About this episode
Tune in as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special the only way we know how: With lots of screaming, lots of fruitcake, and lots more screaming. **** 🎙 Guests: Erin Evans ( @mserinmevans ). Lindy Kempe ( @ieatvideogames ). Joey O. ( Y-Not Radio , Words with Nerds , @ImGonnaDJ24 ). **** 💬 Topics & Tangents: 1. Magic Johnson recorded his segment hours before playing in — and winning — a Lakers game. We don’t know the precise date, but one win was against the SuperSonics, possibly (but probably not) on Ice Cube’s “ Good Day .” 2. One commercial break includes a bizarre Pringles commercial starring a young Brad Pitt . 3. Pee-wee’s Big Holiday . 4. When did fruitcake become a punchline? Christmas Past has something of an answer. Or is fruitcake a byproduct of the Joys of Jell-O era? 5. A mini ode to the Picture Phone, a giant, stationary Skype machine. 6. The working script and storyboards for this special. 7. Who mailed Grace Jones to the Reagan White House? 8. Pee-wee performing Surfin’ Bird in Back to the Beach . 9. The King of Cartoons’ cartoon: 1936’s Christmas Comes But Once a Year . 10. My feelings about snow mirror this one, particular Calvin and Hobbes comic strip , published 5 days after this special aired. 12. The awkward moment when we realize the Dinosaur Family has a pet dinosaur. **** “Pee-wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special” © 1988 Paul Reubens. Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house . Say hi on Twitter @adventcalhouse . Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost . Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house .