Movie: (1966) Santa has to get a job — as a department store Santa — to earn money to pay his overdue rent bill.
Opening: Jonah wants to sing a Christmas carol, but picks the one song people don’t know the words to
Invention exchange: Kinga still plans to marry Jonah, but Synthia isn’t helping; J&tB have the Re-Gifter; the Mads have “Humbug FM”
Segment 1: J&tB review classic Santa toys
Segment 2: J&tB try to explain the creepy toys
Segment 3: Santa and Baby Whipple visit
Closing: Christmas slide show
Stinger: Hohohohoho, hey Sam, this is fun! Hohoho!
(74 votes, average: 3.31 out of 5)
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• Overall a pretty good episode, and a nice addition to the stable of MST3K/Rifftrax/Cinematic Titanic Christmas movies to choose from every year.
• There’s a brief reference to the upcoming wedding, and a reminder that Synthia is there. Setting things up for the next episode.
• Instead of a medley of tunes from the legacy series, during the breaks the Skeleton Crew plays its version of “Patrick Swayze Christmas.”
• I love a good running gag. I really do. They can be frustrating, at times, to some viewers, but I think it usually works if the underlying joke is funny. That’s the problem, I think, with the “I’m a baby” running gag (of which there were, by my count, 20 mentions). The original joke just doesn’t land for me. I don’t think he looks at all like a baby. Sorry…
• The scene with the kids pouring out of houses to give Santa money must have felt very familiar to Joel.
• At one point, when it looks like something on the screen is going to explode, the riffers run for their lives…they quickly return.
• The line “fightin’s outta style,” had to have come from Firesign Theatre fan Joel.
• Segment two is a cute idea, hampered by the low-res images from the movie that were shown. A little hard to make out.
• Obscure reference: “Omar comin’!” (Fans of “The Wire” got it.)
• Is it me or were there a noticeably large number of “Dune” references in this one, for some reason?
• I love Joel’s completely offhand Santa. He’s not even trying to do a different voice.
• That was Elliot Kalan as Baby Whipple.
• Actor Salvatore Furnari was also in “Hercules & the Captive Women.” and Rosanno Brazzi played Don Lamanna in “Final Justice.”
• Classic riff: “They’ve created their own Thunderdome.” “Jonah, can’t we get beyond Thunderdome?”
• Fave riff: “You can always tell when a building used to be an i-Hop.” Honorable mention: “Wow this tea kicked in fast!” and “You sure you’re not confusing children with spiders?”
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Proving conclusively that it is possible to be technically correct, but still totally wrong. ;-)
To me, the butler was a dead ringer for Count Olaf from A Series of Unfortunate Events (which is another Netflix series, so it would have been a perfect opportunity for cross promotion). I’m surprised nobody caught that.
Because it’s JOEL, silly.
Because when Joel was hosting everything was candyland happydance.
But then the dark shadow of Mikedor was spread upon the land, and lo! all was cruelty and despair and jokes about Wisconsin or Minnesota or whatever that state with all the cows & lakes is called …
Funniest episode of the new batch!
This episode was the low point of the season for me. It just lays there. And I agree, I didn’t get the “I’m a baby” thing, either. After a while, and several viewings, it just started to annoy me. It seemed like I was clearly missing something that they all thought was hilarious. Other than this episode, I’ve been pretty happy with the new run. I hope they get another season to really get comfortable in their roles. It makes me happy knowing that the show is back.
I always get the heebie jeebies when I completely agree with you on something. It’s always so out of left field.
You’re not alone, as I consider It’s a Wonderful Life to be one of the most overrated films of all time.
On the bright side, when it came to paying homage to that film, at least The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t chose that moment rather than doing yet another “what if X was never born” story, thanks to the overkill of this trope, is one of the main reasons I despise It’s a Wonderful Life (the other reason is that it takes forever just to tell George Bailey’s backstory).
So you don’t think much of Gilligans Island? That is fine. But to dismiss it as drivel for the unwashed masses is harsh. If you read Sherwood Schwartz’s book about it (yes, there was a book) he explains that the premise was to gather 7 people of different stations and interests and have them confined together to make a new society: who would lead, who would do the manual labor, how would they learn to rely on each other. Now you could approach it and just be dry and serious (and maybe appease the critics) or you could camp it up with dome slapstick and try to have some fun with it to appeal to a different crowd. Actually the Ginger vs. Mary Ann thing isn’t about do you prefer Tina Louise to Dawn Wells, it is a choice of do you prefer sweet and wholesome or a glamorous party girl. But it is not designed to be debated in our higher learning institutions. It’s target is two guys having a beer going ‘That Mary Ann sure is cute.’ ‘No way – I’d rather be doing the town with Ginger.’
You know, growing up I never cared for the Three Stooges. It was only when I got a little older that I got the social satire of the depression era did I develop an appreciation for them. Was my opinion wrong when I was young? Is it wrong now? Or is it, I don’t know, my opinion as of right now? Should I poll the majority (or the minority elite) to see if my opinion is valid?
Anyway, I hope I am not pouring gasoline on the subject and I don’t feel the need to weigh in with my daggers in the Joel vs. Mike vs. Jonah thing. Just saying I enjoyed Season 11 and was ok with Jonah but after seeing the Live show in DC I was impressed and am very comfortable with Jonah now.
Of course, I could go on with my controversial Josh vs. Kevin debate ………..
That series debuted in January and the MST3K episodes were filmed in September. I’m guessing it just wouldn’t have been on their radar at the time.
I know I’m late to the party, but here goes…
Just when you think there are no insane old Christmas movies left to riff…
This is another episode I wasn’t crazy about the first time around, but came to love upon a second viewing. The movie is so hard to pin down… is it trying to be charming, endearing, whimsical, a comedy, marginally entertaining, what?! Because it fails on nearly all those fronts. It’s nowhere near as bizarre as getting kidnapped by Martians or fighting an envoy of Satan, but dealing with an overzealous landlord is still one heck of a weird premise to base your Christmas movie on. But hey, that’s why MST3K exists. The end result is a pretty darn funny episode (although it was REALLY in need of a “Jonah era” original Christmas song). It’s not quite the classic that SCCTM and SC (or even some of Rifftrax’s Christmas offerings) are, but it’s still a hoot, and will officially enter my Holiday Riffing Rotation this December!
Some thoughts:
-“The Krampus’ are calling” might be my favorite “hitting the button” line this season.
-Kinga’s still planning her wedding. It’s not a big part of the episode this time, but that’ll change in the next episode. I love her line, “I’m thinking black and darker black.”
-The Re-Gifter is a classic MST3K invention AND prop! A fun idea for sure!
-Jonah refers to Max and Kinga as the “Masters of the Alternaverse”. I see what you did there, Joel… ;)
-The opening credits really remind me of Catalina Caper, right down to the laid back, slower paced riffs.
-I love that the Skeleton Crew interstitials use a thus far unheard rendition of “A Patrick Swayze Christmas”! I wish they had used a bit of “Merry Christmas (If That’s Okay)” as well.
-REALLY big oversight not making an Ernest Thesiger reference when the creepy butler is onscreen.
-Dear God, these must be the creepiest Santa elves in any movie I’ve ever seen.
-Moment of riff restraint: Mrs. Claus tells Santa, “How many times have I told you not to come down so fast?”
-The “Baby Whipple” running gag seems to be hit or miss with a lot of MSTies, but I thought it was funny in most places. The issue was that it didn’t have an obvious origin or clear reason for being a running joke. It was funny to me because of the repetition and performances of the riffers, and I honestly laughed at it many times, and that’s what counts.
-Whoever is dubbing Mr. Prune sounds exactly like Bela Lugosi. It’s a thick Hungarian accent. The guys make a single reference by following one of Prune’s proclamations of “Children!” with “…of the night!”, a line from Dracula. There are a few few Count Count jokes in there as well.
-The idea behind Segment 1 is a great one. It’s one I’ve pondered myself. I loved it!
-This episode has two bubble edits. It still feels like cheating.
-Self reference: “The “T” stands for “the”?”
-In the second interstitial, Max reveals that the Boneheads were created by Kinga to be “a race of atomic supermen which will conquer the world”, a reference to/direct quote from Bride of the Monster. Did Prune’s accent remind them of Lugosi’s stint in the infamous Ed Wood flick/penultimate Season 4 episode?
-No callbacks outside of the “atomic supermen” line.
-Classic MST3K Lines: “Nightmare fuel.”; “Hello? Hello? Hello? HELLO!” (And a Santa variant); “Can’t we get beyond Thunderdome?”
-Speaking of nightmare fuel, dear GOD, all of the toys in Prim’s department store are legitimately horrifying. I wanted more jokes about how demonic they all look, but Segment 2 mostly makes up for it. Hysterical stuff, but I wish they had done more than four toys.
-Wow, a Santa that’s afraid of children… MERRY CHRISTMAS!
-The sequence with Prune and his butler stalking Santa is an hysterical stretch of riffing. “I’m gonna crop dust these kids.”
-I give it a year before official “Think of something! Think of something! Think of something!” tee shirts and bumper stickers hit the market.
-Theater antics: a smudge appears on the print, and Tom digs through a bunch of junk to find a duster to remove it.
-The Kid’s Assemble bit is a nice rapid fire list of crazy names, similar to (but far briefer than) the Spaceship Toy Set bit from Starcrash.
-Nice Dune reference: “The Spice must flow.”
-Segment 3, with Joel as Jewish Santa and Elliot Kalen as Baby Whipple is goofy as heck. Like in The Time Travelers, it’s weird seeing/hearing Joel in an MST3K episode as someone NOT Joel Robinson, but it’s a funny segment and his reactions to Whipple are hysterical. But did anyone else wish Paul Chaplin would suddenly pop onscreen as Pitch and start fighting him?
-Yet another Roger Rabit reference: “Shave and Haircut… he’s looking for Toons!” Someone this season is a fan.
-What is it with these Christmas movies and weird reindeer?!
-The still frame sequence is hysterical. A weird movie moment with hilarious riffing. My favorite line: “Who noodled in my Santa bag?”
-A nice old school moment at the end: after staying alone in the theater to rattle off more Prune eBay buys, Crow is pulled out of the theater by Jonah. It had a “Phantom Creeps” vibe to it.
-The still frame parody ending might be my favorite of the season. It’s nice to see Gypsy still knitting sweaters, but I was really hoping Jonah’s would say “Joikeah” on it. Ah well. The Mad’s are equally hysterical, and Patton’s face as he proudly cradles his first aid kit is the definition of priceless.
-End Credits Music: A Patrick Swayze Christmas; To Earth; Sidehackin’; The Canada Song
-Favorite Riff: “Do you even chair, bro?”
-Honorable Mentions: “You can always tell when a building used to be an IHOP.”; “Paging Dr. Freud…”; “As long as you don’t sing…”
This was a hard slog the first time but it’s starting to grow on me a little after a 3rd viewing. Still the weakest episode of the season for me, but time will tell. The Toy bear that killed another bear and wore it’s victim’s skin as a suit cracks me up.
Part of what makes this one a little tough for me is that after all the psychotic Santa Clauses we’ve seen, this one seems kind of blah. The movie itself seems to be a relatively serviceable, if legalistic, kids movie which doesn’t lend itself to riffing the way Martians and Ice Cream Bunny do.
Guess what? Toddlers still love those wooden toys! I work in retail and recently saw a wee one screaming because he couldn’t get one.
Perhaps anyone who watched Cinematic Titanic’s treatment of Frankenstein’s Castle of Freaks?
Mr. Prune looks like Jaz Coleman of the band Killing Joke (one of my favorites!) : )
http://www.stereogum.com/1109062/killing-joke-singer-missing/news/
All the Christmas episodes done by MST proper over the years do violate one of the rules of movie selection. With a few exceptions the rule I’m referring is not to riff comedies. In fact the Christmas episodes are major percentage of this rule violation. I’ll say they in general they are not my favorite episodes and it is probably in part because of this rule. That said none of the Christmas episodes are anywhere near the bottom of my list either. I guess that leaves them somewhere in the middle. This is a strange movie. Not Mexican Santa Claus strange, but it certainly betrays its Italian heritage. I did enjoy it but you have to be in the right mood for it and July (Christmas in July at Jellystone campground aside) probably doesn’t find me in that mood most of the time.
The Bots are right. Nobody knows the words to Good King Wenseslas. In fact I but Jonah was cheating and signing off a teleprompter.
The invention exchange is kind of weak. These are both ideas that should speak to my sense of humor but while I can’t put my finger on specifically why, they just fall flat.
The analysis of North Pole toys is spot on. I wouldn’t want to play with them either. I was born in 1973 so it wouldn’t have been Christmas without Kenner Star Wars toys. Boy am I glad I never got a wooden toy soldier or the like.
So Santa is Jewish. What does that make Hanukkah Harry?
All the talk in this thread about the baby running gag is much ado about nothing in my eyes. Frankly I barely noticed it.
I kind of liked the artsy present opening collage.
Favorite Riffs:
Mr. Whipple to Santa “I’d have recognized you sooner if it hadn’t been for the sad look on your face.” Crow as Santa “I’m off the clock.”
Prune “I’ve been running away from children all my life.” Crow “As required by the court order.”
Mr. Whipple “you’re going to sit right down in that chair and listen for a change.” Elves enter the room and sit on stools. Tom as Michael Buffer “Let’s get ready to filibuster.”
Mr. Whipple overrules Prune’s objection. Crow “North Korea has a more fair court system than this.”
I love the new series, but, for some reason this one does not work for me. I did watch it last Christmas and it was “OK”.
The highlight to me is the Prune guy is the same guy from Final Justice. Maybe this episode needs Joe Don Baker as Santa.
In fairness, when the lights are lit this Christmas, I will watch it again.
after this week Sampo, will we be starting over again.
edit, sorry forgot about At the Earth’s Core (and would we be going back to the beginning then).
Regarding why Jonathan is so much taller than the other elves, presumably even elves can have gland issues.
A character named Mr. Whipple and no Charmin jokes?
Back in Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 2 when they referred to the incompetent wizard as “Homeless Santa”, I wonder if they realized that they’d be doing a Christmas movie about Santa being evicted.
He’s a Buryat shaman.
Favorite riffs
How did Santa’s nose get so red?
Maybe he indulged in a little Christmas cheer.
Santa, I’m not mad. I’m just your AA sponsor.
Either the title card is in Italian, or we’re getting nachos.
I fooled you. It a subpoena. You’ve been served.
Here, take all my Enron stock.
“Let’s head for the North Pole.”
It’s just right up the street.
“Santa’s going to see a friend about that.”
Whitey Bulger?
“Something touched you here.”
On the third nipple.
It’s Hasbro’s weakest Christmas lineup ever.
“Just act natural.”
They can smell your fear.
What did they cut out of this movie if this is what they kept?
The editor must have been so tempted to speed this up. I know I am.
Why do we live in the line for Disney’s Tower of Terror, sir?
Off you go, gender neutral mushroom child.
Weekend at Bernie’s 3: Blossom’s Revenge.
This store was built on a stuffed animal burial ground.
This kid is so demanding, even the movie is backing away.
It’s the Running of the Little Scrooges.
Let me out! I slipped on the conveyor belt and fell in the wrapping machine!
Ignore the ticking. It’s perfectly normal for a bomb this size.
“Why can’t every day be gay?”
That’s a loaded question.
Now on to the next movie, where we deal with my Easter issues!
Take it Catalina Caper and Wild World of Batwoman are the exceptions? (Moon Zero-Two was only “tongue-in-cheek”, that doesn’t count.)
As one who grew up all his formative years in Seneca, aka “The Real Bedford”, Falls NY (http://therealbedfordfalls.com), I could say “Smile when you say that, friend…”, if I wasn’t also an IAWL-basher.
Yeah, I remember when most of us had completely forgotten the movie even existed, way back before the Stockholm-Syndrome 80’s of UHF channels and public-domain.
I’m also from that generation that grew up with the same collection of Pogo comic strips implanted on their cortex:
“‘Good King Sauerkraut, look out, on his feets uneven…'”
“Hold it, Wenceslas is king, Wenceslas!”
“Hey, hear that? This Winklehof guy is king now! Good King Sauerkraut must be dead.”
Why is it always “Christmas in July”, anyway? Why not June? That would be the opposite month of the year.
What’s that funnel back there for?
I’m not sure where to place this Christmas episode in the MST3k Yuletide trio. In terms of raw humor it has its moments but it’s just not ‘out there’ enough. There’s that catchy little opening tune over the titles, it’s clearly got higher production values in terms of set design, and I admit I was intrigued that this time it’s Santa who really needs help instead of your standard-issue cute little kid. Plus, for someone like me (and I know I am) who enjoys old time Hollywood connections, there’s character actor Mischa Auer. This guy featured in movies with stars like Bing Crosby and William Powell and here he is in one of his very last roles, still stealing scenes. Not to mention, is it possible some of those elves turned up in “Willy Wonka” a few years later?
Fave riffs
“Mr. Whipple…”
Stop squeezing that tinsel!
“Santa Claus, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?”
Always.
He’s turned his crotch into a clown car!
Santa having a laywer kinda sucks the charm out of all this.
Reminds me of the old saying ‘If you’re gonna spy, do it weird!’
Balloon or personal space, can’t have both!
Whether it be Joel, Mike or Jonah, mean humor sucks, and it’s just plain lazy writing. All involved in the show at one time or another have delved into it. Why does it bother some us so? Because we hold MST3K, in all it’s incarnations, to a higher standard than that. It is the greatest show ever, so when it falls short, it’s a letdown. Nobody’s perfect!
Right? It’s all about opinion here. No matter how you express it. Passion for MST3K, no matter it’s form, is awesome. As long as we keep personal attacks at bay, we’re all good. So what if someone vehemently dislikes an aspect and hammers it endlessly. That’s passion! It’s not about you, so why would you care? If we were just all sycophants, the discussion would be over. How boring would that be? So it’s good to have wide varying degrees of fandom, it keeps it healthy. No flame wars, just opinions.
And have we confirmation on the Episode Guide flipping back over, or are we done until season 12 arrives?
Sampo, shouldn’t the title in the episode guide be, “Il Natale Che Quasi Non Fu”?
I like the episode okay but it isn’t nearly as good as “Santa Claus”. But that is a lot to live up to, admittedly.
I wouldn’t call Wild World of Batwoman a “comedy”, it’s more a dry heave set to film. [/Seinfeld reference]
Anyone else think Santa and Baby Whipple were just the swinger scientists from Time Travelers in disguise at first? They played them so similarly I almost couldn’t tell.
I struggled over this one. The only really simlar case is “Operation Kid Brother.” Our standard rule is “what appears on the title card is what we say the movie is.” In this case I decided to make an exception. But you’re right, I should explain what people are seeing.
Except one particular poster persists on making it about US, by insisting that everyone else is enjoying MST3K the “wrong” way, or enjoying the “wrong” things about it, or the “wrong” hosts/writers; that we’re all clueless noobs and/or cultural Philistines; and that it’s his job to show us the error of our ways.
I’ll just cut to the chase: this episode sucks. This was the only episode from the New Season that I only watched once, my first sit through was dreadfully painful. During this second watch, I found a couple moments to clutch onto, but overall this is my least favorite episode of the season and it will most definitely NOT be included in my MST3k holiday viewing rotation. I don’t see a reason to return to this one, maybe ever.
The movie doesn’t have any of the weird flavor or personality that SCCTM or SANTA CLAUS both contain, what we have here is a muddled mess that is alternately bland and annoying. The “think of something” moment makes my skin crawl. Also, the songs in this are straight-up terrible, just like the humor and the dubbing. . . good god, let’s move on . . as a result of my extreme dislike for the movie, I feel like the riffing never truly takes off and is limp throughout. The whole “widdle baby” running joke is not funny at all, this gag and the “crabby” jokes from WOTLK are both in the running for worst MST3k running gag of all-time.
The Invention Exchange is weak.
Host Segment #1 shows us that Santa’s toys suck, so be naughty.
HS#2 is the only truly funny moment of the episode, “Scudge McDunk” makes me laugh. Also, that bear IS scary!
HS#3 has Joel as Santa. That’s nice.
RIFFS:
Jonah: “Topol IS Santa.”
Crow: “Thanks, Officer Dracula.”
Jonah: “Is she singing with the guys from Ween?”
Crow: “Whoa this tea kicked in FAST!”
Servo: “What did they cut out of this movie if this is what they kept?” ———— #truth
Crow: “What a dick.”
Crow: “Calling all C.H.U.D. children, calling all C.H.U.D. children, this is not a drill!”
Jonah: “I think I know what happens now, I’ve seen The Wicker Man.”
Crow: “Box of kittens!”
——–
—-
Oof, pretty bad episode in my opinion,
worst I’ve seen in a long time.
I gotta give this one the dreaded
1 out of 5 stars
I’m right there with you. This is one of my least favorite episodes ever.
Yeah, I remember the commercials for the local matinees of this movie during December. They’d do the same thing with the Adam West “Batman” movie during the summer.
I looked up a review I once wrote for this movie, long before the Relaunch. At the time, while I thought it was certainly riff-worthy, I didn’t think it was too bad. Watching it again with Jonah & the ‘bots, my opinion wasn’t as favorable. I mean, I think it’s OK for less jaded, more innocent kids and adults, but I didn’t like it. Maybe it was the whole “No presents equals no Christmas” thing, or maybe the hammy villain. I’m not sure. I thought the riffing and the host segs were generally OK, especially the still montage.
One thought: Santa, renowned as a cheerful, optimistic fellow who, as per Rankin-Bass, has stood up to all sorts of trouble with good will and courage, ends up as a morose, defeated, fearful shell of his former self. Had this movie been riffed now, I can just hear one of the guys joking, “When Rian Johnson makes a Christmas movie.”
IMHO this is one of those movies that is too awful for riffing to save it. Yeah, the movies are supposed to be awful but this one’s awful in a bad way.
Oh, and it has the absolute worst movie-Santa ever.
The way Whipple meets Santa late at night in the street has nothing whimsical about it, I always found it odd. “Hey are you Santa? Or are you that guy with the van who used to deliver my steaks by mail before it went under and now you’re homeless?
This movie lacks the WTF factor of SCCtM and Santa Claus.
Honestly, I got bored on the first viewing and I really can’t get too enthused about watching it again…
I don’t immediately recall the relevant scene(s), but if you’re basing that solely on Santa calling Mrs. Claus “Mother,” I’ve seen/heard “old-fashioned” married couples address each other as “Mother” and “Father” in any number of sources. The short story “The Revolt of “Mother”” by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman is one example, the two church mice (a sexton and his wife) in Disney’s 1973 “Robin Hood” another.
Before anyone asks: “A sexton is an officer of a church, congregation, or synagogue charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or the surrounding graveyard.” Thank you, Wikipedia.
BTW, anyone else remember, from that movie, how Friar Tuck says, “Things can’t get worse” and the Sheriff comes in declaring, “Howdy, Friar! Well, it looks like I got here just in time!” Wouldn’t this slight alteration have made it even funnier?
Friar Tuck: “Things can’t get worse.”
Sheriff: “Howdy, Friar! Well, it sounds like I got here just in time!”
;-)
BTW, attacking the community’s head of law enforcement in front of witnesses, oh, GOOD one, Friar…
I personally thought the “Baby Whipple” running gag was kind of creepy and made the episode a lot less funny than it probably would have been, otherwise. It did have some funny bits, but was a pretty average episode in the end.
Did anyone else think that the reindeer having a bubble around them in Segment 3 was a reference to Servo’s essay in SCCTM?
Are you sure? By my recollection, in the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa was portrayed as grumpy old man who secretly despises the elves.
I seem to recall Santa in at least one of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials refer to Mrs. Claus as “mother” as well.
Other examples I’m aware of include how John Lennon referred to Yoko as “mother”, though the man did have issues in that department. And some portrayals of Ronald Reagan, primarily in satirical contexts, have him calling Nancy “Mommy”, though I’m not sure how true-to-life that is.
You have the choice of the film-buff “It’s my only vice” riff, or the Rocky Horror “Riff Raff” ref. If you’re a MSTie, which do YOU choose?
(Hey, if I can semi-topically quote Pogo for one paragraph, Touched can quote a 70’s Ron Miller-era Disney that only VCR-kids and Furries love, in idiosyncratic Asperger’s-level detail, for five. Let’s not apply any double standards.) ;)
No, the running gag in Rudolph was that Santa was too thin and he needed to gain weight in time for Christmas Eve, because who ever heard of a skinny Santa?
Rankin-Bass saved their TRUE creepiness for their birth-of-Jesus fare, like The Little Drummer Boy and Nestor the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey.
“Omar comin’“ was the biggest belly laugh of the new season for me. Please tell me you all know how perfect that was.
And this was one sad sack Santa. John Call and his Mexican counterpart were large and in charge, but this guy?
What is it with you and judging people, anyway? Why can’t people just like what they like without you condescendingly fitting them into some arbitrary category?
You mean like how when you wanted Sitting Duck to stop making Bechdel Test reports because it was such a burden for you to skip over one or two lines of text while leaving the rest of us with DOZENS of lines of texts to skip over? Like that, you mean?
This Santa really isn’t nearly crazy enough to be very entertaining. Even Miracle on 43rd Street hinged on a mental health hearing. I am quite fond of the bear wearing another bears skin Ed Gein style.
So, well now, let’s see. Whhoo could you be referring to? Hmmmm, whoooo could it be? I don’t know, could it be SSAAATTTAANNN?!?!?!? Oh wait, no… ;-)
Calm down, I didn’t say you had Asperger’s, I just joked that your voluntary Disney doctoral thesis that left everyone trying to find the connection to the post above it sounded like your average Internet Asperger’s-poster kook. (So does most of Bill Corbett’s style, but that’s another discussion.)
Although the multi-chain posting, and the multi-post butthurt-personal-war red-zone tantrums when someone calls you on it, pretty well nails it–Check any medical textbook you want.
And… you completely ignored what he was referring to, and jumped to something else instead. Go back and re-read his post, paying close attention to what he quoted.
Doling out the harshness, geez! I wouldn’t put it that strongly, but it is my least favorite of the Christmas episodes, counting the Cinematic Titanic version of “Martians” (I haven’t seen the Rifftrax “Santa Claus”).
As many have noted before, bad comedy usually doesn’t make for good riffs (and thus good comedy). As a comedy, this film suffered an automatic disadvantage. Nothing to be done. I’m beginning to come round to that opinion.
If they absolutely had to have a Christmas episode (which they didn’t), I’d have preferred they use one of the however many dozens of Santa-centric horror films exist (most of which admittedly don’t involve the “real” Santa Claus). If they’d found one with enough gratuitous gore, they could have edited out JUST THOSE PARTS, leaving the plot itself, such as it was, almost entirely intact. And all R.D. would’ve reported going down the drain would’ve been a bunch of blood and guts…
Or they could have just done the totally public domain “It’s a Wonderful Life.” It’s clearly one of Joel’s favorite Christmas films (or at least it used to be, tastes change over thirty years or so) considering how often the show referenced it in riffs during his half of the CC Era.
Yes. And by doing that, he proclaimed himself my enemy.
That changes everything.