no transitions at all. It's like oh, you flooded it. Yeah, it's they could have been a little bit better on their transitions there.

SPEAKER_07 54:11

It just seems so like either either tempo up white Christmas or tempo down most wonderful time of the year, but don't make it like ramp, ramp up and then ramp back down.

SPEAKER_02 54:24

Well that that was good. That was good. Um, so mine is also a singing bit, and the only reason I picked this is because as a kid, because you know, we were children when this came out, I would have hated this gift. So here it is. See loves what you're getting for Christmas. That's what you're getting from me. It's like, no, that's all come on, man. You're a millionaire, you know you are. You got Williams money. That's right. You you got that Christmas, that Christmas money. Oh man. But it, you know, I do have to ask. So G.I. Joe taught us that knowing is half the battle. What do you think the other half is?

SPEAKER_07 55:08

I think the other half is the part that wasn't uploaded to YouTube. I was like, never has never I have had a better answer to this question on your show.

SPEAKER_02 55:21

I literally only got half the battle. Yeah, if knowing's half the battle, the other half is not cutting out chunks of plot out of your recordings. Oh man.

SPEAKER_07 55:32

Why isn't this on Peacock? What are you doing, Peacock? At the NBC streaming service. Come on, man.

SPEAKER_02 55:38

That's right, because most of these are like originals. I mean, the only one really is like White Christmas, and well, no, I guess do you hear what I hear? So I guess there's a few, I guess there's a few rights issues for that. But yeah, that's probably what it is. NBC, get it worked out. I want like Blu-ray or what is it? Uh, what's the new thing? 4K Ultra quality.

SPEAKER_07 56:01

I mean, you know, you you got that Comcast money, just you know, shell it out and get it on there. For real. I can only watch, I can only watch Fast and Furious so many times before you get to give me some new content, man. Come on, Peacock.

SPEAKER_02 56:14

Family.

SPEAKER_07 56:15

Uh hey, welcome to the Olive Garden when you hear your family.

SPEAKER_02 56:23

Someone needed to teach uh Andy Williams about family and get proper proper parental consent. Tim, it's been a blast talking with this uh this crazy, crazy special with you. But tell me about your show, man, or what else do you want to plug? Oh, well, that's pretty much it. Oh wait. When wait, when does this drop? So this will drop a week from Monday.

SPEAKER_07 56:48

Okay, so if you happen to be in the Califor Bay Area of California, I will be doing comedy in Berkeley on June 9th and Oakland, California on June 10th. You can find those dates on my website, can't waitforch.com slash Tim. That's where that's just my little section of the overall podcast site. But of course, the Can't Wait for Christmas podcast comes out the 25th of every month. I am actually recording an interview for next for this month's show tomorrow. So hopefully that goes well. Or if you tune in and there's not an interview on the show, it means it did not go well. Or, you know, I by that I mean technical issues, not any problems with the person. The person seems lovely. So yeah, so yeah, we did we just talk about I've I've started I've I've stolen the I've sort of reworked the intro from a show called nostalgia that we that used to be uh it was a Disneyland focused Disney show. And their intro used to be like a show about Disneyland, Disney World, and everything else, Disney. And I now say that the Crank Favor Christmas podcast is a podcast about Christmas traditions, Christmas history, Christmas movies, and everything else Christmas.

SPEAKER_02 57:53

Right on. And where can they find you?

SPEAKER_07 57:55

Can't waitforch pod.com or on Twitter, we are Christmas Pod. On Instagram, we are Can't Wait for Christmas Pod, Facebook can't wait for Christmas Pod, and TikTok can't wait for Christmas Pod, slash he's too old to be on TikTok.

SPEAKER_02 58:13

I haven't gotten on that bandwagon yet.

SPEAKER_07 58:16

I mean, I enjoy it, but I'm like, this is clearly like this is this is young, this is a young man's game, and I'm just I'm just watching. I'm like, you go, TikTok, you do what you do. Please listen to my podcast.

SPEAKER_02 58:27

That's kind of where I am right now. Definitely listen. It's so much fun. He had this amazing uh story that he did. Was it last season or the season before? I I don't even remember. Time is crazy.

SPEAKER_07 58:39

It was it was 2020. I remember because it was during the lockdown. So, like it was it was a story I wrote where you know the debate constantly about whether or not diehard is a Christmas movie. So I decided to write rewrite Die Hard or a Die Hard style movie or diehard style plot in the vein of a Hallmark Christmas movie. So I'm like, now this is definitely a Christmas movie. And then I asked my listeners, like, who wants to do the voices? And so again, because it was lockdown, everybody had time to send me voices. And like, yep, my wife actually played the main character, and it was, yeah, it was a it was a ton of fun. Like it was a lot of work, but it was a ton of fun. And I really enjoyed it, and I, you know, got to know a lot of my listeners really well in terms of like, hey, can you do this again? You know, just you know, give it a little more of this or that or whatever. And it was just it was a lot of. I mean, I will never complain about how Hallmark movies are written ever again because it is way more, it was way harder to write one of those things than you think it is.

SPEAKER_02 59:31

Yeah, and and it's always one of those things I kept saying to my brothers, like, hey, we should we should sit down and write one of these, like we can do it. But every time we try, we're like, okay, what's our idea? How are we gonna do this? And we never get anywhere. So I get it.

SPEAKER_07 59:44

Even if it's like, okay, I know I know where point A is and I where know where point Z is, and I know I have you know X amount of commercial breaks to do in between. So I'm like, what do I have them do? Like, because I can't get them, let them get to point Z, you know, like halfway through the movie, because then what else are they gonna do for the rest of the movie? But like, what obstacles I'm gonna put in their way, and how am I gonna have them overcome those obstacles in a way that will still let them get to point Z? Like, I was like, uh, this is harder than it looks. And I can only imagine, like, because they at least my point Z was like stopping a building from exploding, whereas Hallmark, it's just like, and then they fall in love. Like, how many how many obstacles can you put in between that? So, kudos to all those writers. Like, I've met some of them at ChristmasCon, and they're all very nice people. The but uh well, the ones I met, I assume most of them are very nice people, but like I didn't realize how much how hard they must have to work.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:34

Yeah, because it's gotta be like familiar but new at the same time. That's that's how do you do that? Yeah, but yeah, it was definitely check out a show, so much fun. The episode on the magi was really cool as well. It's one of my favorites. Oh, that was a fun one. Yeah, you introduced that to those those games as well, like the the game show.

SPEAKER_07 1:00:55

I I sometimes I forget I've done something. I'm like, oh yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna reuse this, and then I forget I've done it.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:02

Yeah, so definitely check it out. Can't wait for Christmas. Tim, thank you so much again. It was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:09

Thank you, A, for having me, B for picking this specific specific special to have me on. I was like, oh, he knows I like Andy Williams. This is a good show. Oh, he he picked us he picked a winner. Well, it didn't help.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:24

You didn't see like half of it. Still enjoyed myself. And on that note, I'm gonna end it by saying, May the feelings of goodwill and peace be a part of your life every day of the year. May your Christmas wish come true, may each day of the week be a good day, and may you check us out on our social media pages, Facebook and Instagram at Totally Rad Christmas, Twitter at RadChristmas, or our Facebook group, Totally Rad Christmas Mall and Arcade, where you can make your voice known to us as well. We post anything and everything 80s or Christmas related. And if you're feeling like Andy Williams finally meeting Santa, leave us a review on iTunes. It helps us reach more people and spread some rad holiday cheer. Now don't forget to check out our merch shop on tpublic.com with some brand new designs and our super dope website, totallyradchristmas.com, courtesy of Tis the Podcast Elf, Tom Crow. Merry Christmas, everybody, and good night. Later, dudes.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:20

Oh, hello there! I didn't see you come in, which is odd because I set up this microphone just to record. I'm Tim Babb from the Can't Wait for Christmas Podcast, and I'd like to invite you to join us every month as we talk about the traditions, the music, the movies, the food, and the fun of the merriest holiday on earth. Plus, you'll help us answer some questions like what is the greatest version of Jingle Bells? Pink from me is Die Hard a Christmas movie. Yes, what is the best Christmas food? Well, everybody knows that one of me. Imaginary listener sounds kind of like Humbert the Frog. Can you be quiet? If you give away all the answers, you're not gonna listen to the show. Anyway, that's the Can't Wait for Christmas Podcast. New episodes on the 25th of every month, wherever you get your podcast, or at Can't WaitforChristmaspod.com.