Tis the Podcast

It's been a long time coming, but Julia, Thom, and Anthony are finally catching the train from Platform 9 3/4 and heading to Hogwarts to celebrate Christmas and discuss the holiday moments from the "Harry Potter" movies and books! After a month of underwhelming Hallmark films, the three hosts are enthusiastic and excited to geek out together about what is, unanimously, their favorite book series o...

Coming in just under the wire is our first annual Christmas in July bonus episode! In it, the elves discuss the “worst” Christmas that every child eventually has to go through, and that every parent dreads. Excitingly, not only do Julia, Thom, and Anthony share their stories, but so do our listeners – including two elf spouses, and one elf sibling – via audio and text! Given the topic of discussio...

Our first annual Christmas in July, Hallmark movie month comes to a close this episode in which the elves discuss the 2015, not-quite-Hallmark (but definitely one of those channels, most likely Lifetime) film "The Spirit of Christmas"! While atmosphere is in heavy supply this week, can holiday decorations, snow, and an extremely attractive man help this movie overcome a perplexing plot? While opin...

And we're back! We continue our Hallmark movie month this week by covering the 2014 film "The Nine Lives of Christmas"! Though a sweet story with cute cats, how will the movie hold up when ranking it on our Christmas canon list? And how will it fare against the three previous Hallmark films we've covered thus far - Mrs. Santa Claus, Pete's Christmas, and Northpole? Settle in with a cup of hot choc...

This week the elves kick off Christmas in July with their first Hallmark Christmas movie of the inaugural Hallmark Christmas movie month with the 2014 film, Northpole. As Christmas spirit is failing across the globe, can one elf and her newfound friend work their magic to bring Christmas spirit back to the world and save the Northpole? Can Anthony, Julia, and Thom find the holiday spirit in Hallma...

This week, the elves invite you to accompany them on a trip with Fozzie Bear and the rest of his Muppet pals in the 1987, made-for-TV classic, "A Muppet Family Christmas"! Long before Nick Fury began to assemble the Avengers on the big screen, but after Rankin/Bass ended up bringing together Rudolph and Frosty, this epic crossover event for the ages brought together the Muppets (and the Muppet bab...

Happy Leon Day, everyone! Come celebrate the fact that we are officially halfway to Christmas by joining Julia, Thom, and Anthony as they journey to the north pole aboard "The Polar Express", the 2004, animated-film directed by Robert Zemeckis and adapted from the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Will it fare better with the elves than Zemeckis' "A Christmas Carol" did, or will the sam...

This week, the elves tackle the controversial, 2009, Disney-animated film, A Christmas Carol - the first true adaptation of the classic Charles Dickens' novella they've covered on the show so far! (Devoid of any Muppets, that is!) Though Julia, Thom, and Anthony all have differing opinions about this notoriously divisive movie, they're all in agreement that it's not a total write-off and about the...

After an unintentional week off, we're back! In this episode, the elves discuss the spiritual sibling to A Bad Mom's Christmas - the 2017 holiday-comedy film, Daddy's Home 2! There are surprises aplenty in this episode, including right-off-the-bat when the hosts reveal where they stand on this movie. (Spoiler Alert: It's not necessarily where you think!) So sit back and enjoy this funny, wide-rang...

Our annual television month concludes this week, and the elves could think of no better show to cover as a "last hoorah" than Friends! In this episode they discuss the four most Christmassy episodes of the hit-comedy ("The One Where Rachel Quits", "The One With The Routine", "The One With The Holiday Armadillo", and "The One With Christmas In Tulsa"), but do these yuletide stories reach the height...

Television month continues this week, and we're discussing the four Christmas episodes of the musical, comedy-drama Glee! Between "A Very Glee Christmas", "Extraordinary Merry Christmas", "Glee, Actually", and "Previously Unaired Christmas", there's plenty to like, plenty to dislike, and - of course - plenty of music! (Which, let's face it, is the real reason most of us watched Glee in the first p...

Television month continues with this week's installment in which the elves discuss The X-Files episode "How The Ghosts Stole Christmas". (Season 6, Episode 6.) Not since A Charlie Brown Christmas has anything we covered demonostrated as well as this one  just how lonely and depressing the holiday season can be for certain people. As huge fans of Mulder and Scully's early adventures, Julia, Thom, a...

It's May which means it's time for our inaugural Month of TV Christmas specials, and we're kicking it off with a look at The Simpsons' first five Christmas specials. Grab a cup of hot chocolate and sit down for some conversation irreverent enough for America's favorite yellow family!

Happy Life Day! This is our last episode to drop before the fourth of May, so to celebrate "May the Fourth" - a.k.a. "Star Wars Day" - the elves decide to tackle the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special"! Besides asking themselves the usual question - "Does this movie pass the Linus Test?" - the hosts also debate two other questions with regards to this holiday adventure in a galaxy far, far away:...

This week, the elves cover another Christmas comedy film filled with sophomoric humor, sexual innuendo, and implied nudity in the form of A Bad Moms Christmas, written by the same people who came up with the story for Office Christmas Party - the first film we covered that was filled with sophomoric humor, sexual innuendo, and nudity. Does this one contain more heart and Christmas feelings than th...

Christmas Cheer is in high supply this week as the elves tackle TLC's 2014, made-for-television mockumentary "The Secret Santa." Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all on the same page with this film, and absolutely gush over its emotional sentimentality as they discuss reporter Nancy Cameron's quest tracking down all of the Christmas miracles that Lucas A. Nast - a.k.a. Santa Claus - has brought to peo...

In this episode, the elves discuss the one and only Christmas episode that The Brady Bunch ever made – 1969’s The Voice of Christmas – in addition to the 1988, CBS, made-for-TV reunion movie A Very Brady Christmas. Similar to the last time the elves discussed two pieces of Christmas entertainment in one episode (in the contentious Grinch episode), Anthony is once again pitted against Julia and Tho...

Happy Easter everybody! In an effort to inject a little bit of Christmas into the Bunny’s time of year, this week the elves decided to discuss Dreamworks Animation’s 2012 feature-film, Rise of the Guardians, which brings together Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, and Jack Frost in order to take on the evil Boogeyman, Pitch. There is a lot of love to go around between Jul...

This week, the elves discuss “what may well be the single most self-indulgent tripe ever written, produced by and starring a self-righteous narcissist: Kirk Cameron’s Saving Christmas.” There is no love for this film at all as Julia, Thom, and Anthony stand united in their anger and frustration against what is easily the worst film we’ve reviewed yet. It’s so bad, in fact, that none of us can reco...

This week, the elves venture into completely new territory while covering their first made-for-T.V. Christmas movie! Surprisingly, it’s not a Hallmark Original, but an ABC Family (before it was Freeform) Original that debuted during it’s 25 Days of Christmas programming block back in 2001: Three Days. While Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all over the map in what they think about the overall quality...

In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, the elves dive back into the world of Rankin/Bass at the request of two listeners who suggested they review 1981’s The Leprechauns’ Christmas Gold. Though discussion of the made-for-television movie is short, and lacking in holiday cheer – Julia, Thom, and Anthony are all in agreement that it’s not a Christmas movie – it is nevertheless a fun discussion, as they bond...

The elves follow up last week’s horrendous take on Charles Dickens’ iconic A Christmas Carol with a film that details the author’s conception and writing of the holiday classic: 2017’s The Man Who Invented Christmas. (Based on the novel of the same name.) After last week’s downer of an episode, there’s a lot of genuine joy and good spirits amongst our hosts as they discuss this movie in their cont...

There’s a lot of false positivity in this episode as the elves attempt to summon every bit of Christmas cheer they have just to make it through discussing this awful reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale. Truly a new low (the rating is abysmal), they find much to dislike about this movie (read: everything). They manage to end on a high, however, when discussing their most memorable Christma...

Tackling our first religious-themed movie, strong opinions and high expectations prove to be a heavy lift for this 2017 animated nativity story. Can the all-star voice cast push this movie into the upper rankings of our Christmas Canon list? Will angry Julia make an appearance? Stay tuned for a religious good time with the elves in this week’s episode!

This week, the elves take a little hop across the pond for Love Actually. They delve into all 8 storylines, discussing the characters, their stories, and the movie in general. Get ready for an all-around love fest just in time for Valentine's Day!