🎄 It’s 2014, but this special about a forgotten holiday mascot feels like it’s from the 1990s. Unfortunately, so do some of the jokes. 

🎙 Michael DiGiovanni and Donnie Storms join us on a sleigh ride back through “How Murray Saved Christmas,” which follows Murray Weiner (rhymes with diner) from the hidden hometown of every holiday mascot… but mostly the American ones. 

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💬 Topics & Tangents: 

Former “Simpsons” showrunner Mike Reiss’s original books, “How Murray Saved Christmas” and “Santa Claustrophobia.” 

The trimmed half-hour cut of the special removes some bad jokes, but also Murray’s backstory. 

Speaking of super offensive things, Marc Mero as Johnny B. Badd. 

Today’s TV Trope: Santa’s Sweatshop. 

“Vishnu” takes “The Problem with Apu” to a new low. 

Every LBGTQ+ Joke on The Simpsons Ever (as of early 2021). 

There’s an actual National Milkmen Day… on June 26, not August 12. 

All 27 or so Holidays Represented:  
Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Presidents Day, St. Patrick’s Day, April Fool’s Day, Easter, Arbor Day, Earth Day, Secretary’s Day (maybe), May Day, Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Graduation Day?, Father’s Day (maybe), (American) Independence Day, Bastille Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving… oh, and Jack Frost is there. 

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📼 Commercials: 

McDonald’s McDLT Commercial starring Jason Alexander (1985) 

Tinsel Tunes. 

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“How Murray Saved Christmas” © 2014 Universal Animation Studios. 

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