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.  

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🎙 Guests:  

Erin Evans (@mserinmevans).  

Lindy Kempe (@ieatvideogames).  

Joey O. (Y-Not Radio, Words with Nerds, @ImGonnaDJ24).  

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💬 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.  

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“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.