Totally Rad Christmas!

Gerry D
  • 4.8 (67)
  • Leisure
  • Updated Weekly

It's a show about the raddest time of year in the baddest decade ever! That's right! We talk all things Christmas in the '80s to the max! Toys, movies, specials, music, books, games, comics, decorations, food, fashion, and fads--if it was gnarly during Christmas in the '80s, we got it covered!

  1. 3d ago

    Unsolved Mysteries (w/ CM Chuck and Joe)

    What’s up, dudes? Perhaps you can help… solve a mystery. Robert Stack has put on his holiday voice — which still sounds like a missing-persons bulletin wrapped in tinsel — and we’re diving into a special holiday edition of “Unsolved Mysteries”! I’ve got Joe Martinez from Now Watch This and CM Chuck from Just Another Friday Night here to unpack the miracles, the tip lines, and the tonal whiplash. Stack promises stories that capture the spirit of the season, then delivers the full UM buffet: seven-year-old Chucky McGivern of Philly slides from chicken pox into a Reye’s syndrome coma right before Christmas 1982, while his parents pin a Saint John Neumann relic to his pillow and a mystery kid ghost-visits the ICU like the world’s most intense Candygram. Cue anointing of the sick, a dream full of presents, and a shrine portrait that makes Chucky point and say “that was my best friend.” Then — because this is still Unsolved Mysteries — we hard-cut to Odessa, Texas, a burned body in a trash fire, and a drifter named Bill who treats a stolen pickup like a Christmas list item.  Then Gallup, New Mexico: nine-year-old Anthonette Cayedito vanishes, a year-later phone call gets cut off mid-name, a napkin under a plate says please help me, and a Navajo medicine ceremony becomes prime-time television. Finally the soft landing: a Florida couple shares sandwiches and five bucks with a hitchhiker who vanishes like fog, then spends the next five Christmases cashing anonymous $500 checks from “your Christian friends.” Miracle? Angel? Incredible luck? Stack shrugs in gravel: a rational explanation is hardly necessary. Relic flipping on the pillow? Got it. Unknown kid who hangs around the hospital? He’s there too. Anonymous Christmas checks that keep landing like clockwork? Only to a kind elderly couple! So grab your cocoa, keep one eye on the tip line, and hit play with us on this episode all about “Unsolved Mysteries!” Now Watch This FB: @nowwatchthispod IG: @now_watch_this_pod YouTube: @JAFNpodcast FB: @JAFNpodcast Twitter: @JAFNpodcast IG: @jafnpodcast Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    Unsolved Mysteries (w/ CM Chuck and Joe)

  2. 6d ago ·  Bonus

    Drak Pack “Hideout Hotel” (w/ Joe Martinez)

    What’s up, dudes? Halloween is creeping up on us, so we’re checking into the spookiest resort on Saturday morning TV. It’s the 1980 Hanna-Barbera monster mash Drak Pack and the episode “Hideout Hotel”! I’ve got Joe Martinez from Now Watch This with me to talk all about it! Drak Jr., Frankie, and Howler (the teenage descendants of Dracula, Frankenstein’s Monster, and the Wolf Man, who fight crime to make up for their ancestors being total jerks for a few centuries) are stuck freezing in the snow back home while their great-great-uncle Big D is soaking up the Florida sun at the 300th-anniversary reunion of the Transylvania Retired Spooks, Spectres, and Spirits Society. Too bad Dr. Dred picked the same hotel. He sends Vampira in as a sea monster to clear the beach, kicks out every paying guest, and reopens the place as Dr. Dred’s Hideout Hotel, a luxury resort for the world’s worst criminals. It comes with a Wall of Crime, prison-bar doors, and a lobby where you check in with your fingerprints. The Drak Pack show up and immediately get buried up to their necks in the sand with high tide coming in (“Enjoying the view, Quack Pack?”). They bust out with a head-bonk Drak Whack and some werewolf sandblasting, then pick off O.G.R.E. one by one: Mummy Man gets wrapped up, Fly gets stuck in the shade, and Vampira’s seagull disguise goes straight into the drink. With hundreds of hoods pulling up in black limos, Frankie accidentally has the idea of the century. It’s a crooks’ convention? Well, Big D has a convention too! Cue skeletons in the closets, beds floating out the windows, and a dragon in the bathtub of Room 521 (“Do we allow pets?”). It’s all voiced by a total ’80s Saturday-morning dream team: Hans Conried (Captain Hook himself!) as Dr. Dred, Alan “Skeletor” Oppenheimer as Big D, Papa Smurf’s Don Messick as Toad and Fly, Duckworth’s Chuck McCann as Mummy Man, and Clumsy Smurf’s Bill Callaway pulling double duty as Frankie and Howler. Wall of Crime? Check. Sand sculpture of Dr. Dred built by the world’s biggest suck-up? Yep. A dragon in the bathtub? Better call the front desk! So grab your beach towel, register your fingerprints, and check in to this episode on Drak Pack “Hideout Hotel”! Now Watch This FB: @nowwatchthispod IG: @now_watch_this_pod Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    Drak Pack “Hideout Hotel” (w/ Joe Martinez)

  3. Oct 15

    A Charlie Brown Christmas watchalong (w/ Jeff and Jeremy)

    PARENTAL WARNING: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE WITH CHILDREN PRESENT! What’s up, dudes? Cue the piano, because we’re gonna have a watch-along party for the 1965 Peanuts classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas”! I’ve got Jeff Loftin from Lost Christmas podcast and Jeremy Phelps the Alamo City Santa  with me to provide commentary and enjoy the ride! This is the special CBS was pretty sure they’d just made a mistake. Charles Schulz wrote it, Bill Melendez directed the animation, Lee Mendelson produced it, and Coca-Cola sponsored it after an ad guy asked if they had a Christmas show and Mendelson said yes before he asked Schulz. They built it in about six months on a $76,000 budget (and still went about $20,000 over), with real kids talking, no laugh track, and Vince Guaraldi playing jazz like it belonged next to the tinsel. Schulz got up and left the room when somebody assumed there’d be canned laughs. Mendelson scribbled the words to “Christmas Time Is Here” on the back of an envelope. The network watched a cut and called it slow. Then it aired on CBS on December 9, 1965, at 7:30 p.m. ET, in The Munsters’ Thursday slot, and 45% of the people watching television that night stayed with it. An estimated 15,490,000 homes. Number two, behind Bonanza. An Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program and a Peabody showed up after that, which is a wild trophy case for a half-hour everybody in the room thought was too quiet. So press play with us. We’re not gonna recap it like you’ve never seen it. We’re riding the ice, visiting Lucy’s five-cent psychiatric booth, clocking Snoopy’s doghouse light display, and taking Lucy’s very sincere pitch for a big shiny aluminum tree. Charlie Brown, being Charlie Brown, comes back with the little real one. When the rehearsal falls apart, Linus still has Luke 2 and a blanket he is willing to put down. Peter Robbins is Charlie Brown, Christopher Shea is Linus, and the kids recorded the whole thing in a day (Jefferson Airplane was next door and swung by for autographs, because of course they did). Hit play, keep the blanket nearby, and talk through it with us. Aluminum tree? Check. Nickel therapy? Got it. Guaraldi plus a scripture reading network TV was not ready for? That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown! So grab the sad little sapling, drop a nickel in the booth, and skate on over to this episode on “A Charlie Brown Christmas”! Lost Christmas Podcast FB: @LostChristmasPodcast Twitter: @LostChristmasP1 IG: @lostchristmaspodcast IG: @alamocitysanta  Etsy: North Pole General Store  FB: @northpolegeneralstore                              IG: @northpole_generalstore Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    A Charlie Brown Christmas watchalong (w/ Jeff and Jeremy)

  4. Oct 12 ·  Bonus

    Salute Your Shorts “The Ghost Story/Zeke the Plumber” (w/ Mike, Chad & Joe)

    What’s up, dudes? Grab your camp flashlight and whatever you do, don’t touch the plunger — we’re gonna talk Nickelodeon’s Salute Your Shorts classic “The Ghost Story / Zeke the Plumber!” I’ve got Mike Westfall from Advent Calendar House, Chad Young from Horror Movie BBQ, and Joe Fulton the Christmas Aficionado with me to provide commentary and enjoy the ride! It’s Camp Anawanna, June 1991, and Budnick’s weaponizing bedtime. He spins the legend of Zeke — camp custodian, parrot-bit nose, couldn’t smell a gas leak, lit a match, and became what Budnick lovingly calls a human party-popper. All that’s left is a cursed plunger: touch it, and Zeke haunts your dreams, sucking secrets out of your head like a spectral toilet-snake. Telly and Michael take the bait, the whole bunkhouse wakes up traumatized, and the campers — with Ug’s help — challenge Budnick to spend the night on Zeke’s death ground. Pranks, spider webs, a fake noseless plumber who somehow still “smells” fear… then Budnick goes full Scooby-Doo, unmasks Ug, and still somehow loses the fear-off. Shorts saluted. Nightmares achieved. Cursed plunger? Check. Missing-nose ghost janitor? Yep. Budnick vs. spiders? Camp Anawanna, baby! So put toothpaste around your bed, spit in your hand, and slap your forehead to this episode on “The Ghost Story / Zeke the Plumber!” Advent Calendar House FB: @adventcalendarhouse Twitter: @adventcalhouse IG: @adventcalendarhouse Horror Movie BBQ FB: @HorrorMovieBBQ Twitter: @HorrorMovieBBQ IG: @horrormoviebbq Christmas Aficionado Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    Salute Your Shorts “The Ghost Story/Zeke the Plumber” (w/ Mike, Chad & Joe)

  5. Oct 8

    Muppet Magazine #17 Winter 1987 (w/ Mike and Tim)

    What’s up, dudes? Grab your fold-out poster and your secret word, because we’re cracking open one of the most Christmas-adjacent kids’-mag crossovers of the late ’80s — Muppet Magazine #17, Winter 1987, the “Pee-Wee & Kermit: Playhouse Pals!” cover! I’ve got Tim Babb from Can’t Wait for Christmas  and Mike Westfall from Advent Calendar House with me to talk all about it! It’s Volume 5, Number 1 of the Henson Company’s full-color quarterly, and the cover alone is peak Saturday-morning destiny: Kermit the Frog hanging with Pee-wee Herman right when Pee-wee’s Playhouse and Muppet Babies were sharing the CBS morning lineup. Inside, Frog-In-Chief Kermit drops by the Playhouse for a visit/interview (Fred Newman on the byline vibes), Miss Piggy goes jogging with Ari Meyers and Allison Smith, Rowlf sits down with Jonathan Silverman for “Barking Beach Memoirs,” and the Muppet Babies crash Clement C. Moore with Louise Gikow and Bruce McNally’s “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Plus the pull-out that every ’80s kid fought over — “Hip Holidays from M-MTV!” featuring the Electric Mayhem — because nothing says Winter 1987 like a Muppet MTV Christmas parody and a mailbox full of Miss Piggy’s Advice. Playhouse pals on the cover? Check. Muppet Babies night-before-Christmas comic? Got it. Fold-out Hip Holidays M-MTV poster? Definitely! So hang your Muppet Magazine on the fridge, whisper the secret word, and flip to this episode on “Muppet Magazine #17 Winter 1987!” Advent Calendar House FB: @adventcalendarhouse Twitter: @adventcalhouse IG: @adventcalendarhouse Can’t Wait for Christmas FB: @CantWaitForChristmasPod IG: @cantwaitforchristmaspod Twitter: @ChristmasPod Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    Muppet Magazine #17 Winter 1987 (w/ Mike and Tim)

  6. Oct 5 ·  Bonus

    A Pup Named Scooby-Doo "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner" (w/ Jeff Loftin)

    What’s up, dudes? Grab your pillowcase and your leftover Halloween candy, because we’re gonna have a watch-along party for A Pup Named Scooby-Doo’s holiday-adjacent spookfest “Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner!” I’ve got Jeff Loftin from Lost Christmas podcast with me to provide commentary and enjoy the ride! Kid-sized Mystery Inc. is trick-or-treating when they stumble on the Johnsons’ ramshackle haunted house — the one Shaggy swears used to belong to pirate Boobeard. Inside: a kindly couple, a park full of trees somebody wants to bulldoze, and the one (1) Scooby-Doo ghost who is actually a ghost. Bartholomew Byfard Boo, a sweetheart of an ectoplasm roommate, will poof out of existence if the house comes down, so of course a nasty pirate spook shows up demanding they vacate. Velma’s got blueprints, Daphne still refuses to believe in ghosts while standing next to one, and the “Boobeard” terrorizing the neighborhood is Jack the handyman, flipping the Johnsons’ land for cash like it’s the most obvious real-estate Scooby scheme in Coolsville. Friendly ghost roommate? Check. Pirate landlord with a demolition clause? Yep. Handyman named Jack in a bedsheet? Like, totally! So unmask that pirate, save Mr. Boo, and scooby-dooby-doo into this episode on “Ghost Who’s Coming to Dinner!” Lost Christmas Podcast FB: @LostChristmasPodcast Twitter: @LostChristmasP1 IG: @lostchristmaspodcast Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    A Pup Named Scooby-Doo "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner" (w/ Jeff Loftin)

  7. Sep 26

    ‘80s Versions of “White Christmas”

    What’s up, dudes? I’m dreaming of a white Christmas… and also punk Christmas, pizza-place Christmas, power-metal Christmas, and New Kids on the Block Christmas! Today we’re diving into the ’80s versions of Irving Berlin’s classic “White Christmas!” Before the neon snowstorm hits, a quick rewind: Berlin wrote it around 1940, Bing Crosby introduced it on radio at Christmas 1941, then recorded it May 29, 1942 for Holiday Inn. Wartime America lost its mind for that wistful fireplace fantasy — 11 weeks at No. 1, an Oscar for Best Original Song, the 1954 movie, a 1947 re-record that became the one everybody knows, and roughly 50 million copies as the best-selling physical single ever. So of course the ’80s had to get weird with it. Country legends, pop stars, punks, metalheads, jazz cats, claymation raisins, and yes — animatronic ShowBiz Pizza bears — all took a crack at dreaming of a white one. Punked-up Yobs? Check. Animatronic Rock-afire Explosion? Got it. Helloween sneaking holiday chaos onto a metal EP? Absolutely radical! So dust off the vinyl, cue up the cassette (or that shiny new CD), and dream along with this episode on “’80s Versions of White Christmas!” Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    ‘80s Versions of “White Christmas”

  8. Sep 14

    How the Grinch Stole Christmas watchalong (w/ CJ, Jeremy & Jeff)

    PARENTAL WARNING: DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS EPISODE WITH CHILDREN PRESENT! What’s up, dudes? We’re closer to Christmas, so we’re gonna have a watch-along party for the absolute classic “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. I’ve got CJ Bélanger from Rose Suchak Ladder, Jeff Loftin from Lost Christmas podcast, and Jeremy Phelps the Alamo City Santa with me to provide commentary and enjoy the ride! The story chronicles the seasonal psychosis of the Grinch, a green, cave-dwelling misanthrope whose undersized cardiovascular organ has left him irrationally enraged by the annual Christmas festivities of the Whos down in Whoville. Unable to tolerate another year of singing, feasting, and unsolicited noise pollution, the furry sociopath disguises himself as Santa Claus, turns his long-suffering dog Max into a discount reindeer, and launches a one-man Yuletide home-invasion spree. Throughout the night, the Grinch burglarizes an entire town, stealing everything from presents and stockings to Christmas trees, food, and apparently even the last can of Who-hash. His crime wave is briefly interrupted by Cindy-Lou Who, a dangerously trusting toddler whom he deceives with an easily disproven story about repairing her Christmas tree. After hauling the stolen merchandise to the top of Mount Crumpit for ceremonial disposal, the Grinch discovers that the Whos are somehow celebrating Christmas without any consumer goods whatsoever. This revelation causes his heart to spontaneously triple in size, granting him superhuman strength and presumably creating an immediate medical emergency. Newly rehabilitated, the Grinch returns the stolen property, receives absolutely no legal consequences for dozens of felony burglaries, and is inexplicably invited to Christmas dinner, where the former domestic terrorist is given the ceremonial honor of carving the roast beast. Roast beast? Check. Loveable curmudgeon? Yep. Bassiest bass voice that ever bassed? It’s grrreeaat! So make your own Santa suit, hop on your ramshackle sleigh, and climb down the chimney to this episode on "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" Rose Suchak Ladder IG: @rosesuchakladderpod Lost Christmas Podcast FB: @LostChristmasPodcast Twitter: @LostChristmasP1 IG: @lostchristmaspodcast IG: @alamocitysanta  Etsy: North Pole General Store  FB: @northpolegeneralstore                              IG: @northpole_generalstore  Give us a buzz! Send a text, dudes! Check us out on Facebook, Twitter,  Instagram,  Totally Rad Christmas Mall & Arcade, Teepublic.com, or TotallyRadChristmas.com!  Later, dudes!

    How the Grinch Stole Christmas watchalong (w/ CJ, Jeremy & Jeff)
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4.8
out of 5
67 Ratings

About

It's a show about the raddest time of year in the baddest decade ever! That's right! We talk all things Christmas in the '80s to the max! Toys, movies, specials, music, books, games, comics, decorations, food, fashion, and fads--if it was gnarly during Christmas in the '80s, we got it covered!

Information

  • Creator
    Gerry D
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    504
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Totally Rad Christmas!
  • Show Website
    Totally Rad Christmas!

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