BREAKING: new evidence for the historical Great Pumpkin
Tim and Jen enlist the help of Bitter Karella to wade through the 22 minutes of treacle that is the forgotten faux-Peanuts special, Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.
William Conant Church, brother of Francis Church, did indeed help found the NRA in 1871, in an effort to improve marksmanship amongst the broader American militia. He and brother Francis co-founded several news publications, including the New York Sun, and he also co-founded the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Additionally, Frank Church was not the volcel depicted in the Yes, Virginia special— he was married to a woman named Elizabeth Wickham. In spite of Tim’s joshing, it appears that Church did not have a severe yet shapely assistant who browbeat him into publishing the editorial addressed to Virginia O’Hanlon. The O’Hanlon letter was passed on by Edward Page Mitchell, the real-life editor-in-chief of the Sun.
Finally, if you want to pretend that it’s 1974 again and you’re spinning some 45s, you can hear the theme song for the special sung by a piercing li’l Jimmy Osmond.
Want more weird cartoons? Check out Tim & Jen’s riff on the animated short “Eveready Harton” from 1975’s Self Service Girls, or one of our other episodes on trauma-inducing animation.
31 films when a lesser series would have gone limp!
Tim and Jen seek aid from wacky funster Bitter Karella to explain a film series as British as lousy weather and inedible food: the Carry On series! Also, Tim positively bursts with Carry On-related research.
The fittingly-titled Cor, Blimey! telefilm dramatizes the affair between Sid James and Barbara Windsor, set against notable Carry On moments of the ’60s and ’70s.
If you’re not familiar with the canon and want to sample the world of Carry On for yourself, stop by the Internet Archive. Be warned, though: if you’re as susceptible to broad comedy as Tim seems to be, you might end up Carry On-pilled too! Cor blimey!
Tim and Jen bring back one of horror’s heaviest (lol) hitters to talk about a movie William Friedkin couldn’t be bothered to mention after he made it, The Guardian!
Tim’s quip about Q’s on Wilshire refers to a 2000 incident in which screenwriter and director Eric Red plowed his Jeep into a crowded bar following a fender bender, killing two people, then attempted to slit his own throat with a piece of glass. The linked LA Weekly article draws some tenuous conclusions between Red’s work and the bloody mess at Q’s, but as of 2023 he appears to have stayed out of trouble and written several novels.
KCRW memorializes Deirdre O’ Donaghue’s incredibly influential playlists with its Bent By Nature podcast.
The ballerina clown of Venice remains in situ, where it has been since 1989. Presumably, it makes the CVS underneath it easy to find for out-of-towners.
Do you love Tim and Bitter Karella, but have had enough of Jen? Hear the former two discuss a beloved childhood favorite in our Ernest Goes to Camp episode!
Jen enlists show stalwart Bitter Karella to help offend nearly every single person in the Czech Republic by providing an honest review of Goat Story: The Old Prague Legends.
See the intro for the show Jen and Karella saw in Switzerland, Kommissar Rex. That’s what I call a good friend!
If you would like to see the “Roy Orbison in clingfilm” stories for yourself, you can do so here, but keep in mind that the site owner has “ceased answering mail” because of “weirdos.” However, the film and television rights to his long-awaited Roy Orbison in clingfilm novel are still up for grabs!
Tim is too cool to talk about a nerdy British kid’s coming of age story, so Jen and special guest @bitterkarella step in to talk about cult BBC teleplay Penda’s Fen.
The 2010 post that originally turned Jen on to the film may be found at John Coulthart’s excellent art blog, Feuilleton. At the time of writing, Penda’s Fen was almost impossible to see, as a home video release was far in the future.
As for Penda’s Fen, whenever a TV executive tries to argue that television hasn’t dumbed down I’d offer this work as Exhibit A for the prosecution. Rudkin and Clarke’s film was screened at 9.35 in the evening on the nation’s main TV channel, BBC 1, at a time when there were only three channels to choose from. A primetime audience of many millions watched this visceral and unapologetically intelligent drama; show me where this happens today. – John Coulthart
Jen mangled the words to the Bonzo Dog Band’s “Sport” a little bit (“Sport, sport, masculine sport / equips a young man for society”), but you get the idea.
Read an interview with director Brian Yuzna to learn more about Fantastic Factory, the production company that brought you that titty inflation scene. He also talks about The Guyver!
This is the Sara Matthews Bitter Karella was talking about, by the way. Apparently she was uncredited in Repossessed, in spite of her memorable appearance. For shame!
Too much of a pussy for this xXxtreme anti-hero? Why not enjoy our episode with tons more pussy, Cats on Park Avenue!
“The Windigo is sick because it’s cut off from its roots. It’s a ghost with a heart of ice. It eats everything in sight. Its hunger knows no bounds. When there is nothing left to eat, it starves to death. When it sees something, it wants to own it. No one else can have anything. This illness feeds on a spiritual void. Canada and US are presently in an advanced stage of the ‘Windigo Psychosis.’”
Jen and Tim host Mike Rosen, who is a witch, to discuss a very witchy cult horror movie, Eyes of Fire! Also, if you were dying to know Jen’s thoughts on Midsommar, they’re in there.
Jen and Tim enlist favorite guest Mike Rosen (bitterkarella on Twitter) to explicate the inexplicable Dan Aykroyd/Gene Hackman buddy cop comedy, Loose Cannons!
Not to get all fact check dot org on you all, but the Dissociative Identity Disorder website has science-based information on what was misrepresented as “multiple personality disorder” in the movie.
Busy Inside is a compassionate documentary about people with DID.
