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Tis the Podcast

Keeping the Christmas spirit alive 365 days a year.

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Christmas Movie Podcast — All Episodes

274: Oh I Could Write A Sonnet About Your Easter Bonnet, And Of The Girl I’m Taking To The Easter Parade. (The First Easter Rabbit)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics! We hope y'all had a fantastic Easter and hope the Easter Bunny was good to every single one of you! 

Once again, life got in the way for the elves this past week. But, not wanting let two weeks go by without an episode dropping in your feeds, they pulled this once Patreon exclusive, Easter-themed episode from 2021 to share with you all! 

Journey back into the past in this episode with the elves as they cover the 1976, Rankin/Bass, traditionally animated special, "The First Easter Rabbit"!  How does it fare amongst the other Rankin/Bass specials the hosts have covered over the course of the show? Does it fall amongst the worst, or does it rank high like the also traditionally animated "Frosty the Snowman"? Also, why do the elves think that Rankin/Bass had more success with their Christmas specials than the other holiday fare they put out over the years? 

Tune in to find out the answers to the above questions, and more, and enjoy this once-a-year foray into the realm of Springtime and Easter! And never fear, because next Monday we will be back in your feeds with a brand new Christmas episode, per usual!

Show notes

273: Toyland, Toyland, We’re On Our Way To Toyland! (Babes in Toyland [1961])

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! And Happy April! Our first big holiday milestone on the road to Christmas hits this month on the 14th, when Hallmark officially releases their 2022 Keepsake Dream Book! How exciting is that?

This week, travel with Julia, Thom, and Anthony as their hop back over to their movie list and make their way to Toyland as they discuss the 1961, Disney classic, "Babes in Toyland"! While Julia has a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in this film, both Thom and Anthony do not. And as the three elves make their way through the plot of this trippy Oz ripoff, one question keeps coming back to haunt them: Is this film, which so many consider a holiday classic, actually a Christmas movie? 

Make sure to let us know what you think on any of our social media pages which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com.

So settle in and enjoy this fun episode! As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all! And get excited - because we're one quarter of the way through the year already! The most wonderful time of the year is fast approaching! 🎅🏻 🎄 🎁 🦌 ⛄️ 🦉 🔔 🚂 🤶🏻 ❄️ 🎀

Show notes

272: It’s Just Not Christmas Without A Visit From Jolly Old St. Nicotine! (”Sabrina the Teenage Witch” - Second 3 Christmas Episodes)

The elves are back this week with April Riley to talk "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch" again. They discuss the college years, figgy pudding, Anthony's new podcast, and Julia's real feelings about "The Golden Girls". 

For those of you who want to follow along at home, the episodes covered are:

- Season 4, Episode 12: Sabrina Nipping at Your Nose

- Season 5, Episode 10: Sabrina's Perfect Christmas

- Season 7, Episode 9: It's a Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot Christmas

So travel with us and the Spellman family to the Other Realm once again to celebrate the holidays in this magical episode! And make sure to let us know what you think of this episode, these episodes of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch“, and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” in general on any of our social media pages, all of which you can access at https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com 

In the meantime, settle in and enjoy this fun episode that’s sure to fill your Monday with a healthy dose of Christmas Cheer! As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all!

Show notes

271: I’m So Happy That Christmas Didn’t Suffer The Fate of Bobunk. (”Sabrina the Teenage Witch” - First 3 Christmas Episodes)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics! The elves continue women's month with a very special guest, Kendall Farrae from "For Fork's Sake" Podcast  to discuss the first 3 Chrsitmas episodes of "Sabrina the Teenage Witch"! After kicking off the episode in a mildly uncomfortable way, catching up, and chatting Disney's "Turning Red" and "The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window", the four hosts dive headfirst into the first three Christmas episodes of "Sabrina"! 

For those of you who want to follow along at home, the episodes covered are:

- Season 1, Episode 11: A Girl and Her Cat - Season 2, Episode 12: Sabrina Claus - Season 3, Episode 11: Christmas Amnesia

So travel with us and the Spellman family to the Other Realm to celebrate the holidays in this magical episode! And make sure to let us know what you think of this episode, these episodes of “Sabrina the Teenage Witch“, and “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” in general on any of our social media pages, all of which you can access at https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com !

In the meantime, settle in and enjoy this fun episode that’s sure to fill your Monday with a healthy dose of Christmas Cheer! As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all! 

Show notes

270: It’s A Nightmare! We’ve Been Visited By The Yutz Of Christmas Past! (”The Golden Girls” Christmas Episodes)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics!

This week, we continue our journey through Women's Month with an egregious sin - by doing so sans everyone's favorite elf, Julia! Unfortunately, she and one of her children were sick this week, and to make sure we got this episode out on time, she told us to go on without her especially because - *GASP* - she's not a fan of "The Golden Girls"! Never fear though! She'll be back next week! And to keep Anthony and Thom in check this week, the amazing Charlyn Lewis of "Fashion Speaks" joins the boys to discuss the four iconic older women and their Christmas celebrations! 

For those of you who want to follow along at home, the installments we discuss in this episode are:

- Season 2, Episode 11: 'Twas the Nightmare Before Christmas

- Season 5, Episode 12: Have Yourself a Very Little Christmas

So take a journey with us to the Miami of the '80s as we fondly reminisce about this influential comedy in the same way Rose wistfully talks about St. Olaf and Sophia constantly pictures Sicily! And make sure to let us know what you think of this episode, these episodes of "The Golden Girls", and "The Golden Girls" in general on any of our social media pages, all of which you can access at https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com

In the meantime, settle in and enjoy this fun episode that's full of Christmas cheer and quotes galore! As always, thanks for your love and support, y'all! Or, perhaps more fittingly for this episode, "Thank You for Being a Friend"! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

269: Remember, Michael: The Real Happiness Of Christmas Is Not Found In What We Get, But What We Give. (”Bewitched” Christmas Episodes)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics! Happy March! And Happy start of Women's Month, officially!

To celebrate the occasion, this week, the elves are joined by Michele Kidwell to talk three of the four Christmas episodes of "Bewitched"! If you want to follow along at home, the episodes in question are:

 

  • Season 1, Episode Episode 15 - A Vision of Sugarplums 
  • Season 4, Episode 16 - Humbug Not to be Spoken Here
  • Season 6, Episode 14 - Santa Comes to Visit and Stays and Stays

Make sure to let us know what you think of this episode, and these episodes of "Bewitched" in addition to "Bewitched" in general, on any of our social media pages which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com. And make sure to drop a video clip of yourself on any of our social media pages of you doing the Samantha nose wiggle!

In the meantime, settle in and enjoy this fun episode that’s full of Christmas Cheer. As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

268: You Have A Gift. You Have Power. And With Great Power, There Must Also Come Great Responsibility. (Spider-Man: No Way Home)

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! More importantly, Happy "The Batman" week for all those that celebrate! And, *most* importantly,  Happy Final Day of February! Can you believe that, as of tomorrow, we're already in March? The year is flying! Were that much closer to the Ber Months!

This week, Julia, Thom, and Anthony are joined by two very special guests - Gerry Davila of "Totally Rad Christmas" and Chuck Mireles of "Just Another Friday Night" - to discuss the *very* festive and *very* Christmassy 2021 holiday film, "Spider-Man: No Way Home"! As Thom expresses incredulity that this movie somehow even made it onto the schedule in the first place, Julia, Anthony, Gerry, and Chuck gush over Marvel's latest - and arguably, *greatest* - installment in their long-running franchise. As always with films like this, however, the questions hanging over the episode are: is there enough Christmas within the movie to qualify it as a holiday film? And if not, how will it impact its final rating? To get the answers to those questions, you'll just have to tune in to find out! Side-Note: Julia is absent for the first 40 minutes of this nearly two hour episode. This is because she had nothing at all to contribute to the conversation for the first half of this. Once her commentary began to add to the discussion, we decided to put her back in. *Checks notes* Wait a minute...it wasn't supposed to be Julia's audio we cut! It was supposed to be Thom's! We're so sorry, everybody!

We kid, of course! It was merely due to issues with our recording software that we didn't realize until after the fact that Julia's audio wasn't being captured. But, she's still in over half of the episode! We just wanted to give you all a heads up as to why you don't hear her for the first 40 minutes or so! 

Anyway, make sure to let us know what you think of this episode, and this movie, on any of our social media pages which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com.

So settle in and enjoy this fun episode that’s full of geeky discourse and Christmas Cheer, despite the content that's being covered. As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

267: You’re The Worst Fake Boyfriend! (Single All The Way)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics!

This week, the elves talk their favorite Super Bowl LVI commercials, trailers for upcoming movies, and the 2021 Netflix movie "Single All The Way" which was not to everyone's liking. What were the issues they had with it? And what did they think worked about the film? You'll have to tune in to find out!

And make sure to get excited, because next week starts 5 weeks worth of guest stars! Kicking it off? Gerry D. of "Totally Rad Christmas" and Chuck Mireles of "Just Another Friday Night" to discuss the extraordinarily festive Christmas movie (at least by Todd Killian of "Christmas Clatter" standards), "Spider-Man: No Way Home"! After that? Well, March is International Women's Month! So, in addition to celebrating everybody's favorite elf - Julia - all month long, we've also lined up four weeks worth of Christmas content that's led by strong women which we will discuss with four strong women who listeners know and love that will be joining us! So, plenty to look forward to coming up! (Including the return of Patreon content! Just like last year, we took the beginning of the year off to recoup from the holidays, but the bonus episodes are roaring back beginning in March so stay tuned for more details on that!)

In the meantime, enjoy this fun episode! As always, thanks for your love and support, y'all! 🎅🏻 🎄 🎁 🦌 ⛄️ 🚂 🔔 🦉 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

266: How About You Forget About ”Perfect” And Instead Embrace Each Day That This Life Grants You? (Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas)

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! And Happy Valentine's Day! 

This week, Julia, Thom, and Anthony dive deep into the 2021, Made-For-TV film, "Zoey's Extraordinary Christmas" - which served as the series finale for the short-lived television show, "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"! This one took all three elves by surprise - not only by being so quirky and witty, but also by the surprisingly powerful way it dealt with the topic of grief against the backdrop of the holidays!

Having never seen the show, however, all three hosts had some questions regarding character history and how exactly Zoey's powers work! So if you're a fan of the TV show, fill us in with some context and let us know what you thought of this film, on any of our social media pages, which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com.

So settle in and enjoy this fun episode! Thanks for your love and support, y’all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

265: What’s Christmas But A Time For Finding Yourself A Day Older And Not A Day Richer? (Scrooge 1970)

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! And Happy February! We are that much closer to the Ber Months! 

It's been a minute, but this week, Julia, Thom, and Anthony once again cover an adaptation of Charles Dickens' iconic tale, "A Christmas Carol", this time in the form of the 1970 film "Scrooge", starring Albert Finney and Obi-Wan Kenobi himself, Sir Alec Guinness. Unfortunately, there's something about this particular telling that doesn't quite connect with any of the elves. Listen as they dive deep into the choices made in this version of the tale and discuss what worked for them and what didn't. 

In addition, they answer another Question of the Week, this time posed by Mr. Ron Hogan (a.k.a. President Hotdog) of the always incredible "Film Strip Podcast"! He wrote to us asking: 

"I associate the movie "Elf" with "Tis The Podcast". If you could pick a movie for people to associate with the podcast, what would it be besides "Elf" and "Christmas Vacation"?

Let us know your answer to this question on any of our social media pages, which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com.

So settle in and enjoy this fun episode that's full of passionate opinions and Christmas cheer, and – as always – thanks for your love and support, y’all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

     
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Show notes

264: Over The River And Through The Woods, To Grandmother’s House We Go! (To Grandmother’s House We Go)

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! 

This week is a milestone episode for "Tis the Podcast" as it's taken us nearly five years to cover anything with the Olsen twins in it! So journey with Julia, Thom, Anthony, Mary-Kate, and Ashley to Edgemont in order to visit Great-Grandma Mimi as they cover the 1992, made-for-TV classic(?), "To Grandmother's House We Go"! 

Also touched upon and discussed in this jam-packed episode: our anticipation for "The Batman"; HBO Max's/James Gunn's "Peacemaker" being the most streamed show *in the world* right now; Elizabeth Mitchell reprising her role as Mrs. Claus alongside Tim Allen's Santa in the upcoming Disney+ Limited Series; losing the original voice of Charlie Brown, Peter Robbins, to depression; Cancel Culture; the efforts of both Thom and Anthony to train their dogs; and much, much more - including two questions of the week!

1. With the announcements of "The Santa Clause" miniseries and the return of both Tim Allen and Elizabeth Mitchell to the project, the *official* sequel to "A Christmas Story" with Peter Billingsley reprising his role of Ralphie Parker also coming down the pike, and Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy reprising their roles of The Sanderson Sisters in "Hocus Pocus 2" this upcoming October, do we think Hollywood will try to get the original casts of "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Elf" back for official sequels to those movies soon? And, if so, what are the odds the casts agree to them?

2. Courtesy of Mr. Steven Beech - a.k.a. Disco54 - "We've just gone through a couple of the worst Christmases in most people's living memory, really the worst since World War II. Has it made you reevaluate what Christmas is and should be, and if so, will you spend less or will you go harder on Christmas going forward?"

Let us know on any of our social media pages, which you can easily access from our new Linktr.ee at the following link: https://linktr.ee/TisThePodcast.com

Needless to say, this is one fun, jam-packed episode you want to be sure not to miss! So settle in and enjoy, and - as always - thanks for your love and support, y'all! We're looking forward to counting down 2022 to the next holiday season every week with all of you! (And make sure to take joy in the fact that we're already one month down already!) 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

 

Show notes

263: John, Darling, When You’re Kissing Me, Don’t Talk About Plumbing. (Christmas in Connecticut)

This week, the elves take a trip back in time to the Golden Age of Cinema to cover the 1945, post-WWII classic, "Christmas in Connecticut." They also veer off track a bit and talk about some icons we recently lost, what new shows they're hooked on, and some exciting announcements in the world of Christmas entertainment recently. All-in-all, this is quite a fun, uplifting episode you want to be sure not to miss!

Show notes

262: Just Because You Can’t See The Air Doesn’t Keep You From Breathing. And Just Because You Can’t See God Doesn’t Keep You From Believing. (The Preacher’s Wife)

Happy Monday, Christmas fanatics! 

After a week off, the elves are back to brighten your new year by discussion the Denzel Washington/Whitney Houston holiday vehicle, "The Preacher's Wife"! What do you they think of it? Is it actually a Christmas movie or a movie set at Christmas? And how does it stack up compared to other films when it comes to "angel metaphysics"? To find out the answers to all of these questions, and much more, you'll have to tune in!

So, settle back with your favorite beverage, open those windows to let the cold air in, and pretend it's still the Christmas season, and enjoy this fun episode! As always, thanks for your love and support, y'all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes

261: Christmas Mornings Will Come Again. (A Boy Called Christmas)

2022 is in full swing, and the elves were excited to come together to discuss Netflix's 2021 original film, "A Boy Called Christmas". In this episode, they also dive into the film "Don't Look Up", television adaptation of Emily St. John Mandel's critically acclaimed novel, "Station Eleven", discuss the book of the same name that "A Boy Called Christmas" adapts, and debate whether the film is even a proper Christmas/holiday movie. 

Be sure to visit our social media to share your thoughts on this jam-packed, fun episode! You can find links to all of our social media pages at https://linktr.ee/tisthepodcast!

Show notes

259: Nintendo - A Maze Of Rubber Wiring And Electronic Intelligence So Advanced, It Was Deemed Not A Video Game But An 8-Bit Entertainment System. (8-Bit Christmas)

Happy Monday, Christmas Fanatics! Can you believe this is the final episode of 2021 already? We can't! We hope you all had an amazing Christmas! And while those post-holiday blues are sure to be setting in soon as we begin our countdown to Christmas 2022, rest assured that we here at "Tis the Podcast" will be here to help you get through it! 

This week, Julia, Thom, and Anthony are joined by Gerry D. of "Totally Rad Christmas" and listener/friend of the show, April Ryley, to discuss the HBO Max original holiday film, "8-Bit Christmas" based on the novel of the same name. As this movie essentially serves as a remake of the classic and beloved 1983 film, "A Christmas Story", lots of comparisons between the two films ensue - pitting the elves against one another. With Thom and Julia on one side of the divide, joined by Gerry D. in their dislike of "A Christmas Story", that leaves Anthony and April on the other side of the divide, sticking up for "A Christmas Story" and insisting this modern day retelling will never come close to touching its greatness. The differing opinions make for a fun and interesting discussion, which you'll just have to listen to in order to find out just how high or low this '80s nostalgia fest ranks on our list! So settle in with your favorite holiday drink and bask in the glow of your Christmas decorations, before they go away into storage for another year, and enjoy! 

Dropping in your feeds next Monday will be our episode in which Julia, Thom, and Anthony gather to discuss the Netflix original holiday movie, "A Boy Called Christmas" - based on the novel of the same name - and later that night, will be recording their episode on "The Preacher's Wife". So keep your eyes on your podcast feeds because there's lots of great stuff coming up! 

As always, thanks for your love and support, y’all! 🎅🏻🎄🎁 🦌🦉⛄️🚂🔔 🤶🏻 🎀 ❄️

Show notes