Totally Rad Christmas!

What's up, dudes and dudettes? It's the first mini episode (minisode?)! after every 10 episodes we'll toss in one of these in to keep things fresh and lively. Enjoy the look into Santa's mailbag, the suggestions, and the quick description of a big musical joke from genius composer John Williams!

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What's up, dudes and dudettes? We've got Totally Rad All-Star Danny Davila here to talk about my Christmas present in 1989, Mega Man! He's the Blue Bomber! He's the Super Fighting Robot! Released on December 17, 1987 for the NES, it's a science fiction side-scrolling action platformer about a robot who must defeat the nefarious Dr. Wily! 

In the year 20XX, Mega Man is a robot originally named Rock, created as a lab assistant by the scientist Dr. Light with his partner Dr. Wily. The treacherous Dr. Wily reprogrammed most of Dr. Light's robots, so Rock volunteered to be converted into a fighting robot. Now ready to defend the world from Wily's violent robotic threats, Rock became Mega Man. As the years progressed, Dr. Wily created his own robotic masters, each designed with a specific weapon system. 

Utilizing his Mega Buster arm cannon and his ability to copy the special weapons of the boss robots he defeats, Mega Man traversed harsh environments in order to bring Wily's menace to an end. With the help of his creator Dr. Light and his assorted cybernetic companions, Mega Man's eventual goal is to one day achieve everlasting peace for both humans and robots. 

Robotic dog named Rush? Check. Robotic reindeer? Uh huh. Oh, and yes! the infamous "Dr. Wahwee" pronunciation gets mentioned! Enjoy the Hap, Hap, Happiest Christmas memories, and remember to vote on the best worst impression on our social media sites for an extra special chance to win some Mega Man merch!

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What’s up, dudes? Turn up the boom box! April Ryley and I talk Band Aid’s 1984 charity single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” It’s a massive ’80s music moment packed with British and Irish pop royalty, big choruses, urgent synths, and more famous faces than a holiday issue of Smash Hits.

Bob Geldof and Midge Ure organized the project to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia, gathering artists such as Bono, Sting, George Michael, Boy George, Phil Collins, Simon Le Bon, and many more. Recorded in London in November 1984 and released just in time for the Christmas charts, the song became a defining charity single and helped set the template for later all-star benefit records.

The episode digs into the voices, the recording, the personalities, the cultural impact, and the complicated legacy of a song that is both undeniably iconic and still widely debated. It’s catchy, huge, very ’80s, and absolutely loaded with moments where you can point at the speakers and say, ‘Wait, is that who I think it is?’

Sting? Check. Phil Collins on drums? Got ’em. Bono belting the line everyone remembers? Oh my! So grab your boom box, cue up the charity single, and sing along to this Band Aid episode!

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What's up, dudes and dudettes? Let's take a trip to Babyland General Hospital with special guest Julia Colburn from 'Tis the Podcast! We talk BunnyBees, Col. Casey, and all things Cabbage Patch Kids! Did you know there was a Cabbage Patch Christmas special? It's pretty bonkers! Oh yeah! Garbage Pail Kids get a mention too! 

The Cabbage Patch Kids are getting ready for Christmas when Xavier Roberts teaches them about Christmas spirit. Desiring to know more about this peculiar spirit, they venture out of the patch to visit the city. As they escape, they run into Lavendar MacDade and her henchmen Cabbage Jack and Beau Weasel! After escaping via Christmas tree (don't ask), they finally make it to the city! Of course, they immediately run into carbon copies of the MacDade gang named Bertha, Gus, and Fingers. The kids find the city full of Santas, carolers, and toys. After a brief bout with traffic, a childless couple helps them out. The husband drops his wallet, and the kids try unsuccessfully to return it.  After running from the pickpockets again, the kids hide in a random house with a lonely girl. Jenny, a handicapped orphan, was left alone for Christmas, decorating a coat roack. The kids know the couple would adopt her and sneak her out. The pickpockets then spot them and chase them into a park. The pickpockets get the wallet, but the police arrive and save the day! The man and woman are so happy that they not only adopt Jenny, but also take Paula Louise with them too! The rest of the kids go home for Christmas, and the next day the man and woman send them all presents. Yay! Happy ending!

Stork caretaker? Check. Adorable little orphan girl? Yup. Two sets of criminal trios? Definitely! So grab your army helmet, run past the waterfall, and find the Christmas spirit with this episode!

‘Tis the Podcast
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What’s up, dudes? Gerry is joined by Michael Christelman from The Wonderful World of Nothing to talk M.A.S.K., the Mobile Armored Strike Kommand toy line that felt like G.I. Joe and Transformers crashed into each other in the best possible way. It was the 5th bestselling action lines of Christmas 1985, and it came loaded with masks, vehicles, secret identities, and V.E.N.O.M. skullduggery.

The magic of M.A.S.K. was the transformation gimmick. Cars became combat vehicles, motorcycles became attack machines, helmets unleashed wild powers, and every kid suddenly needed Boulder Hill, Thunderhawk, Condor, Rhino, and every other piece of Kenner covert-ops plastic they could get their hands on. It was espionage with spring-loaded features and theme-song adrenaline.

Gerry and Michael dig into the line’s place in the ’80s toy ecosystem, its mashup appeal, its Christmas-list power, and the wonderfully strange fact that M.A.S.K. later became folded into G.I. Joe continuity. That’s right: if your childhood carpet battles already crossed the streams, canon eventually caught up with you.

Masks? Check. Transforming vehicles? Got ’em. Matt Trakker joining the G.I. Joe universe? What?! So strap into Thunderhawk, activate Spectrum, and roll out undercover with this M.A.S.K. episode!

The Wonderful World of Nothing

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What's up, dudes and dudettes? By the power of Grayskull, we've got a masterful show here with special guest Thom Crowe from 'Tis the Podcast! We talk all things He-man and She-ra. Skeletor has a crisis of conscience?! Not even! --Even! Enjoy the Hap, Hap, Happiest Christmas memories, and remember to vote on the best worst impression on our social media sites!

What’s up, dudes? By the power of Grayskull, Gerry is joined by Thom Crowe from ’Tis the Podcast to talk He-Man & She-Ra: A Christmas Special! It’s Eternia, Etheria, Earth kids, space shuttles, Christmas spirit, and Skeletor experiencing the most confusing emotional crisis of his entire skull-faced life.

The Filmation special begins with Orko accidentally blasting off in the Sky Spy and crash-landing on Earth, where he meets Miguel and Alisha. Before long, the kids and their Christmas tree are transported back to Eternia, and Horde Prime decides the Christmas spirit is dangerous enough to require immediate villainous intervention. Naturally, Skeletor and Hordak both want the reward.

The joy of the episode is watching the cosmic toy-commercial universe collide with sincere Christmas messaging. He-Man and She-Ra punch through danger, the villains compete, the kids explain Christmas, and Skeletor discovers that warmth, puppies, and holiday goodwill might be harder to resist than Castle Grayskull itself.

Orko in a spaceship? Check. Earth kids stranded on Eternia? Got ’em. Skeletor not being nice or  kind or wonderful? Not even! Even! So raise your Power Sword, hop on Swift Wind, and celebrate Christmas across dimensions with this He-Man & She-Ra episode!

'Tis the Podcast

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What’s up, dudes? Anthony Caruso from 'Tis the Podcast is here for a fantastical journey into Rankin/Bass’s 1985 adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus! It’s Santa origin-story time, complete with immortals, forests, found family, and that particular Rankin/Bass flavor of cozy and bizarre.

Things get wonderfully strange when L. Frank Baum and Rankin/Bass decide Santa Claus needs a full-on fantasy origin story complete with immortal beings, talking animals, ancient forests, and an existential debate about mortality. Gerry and his guest dive into the bizarrely beautiful world of Burzee, where the infant Claus is discovered in the woods by the Great Ak and raised by the wood nymph Necile among fairies, knooks, and creatures that feel more “high fantasy epic” than traditional Christmas special. Along the way, young Claus discovers humanity, becomes obsessed with bringing joy to children, and accidentally invents toys after carving a wooden cat for a lonely child. Naturally, this leads to toy workshops, enchanted paints, magical helpers, and some of the most ambitious worldbuilding Rankin/Bass ever attempted.  

Of course, because this is late-era Rankin/Bass, things eventually escalate from cozy toy-making and snowy forests into invisible demons stealing presents, immortal councils debating Claus’s fate, giant fantasy creatures marching into battle, and Santa Claus essentially earning eternal life through the sheer power of Christmas spirit. Gerry and his guest discuss the special’s darker tone, its gorgeous Animagic puppetry, the haunting “Ora e Sempre” sequence, and why The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus feels less like a normal Christmas special and more like somebody adapted ancient mythology into an ‘80s fantasy movie for kids. So grab your wooden toy cat, harness up Glossie and Flossie, avoid the Awgwas in the forest, decorate your memorial tree, and join us as we explore one of the most ambitious and underrated Rankin/Bass specials ever produced. 

Forest of Burzee? Check. Immortals debating Santa’s fate? Got it. Toymaking as mythic destiny? Absolutely! So grab your wooden lion, follow the nymphs, and journey into this Life and Adventures of Santa Claus episode!

'Tis the Podcast
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What’s up, dudes? I’m is joined by Lucas Hinojosa, Jr. for a fun, old-fashioned family Christmas meltdown as they dive into 1989’s “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!” It’s the Griswolds at maximum holiday voltage: lights, ladders, bonuses, relatives, squirrels, sleds, and Clark W. Griswold trying desperately to engineer the perfect Christmas.

The movie takes every cozy holiday expectation and runs it through a John Hughes-chaos machine. Clark wants the house covered in lights, the family gathered around the tree, and the Christmas bonus ready for a swimming pool down payment. Instead, he gets dry turkey, cat-shaped electrical trauma, Cousin Eddie’s RV, a jelly-of-the-month subscription, and a living room full of combustible family tension.

Gerry and Lucas dig into the movie’s quotable moments, the slapstick, the heart under the chaos, and why this late-’80s classic became one of the definitive Christmas comedies. It’s crude, warm, manic, and weirdly sincere all at once, which is exactly why it keeps showing up every December like a station wagon with a tree tied to the roof.

25,000 imported Italian twinkle lights? Check. A squirrel in the tree? Got it. Cousin Eddie emptying the chemical toilet? Shitter was full! So grab your hockey mask, grease up the sled, and plug into this “Christmas Vacation” episode!

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What’s up, dudes? Yo Joe! I’m joined by Todd Killian from Christmas Clatter to talk one of the biggest action toy lines of the ’80s: G.I. Joe! It’s the real American hero era of file cards, battle stands, mail-away figures, swivel-arm battle grip, and enough vehicles to occupy every square inch of the bedroom carpet. There was even a Christmas episode: “Cobra C.L.A.W.s are Coming to Town”!

Things get wildly festive when Cobra slips into the Joes’ charity toy drive by hiding miniature Cobra troops and vehicles inside the donated Christmas presents. A rocking horse becomes a full-on Trojan horse, tiny S.N.A.K.E. armor and Cobra aircraft burst out of toys, and Destro’s molecular reducer/enlarger turns the holiday donation pile into Cobra’s sneakiest infiltration plan yet. With most of the Joes away for Christmas, Cobra captures the skeleton crew at headquarters, takes control of Joe vehicles, and plans to attack Keystone City so the public will believe G.I. Joe has turned traitor.  

Of course, because this is G.I. Joe, the whole thing escalates from Christmas dinner and Mutt’s holiday blues to meat-locker imprisonment, stolen Skystrikers, Zartan posing as Duke, Joes piloting Cobra vehicles, Cobras piloting Joe vehicles, and Shipwreck’s parrot Polly becoming the gigantic feathered hero of the day. Gerry and Todd dig into the toyetic madness, the Christmas trappings, the Cobra absurdity, and the glorious sight of Keystone City becoming a holiday battlefield full of lasers, swapped vehicles, and one very oversized parrot saving Christmas. 

Kung-fu grip? Check. Cobra Commander tantrums? Got ’em. Tiny classified dossiers you absolutely memorized? Knowing is half the battle! So grab your file cards, load up the VAMP, and parachute into this episode on G.I. Joe “Cobra C.L.A.W.s are Coming to Town”!

Christmas Clatter
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What’s up, dudes? Welcome to the first full-length Totally Rad Christmas episode! Yours truly, Gerry D, is joined by his brothers David and Danny to crack open the 1986/1987 Time Life Treasury of Christmas, the kind of double-album holiday collection that could instantly transform a living room into a wood-paneled Christmas memory machine.

This set is packed with classic voices, cozy arrangements, and enough seasonal standards to make you feel like the stereo console is glowing beside the tree. From Bing Crosby and Perry Como to the Carpenters, Elvis, the Beach Boys, and big choral medleys, the album plays like a greatest-hits Christmas party where every track has a different ornament on the branch.

The brothers dig into song selection, version differences, family favorites, and those Hap, Hap, Happiest Christmas memories that make certain recordings stick in your brain forever. Of course, the episode also brings the early TRC best-worst-impression energy, because nothing says holiday warmth like lovingly butchering a beloved Christmas song for bragging rights.

Bing Crosby? Check. The Carpenters? Got ’em. Best worst impressions from the Davila boys? Oh yeah! So dust off the stereo, slide that Time Life collection out of the sleeve, and drop the needle on this episode on the Time Life Treasury of Christmas!

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