Talking Simpsons - Talking Simpsons - Miracle On Evergreen Terrace With Dave Rudden

Episode Date: March 27, 2019

One of most recurring guests, Dave Rudden, is back for another Xmas episode of the series, and this episode is quite an emotional roller coaster! We go from last minute shopping to burning trees to accidental grifts to town pariahs to Jeopardy to thievery all in the span of 22 minutes! All that, plus Tickle Me Krusty, undercoating, and vitamin money in this festive episode (no matter what time of year you listen)! Support this podcast and get hundreds of bonus ad-free episodes by visiting Patreon.com/TalkingSimpsons and becoming a patron!

attention talking simpsons listeners we have a special mini-series just for you we're going through the entire first season of king of the hill and you can only hear it if you're a five dollar and up patron at patreon.com slash talking simpsons we're giving the talking simpsons treatment to all 13 episodes of king of the hills first season and if you want a free sample you'll find the first episode available for free in the talking simpsons feed patreon.com slash talking simpsons it's the only place you'll find the first episode available for free in the Talking Simpsons feed. Patreon.com slash Talking Simpsons. It's the only place you'll find the first season of Talk King of the Hill. Made you go click, click, click, click, click, click, click, click.

It's real easy, man. I heartily endorse this event or product. Ahoy, ahoy, everybody, and welcome to Talking Simpsons, where we always have change for a button. I'm your host, putrid fraud, Bob Mackie. This is our chronological exploration of The Simpsons. Who else is here with me today? Thanks, Bob. You're always Mo. I sure am. And who else is here?

Lying, thieving, blanking, blanker, Dave Rudd. It's all true. And today's episode is Miracle on Evergreen Terrace. Dear Santa, if you bring me lots of good stuff, I promise not to do anything bad between now and when I wake up. Amen. Ow! I'll kill you! Today's episode aired on December 21st, 1997, just four days before Christmas.

And as always, Henry will tell us what happened on this mythical day in real world history. Oh my god! Happy holidays, Bobby! Vincent Saccone, the inventor of blow pops, dies at 81. James L. Brooks, as good as It Gets is first released in theaters, and the Tamagotchi is the hottest toy of the holiday season in North America. So I heard that the inventor of the blow pop,

when he died, the one person who got his fortune is the person who had the star on the network. Was there gum in the center of his coffin? That's what kept him situated. I'm sure he would have enjoyed these jokes. R.I.P. As Good As It Gets was the last really good jim's uh jims is that his name jim brooks

yes you split the difference between jim brooks and james l brooks jim zellbrook was that his last uh movie that people cared about i think so uh i mean yeah the last he directed spanglish that's the last one i can name and then he directed it's God. It was with Owen Wilson. And it's like called The Situation's Fine or Things Are Good. There's a joke about that on We Hate Movies where they thought it was called You Gotta Do It. I think it's called Who Even Knows. I mean, it's a real I don't know what the title is.

I'm looking it up. I'm Googling. This is like fresh off of Talk Soup, Greg Kinnear, right? Yes. I think he actually was still on Talk Soup when they were doing it, or like he had just left it. And it was a big deal for him, too, being a, like playing a gay character then. It's how do you know? See, that's a name you'd instantly forget. Who else would remember that?

Brooks won an Oscar for for it another one of them like it you know he's in and out of the simpsons i think too you can look at when the simpsons has less brooks involvement and it is also when they get away with things like there's i had our interview with dana gould he talked about how james l brooks got very mad that they did a joke about uh knocking out marge with chloroform, right? With chloroform, yeah. He's like, what the fuck? We're going to get to the chloroform days in about a year, I think. But yeah, I think he has the written by credit

on longest daycare, but that just feels like an Oscar grab to me. But I mean, at his age, he's not directing new things. That's true. It's also like a relic of 22 years ago where a Christmas episode would air that close to Christmas.

Yeah. And not before Thanksgiving or whatever, right? Yeah, you have that first two weeks of December to get your Christmas episode would air that close to Christmas. Yeah, before Thanksgiving or whatever, right? Yeah, you have that first two weeks of December to get your Christmas episode out, and then it's just reruns for the rest of the month. Yeah, this feels more like a dump. They dumped it on the Sunday before Christmas. This should just be reruns of Love Actually or something like that.

This Sunday should have been where they rerun this and the previous two christmas episodes yeah so i'm like ah it's a it's an easy night for us now it was only the third christmas episode so far so when bill oakley and josh weinstein took over they did theirs this is mike scully's he'll do another one in two years the funzo episode that yeah i think mike scully is definitely the the secret bringer backer of christmas within simpsons because he wrote mars be not proud all right yeah and then in his seasons he kind of normalized doing more simpsons christmas stuff which for like seven years it was just this obvious thing like well you can't do another

christmas special the one of the most famous simpsons episodes ever is a christmas special and then by doing this one and also uh Funzo one, it just became normal. Then soon enough, we'd have Skinner's Sense of Snow and Days of Christmas Past. I mean, these first three, I think, are all like, they're contenders

with the Christmases of Future Past. Those are all top tier Christmas episodes. They all are a close number one in my list of favorite Christmas episodes, list of Christmas episodes. And actually,

2018's Christmas episode was pretty good too. yeah i did not give that how many are there like 10 at this point eight or ten 15 wow wow god at the bottom is kill gill oh boy no i have seen that one and some of them are just barely christmas episodes like i think dude where's my ranch the first act or like half of the first act is christmas and then the rest of it is them on a dude ranch yeah and it aired in like April. The official rule for my list is there has to be more than one scene at Christmas. So there's some episodes that it's like it goes through like maybe an entire year or whatever and one scene is Christmas.

It's got to be two scenes in Christmas and then it's a Christmas episode for me. It was fun to go back to Christmas, though. This one actually in first airing I didn't like as much. Like this was Henry's Tale, the vhs tape but oh they're back we have a theme for that don't we oh yes yeah okay now when i would be playing my vhs tapes of Simpsons and marathons, when I get to this one, I'd watch the first act and then I'd just fast forward because it just made me feel too bad. It's too much of a bummer, I think.

It's a lot like March Be Not Proud in that respect. It makes you feel bad for Bart. Well, but it doesn't make you feel good at the end. That is true. That's why I kind of stopped watching it. It doesn't have that really nice moment at the end that March Be Not Proud has mean we'll get to it but i think it's nice in its own way yeah yeah it's it feels more about subversion to me of over and over again in this episode than it is about like the feeling and yeah i just i will get to the end but it just always made me feel too bad

but by the time the episode was over i was like well i feel too bad and also i was i think too too much it i it always rankled me a little bit as a continuity nerd to be like so we're on our third christmas now and they have a change at the end of this that cannot be possibly reflected in the next episode you didn't know better by season nine it still was bugging i by 97 i was 15 no yeah by the time i started i was 15 those are peak pedantry years, you're right. Yeah, so it also pissed me off in that respect, too. But yes, Dave, I'm glad you can come back for another Christmas one.

I think this means the next time you'll be back is in a year when we get to the Funza one. Not between those two instances at all. Unless there's two Christmas scenes, but I don't know if there are. We'll have you Skype in for that. But yeah, there is something heartwarming about seeing the – now as an adult, I like when animated series in general, including The Simpsons, do just a yearly Christmas episode and just say, screw it, the kids don't grow up. But Bob's Burgers has had a different Thanksgiving, Halloween,

and Christmas episode every season. Yeah. And they're always great. Dave's Tale of the Tape, we, and Christmas episode like every season. Yeah. And they're always great. Dave's Tale of the Tape, we don't have a theme for that. We need one now. This is like a double duty episode that was both on my Simpsons tapes. And then I think when it was in syndication, I taped it again for my Christmas tape of just random Christmas episodes. It's probably next to like the Saved by the Bell Christmas episode where Zach befriends

the homeless girl in the mall. Oh, yes. Yeah. It's the first ever the Saved by the Bell Christmas episode where Zach befriends the homeless girl in the mall. Oh, yes. It's the first ever tale of two tapes. It was the best of tapes. It was the worst of tapes. That was a wonderful Saved by the Bell Christmas special. I remember the very nice thing Zach does. He says, hey, I think you missed some change in there.

And he put a 20 in the change slot. Oh, man. He is such an asshole. They really went out by building one new set or borrowing a set from the Fresh Prince of the... Oh, man, he is such an asshole. They really went out by building one new set or borrowing a set from, like, the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or something. No, they didn't build that set, never mind. No, that had to be like, or from Blossom. Could have been from

that. Blossom was throwing it out. Going dumpster diving for new sets. I highly recommend the Go Bayside podcast, which does this sort of thing with Saved by the Bell episodes. What's hilarious is, that's a two-parter. So there's a different person who did part two and who was not aware of what happened in part one.

Who does he treat worse, his homeless girlfriend or the wheelchair girlfriend? Oh, boy. Yeah, I'd say wheelchair girlfriend. Oh, for sure. He really lays it on thick with that. Like, let's give it up for the one person who can't get out of a wheelchair. He was working on a type five about a disability. Boy, so yeah give it up for the one person who can't get out of a wheelchair. Yes. He was working on a Type 5 about a disability.

Boy, so yeah, shout out to April Richardson and Go Bayside. That inspired this podcast. Yeah, we've recorded with her before, or I have, but next time we're in LA, we should look her up. I can't have any crossover whatsoever. I don't think any actor on that show is a guest star. Hmm, boy. Even Ryan Paul Gosling? Ryan Paul Gosler. of any crossover whatsoever. I don't think any actor on that show is a guest star. Boy, even Ryan Paul Gosling?

Mark Paul Gosler. Ryan Paul Gosling is like the fusion dance between him and Mark Paul Gosling. Gosler. I just want to see that now. Either Franklin or Bash, I don't know. He's canceled. I would think the top odds of a Saved by the Bell alum would...

I would have said Elizabeth Berkley, but now I would guess Mario would appear as a reporter in some episode. Isn't Mario Lopez in every blockbuster movie now? Just being on Access Hollywood and talking about things. Oh, and Tamagotchi. Didn't really catch on with that, but that was near the time where they had the Pikachu pedometer thing. Yes, yeah. talking about things yeah oh and tamagotchi didn't really catch on with that but the uh wasn't it that was near the time where they had the pikachu pedometer yes yeah instead my little brother had

a neopets uh that was his and i uh what probably the most angry i've ever made my little brother was when i was trying to be funny and intentionally sit on his neopet which he had been working on for weeks and uh you can't erase it if you hit all the buttons at once but somehow if you hit like some of the buttons you can't erase it and i erased his neopet and uh like he i think hit me in the stomach like he's never been more mad at me my murder i wouldn't's murder. I was just trying to be funny. I didn't think I'd delete his entire thing. That's a problem with the Neopets design, that you could do it that way. That's what I say.

Well, I guess this year was Tamagotchi. Last year was Tickle Me Elmo, which there'll be a joke about that in this episode. What did I... Can you guys remember what you would have gotten for a 97 Christmas? I already had an N64 at that point, but I probably got whatever big game was the late 97. I definitely... Oh, you know what?

I bet you I got my Ranma 1.5 VHS box set of the entire first season. I bet I did. I bet that was my big get that year. I think I got a bunch of LucasArts Adventure games because they had those big treasury collections. Pretty sure I got both of those when they were out and had a lot of fun. I think Tomb Raider 2 was out in 97. That was probably my biggest gift is that one. Never finished it. Yeah, as you were counting down the days to get that, you were watching this episode of The Simpsons. Well, I guess let's get right into the episode. Homer and Marge are

driving on their way to get gifts. I think, you know, Marge should have some of the blame for not just buying gifts without Homer and waiting to buy them with him on Christmas Eve. Or trusting that he would buy them on time. Yes, yeah. I worked at a Blockbuster video and got to see a number of Christmas Eve shoppers. They are sad, desperate people

who don't think well of their families. I always loved closing, like when I worked at GameStop, closing on Christmas Eve once those doors are locked and people come up, it's like, I can't help you, buddy. Yeah, sorry. Crushing dreams. Yeah, I've never done this. Like, I think during Thanksgiving downtime,

I'll just do all my Christmas shopping online, and then I'll have it all sent to me in the next week or so. So get it out of the way then. Yeah, I think only a couple times I ever was forced to go shopping on christmas eve but that was like for food or like party supplies never never for a gift i never had to do that but i mean when i was at the age of buying people gifts i worked in a blockbuster and or at a movie theater so you're right next to the mall so it was not a hard thing for me to buy christmas gifts when i was of uh of adult age i still like a lot of like inter-family

bartering where it's like hey if you're going to get mama gifts get mama gift for me too and i'll just take it back for it when you come back put my name on the card yeah that's a nice system yeah and uh yeah homer also uh some jerk ass moves here with his smashing the thing until the snow smashes marge in the face and then he doesn't even comment on it he just lets it keep hitting her and hitting her I mean I think what happens after that erase my memory of the snow hitting Marge in the face well yeah then he parking across a truly illegal thing of parking across uh it's a very funny concept that how Homer like drags his foot yeah but it's also horrible I I'm sometimes I like a joke will go over my head,

and in this case it went over my head for 22 years, where I thought he was dragging his foot because he heard it kicking the dashboard. But no, then I realized, oh, no, that's just being an awful person. He's faking a disability to take three handicap spaces. Somehow, even if you were handicapped, you would only take one spot. The Scully's Homer, I've been trying to pin it down this episode gave me more of an idea of like homer just isn't stupid he's also like he can be clever but only if it selfishly harms other

people like yeah he the classic dumb homer wouldn't think to he would park across three spaces but he wouldn't then think I need to fake an injury to get away with this. And just Marge's sigh tells you that she's had to watch him do this more than once before. But it is a return to the try and save. That's really great that they go back there. Which only seems to show up in Christmas

episodes. I'm sure by now it's showed up outside of Christmas episodes. It's a great big box retailer, though. I love seeing the try and save back. And yes, we get Homer, again, being very crafty in a selfish way. Homer, look at this mob. The good toys are probably all gone. Oh, Santa's got a little trick up his sleeve.

Attention, shoppers. Register 9 is now open for your shopping convenience. Sorry, these are for display only. This has been recalled. Ooh, Bart would like this. We're out of these. Out? But I just... Register 9 is now closed.

I love his little hee-hee-hee. It is weird shades of Homer's morality. Like, he'll park across three handicap spots, but he will still put money in the register when he's semi-stealing. He didn't steal. I mean, I guess technically it is theft, but he still paid for them.

There's no way he paid the exact amount if those were. I brought this much. And he didn't even scan the things. Like, I almost wish he'd run away without paying, but maybe that also was just a sensor note of like homer can't literally steal he can't directly do that but it's it's a clever trick of saying like this was recalled and and now you just feel so awful for that poor woman who

just lost all the good toys like though nothing's left there i had to try and save on christmas eve there's no good gifts left yeah definitely not anything your child explicitly wanted that's for sure my my system by this point with my parents when i was 15 and 97 was i just give them a list of well it was my mom i i'd give her a list of things and be like whatever the budget is by uh the amount of these things within that budget and i'll just my surprise will be which ones I get and which ones I don't get. Which, you know, at that point, at least you're getting what you want. Like, yeah.

I think Christmas is the one time of year I actually use the podcast ads I hear where it's like Nature Box or HelloFresh or any of those things where it's like, my parents won't listen to any CDs I buy them or watch any DVDs I buy them, but they will eat food that gets sent to them. So there you have it. Yeah. I've done that same thing with Sherry's Berries as long as we're naming brands. them or watch any DVDs I buy them, but they will eat food that gets sent to them. That's a really good point.

I've done that same thing with Sherry's Berries. As long as we're naming brands. My mom and stepdad really enjoy this. It's perishable items. They have to use it. They can't collect dust. I bought my mom Mad Men DVDs a decade ago, and only

because of a natural disaster did she even watch them because longer time listeners may know that my mom she lived in an area that there was just a gigantic wildfire hat she was fine her house was one of the few that was untouched which was great amazing miracle they didn't have cable or internet for weeks though and so that's when for entertainment they finally opened up the mad men blu-rays or no dvds i got her like over 10 years ago to watch like that was the only reason they finally did slightly related to that this is dave's tale of the dvd i guess but a weird kind of coming full circle i just moved i used to live in san francisco proper Now I live in the North Bay. Oh, wow. And the very

first night I was in my apartment in 2006, I didn't have internet yet and I really didn't even have furniture. So I just watched a Simpsons DVD on my laptop and to watch this episode, to prepare for the episode, I was moving out of that same apartment, had no internet. So I brought my Simpsons season nine DVD and watched it on a basically empty... If it was a TV show, that would be a very serious finale thing to do, is to do the exact same thing you did in the first episode. Wow, that is a serious finale for that apartment. That's great. I'm running out of things that play DVDs now. I'm kind of worried. And Blu-rays.

As long as you have a video game console. Well, actually, who knows? This generation, maybe. Yeah, the next generation might not have a disk drive anymore. You never know. This was like a five-year-old laptop that I watched it on. I think the next-gen, maybe not, but I think the next-gen will have to still have a disk, I think. Just for the folks, they can't trust that everybody has the internet yet.

Have they stopped making Simpsons DVDs for the third time? I know they came out with one season recently. Actually, today on Twitter, Al Jean was talking about Michael Jackson stuff, and people people were saying when will there be more dvds he said we're still trying for season 19 so season 18 came out last december november of 2017 it was still a full set with all the commentaries animated menus all that stuff come on it's got to make you money i know nobody buys physical media anymore but but if like... I still bought that. It was $40. Well, I was going to say, like, there's some way to do it profitably for, like, niche anime. So if they can do it and Simpsons can't, that would be crazy.

Speaking of streaming, I have thoughts, too, on the Yule Log video. I love videos of Yule Logs. And in 97, you had to hope that somebody would be airing it on the local channels now in this streaming age like just on netflix alone you have like a dozen yule log choices like comedy yule logs i remember uh at a party i think you were there too dave one of them was like the the marvel cinematic universe yule log it was like it was in Stark's house or something. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I love those specialty Yule Logs. Just watching,

I love to watch things burn. What can I say? But they're watching that in front of a fireplace. Yeah. I like that joke. I don't know if I noticed it before.

I noticed it this time. I was like, wow, that's fun. You get the nice warmth of a fire without having to look at the real fire. But also, as we'll find out later in this episode,

apparently fire in the world of The Simpsons does not create smoke or any extra damage. That is true. It's kind of magical fire. It's very contained. But yes, the family is getting together for the holidays. Hey kids! I made your favorite cookies! Christmas

trees for the girls and bloody spearheads for Bart. Aw, thanks, Mom. This year's tree is just perfect. That old aluminum one was so fake. I couldn't agree more. From now on, it's plastic all the way.

Bart, did you hear that? Could it be? Come on, kids. Let's try the lights. It's very reminiscent of the scene from the first Christmas special where they're out looking at the lights and the Flanders have much better lights. It feels like the staging is the same, too. I went on Fringiac and it kind of is. Maggie is the only one wearing the same outfit, though.

Her classic star outfit. Yeah, I did catch that. You know, that's a problem. That's a reason they didn't want to do Christmas episodes again, I think, at the time. Because if you're going to just do observational things about Christmas, some things don't change even nine years later like this. So for a lot of these scenes,

you have to admit, you have to like believe that they're doing everything last minute. So not only shopping on the last day before Christmas, but putting up the outside decorations. Yeah, wait a minute. Yeah, they're putting up decorations on Christmas Eve. Later in this episode, it feels like it's inferred that everything takes place on Christmas,

between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day Eve. Springfield is a weird city. We can just say that. I love the staging of them basically watching a TV of Homer fall. It's just perfectly presented to them. And just the animation of like him holding and then all of the and then all of the gutters falling with him and then that he just proudly turns it on when he's like this is a pile of garbage now homer this is not anything to be

proud of he has lost the shame that he had and uh that is true he's not resentful and sad about the crappy lights he's like look how great this is. In the last nine seasons, he has forgotten the shame he would feel. That's probably thanks to a lot of blows to the head. Let's say that. But craptacular did not become a Simpsons catchphrase. It's cute. It's cute. So we had, on the Mr. Sparkle episode, we had a bit of a talk about tree choices.

But I'm still very pro-fake tree as i was then dave yeah fake tree i mean the way that they make them nowadays is just so so easy just branch on and then boom you're done like within like an hour when i went to the christmas with my mom and stepdad at my step uncle and aunt's place they actually had a 13 a tree as giant as the one ned describes because they have like a gigantic crazy living room they i don't know where they get all this money from but uh and it was a huge real tree i'm just like that's a giant hassle honestly all i see is the pain of it yeah keeping it watered and all the the little things falling off i just can't deal with it yeah oh by the way i realized

right now i have the Japanese translation by Nina Matsumoto of this episode's title. So it's not Miracle on Evergreen Terrace, it's Christmas of Nightmares. I had that in front of me, I just realized. Well, yeah, also I guess we should just say we stopped even explaining the titles because they're usually so obvious,

but it's Miracle on 34th Street, but with Evergreen Terrace replaced. Just to be thorough. This episode is not about Santa Claus existing. I like that Marge also knows Bart likes to act out being stabbed. That's cute. I'd like my mom to have made bloody confections for me,

though. She's meeting him halfway. I mean, my... I definitely have happy memories of my mom's sugar cookies. They have to have a very specific plain frosting on them to taste the right way. Unflavored for me. My brother just wanted the frosting. He's like, there came a time, I think, where my mom really indulged too much on his birthday

and gave him just a can of frosting. She's like, here, just have it. That's actually a joke on The Simpsons about how bad a father Homer is. Can I have a can of frosting for dinner? I think we had an extra laugh at that in the Gilbert household. Your brother's still alive and well. Also, and healthier than me. I'm not particularly fond of the names of their Christmas episodes.

I guess it is a miracle on Evergreen Terrace, sort of. But the whole town saving them is, it's a wonderful life. Yeah. So I feel like that should have been the pun they tied into. I agree with you. And also, if you just look at the list of titles of Christmas episodes, a lot of them aren't very indicative of what the episode is, like Simpsons roasting on an open fire. And they've used the tis the blank season more than once.

Oh, yeah. They have. You know? Yeah. Tis the 15th season. And the tis the blank season more than once oh yeah they have you know yeah this is the 15th season and it is the 30th season well this one is it is not an intentional grift but they do do a grift so this should have been grift of the magi that's why i was confused those titles yeah i always thought of this one as grift of the magi not miracle of the evergreen terrace the also it was interesting thinking about bart in the first episode there's a good joke of him telling lisa like there's only one fat guy that brings presents ain't santa yeah that but now bart believes in santa the the part of this episode is

a hardcore santa believer they both think santa is dying outside of their window briefly and he prays to santa like he's by by 10, I think I had stopped believing. And he recognizes the birth of Santa, Christmas. Yes, yeah. Okay, so everything's set up, and now it's time to start checking out the presents. Hocus Pocus, Mucus Pucus. My powers of deduction tell me you're getting a handmade sweater, possibly yellow. Mom, make him stop!

Bart, put down that yellow sweater. Nobody's going near their presents until 7 o'clock tomorrow morning. Aww. 7 a.m. no earlier. And you can't set your alarm clocks, because I got them. For once, we're going to celebrate Christmas as a family. Hello? Anybody home?

Twelve glasses of water. That'll wake me up nice and early, and I'll have a big head start on opening presents. Pure genius. You didn't invent that, Bart. The Indians used to drink water to wake up early for their attacks. It's always about the Indians, isn't it, Lace? Actually, after this episode aired, I used that trick.

Not 12 glasses of water, but if I'm taking a nap, I'll drink a big glass of water beforehand so I don't sleep for too long. Oh, wow. I should be trying that. It's also a better way to wake up than an alarm. Drink two glasses of water before you go to bed. You'll get up on time and have to pee. The offensive term for this is called an Apache alarm clock. Oh, I've never heard that.

That's according to the Wiktionary and Urban Dictionary. And Urban Dictionary wouldn't lie to me. No way. I also learned about donkey punch from there. That must be real. Also, we all need to drink more water, guys. Come on. Well, they make it good.

It never hit me how the silliness of it, but they make a good point on the commentary that if you were to drink 12 glasses of water, you would just refill the same glass. You would not put out 12 glasses of water and drink them in a circle. It's a nice visual, though. It feels like he's summoning something,

like the water spirit. Yeah, well, Bart is very theatrical, so that makes sense this is also if that's not my problem at all when it comes to christmas like i never had a sleeping too long problem i had a yeah if i get any sleep i will wake up at 5 a.m and have to just like stay in my room and like this is like wait till mom knocks on the door i even had like a few years before i had a tv so it was was literally just either watching sad 5 a.m. programming or just doing something in my room,

like just reading comics or something for two hours, just to pass the time. It kind of went between those two in my childhood. Just the anxiety. You don't need water. The anxiety and excitement of getting presents will keep you awake or just wake you up earlier. And I think there was a couple

times where me and my brother would we did not share a room but we wanted to sleep in the same room just to like wake up at the same time for christmas but then when we'd wake up at the same time it's like do we go back to sleep i think it's too early i was in the same boat i used to share a room with my brother for years but like for christmas we would always since we we lived in a two-floor house but everyone would just sleep on the bottom floor for Christmas. So we'd all be able to communicate and go to Christmas at the same time. That's nice. We were a

Christmas Eve family, so I didn't have any of these rituals. Really? Yeah. We were a one-present Christmas Eve family. Yeah, yeah. If I had a family now, I would be... I'd do the Christmas Eve, like, let's just have it all on Christmas Eve. You have a nice dinner, get a little drunk, and then open all your presents. But one of the side effects of having, like, we all would sleep on the bottom floor of our house,

but some people have to sleep on a couch because, you know, not enough beds on that one floor. So one year, I was sleeping on the couch, and my brother was sleeping in my bed, and I couldn't fall asleep because it's Christmas Eve and I went in and I told my brother, I can't sleep. Can we switch? He went out on the couch and he ended up hearing my parents talking about where do we put the Super Nintendo? Where do we put this? Where do we put that?

So he had Christmas ruined because I couldn't sleep. Ruined or made better. If I were your parents, I would have just said you can't sleep in the living room. I would have made that. I mean, it wasn't like you couldn't see it, but you could hear it because it's a couple of doors away. The Simpsons will be right back. How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner and greener.

At Electric Ireland, we can help guide you there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier and your world brighter. Find our net zero hub at electricireland.ie. Hey, everybody. I want to thank Dave Rudden for coming back on the show to talk about A Christmas Simpsons once more.

And you should definitely follow him on Twitter, at Dave Rudden. But if you'd like to hear more podcasts than you could bargain for and get a real Christmas gift of podcasts, you only need to go to patreon.com slash Talking Simpsons. If you head over there, not only will you get to hear

next week's episode of Talking Simpsons a week ahead of time and ad-free, and the same goes for our sister show. What a cartoon, but you also get access to our brand new limited series. Talk King of the Hill, where we go through the entire first season of King of the Hill. One episode at a time.

You will only be able to hear that if you're a $5 and up patron at patreon.com slash talking Simpsons. Plus you'll also get to hear all of our previous limited series, like Talking Critic, where we went through the entire series of The Critic, and Talking Futurama, where we did the same for the first season of Futurama. You'll hear all of that if you just sign up at $5 a month at Patreon.com slash TalkingSimpsons. Would you like to get more bang for your buck at talking simpsons and hear super duper long and in-depth podcasts about animated films well you can do that if you just go to patreon.com slash talking simpsons and sign up at ten dollars a month or up your current pledge to that and

you'll get your hands on our what a cartoon movie podcast where me and bob go through a different animated feature film once a month and we let our patrons help us pick it out we've done batman mask of the phantasm kiki's delivery service a goofy movie akira and the secret of nim you'll hear all of those and every month a new podcast if you just sign up at ten dollars a month at patreon.com talking simpsons well we also didn't have the system that the simpsons have which is all of the presents are wrapped in the morning like it was more like we'd wrap half the presents and then others would be just presented unwrapped in the morning sounds like that was not your the the mackie family system no i don't remember ever believing in santa claus wow man wait till i am today there's

no magic in my life uh but i also love so many times this episode, Homer acts like a giant child. That's always funny. Like him, he's listening to his gifts just like the kids are. But if the kids believe in Santa, then why do they see all their gifts in front of them and not ask any questions? That's true.

Wait, are there, I guess there are some additional gifts in between. Well, the one Bart finds buried deep says from Santa. Yeah, I mean, for story purposes, they each get one gift, but only one gift per person in this family. One of them's a sweater. Yeah, in a family that size,

I wouldn't expect, with their supposed income of living in a two-year house. Does that mean, like, Lisa only got a gift from the family, not from Santa? Because that sweater was pre-Santa. It sounds like that sweater is all she got. And handmade, not bought.

Is a present for Marge name checked in this episode? No. That sucks for Marge. Because we get Homer sausages, Lisa's sweater, Maggie's moo box, and Bart's fire truck. But nothing for Marge. If you want to be extra pedantic about it you say the march be not proud doesn't end on christmas eve like maybe that ends on december 23rd and then these two days of eve and christmas take place directly after that so she got her gift from bart i like this theory bart's already

had a gift too yeah well as again lisa lisa has all the more reason to be pissed now. Jeez. And I do like that Bart can even tell it's yellow. That's good. Also, Lisa is trying to be informative, but by now she should know not to use the term, quote, Indians. Yeah. That's not Lisa. My equivalent of closing the blinds on my dad was answering the phone on was answering the phone on christmas day and pretending i was not with my mom and stepdad just like oh hey you know uh i have plans uh i when i was really out to breakfast with my mom and stepdad and and walking away from it but hey snow shoes

he's not listening to this now though i. I've never drank that much water. Like, 12 glasses. I mean, your third glass, you'd want to throw up. I think you would just kill yourself with water poisoning. Yeah. This all reminded me of that. Don't do this, kids. The hold your wee for a wee contest.

Oh, God, yes. That poor woman. Don't do it. Don't do it. The last thing about the last scene that I love is the great foley on the clock sounds and the specificity of them that you can tell it is Bart's, you know, Krusty the Clock, Krusty the Clock Clown right there.

So then we get the clip from the opening of the episode, Bart praying to Santa. And there's like a very retro space mutant on there. Yeah. That really drew my eye. The non-King of Kodos one. Yeah, it was like a season one space mutant on there yeah that really drew my eye the non-king and kodos one yeah it was like a season one space mutant like that you but i have not really i think the last time they saw a space mutant movie was uh black widower i think you could be right yeah season three they dropped

space yeah i mean again the joke got old we don't even know what it was supposed to be referencing in the first place like body snatchers or something like that i think it was just like a generic all-purpose satire of too violent movies yeah movies that were too violent in the slasher era yeah i mean they were born as a joke they're on the shorts the space mutants like they go to a movie and bart convinces lisa and maggie to go with him to a too scary movie they're fine but he's terrified and yeah i wonder if that was just an artist wanting to put in a fun old reference there like just to give another another toy uh and yeah the space it always bugged me in the space mutant video game that they don't look like there's maybe like one like giant insects almost yeah they do not look like the blobby the classic uh gelatinous almost like

the gelatinous blob of Futurama design. Then I think we've all had a needing to go to the bathroom dreams, haven't we? In mine, it's just my dreams are very direct. I don't have much symbolism in my dreams. Like in mine, they really are just like, okay, I went to the bathroom. Or boy, I better go to the bathroom. And then I wake up thinking, oh, I didn't dream that I did go to the bathroom. I need to.

I've had lucid dreams where you realize you're in a dream and then I would realize the symbolism is just too on the nose and be disappointed. Like, oh, come on.

This is way too literal. This is why people write dreams to be more interesting than real ones. I do find it weird that there are dreams where I like, oh, I peed in that dream

but I wake up and I'm bone dry and I have to pee but it's just like it felt so real when I was that dream, but I wake up and I'm bone dry and I have to pee, but it's just like it felt so real when I was dreaming that I thought I, you know. That was my fear as a kid of if I peed in a dream, would I pee in

real life? What Nightmare on Elm Street like? If you pee in a dream. Never eat a giant marshmallow in your dream, trust me. But the visuals are really funny, very clever visuals they came up with to represent the two firemen who can't control the hose.

That, I think, is my favorite one. Yeah, that whole dream world, it reminded me of that one level in the Simpsons arcade game. Yeah, yeah. It's like a real season one flashback where black and white fantasy sequences are happening. And I think the go, go, go, P, P, pee is the most scatological they've gotten to this point. I'm shocked they got away with that because not that it's like you can get – it's not a censor thing.

You can say pee on – actually on our OKKO podcast with their kid show, they said – the creators of the show said, we can say pee. We're allowed to say pee. So it's not that it's against the rules. I think it is if Matt Groening or others are like, we don't go that dirty. We don't say pee or poop. This is clever enough. It's a very clever way to say pee on the show, yes.

Go, go, go. We're number one. Give me a pee. Pee. Go, go, go. Pee, pee, pee. P me a P. P. Go, go, go. P, P, P. Pee pee. Work like a charm.

Oh, oh, oh. Yeah. Oh, sweet it is. Get a little Jackie Gleason in the end there. As a kid, I thought that was like a snagglepuss thing, but it's just, it's what they ripped. Like everything, Hanna-Barbera ripped it off from Jackie Gleason and other comedians of the 50s.

I enjoyed his painful pee walk. It's really well observed, yeah. That just recalls like some of the worst times that I've been the closest to like having to go to the bathroom. Like I remember once waiting outside of the NASA Coliseum to get tickets for WWF Raw, and I had to stay out there for eight hours, and by the end of it, I'm just like...

Oh, my God. Wow, that's bad. You know, I think one of the most... If we're going to talk urine stories here. No, the closest I got recently was just... So I'm actually really good at holding it, right? I take pride in that. That's odd.

It's a dumb manly thing. I'm not macho about many things, but I can hold it for a while. I don't often feel the need to do it after I've not gone to the bathroom for hours, but I was trying to show off. And so me and my husband go to see Into the Spider-Verse. I sort of need to use the bathroom before we go. But I'm like, no, I can tough it out. But he buys a drink. And I'm still like, no, I'll drink this during the movie.

I'll be fine. And an hour in, I was just doing Homer in the New York City episode. And I missed five minutes of the movie, which I hate missing any of the movie. That season has quite a few instances of people having to go to the bathroom. I'm peeing constantly, by the way, because I've worked in offices before and I train

myself. If I'm constantly drinking liquids, I constantly have an excuse to get up and walk around. They can't stop you from peeing. The man can't stop you. So now I just constantly am drinking coffee or water or beer and then I pee everywhere all the time into the toilet and yeah his painful pee walk is a very like it's also very well observed of when you're a child you don't you think like well i have to hold my genitals to keep it in it's like a hose yeah yeah bob amstead on the commentary was very he took

pride in how uh they worked hard on getting the uh sweet it is walked down and everyone in the bleachers looks like distractingly too specific because they're all animators right they're all people on the animation staff it's very funny on the commentary that mac reigning immediately says like those all look like animators there's no way they're not your regular people and they cop to it they're like oh yeah we just drew ourselves into it the only one by name they identify is joe whack who's one of their character designers he comes up a lot on commentaries i think character designer really gets overlooked in simpson's uh importance because i know i still have this way of thinking of like well if i see a new person

in Springfield, it's just a guy who lives in Springfield. Nobody designed them. That's not you need to get out of that way of thinking like, yeah, Joe, Joe wax, the Joe wax of the world whacked him into existence. But yeah, so Bart heads downstairs first to get nearly started on the presence. And I, you. And maybe I'm greedy, but I always felt $5 is a bad gift from an aunt. Oh, actually, my aunt, I would see her, well, one of my aunts, I think it's my only aunt, yes. The listeners need to know about how many aunts I have, by the way.

But my aunt, who has passed away, when I was a kid, my mom would even complain about this. I would get one gift from her every year, and it was a $5 McDonald's gift certificate. So one McDonald's meal a year was all I was worth. For birthday and Christmas. Yes, that's it. Wow.

You know what? Now she's dead. Guess what? It comes back to you. Yeah, that is what he got. When he says a fin, that's an old school way of saying $5. I think the most spoiled I ever acted around Christmas was I had one, or my godmother, actually. She'd always get me a gift every year.

And the year that we got a Super Nintendo, she got me Desert Strike, which I enjoyed. And I just thought, oh, man, now she's getting me a video game every year. This is pretty rad. And she got me a puzzle the next year and the year after that. And then at that second year, I'm like, you know what? I'm just going to leave this at my aunt aunt's house and i got in trouble for that oh that's uh you know i think she was covertly trying to push you into military service how about this dave well i can see the puzzle gift as like saying oh you play video games too

much yeah this is more this is a better uh I've sent him into addiction and I should pull him out of it. Which, yeah, no, I feel bad about every bad reaction. It's selfish, awful reaction I had as a kid to a gift

of being given a gift by somebody and then going, meh, I don't care. This gift sucks. I wouldn't say that. My parents enjoyed my very formal gifts.

Like, if you can't find this, then this is okay. Like alternate gifts and stuff. So it was just basically a wedding registry I gave them every year. And they were like, oh, this is can't find this, then this is okay. Like, alternate gifts and stuff. So it was just basically a wedding registry I gave them every year. And they were like,

oh, this is so neat. I'm all put together. Thank you. I told them, here's where you can buy this at this store. Ask for this. Here's how you pronounce Pokemon.

Things like that. That is, wow. You're a very thoughtful child. I'm a little anal, if you couldn't tell. I think my aunt, I think it was in the $50 range for my aunt.

That was the cash I got. Not to make you jealous, Bob. My aunt had money, too. What's up with that? Wow, boy. Can't take it with you, Aunt Judy. She was very mean, by the way. Okay.

And so I think, too, they don't say it out loud, but I do think Bart is carefully opening these things to put them back together for when everybody comes back down, I think. I like how clinical he is about all of it. It's very well animated. Yeah, it's so careful, especially on the fire truck, the way you can see the tape and him lifting the tape carefully. I think I only did that one year. My sister put me up to it. She's like, you know all the gifts are upstairs.

You can look at them if you want. And they were wrapped. So I at least saw that I got Street Fighter 2 for Christmas of 92 for SNES. I was like, you know all the gifts are upstairs. You can look at them if you want. And they were wrapped. I at least saw that I got Street Fighter 2 for Christmas of 92 for SNES. I was like, yes, I'm getting Street Fighter. But she lied and she told me I was also getting Mario World and I didn't. She tricked you again. I took pleasure as a child

in tearing apart the wrapping paper as much as possible. I think maybe it's because I watched too much of the Christmas story as a kid. That's how I thought you're supposed to open things. I think people don't expect things to be wrapped because whenever I give a wrapped gift to someone around my age, they're like, you wrap this? Wrapping paper is like a nickel.

Yeah. It's just easier to put it in those bags. I love those bags. Bob knows I love those bags. That's true. Yes. Yeah. I mean, you put it in the bag and you put tissue paper.

And you reach in there and boom, present. And then that bag is a gift to you that you can use on a gift of your own. Though this year I've wrapped more presents because I realized the dollar store has actually pretty cheap wrapping paper. You can get all the funny ones. Now I've got a lot of wrapping paper up in the closet over there. I just realized I'll never be good at wrapping gifts. You can't put it in the bag improperly. It's in the bag and it's got tissue paper over it you've done it right my husband is much better wrapping gifts than me yes i think that's also why i got wrapping wrapping paper

this year because i could trust him with that uh but unfortunately things are going so well when bombard is opening up his gifts including a fire truck causing a fire who designed this house? Homer? Homer, I think I heard a noise. Knock it off. That is self-consuming fire. There's no smoke.

It immediately goes out. Leaves no damage. No sign. They joke on the commentary like the real miracle is that they did not home the part did not burn down the house yeah but even a small fire in a corner will leave smoke stains in a house so that's that's uh the real silliness of this especially burning plastic yeah that's why it's that's also hit me in this first time this viewing that's why they set up that it's a plastic tree because if you see it melt the way it does it might confuse you if you think because the animating of real tree looks the same as a

plastic tree so you need to know it's plastic yeah if it was a real tree it would have just burned down completely and there would be no evidence i mean to be fair i've only had plastic trees they would not burn like that they would not turn into a blob. They would incinerate. It's pretty awesome how it turns into just a green disc. Yeah. I like that. It doesn't stick to the carpet. It's very convenient.

Yeah. It's all like, it's impossible. Maybe that also bothered me, too, that they want this to feel real, and then it has a very impossible thing. Has to happen for plot purposes. Outside of the sweater, they seem pretty well preserved. I also like the sweater arm just going down into the muck. It's like it's a hand going down into the quicksand.

Yeah, and Maggie's moo toy. I love that. Dan's moo is so great. Again, really Dick Homer there. Just like Marge's light. You can hear it's... Does he elbow her or something? Yeah, he elbows her.

Knock it off. This is another joke that I did not get for 22 years but the fact that the sink hose goes all the way across the house but just doesn't go that extra two feet that's a great joke yeah it's awesome there's yeah there's like a 20 foot hose on the sink that's crazy well the who designed this house thing also sounds like they're taking a knock at themselves of how ridiculous the house design is. It's easy to forget the Simpsons have a double living room. That is an insane size house.

They have a living room and a family room. Yes, yeah. And a rumpus room. Oh, no, they don't have a rumpus room. No, I only found out a living room used to be the parlor, and that's where you used to display dead bodies before there was a sort of corpse industry, if you will. I see. When you would display the bodies in your own house instead of like – so to cheer it up, they called it the living room.

Wow, that's the opposite of having a corpse in there and calling it living. minor nitpick that i have and it's only from like a personal perspective is that bart is coveting this this firetruck toy which when like you know two seasons ago he was wanting a video game and in my like personal you know christmas history it was i wanted toys from like age i don't know three to eight and then once you know i hit nine years old and i got a super nintendo and nintendo and all that it's like, then video games are the top. It's video games. For me, I would buy no toys after maybe age nine or ten because it was like, no, video games are the ultimate toy. Get this trash away from me. Which had to suck for my parents.

Going from a $5 toy every year to a $50 toy. Yeah, that does suck. I think I still played with toys a little longer than that i think partially because i i love comic books and so comic book toys were part of it but i think too i i didn't i never got into remote control toys ever either like i could see i could see bart getting into a remote control toy that's better than just a regular old action figure or hot yeah i mean i get the joke about the fire truck starting the fire but i feel like it should be like an edgier sort of a parody of something, maybe.

Like a toy that's a parody of a current cartoon from 97 that is more violent or more extreme than a fire truck. Yeah, like, one of my... Let's talk about SNL. Big Red is one of my favorite SNL things of that classic type of toy. I thought you were going to mention Super Happy Fun Ball, but Big Red's a much better

comparison. I just love how half-covered in red paint, they're like, oh, Big Red. And that gift for Maggie, if you want to punish a friend who has children, buy their kid a gift that makes noise. That is the worst thing you could do to a parent.

I think, you know, I've made sure we have a mutual friend, Charlie. When I've given his kids gifts, I make sure they are silent stuffed animals. They have enough noises. Does that toy actually have a name? Because I don't actually know if that exists in reality. The Moo? It does, yeah.

Yeah, I've never owned one as a kid. I don't know if it's like, I think it's just something anyone can make. I don't think it's like Tickle Me Elmo or whatever. But I've seen them in real life. And they do that. That's all they do. i feel like i've seen them in like the nature store or whatever like seem like they're a laugh riot for like they're like smaller rain sticks you turn them around now i had the fisher price speak and say or whatever the thing with the like wheel of fortune type wheel around i had that but not one of the turn it over make noise things like

bart is uh burned down the tree again also no smoke alarms went off though they could have had a good joke there of like them saying homer does not believe in smoke alarms or something bart buries the tree outside under uh under the concealing snow clean pure snow and when he heads back in, the family is devastated. I gotta get back to bed. What happened? Where's Christmas? Lisa, where's Christmas?

Bart, what were you doing outside? I don't know how to tell you this, but I came down a little early and, um, well, uh, I saw a burglar and he was, he took, he got all our stuff, including the tree. We were robbed. How could somebody... I know. Can we keep church? Boy, church on Christmas.

What a bummer. I never had to go to a Christmas mass. My family's not very religious. I am certain Bob has never been to one either. No, no. Yeah, I mean, we did not like the Christmas morning church because it was like, I just got some of the funnest stuff, and now I have to go sit in a place for an hour

where I'm going to be bored out of my skull. So after a few years, we changed to the Christmas Eve mass, which was like, it's nighttime, so it's okay. And then there's also knowing as soon as as we get home we're opening one present so it's like it's a lot of excitement that makes it more exciting yeah i homer i love homer's where's christmas and then uh asking lisa lisa where's though i gotta blame the family here a little bit of like by now they should not trust Bart on this. Bart wasn't there. And he just ran in to the house.

Like, you should not trust him on the robbery. Though his acting is very good. And Nancy's great at the, including the tree. And also is like, I know. Like, stop talking. I'm going to interrupt you with I know. Like, that's great. When they call in the phony police report,

we get Bart also has a very childish description of the robber here. I love this. Now, what did this Christmas thief look like? Well, he had a glass eye, a wooden leg, a big scar on his cheek. Anything unusual? Hooks for hands. Oh, he was wearing a striped convict shirt, and he was carrying a big sack with a

dollar sign on it. Classic burglar. Ah, cheer up. We'll catch this guy. Uh, Chief, why? You can't rule it out. Well, there's no easy way to say it, kid. God hates us. Hey, since when is Christmas just about the presents?

Aren't we forgetting the true meaning of this day? The birth of Santa? Bart's absolutely right. This is the one day that shouldn't be about material things. Hey, why don't we walk over to Grandpa's and cheer up the old folks? That'll make us feel better. Well, okay. But they'll have to be pretty damn miserable

to make me happy. Nah. It would have been a great joke if that guy Bart described was real and the cops were after him after this. I've done nothing wrong. And he's driving his car with his Wakans. I'm writing for Old Simpsons now, by the way.

I couldn't tell what Bart's motivation was to describe that. Was he trying to describe someone so weird that he fits no description? I think so. Or is he just giving shit to the police at this point? Boy, I always read it as he's being overly cooperative. He's like, for this to seem real, I have to have an answer for everything. So I have to ultra super cooperate. But the only burglars he knows are from comic books or comic strips.

He's giving a very Beagle Boys description of somebody, too. But I think also, I think Dave is right about him not wanting to find anyone like that in the world. That's true, yeah. It stops an innocent person from being taken in. It would be great if it was a mutated Hugh Jass. Hugh Jass has had problems. He lost both his hands. I like that Lou's wearing a holiday tie.

That's a nice little touch there. They didn't have to do that. And also that Wiggum's like, you can't rule it out. Well, he's working on Christmas, though. Poor Wiggum. Poor, poor Wiggum. No, I mean, also, that is pretty much what you get from the cops

after robbery. They're like, we got nothing. That happened to me. Yes. It's like, oh, you don't care. Goodbye. I'll never hear from you again.

So know that, Steelers. You can get away with it, probably. You've got a pretty good chance. Don't do it. Can't get me twice. And it's almost, I have a different pick for a line in the show,

but it's almost my line in the show Him saying God hates us That's such a great thing to say on Christmas Day And so yeah They go down the street to check out Or to head to the old folks home They wanted to walk there instead of drive Which is an interesting choice

But we see that the Flanders are having an amazing Christmas Day Yeah with a pony And something else, too. A unicycle. That's on a unicycle. Yeah, a unicycle. And I don't have a clip of this because it's a very visual gag, but them faking skiing.

Yeah. I love that because when you can see inside the Flanders house and see that they can see their feet, you're like, we can see your feet. Like, we're not fooled. That was clever. I was a little surprised, like surprised when they had the scene before with Homer messing up the Christmas lights.

It made me think back to when Flanders had his amazing Christmas lights, but that was pre-religious Flanders. I would think that Flanders would be so religious he wouldn't celebrate Christmas commercially. He should be in church. Yeah, that's right. He's a regular Charlie Church. Except he's got

a unicycle. That seems very un-Christ-like, that unicycle. An indoor pony. An indoor pony. The Simpsons, then, as they're walking away, they see that the Hibberts are incredibly rich and just have family snowmobiles for Christmas. Then they just ride on the streets.

Like, that seems dangerous. Very little traffic. And they can't not be jealous of it. And we get to see who else is having some fun on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas, Simpson. That's not as fun as it looks. Nothing could be as fun as that looks. Hey, look what I got, Bart.

A tickle me crusty! Hey, get your finger out of there! Ow! Homer! Hey, sir, you promised they'd be miserable. What the hell's going on? Oh, the pharmaceutical man come by, and he shot us full of Christmas cheer!

I can't feel nothing below my chin some great dancing so i want to talk a tiny bit about tickle me elmo we'll get more into it in a year when we do grift of the magi but i did a tiny bit of research tickle me elmo was released in july of 96 and it was holiday of 96 his biggest hug hugest toy. It was the Cabbage Patch doll of its day. God knows why. It's a stupid toy. I guess it did a new thing, but they were writing this, what's that? It vibrated.

It vibrated violently. Months after that happened, a few months, they were writing this episode. So they were probably writing this episode in March or April of 97. So that was very, very fresh. Yeah, but by the time it aired, I definitely, it was a groaner for me as a kid

in the first few weeks. It was like a Tickle Me Elmo joke. Now it's so old. I heard eight million of them. And when the joke is like, hey, don't tickle me there. I was like, no, I heard that exact joke a million times for a butthole touching joke.

But apparently they released a second edition of Tickle Me Elmo in 2017. I guess the Kevin Clash allegations were further enough away to be like, it's safe to have fun with Elmo again. Kevin Clash is a working Muppeteer again. He was in the Happy Time

murders, which I've not seen. I've not seen. Please don't throw up the podcast. I listen to We Hate Movies. Boy, yeah. I totally forgot. There's so many allegations. I forgot the Kevin Clash ones, honestly. I mean, Elmo's not him anymore. Like, he stopped being Elmo.

Yeah, at least, yeah. Maybe, yeah. I'm guessing the new Elmo voice for the doll is not him anymore. The Tickle Me Elmo craze was insane. I didn't understand it. I wonder, too, if it was more parents thinking their kids want it. Because I feel like if you bought a kid, if they're under five, and you buy them any Elmo, they'd be happy. They wouldn't want, I can't imagine they'd want, like, when I was five or six and I wanted a specific Ninja Turtle, maybe then.

But if it was just the idea of a Ninja Turtle, then again, a kid who would want I'd want an all purpose Elmo that you can play with the best a Tickle Me Elmo it is painted into a corner by it's design it is 1996 is really when like because I know when I was a kid there were stories of Cabbage Patch Kids like people fighting over those

like for the first few years of my life there was never like the big hot Christmas toy and then like yeah 1996 was Tickle Me Elmo. But 1996 was also the year they did that movie, Jingle All the Way. Yeah. Turbo Man. Turbo Man. Turbo.

Yeah, I think the last big thing, my parents couldn't let us know, but I think like what Hatchimals were the last big thing. The thing, the weird doll that hatches. How we use electricity can be smarter, cleaner and greener. At Electric Ireland, we can help guide you there. You see, our new Net Zero Hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans, EV tariffs, solar panels and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier and your world brighter find our net zero hub at electricireland.ie oh yeah boy i think there was there was some barbie thing a few years or some

frozen thing too i think yeah uh but maybe the production pot well i mean amiibos were a big thing a few years ago yeah y'all the yeah. Oh, the NES Classic, yeah. Oh, boy. I mean, there's a Fire Cell on Amiibos now, especially Animal Crossing ones. Speaking of Fire Cells, also on the PlayStation Classic. Nobody wanted that. You can buy it and hack the shit out of it.

It's really easy, from what I've heard. So, yeah, having a Tickle Me Elmo thing by now. Well, I think Tufanzo is kind of... He's both a Tickle Me Elmo and a Furby. Yeah. Which is the hot toy of the next year. Ooh, okay, yeah. Well, actually, it's kind of Pokemon and Furby next year.

Like, 98 is Pokemon Insanity, but that was just anything Pokemon. It was not a specific, like, Pikachu toy or anything. That's when I got on eBay for the first time and bought Pokemon things. Really? I think my register date is Christmasmas of 1998 like literally that day like oh cool i can do this now i think mine is early 98 and that was for uh my mom i i just i shared an account with my mom she started first to buy an old toy of herself of her own but by christmas i was buying uh anime vhs's's on there and oh the wonderful wall

scrolls from the far east the tickle me crusty doll well it didn't make me laugh that much but Homer hitting Milhouse in the eye with a snowball is a great joke he's a huge asshole in this episode it happens off screen and so you just assume it's Bart and then when Bart says Homer

like that is a real just like, boom, amazing joke. So all this is taking place on Christmas, which means the scene after this, Homer is like piss drunk at Moe's on Christmas. On Christmas Day, yes. It makes it much, much darker. Oh, and the dancing elderly people, they're all dancing like the Peanuts characters too, just so that joke is clear. They're dancing to Jingle Bell Rock, one of the least rocking songs yeah one one instrument is electric that's why it

rocks i think for that era i i do love christmas music i'm glad they spent the money on a few real christmas songs yeah i though i would have thought they would have just went and did the what is vince giraldi yeah. I don't think they, I think that's probably pricier than. It could be, yeah. I wonder if there's like an industry of like, in the Christmas music world, like being the lowest price of the standards.

Like, oh, you can't afford, you know, Elvis' Blue Christmas? We'll be a little lower than that. We're getting a little. We undercut them by 20%. I think SNL around this time afforded the uh christmas theme for the lys and lucy is played at the end of the tv fun house yeah though i think they had weird rules on that because they got away with like putting it out a dvd even the disney vault which like they can just i think snl is called a news program or

something i think that's how it gets away with i'm not sure exactly like a variety program or something. I think that's how it gets away with it. I'm not sure exactly. Like a variety program or something? Yeah, yeah. But it has different rules applied to them. So, Moe, Homer's pissed drunk with Moe. When I see he put the antlers on his rat, it reminded me of Scrooge. Oh, yeah, yeah. No staples this time. Yeah, just tied to his head.

But it's cute. I like anything with Moe and his rats. Those aren't your rats. But yeah, Homer cute... I like anything with Mo and his rats. Those aren't your rats. But yeah, Homer has rarely been this drunk. He is drunker than Barney. Barney is more sober than Homer here, yes. I think Barney can just handle it better because he's always drunk.

That's true, yeah. He's... Homer takes it a little easier usually than Barney. But all this Homer drunk acting is great through the news report. I especially... I think it's my line of the episode, what he yells at Mo here, actually. I'm going to play the jingle.

That's the joke. You know what I blame this on the breakdown of? Society. Yeah, you're right, Mo. You're always Mo. Homer, look, your house is on TV. You take that back, Barney. Ah, he's right, Homer.

Stay out of this, old man. I'm Kent Brockman. I'm here at the scene of the Christmas burglary, where a creature was stirring last night, and what he was stirring was up trouble. Is your husband or lover here, ma'am? No, my husband is at church. Oh, that's my girl.

I love you, Marjorie. Yeah, she's quite a gal. Oh, shut up. So, when you realized Christmas was ruined, how did you feel? How do you think I felt? Absolutely devastated. Absolutely devastated. The words of a heartbroken mother.

For there will be no fire truck for little Bart, no sweater for little Lisa, no Cajun sausage for little Homer. So while you're home today eating your sweet, sweet holiday turkey, I hope you'll all choke just a little bit. They really love that runner of little Bart, little Lisa, little Mark it reminds me of the Treehouse of Horror we had earlier this year

little Bart and the rest yeah I also the line in the episode especially to me is like stay out of this old man that he immediately classifies Moe as this old man Homer thinks he's in like a 50s drunk movie of like Lost Weekend or something, talking to some actual old man.

I enjoy there's two instances of like displaced sentences in that. Yeah. Basically that entire scene, the breakdown of society. Yeah. And stirring up trouble. Yeah. And also I like his open-ended question to Marjorie, like, your husband or lover?

Just to leave it like, well, he could be, I'll use a gender-neutral term in case it's not husband. And Homer sobers up really quickly after this to go home. Yeah, that's true. To drive home, question mark. Unless a day passes between those. This is like the 26th. I think this is the same day.

I think so too. Yeah. But Homer, yeah, Homer is pretty fucked up in that. There's also some great little character acting too. Not just Homer's drunk acting is great, but also when he tells everybody their gifts, like Bart just looks sheepish. And when he hears, when he says the sweater lisa just like rolls her

eyes like that fucking sweater like she doesn't want that sweater or she's still disappointed by it and and also maggie when the microphone is put in marge's face maggie reaches for it a couple times it's very yeah you know it's easy to just have maggie immobile and not move her like she's she's just a prop she's not a character. It is a little weird that Homer went to Mose to drink this off. He usually goes to Mose when he has done something and feels guilty and is drinking. But it's not his fault

that all this Christmas stuff happened. Yeah. There might not have been enough alcohol in the house and the grocery store wasn't open. He's like, I gotta get drunk somewhere. He took away all of his eggnog, the government. Oh, yeah, he's still in these noggy days.

But I can see him being so heartbroken by Christmas, he doesn't even want eggnog. Yeah, he's most sad about the Cajun sausage. Oh, and also, to speak about things reminding you of old episodes, in the Thanksgiving one, he gave a very similar speech to this. I actually thought in the Thanksgiving one. he gave a very similar speech to this. I actually thought in the Thanksgiving one. I double-checked it. In the Thanksgiving one, he doesn't say, I hope you choke. Things are not

as heightened as they were. But he does hope for an award after that one. Yes, yeah. I smell a local Emmy. I love the gag when he drives away that Dan's homeless guy says, yeah, rooting for you. That's a very Bill Murray voice he put on. Though, if the Cajun sausage was in a fire, wouldn't there be a smell of cooked sausage?

That should wake Homer up. It's magical fire. Again, this magical fire left no scent. It froze all the presents like an amber. They're perfectly distilled in there. Yeah, Homer comes home. Lousy doormat, that's also very funny. He's just mad at it.

But if you don't get the reference you're just going to think he's being really mean to Lisa in this scene that's what I love about that joke but I didn't get the reference in 97 either I hadn't seen It's a Wonderful Life

so you're just like you're so cruel why are you being so cruel it's also mixing two scenes like the scene where George Bailey comes home for the first time in the movie and the scene where he

sees the people there about to give him things well that's what I love that's actually what I love about it as a joke now that I get the reference where George Bailey comes home for the first time in the movie and the scene where he sees the people there about to give him things. Well, that's actually what I love about it as a joke now that I get the reference because it's conflating these two scenes. George Bailey screams at his daughter because he is suicidal at this moment

and incredibly upset. And it's when he realizes he's gone too far. Homer doing it at the time he should be happy is another comment on Homer being an asshole. I never thought, yeah, that's totally true. So them mixing that is like, Homer is such an asshole

that when he's supposed to have the happy ending, he's screaming at his daughter to not play the song, which he does in the end of the movie too. She is playing the song and he welcomes it like it's so it's an extra layer of uh of mocking the of recreating it's a wonderful life that i that i like but also homer's a piece of shit like and uh and also speaking of things that they're reusing this is the ending of when flanders failed oh you're right yeah god that's right but that's what i do i'm i'm not against them reusing a it's a wonderful life reference sincere then i mean he wasn't being uh he wasn't being given a fish and

a button things like that well and it was meant as the legit end of the episode in this case it's one of like two fake endings so uh it's all about subverting this would have been the normal ending of an episode or when bart admits to what would have been the normal ending of an episode or when Bart admits to what he did that's the ending of an episode they want to keep surprising you with like no that's not the end either where are we going to go and the ending will surprise you not maybe

good but so yes everybody is giving people saw our story on the news and they've opened their hearts to us. Yarr, we just gave what we could. Does anyone have change for a button?

Whoa, this really restores your faith in... Lisa! Do you have to practice that stupid song now? Sorry, Daddy. Hey, heard some no good and they stole your tree. Well, we got a 30-footer so you can have the top of ours. Thanks, Ted.

I don't get that. Bart, this is Patches. And what was your name? Poor Violet. I don't like where this is going. Your story made everyone at the orphanage so sad. We want you to have this dollar we were saving. Please, I don't deserve this.

Yeah, they don't appear very often in this series because they're very tubercular. I think they just died after a few years. But I love, they're just there to heighten everything, to make them feel worse. Patches and poor Violet are Dickensian orphans. I just love that. Bart's viewer of the show, he's like,

I don't like where this is going. He knows it's set up for a joke That's their vitamin money we find out later But it's weird that Homer calls Ned Ted And not Flanders He should call him Flanders Stupid giving Flanders

Talking about jokes I didn't get for 22 years I always just heard it as Ned I wasn't listening that closely The joke is just heard it as ned i wasn't listening that closely so the joke is i guess that homer doesn't know his name like yeah instead of i guess they're like well no homer should have a nice reaction to this giving from ned but you gotta get some joke in there like okay then he doesn't actually know his name and all i can picture one night when he gets that tree i'm just picturing the top of ned flinder's tree just being like a flat top.

Does he have like a vaulted ceiling that we don't know about? A 30-foot tree, geez. That could be the newest addition to his downstairs basement, I guess. And the change for a button, that's a pretty good line too. That Burns, Burns could give them so much and gives nothing like all rich men.

I've used that line a lot because I'm hilarious. When people are asking for money or chip in on something, yeah it's a good line try using it at home you know listening to it here too homer's cruelty to lisa is even worse because yardley plays it like the girl in the movie like sorry daddy like with a babyish niche that lisa does not have which makes it even worse like uh and yeah patches and poor violet they uh just like a doctor doctor says i'm sick yeah so that that was the first half of it's a wonderful life now it's uh they they start counting up the money my goodness there is over 15 000 dollars here 15 000 mazulians holy schlamola what are you gonna do with all that kablingy? Well, if you mean the money, I suppose we'll just replace the items

the burglar took. Boring! Spend it on something fun. Go wild! Ha! Right, Seymour? Yes. Something wild. Yeah, enjoy, eh? Something fun! Something stupid. You only live once. Speak for yourself. March, kids, let's go

buy some happiness. Yeah! That the Missoulians thing Krusty says is a Ron Hauge word because he at one point lived in Missoula. I see. And I guess Missoulian is a resident of Missoula or just a fun word he made up. That should be taken as a new thing to call dollars. because he at one point lived in Missoula. I see. And I guess Missoulian is a resident of Missoula, or just the fun work he made up. That should be taken as a new thing to call dollars. I like that.

Krusty is just using all of these old vaudeville things to say, and Marge is like, if you mean the money, it's very confusing. And then Mo steals from the March of Dimes. I like that kick, too. But the patches in Poor Violet just exist to make Bart feel and that's that's what i kind of love about them that's why i think they do they'll appear in like character packs like randomly but according to the wiki they've only appeared i think in like speaking roles in three other episodes yeah in this era right yeah they also appeared in one simpsons comic but i i saw that it was not drawn by friend of the show, Nina Matsumoto.

Throw it out. It was drawn by, I think, her real friend, Phil Ortiz. Oh, well, keep it. Just keep it. So they've got $15,000 in their hands. And Homer, this actually reminded me of Homer the Pigeon from Bart Carney in a few episodes. Oh, yeah. He just happily walks around with a handful of money like, is this how much?

Like, he's the perfect fool for a car dealer. Is this car $15,000? Yeah, it is now. And because of your loss, folks, I'll throw in the undercoating for 200, no, 490 bucks. What a deal.

I'd be a sucker not to get it. I don't know about this, Dad. Shouldn't we give the money to charity or something? Ow! Oh, I'm sorry. I jabbed you with my pen. Ow! You're still doing it.

Yeah, I know. Here comes Santa Claus. Here comes Santa Claus. Right down Santa Claus Lane. Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. Will this Christmas never end? Out of my way, snowpoke. Ah.

Slow down, Homer. Don't worry, honey. I know exactly what I'm... Whoopsie. Tap the brakes. Tap the brakes. Then into the skid. No, wait for the skid no wait for the skid shut up one at a time

there's a lot in there uh plow king yeah the plow king returns which i guess has been barney's even though they were supposed to work together on it well you know what no they said they were going to work together and then they repossessed the Mr. Plow. Didn't see that Plow King got repossessed so it's possible that Arnie just has a Plow King and still does it. He's working on Christmas too.

Yeah, and he was just drunk a couple hours ago. Well, he always is. I think he's just always at that level of drunkenness, though. He was driving the Plow King quite a lot at that drinking level. And yeah, about undercoating, I did a little. Obviously, we all know you don't get undercoating.

It's a scam. One of my favorite gags about it was in Fargo, the movie, where he's like, not true coat. You got to get the true coat. They're like, we don't want the true coat. But according to Consumer Reports last year, cars today are manufactured with corrosion protection, which makes undercoating and added treatment unnecessary, though it is profitable for the car dealerships. Consumer Report recommends that car buyers skip the undercoating

and several other pricey add-ons, including VIN etching, fabric protection protection and extended warranties i'm just glad i haven't had to drive in icy weather in about a decade this is a huge anxiety for me i have never had to drive in icy weather ever like never i've always lived in places with no snow so i was i was lucky in that way you both are from uh more north than me i was, and I never got in an accident. That was my fault with icy weather. People have hit me. I had to look up what the official car safety rules are. Like the show did a disservice where it's like,

oh, I don't know what to do. It's all the conventional wisdom they spout out to Homer. It reminds me, too, of the gag where Wiggum tells Bart to drive in both directions in traffic and it just confuses you uh but the real thing Lisa was correct you drive you turn into the skid but you don't over correct that's the other thing and Marge is wrong too don't touch the brakes you don't touch the brakes like you slow down and you should be going at a good speed anyway but the reason you turn into the skid is to correct for the direction your back tires are going you want to by turning into the skid your

front tires are matching your back tires uh when it's black ice though that all goes at the window all the rules are gone no i don't know i know black ice is deadly though don't like when you're trying to turn into it don't go like like go like that's the over correcting thing you gotta be careful of that too I watched a very boring YouTube video from the cops about it a driving tips podcast people need to know the right information and it's a nice fishy

explosion when it lands in there too also I love the blank look on Homer's face as everyone's telling him things he's like he's not doing anything instead. And Lisa, also the camera move on Lisa going, bail out, is really great. That is some dangerous stuff, too, just jumping out into the road. Yeah, not a good safety tip from us.

And yeah, it falls into the water, explodes, a fish smacks Homer in the face. And Homer says he knew this would happen. And yeah, they then go back home. They don't have any money. They don't even have a new car. They just have nothing for all of their troubles. I mean, they're technically out $500. Yes, yeah.

The way that guy doubles it is great, too. Two, no, 400. 490. He even adds another. He doubles it, and then he realizes, I could add 90 more to this. I can get away with it. Now, this also could be the ending of the episode. And that's what, it's very unpredictable, this one, because this would have been the ending of, like, a season two episode of The Simpsons.

Bart, you're up early. I couldn't sleep. What's wrong? There was no burglar. No burglar? What does he mean? What are you talking about? I accidentally burned up the tree

and the presents. I'm really sorry. Are you a little? Lisa, no! Your hands are too weak! You're a little... I'm going to kill you! No, I'm killing him first!

Boy, now Lisa wants that sweater. Yes, yeah. I mean, all of the lies. I think it's not just the sweater, it's just the anger. But they draw the classic but even when she strangles them they draw the classic Bart strangled face on him too we haven't got strangle in a while it's it's a great that's another great subversion to that like on say full house they would have hugged him instead of like why you like they immediately go to violence and now it's a really great just like drawing of the scrum, I guess you'd call it, of the whole family together there.

Like Lisa is making sure to kick Bart while hanging off of Homer's arms while he's strangling. While Marge is trying to stop them. I like their immediate turn in emotion when they hear the doorbell ring. Their reset to happy family was really great there too. And yes, Kent Brockman is here for a follow-up story, and things don't go so well. Folks, any words for the Christmas thief, if he's watching? Yes, Kent.

Hello, jerk. We may never find you, and we should probably all stop looking. But one thing's for sure, you do exist. Strong words. Strong, bewildering words. Also, we want to thank the whole town for their generosity. Hey, look!

It's Little Bart's fire truck. Little Lisa's sweater. Little Homer's sausage. What in the name of holy hell is going on here? Oh, it's true. We weren't robbed. That part we made up. But the rest is true. Wait.

He's just covering for me. I destroyed the presents, then I buried the evidence. And I acted alone. So the family never knew about any of this. Well, the boy told us, but that was after we filed a phony police report. And after we spent all the townspeople's money. So you can

see why my husband had to lie to you a moment ago. That was a great delivery of like, here's why no one will believe any of us. Even though they're all telling the truth. I like how Brockman and his crew are using all the terms from his own narrative. Like, that's Little Homer's Cajun sausage.

Little Lisa's sweater. And it's a nice kind of Christmas history touch that it's Santa's little helper revealing it, too, that their Christmas dog ruins their Christmas lie. Yeah, and it is important that, like, to make it more distinct from the previous Christmas episode where it's like, no, they all pretty much share the guilt. Yes, yeah.

Bart did a little bad thing to make this whole sequence of events start, but he meant well when he lied to his family. And they were drawn into the lie, and they lied too. It's true, yeah. No one's cleaning this. Yeah, the first one was Homer lies to everybody. The second one is Bart lies or gets caught. And this one is it's the whole family. And yeah, I love Homer's speech of like,

one thing for sure, you do exist. That seems like an O.J. Simpson reference. It has to be. It's still fresh. It's 97, right? Or the Benet, John Benet. I don't think that would happen yet. That was 96.

Okay. It did happen on Christmas. Yeah. Boy, we're talking about Benet John Benet. I don't think that would happen yet. That was 96. It did happen on Christmas. Yeah. Boy, we're talking about grisly stuff here. But yes, in general that always works of somebody looking for the real. If they really wanted to go for an O.J. Simpson thing, they could have said, we're still looking for

the real thief. But yes, once the lies revealed, everybody instantly hates the Simpsons. So this was all a scam. And on Christmas. Yeah, Jesus must be spending it as grave. We gave them our vitamin money. Hey, hey, hey, shoo, you lousy freeloaders.

Come back when you get some parents. In my long career, I've seen some pretty shabby things, but this putrid fraud outstinks them all. And cut. I just want to thank you folks so much. This has turned out to be a great,

great story for me. Yeah, we're pumped for you. That's the second business we've seen old Jewish man, the character. Yeah, weird voice. But it's Dan's voice. Yeah, it's pulling for you. That's the second business we've seen Old Jewish Man, the character. Yeah, weird voice. But it's Dan's voice. Yeah, it's not Hank doing it. The last time was like,

don't scratch up those heads, boys. With the zip boys. At least then they remember the right voice. I think probably that I would chalk that up to just miscommunication. Like they recorded a voice that wasn't supposed to be Old Jewish Man. They used Old Jewish Man

and nobody thought at the time before animation, like, wait, that's not the right guy. It is a bit weird that he goes from a guy who dances with his pants down to owning multiple businesses. Well, in this very episode, he's in the old folks' home during the high dance. They walk right by him. So all the more reason to not use him. He has his good days and bad days.

Maybe he wandered out and thought he owned that store. Or he just likes to i mean maybe he doesn't work there he just likes to yell at people and that is uh his special pills from the doctor gave him a different voice but that that poor violet and patch is like they're being screamed at for being orphans yeah that also is get a job and uh. And also that Barney believes in Jesus, but thinks he's dead. That's quite a stance there. He didn't finish that chapter in the Bible yet. And that, I love the verb, outstinks. That's a great... This putrid fraud outstinks them all. That's a great line. But this is still Christmas because they go to Krusty Burger and someone says, there goes Christmas dinner.

Which is funny because there are so many people there at a fast food restaurant to have Christmas dinner. You know, I really did take that as, I did read this as the next day because when they see Bart in the morning, I feel like it's supposed to be the 26th. But you're right, They do say Christmas dinner. Yeah.

But has it? Yeah. Maybe they're still digesting Christmas dinner, and now they're sick when seeing him at a Krusty Burger on the 26th. No, this is Christmas. Decorations would still be up on the 26th. One of my favorite things is seeing Christmas decorations in the time directly after Christmas. There's a whole pete and

pete about it i i look today bob knows pete and pete too but i of course yes yeah there's a great endless christmas right he wants christmas to never end and the garbage man is trying to insist on throwing it away it's like you gotta start over again like it's it's christmas is done guys it's all a metaphor for death oh now i'm I'm brought down. I didn't get that reference. Well, so then wait. At the end when they make a Christmas tree out of their garbage, is that dressing up a corpse one last time to celebrate it? Yes.

I will say yes to that. Which song from Polaris is playing? One of their five. Sometimes it's magnetic field. Yeah. Or the apples in stereo. The whole town hates them. They're getting tomatoes thrown at their house.

I forgot this was, for some reason when we did Homer, Bad Man, I thought that was the one with the pineapple. I forgot it was this was the one with the pineapple. That feels like a Swartz Weldian to me. Yes, yeah. The pineapple on the fishing line. The kind of hobo economy of it. Like, I'm not wasting this.

I didn't buy more than one pineapple. I feel like Moe did that. I don't know why. That feels like a Moe move. It's the most destructive and the cheapest, too. Did you guys see that video on the internet about how the right way to eat pineapples? Blew my mind, yeah.

I never realized that. You're supposed to pick it like a pine cone from the top. I eat pineapples out of cans, though, so I've never actually eaten a live pineapple in the wild. I've read from pineapple experts, though, that it's like you can do that, but it has to be like perfectly ripe. Yeah, you can pull it apart like that.

By the way, I consider myself to have a strong stomach, but the amount of burger spitting in that one. Okay, yeah, yep. You know what? I really hate that. Beefs and butthead moment, honestly. Exactly. When I saw it as a kid and when I see it now, it made me think it'd be beefs and butthead.

You could do one, and I'd be like, okay, I understand, but they just didn't stop. They spit so much. That's probably part of the reason they did it. It's like, we can have this guy spit six times, and we'll only have to animate it once. And, well, it's a rare appearance of a non-squeaky voice teen.

Like, these two teens have not returned since. They seem like, well, like, is it Lollapalooza that they did? They were at Hullabalooza. Hullabalooza, sorry. Yeah, they seem a little like them. Though one is just the Jimbo voice, too. Oh, and I also like the sub-headline

of Angry Mob Moles Options. Another great headline. Also, their car has been defaced apparently the I kill you is an inside joke too for the creators of the show it was written on a wiffle ball bat in

the writers room because this was pre iPhone you had to hit things with a bat or eat food in between writing jokes man the skill to kill somebody with a wiffle ball bat yeah

you like choke them with it I guess yeah before I knew that gag I thought it was almost like a Ren and Stimpy joke of like, I kill you, man. But yes, the family is shunned. Miss Hoover? Miss Hoover? Forget it, Lisa. I'm not teaching you anything until I get my money back.

Now turn your desk around and stop learning. All the way. Hi, liar. Because, Oh, sorry. Run for your lives. Everyone.

This is not a drill. Oh, right. Yeah. Then while we're gone, you take our snacks. Just like you took our money. You tell him,

laddie. God, that spitting is so gross. It did disgust me. Because of Lisa and her family, Chief Wiggum had to be there on Christmas morning and leave Ralph behind, so he's probably mad about that. Ralph should be, but he's very friendly about his anger.

Yeah, wait, this has to be probably way past the 26th if they're back in school. Yeah, now... This is January. It's January. The Krusty Burger scene was Christmas still still but now we're in january times yeah i mean the the decorations when we see their house later the decorations are gone too like so yeah it's the

start of january i i love how uh how long it takes lisa to turn it all the way around she's like all the way though by the by the next time we the house, it could have been taken from them, right? Or is there another scene at their house before then? No, we're at the house. We'll hear them at the house in a second here. So yeah, no. The reaction of, I just love the way Lenny says, like, eat me our snacks.

Like, it's a nice like mouthful kind of Lenny line there too. This is a very, very short third act though. It's like two minutes long. I think they knew they wanted to subvert your expectations but they're also like we gotta speed that we don't have much time to really do it and that's with putting in a celebrity cameo which i mean let's talk about it now um i'm not gonna be funny this is not we're not gonna joke around about it. No jingles. But yes, Alex Trebek, the Alex Trebek legend of game show hosting in this episode. At the time of this recording, he has very recently announced that he has stage four pancreatic cancer, which for a man in his 70s is not a good thing.

And you don't live very long with that. But I want to point out that he announced that before this recording so it's not our fault yes yeah so please no none of those poor jokes and i you know who knows he i hope he lives as long as he can and definitely in the two weeks it'll take till this episode comes out i hope he's still with us then too you made a nice video about it and even in that video what he's joking i didn't manage to make a joke like yeah and it's no wonder they like chose him for this episode because he's he's always been funny yeah great host in that video he makes a very funny joke about like i have three years left

on my contract i can't go i gotta i can still be here he always was up for a joke like he was on well actually no he's not in i lost ony! because that was made right before he took over the show. Right, yeah, 84. The Weird Al music video, I should say. Yeah. That confused the shit out of me. On a Christmas, I got a Weird Al VHS of all of his videos to that point, which was fun to listen to Christmas on Ground Zero. Christmas on Ground Zero.

At Ground Zero. I do it at karaoke. That's why I know it. I knew I was saying it wrong. Thank you. And yeah, but when it. I knew I was saying it wrong. Thank you. And yeah, but when it got to I Lost on Jeopardy, I was so confused. Like, this doesn't look like Jeopardy.

What is this fake-ass Jeopardy? But it's the real one. He got the real Jeopardy. One year before he took over, Weird Al did that song. Sorry to hear that. That's just one of those songs where for years I just thought it was Weird Al original. Yeah, see. The original is so obscure.

No one's heard of Our Loves in Jeopardy. Who's ever heard of that? Like, same with, I feel like I'd at least heard My Sharona before I'd heard My Bologna. This Trebek stuff reminds me that those very funny, perhaps not funny anymore, I don't know,

Celebrity Jeopardy sketches on SNL, that was not even an impression of Alex Trebek. Was it Will Ferrell playing Trebek? Yeah, yes. He just, there was no, I mean, Trebek has sort of like a higher nasal voice. He's Canadian. Trebek was not doing any of that Trebek. Was it Will Ferrell playing Trebek? Yes. Trebek has sort of like a higher nasal voice. He's Canadian. Trebek was not doing any of that. I mean, sorry,

Ferrell wasn't doing any of that. No, he just like potent potables. He was just very serious, but I like that Trebek joked around with that, too. He did the, what do they call it, sneaker-upper, when the person who's being lampooned in a skit shows up on the skit. Oh, that's the official term. I didn't know that.

That's the secret. I believe that was in Farrell's last regular episode, wasn't it? Yeah. And it also will Alex Trebek, like he hosts since 84. He's been a fixture of our lives, basically our entire lives. So him announcing his illness really hit hard. It reminded you what a staple he's been. If we hadn't heard of this, this part of the episode would be very different.

Just like, yeah, extra back. He's fun. Like, I don't really think about it. I was aware of him on jeopardy since I started being aware of things in general.

So, and like, it was a huge event in 2001 when he shaved his mustache, which I didn't know. He, he has grown back facial hair from time to time. I, I found out looking up,

I was trying to find out when he shaved it the first time. And then there was like a story from early 2018 of him shaving a beard off. Like he had grown a beard, shaved it off. And for, I think at least one episode, he had classic mustache and then he shaved that off too. But- Jeopardy is also kind of like a bridge for me

from like, I would watch The Simpsons and syndication from like six to seven seven to eight is the jeopardy wheel of fortune hour and then it's prime time my mom loves jeopardy and hates wheel of fortune like she thinks it's the stupid she won't watch it she's like this is the dumb show i'm smart pat sajak sucks he also sucks he's a real piece of shit. Yeah. That's also cool about that Trebek, as far as I know, is just like a good guy. And yeah, boy, anything. I mean, Trebek also, yeah, he did SNL. He's appeared on The Simpsons. He will do jokes.

Like he's not, he's up for jokes about himself. I like how this comes out of nowhere and it happens. It feels very daring to me. Oh, another funny thing I liked on SNL of Will Ferrell was when I think it was an SNL-like special of just game show sketches tied together. And it was hosted by, in character, Trebek and Regis Philbin. And Regis Philbin the whole time was like,

we give away a million dollars. Does anybody ever want a million dollars on your show? And Trebek's like, maybe not. He had to admit that their show had less money, though. Though now by this point, people have won millions of dollars on it because we have like Ken Jennings and Arthur Chu, was that the other guy?

Jeopardy winners are more famous. The only guy I remember from who wants to be a millionaire was the first guy to win, and then no one else, really. I don't even remember his name. Though, I mean, both Ken Jennings and Arthur Chu tried to turn that into Twitter celebrity as well. I think Ken Jennings survived. Arthur Chu did not. I don't know.

Arthur Chu blocked me a long time ago because he just had a group block of anybody who follows us so the like socialist groups it's very confusing how we use electricity can be smarter cleaner and greener at electric ireland we can help guide you there you see our new net zero hub has all you need to know about smart meter plans ev tariffs solar, solar panels, and much more. Making your usage clearer, your trips greener, your home cozier, and your world brighter. Find our net zero hub at electricireland.ie. But okay, yes, enough about Jeopardy. Let's hear this wonderful clip. First of Marge self-censoring the word motherfucker

on the show. You'll all get yours in hell, you lying, thieving, blanking blankers sincerely moan. Oh, great. Now we have to send him a card. I know you're used to getting hate mail, but I'm

not. There's only one way out. We've got to give this greedy town its money back. Well, we don't have $15,000. Unless... Unless... Aren't we forgetting something, Marge? You were down $5,200. But Mr. Trimble!

I asked you before the game if you knew the rules, and you said you did. Judges? Red Mom! She ain't getting the home version. I like that. When I was a kid, I assumed that could have been the penalty. Like, if you're negative on Jeopardy, I was like, what would happen? So I feel like a lot of the writers must have had that same idea.

What would happen if you have negative dollars on Jeopardy? What other game show do you have negative dollars on? Jeopardy seems like one of the hardest ones, too, because not only is it the mind game of constantly reminding yourself to say it in the form of a question, but also everybody thinks they do good on Jeopardyy it's about the speed of clicking your thing like you gotta be fast on that that's that's what i've heard skill lines yes yeah i don't know i've seen old people do well too i like the college well i always as a kid liked watching college jeopardy because i could get those ones there's also rock and roll jeopardy by jeff probst before he did survivor all right yeah and wait it was uh sugar sugar ray man was very good at that wasn't he what was his name mark

mark mcgrath yeah yeah that's right oh my god it's right but also like this is probably at the end of the era where you when you were on a game show you would win the home version of the game show consolation prize which is like that's got to be the worst that you just lost on a game show. Why would you want to be reminded of it by playing it at home? Here's a diorama of your failure. Forever be when you're at home

and your family pulls out the games, you'll be reminded of when you didn't win on national television. That'll be a story for the rest of your fucking life. Like, yeah, if I could be on one game show, it would be Price is Right. That would be my pick. Because it's easy. But boy, that's like a monkey's paw thing because you could get a crap game.

Like the golf one, that always sucked. I wanted to do Plinko probably. Oh, the putting one? Yeah, fuck that. I mean, I would want the high reward one that's really hard. If I had to pick one, it would be the one where it's like you pick the middle dollars on a car one i i like that one or the well it's also dice it's the roll the dice one that that also takes the guessing out of it it's really just rolling giant fuzzy dice i mean for the pure aesthetics i would want to do the uh the height the mountain hiker one because that's fun

looking but i think there's some yodeling in there, too. Yeah, but Plinko is the combined, like, it looks fun, and you're probably going to need to win some money. You get to climb a ladder, too, right? Yeah. No, the problem with Plinko, though, is odds. I think three people ever have hit the $25,000 on Plinko. You know, you get a couple hundred bucks. Sure, yeah.

And also, you get to say, I played Plinko, the most famous. In Las Vegas, they have just the Plinko version. It's not the Price is Right machine for the slot machine. It's Plinko, the slot machine. But why are we talking? It's not Jeopardy. So they run off again. Alex Trebek, very funny in that scene there.

He's just, you know, another time he was really good on a show was on Cheers. There was one where Cliff Clayton goes on Jeopardy, and every question is his question. That's right. He is the know-it-all on Cheers. Yes. I believe he lost for some crazy reason. He answers the question wrong, but in a way that seems right to him.

I think it's been too long since I've watched that Jeopardy. Cheers. I need to watch that one. Anyway, with the Jeopardy bit over, that really did just feel like filler to get them out of the house so they could come back. A long trip to Burbank. Yes. The whole family flew to Burbank, which couldn't have been cheaper. They're just adding more to that debt.

Also, it's not that easy to just get on Jeopardy. Yeah, you have to pass tests, too. The comedy, though, the comedy of unless, and then you hear the music, just that you're waiting. In first viewing, you think, oh, Marge is winning. Oh, she's the worst. I mean, hearing the music is a real gut punch. You're like, oh, my God, they went to Jeopardy.

It actually happened. That's the final Jeopardy song. And I think, I don't know a real gut punch. You're like, oh my god, they went to Jeopardy. It actually happened. That's the Final Jeopardy song, and I think, I don't know, but I think if you have negative money, you cannot play Final Jeopardy because you have to have money to bid, right? I think so. I've never seen anyone do that bad on Jeopardy. What if Marge got the question wrong and that put her into the negative? They're not playing that music then.

I don't think you can wager any more than you have. You can't wager more than you have in final jeopardy like the worst you can do in final jeopardy is drop to zero so yes what do you do if you're under i think they just probably don't let you play i think you know no you must play but you just have a zero bet and it's just you hope that everybody goes below you on their bet i think they just wanted the music to sell the bit they didn't care about the reality uh but yeah so we they head back home we get to even see the sign evergreen terrace which almost makes you think that they knew you knew the name of the episode so they wanted to show it's back on evergreen terrace but then we

get some real emotional whiplash in this next bit here it's true i guess you better get used to being pariahs there's no shame in being a pariahs. There's no shame in being a pariah. Oh, no. There's that angry mob again. Hey, look who's here, everybody. Oh, hi. Hi. Oh, my.

They've forgiven us. It's a miracle. You know, deep down, people are pretty great. wait a minute they're taking our stuff good lord i mean you don't get two of these uh it's a wonderful life scenes in one in one show yeah but it's it's a nice mystery you're like wait what does this mean like you're you're definitely left in first viewing very confused. Like what's going on? Why is the door open?

And yeah, seeing Mole Man carrying the oven, that's a pretty good joke. I like that. But I don't think they would be happy with the Simpsons at that point. They would just be like, it would be more vindictive, I think. They're all insane. Like they've all insanely decided that like we're nice to you now because we're stealing your things. There's a weird moment on the stairs when Krusty is coming down and he tells Otto that he's already raided the medicine cabinet. Otto doesn't say anything.

It feels like there should be a line like, oh, man, or something like that. Yeah, you're right. He just stares blankly. It's like, there should be an Otto line there. That bothers me now. Though this was the first time I caught them seeing the couches gone as a parody couch gag. It's framed exactly like a couch gag. So it's showing that everything has been upset here, that they can't even do their couch gag in that proper setting.

Okay, so this is why I didn't like going back to it as a kid, because I knew this ending was coming. And I like this ending because it's just kind of like, it makes me feel bad. The idea of being robbed of all your things through a fault that something it's not your fault bart's fault just steal from him and so they lose everything including their pets like that actually really hurts yeah and but then it also bugged me it also is why i'd skip it because i'm like well this gets reset the next episode they didn't lose everything that's all fine yeah to me this episode and the Holidays of Future Past, they're both like

these could be series finale episodes. In fact, this feels a lot like the Seinfeld finale, which is like, I think, five or six months away, where it's just like they lose everything, but there's still some, like, I love the ending because as much as they have nothing, they still are enjoying each

other as a family. And they're still the same people. Yeah. Just like when they were in their prison cell at the end of Seinfeld. That's a really good point. They literally had the same conversation they had in the very first episode. Well, if listeners think that we're pedantic, I have a new segment I want to launch on this podcast that I just realized should be not a

recurring segment because it would be tedious, but we are pedantic. It's our job. But if you go on to the episode capsules for these episodes back in time i just want to focus on this scene alone because there are so many like goofs in this listing that i love this is like the cinema sins of the simpsons okay oh boy i'll read a few of them because they're hilarious um uh why would the fireplace be lit when our favorite family is out good question question. In 3F03, Homer has been seen having a pretty competent gas grill. I find it hard to believe Ned's would be on the list of items Homer has stolen from him.

And I'll do one more. Let me see. I have a pedantry back to that pedant. Okay. Wait, I have one more to do. Say the one more, yeah. Where did the washcloth come from? These are all good questions that we won't answer.

What is your re-penitentiary? Homer had that washcloth in his back pocket. That's true. That's his neck-washing washcloth from their trip to Pennsylvania. How many Fs did this episode get on SNPP? Oh, boy. I've seen a lot of Fs as I scroll down through here. But no, my penitentiary is homer has had a regular gas grill before too

but that grill that is there was the one he used in lisa the vegetarian so he has used it before and you're and also it was in the little lugger when they go off to cypress springs yeah creek cypress creek yeah it fits that ned he has Ned's thing. Like, that's my favorite gag of all the seasons. It's a running joke, too. He always steals from Ned. Well, Ned, that doesn't, this sells out a lot of characters who are just happily robbing them,

but Ned wouldn't do that, but he would take back his thing. Like, that's at least, I like that Ned did that. Ned's not evil, he just takes back stuff do you guys remember who took the the pets oh poo yeah which also seems extra like i don't know somebody else should take them then the mr nice apu their good friend at least i'll have a good home yeah that's true he just had his wedding there hey yeah you know what fuck you up like

come on and i i also like the gag, the comic book guy, like, put the silverware anywhere but in front of your genitals. Like, what are you doing? This is, like, weirdly, like I said, I watched this episode for this, to do this with you guys. I watched this in an empty apartment.

So, like, just to see. With your watchcloth? I was like, I was a little bit jealous because I think at the time when I was watching it, I still had to move a bunch of things out. I'm like, oh, man. If all my friends could just steal from me right now, that'd be great. Just start over from zero.

Including knives. I never realized, how do I transport knives? I'd already taken all the Tupperware away, so I put it in a bag and just hoped that it didn't shift around in the car and stab me. Boy, I never even thought of that. Handle first. But yes, now here is the happy ending.

What the hell's going on? Well, we hated being mad at you, Homer, so we decided to make things right. Consider your debt repaid, neighbor. And then some. Look, I know this has been a stressful holiday, but in a way, having nothing reminds us how lucky we really are. What? We still have each other. And isn't that the best gift of all?

But we would have had each other anyway. Yeah, plus lots of other stuff. Maybe so. But there's one thing they forgot to take away from us. This washcloth. Hey, that's my washcloth. The hell it is. Give me that.

Give me that washcloth. Stop this madness. It's just a washcloth. Besides, it's mine. Yoink. She's getting away with the washcloth. Besides, it's mine. Yoink. Get her off of the stairs! Get her off of the other side! They give it a moment of sweetness.

Yeah, yeah. All of your material possessions being taken, that's fine, but they just lost their pets. That should hurt them. Yeah, that should be actually pretty painful. Well, and all their memories, their photo albums, all that stuff. And the Homer

should have said, how long have we had these fish? That's true. Skinner wanted those fish. I like a good Marge yoink. That's funny. Also, why does Skinner think that fish is worth... The way he says, like, and then some, it's like, how's that fish worth a lot to you? You should be posting that capsule, Henry.

I think... Episode 3, F04. Skinner expresses a distaste for fish. My internal dialogue on this is just that they found, after this, they found some way to pay everyone back monetarily, and they gave them their things back. They stole from, let's say, Grandpa.

Yes. Something happened, and they got it back. And also, the next episode is a clip show, which really just resets everything, too. So, like, there is a drawer full of videotapes of the simpsons show that they pull out in that clip oh right that's right but uh i mean it is a i like that it's a parody of a sweet ending that bart says what i would have said as a kid too like we always had each other and lots other stuff like i don't care this that moral's dumb but uh homer with his washcloth i think too at least they didn't lose everything because if they

packed some things to take them uh for their trip to burbank that's still in the car and their car was not stolen that's true yeah i really think this episode only works in the terms of its plotting once the first time you see it because it is very cleverly written in that there are two major plot twists that you don't see coming but once you see it coming it's just sort of waiting to get to the end because you know what's going to happen so i feel like it was effective on me once but it's not as fun to go back to watch yeah that's probably why in the henry vhs it was it was less watched as well but i still yeah i still think it's like among the top tier of christmas episodes oh yeah yeah i would agree it's very funny there's still tons of funny stuff in it too it's just the ending

always makes me feel bad i mean i mean like i said before i love that it's kind of it almost has that serious finale vibe and they're still very much like a like a family but i also love and it kind of makes up for using such a cliched song as jingle bell rock that ending song it's like i i'm like a christmas media addict like shows movies whatever i like even the say by the bell episode uh And it's like, I've never heard this Christmas song. Yeah, same here. Before or since. Me neither.

No, it was a very deep cut. It's Bill Willis and his Texas Playboys is the name of that. A very sexy Christmas. And that'll be the song taking us out in this episode, too. I'd never heard it before either. You know, another of my favorite Christmas listing things was the John Waters Christmas collection of just all of songs like this, though not this song, of just a collection of like, you know, campy, silly old songs that also like make you kind of uncomfortable. But also they're like the pink plastic of Christmas, a very American, ugly, but lovable Christmas that I really love.

And that's what this song reminds me of, too, here. Especially that it's all about, like, it's a weird old man singing in a childish way about how awesome it is that Santa's coming. And also two kids who are in the song as well. Yes. It feels like a cowboy song for some reason. Yeah, I think so, too. Well, they're not cowboys. They're playboys.

Thanks for listening to Talking Simpsons, everyone. Thanks to Dave Rudden for coming in. Dave, you work at the Wrestling Factory, as far as I know. Can you talk about that at all? Oh yeah, I work for Visual Concepts, the developers of WWE 2K. So, you know, when those games come out, be sure to buy them. I'm on Twitter, at Dave Rudden,

and also i i did look it up uh if you have negative money at the end of jeopardy you don't get to do final jeopardy so just heading off those comments in the past but if you have other comments about this and other christmas episodes of simpsons yeah talk to me on twitter at dave rudden yeah thanks dave for coming on thank you so much you had like a somewhat recent work anniversary you've been there for over a year so congrats and a recent wedding engagement, so congrats to you on that. So much going on. Yes, thanks.

And moving. I'm happy that you could find the time to come by here. Though, to really date this, this is two birds with one stone because Dave also came by to watch a pro wrestling pay-per-view as well. So we're having some fun. I have to leave not because i don't like wrestling i really have to do a lot of work before i go to canada again uh but yes as for us we're part of the talking simpsons network and if you go to patreon.com talking

simpsons you can find out how to support the show and for the low price of five bucks a month you'll get every episode of this podcast one week ahead of time and ad free and the same goes for our sister show what a cartoon along with that5 a month, you'll also get all kinds of bonus podcasts we've done, dozens and dozens at this point, including exclusive series that will never leave Patreon, like Talking Critic, Talking Futurama, and the newly being released, Talking of the Hill,

where we're going through the entire first season of King of the Hill in our Talking Simpsons format, and we have a new $10 tier, new-ish, I will call it. It's been four months, but what is that tier, Henry? For our premium patrons, if you go up to the $10 a month level, you'll get to hear our monthly

What a Cartoon Movie podcast where me and Bob go through a different animated feature film for almost up to and including three and a half hours. We did that for Batman, Mask of the Phantasm, Kiki's Del service akira and a

goofy movie and this month it's it's don bluth's the secret of nim you'll be able to only hear that if you go up to the ten dollar and up level at patreon.com slash talking simpsons and if you sign up at the ten dollar level you'll also get 18 months worth of videos we recorded for that level including full commentaries on things like all the Tracy Ullman Simpson shorts. So a lot is happening there. And again, if you want to sign up at any level, please go to patreon.com slash talking Simpsons. As for me, I've been one of your hosts, Bob Mackey. Find me on Twitter as Bob Servo.

My other podcast is Retronauts. It's a classic gaming podcast. Every Monday and occasionally Friday, go to retronauts.com or look for Retronauts on your podcast machine. Look for a topic that you like, download that episode and subscribe to it, why don't you? How about you, Henry? Hey, I'm Henry Gilbert.

Follow me on Twitter at H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G. If you follow me there, you'll find out whenever new things go live on the Patreon or my reactions to Simpsons News and other stuff too. That's H-E-N-E-R-E-Y-G. Thanks for joining us, folks.

We'll see you next week for All Singing, All Dancing. We'll see you then. Hooray, hooray, oh, hear the merry sleigh. Yes, sir. Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling, Santa's on his way. Oh, Santa. Be good, be good

The way you know you should He's got some toys for girls and boys Who promise to be good Got a bike for Billy and a doll for Jane Got a dress for Mary and a sewing game A plane for Johnny and a cowboy gun He's got something for everyone Hooray, hooray

Oh, hear the Mary's sleigh He's got something for everyone Hooray, hooray Hooray Oh, hear the merry sleigh Jing-a-ling, jingle-ing, jingle-ing, jingle-ing Santa's on his way Hooray, hooray, yes, yes. Santa's gonna bring you something pretty, Harvey Yes Hooray, hooray Oh, hear the merry sleigh

Jing-a-ling, jingle-ing, jingle-ing, jingle-ing Santa's on his way Be good, be good The way you know you should. That's right. He's got some toys for girls and boys who promise to be good. Grown-ups as well. Got a bag for Billy and a doll for Jane.

Got a dress for Mary and a sewing game. A plane for Johnny and a cowboy gun. He's got something for everyone. Hooray, hooray. Hooray. Oh, hear the merry sleigh. Yeah. Jingling, jingling, jingling, jingling.

Santa's on his way. It's craptacular.