Gobbledygeek

It’s only one more Gobbledygeek ‘til Christmas! This year, instead of discussing the weird or cynical sides of the holidays, Paul and Arlo are embracing sincerity with a look at 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol. The first Muppets feature film following the death of Jim Henson is a faithful adaptation of the classic novella, with Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself and none other than Michael Caine as Ebenezer Scrooge. The boys discuss why Caine’s decision to play things straight is key to the film’s success, the film’s technical wizardry, the beautiful songs by Paul Williams, and why it’s the greatest Christmas film of them all. Plus, Paul and Arlo recount a very strange year and get honest about the difficulties of the holiday season.

NEXT: have a safe and merry holiday, regardless of what you celebrate, and a happy new year. We’ll be back in 2022 with the long-awaited discussion of The Americans season 4 featuring Wesley Mead.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:50  -  Intro

00:14:00  -  The Muppet Christmas Carol

01:42:05  -  Outro / Next

LINKS

• “A meta-masterpiece: why ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ is the perfect festive film” by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian

• “A Grand Yuletide Theory: ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ is the Best Adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’” by Ethan Warren, Bright Wall / Dark Room

• “Long Lost ‘Muppet Christmas Carol’ Song Has Been Rediscovered and Will Be Included in 4K Release” by Hoai-Tran Bui, Slashfilm

• “The makers of ‘The Muppet Christmas Carol’ break down the movie’s lost musical number” by Tyler Aquilina, ew.com

• “How we made: The Muppet Christmas Carol” by Ben Beaumont-Thomas, The Guardian

MUSIC

• “Scrooge” by The Muppet Cast, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
• “When Love Is Gone” by Meredith Braun, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
• “It Feels Like Christmas” by The Ghost of Christmas Present, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)
• “One More Sleep ‘til Christmas” by Kermit the Frog, The Muppet Christmas Carol (Original Soundtrack) (1992)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

What if…you listened to a podcast about What If…? In a universe of infinite possibilities, Michael Holland (currently post-production supervisor on The Peripheral for Amazon) finds himself once again teaming up with Paul and Arlo for a discussion of MCUTV. This time, it’s the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s first animated series, the multiversal What If…? Ostensibly an anthology series, the show ponders the ways in which our heroes’ lives could have gone very, very differently. For their part, the gang ponders the series’ relationship to the classic comic book of the same name, how the 2.5D animation allows for greater freedom than live-action, how voice acting is not the same thing as physical acting, and how–of course–everything is connected.

NEXT: we bid farewell to 2021 with the comfy, cozy The Muppet Christmas Carol.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:30  -  Intro / Guest

00:04:06  -  What if…there was a comic book series called What If…?

00:20:04  -  What If…?  (the show!)

02:19:40  -  Outro / Next

MUSIC

• “Changes” by David Bowie, Hunky Dory (1971)
• “Howard the Duck Theme” by Dolby’s Cube feat. Cherry Bomb & Lea Thompson, Howard the Duck Original Soundtrack (1986)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/

“And cast ye the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” So says Matthew 25:30, and in John Layman and Afu Chan’s Outer Darkness, there is plenty of weeping–and so, so much gnashing of teeth. For their last Four-Color Flashback of the year, Paul and Arlo discuss Layman and Chan’s 2018-19 Image/Skybound series, which imagines a far-flung future where spaceships need exorcists onboard and the dead can be resurrected so long as you cast a net wide enough to catch their souls. The boys discuss the book’s ingenious mash-up of space opera and supernatural horror, how Layman & Chan expertly juggle a number of timelines, why the visceral splorches of Chan’s art are so satisfying, and the depressing realities behind the series’ cancellation.

NEXT: what if…we did another MCUTV episode with Hollywood’s own Michael Holland? We’ll be discussing, you guessed it, the animated Marvel series What If…?

BREAKDOWN

00:00:57  -  Intro

00:04:39  -  Outer Darkness

01:37:00  -  Outro / Next

MUSIC

• “Spirit in the Sky” by Bauhaus, Singles (2013)
• “Furries!” by Pony Death Ride, Not a Foal, Not Yet a Horse (2012)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 
• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/ 
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/