"What's Your Favorite Movie?" podcast Episode #16 NOW AVAILABLE!

This is a great episode of my movie themed podcast. My good buddy Matt Maloy joins me and shares his list of favorite films including THE JERK (1979), AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999) and NEW JACK CITY (1991). There are plenty more movies we talk about in addition to great stories and memories about movie marathons, movies edited for television and other warm fuzzy things! Plus there is trivia, we take a look at the HOUSE PARTY franchise and so much more! If you like what you hear, please share the show with your friends! Listen to "16: An Intelligent Discussion about The Jerk" on Spreaker. New episodes are available the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. You can also find the show on iTunes, Spreaker and various other podcast apps. We greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks for listening!

"What's Your Favorite Movie?" podcast episode 12 - NOW AVAILABLE!

"What's Your Favorite Movie?" Episode 4 - Now Available!!

Another episode of my soon-to-be award winning podcast "What's Your Favorite Movie?" is now available on iTunes, Spreaker and right here on the blog! My guest Diana and I have been friends for a very long time and have seen many movies together - some good, most bad. We dive into some of her favorite movies as well as some of the silly titles I've dragged her to over the years. It's a light and breezy hour of movie goodness that your ears will thank you for! 

Diana's favorite movies include The Princess Bride, Some Kind of Wonderful and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. In addition to those, we talk about a whole bunch more like: SpaceCamp, The Craft, Mannequin, Pretty in Pink, Silence of the Lambs, Casual Sex? and Return to Oz.

Thanks For Listening! Please spread the word so we can get this show off the ground! Share it on Facebook, Twitter or anywhere! Follow the show on Twitter: @WYFMoviePodcast. Email us at favemoviepodcast@yahoo.com

"What's Your Favorite Movie?" Episode 3 Now Available!

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Are you ready to put some more movie goodness in your ears!? Episode 3 of "What's Your Favorite Movie?" is now up and ready for your approval on iTunes, Spreaker and right here on WWOB. In this show, fellow blogger Elle drops by and talks about her love of movies especially some musical flicks like ALMOST FAMOUS (2000), MOULIN ROUGE! (2001) and THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993). There's so much more good stuff in this episode that you'll just have to listen to it for yourself...
Help us out by spreading the word; Tell your friends and share on your social media! You can also help us out by subscribing or liking the show and leaving a brief (nice) review on iTunes! You can also leave a comment or make suggestions right here in the comments section, on Twitter @wyfmoviepodcast or e-mail at favemoviepodcast@yahoo.com

What ever you can do, Thank You So Much!

"What's Your Favorite Movie?" Episode 2 Now Available!

On the second episode of my podcast, What's Your Favorite Movie?, my good friend Kevin joins me to discuss not only his favorite films but also a few "classics" that I've dragged him to over the years. You'll also hear about some great old Baltimore area theaters and our most often quoted movies.

"What's Your Favorite Movie?" is now available on iTunes and Spreaker. Don't forget to subscribe to the show and comments are also appreciated! Thanks!

My New Podcast! "What's Your Favorite Movie?" Episode 1

I am excited to share with you all - MY FIRST PODCAST!

I've been wanting to do a podcast for years, but every time I looked into it, the process seemed way over my head. Well, a few weeks ago I decided I wasn't going to rest until I got somewhere with this podcast production dream and here I am with episode one!

The show is called "What's Your Favorite Movie?" -  each podcast will have a different guest and we'll discuss their favorite movies and why those films
are their favorites. Besides talking about the films themselves, I want to discover people's relationship with movies, stories and memories they have about movies, and explore the deeper role movies play in our lives.

I still have some issues to work out on the long term hosting and also distribution of the show, but for now the first episode is up and running. The first guest is my friend Grant, who I've known since we were 10 years old but I never knew he has such a passion of Star Trek, especially Star Trek II. We talk about his favorite movies and a little more on this premier episode.

I'm pretty happy with the way the first show turned out. It's a little sluggish in the middle but it picks up in the last third of the show. It's a learning process, so hopefully the show will get a little tighter and polished with each passing episode. Until then, I hope you'll take a listen and enjoy and even possibly share the show with your friends and followers.

I'll let you know when we are listed in iTunes and other Podcast Directories.

and now...Every Movie I Saw in 2015

Life Itself (2014)

I was inspired to keep track of all the movies I've seen by seeing similar lists on other blogs, plus I've been listening to some movie podcasts and it seems to be a pretty common practice for any good film buff. While I didn't break 200 films in 2015, I did top last year's tally by 20 films. I saw 151 in all, last year. The main source of film goodness for me continues to be the DVD service of Netflix, now called DVD.Netflix,com. The streaming services of Netflix and Amazon also provide a wealth of unique films but I'm always looking around at other sources to find good movies. Anywho...enjoy the list. As requested by a reader last year, I've included the date of screening and the source.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 1/1 DVD
2. Back to the Future Part II (1989) 1/1 DVD
3.Road to Bali (1952) 1/3 Amazon Prime
4. Mr. Deeds Goes To Town (1936) 1/6 TCM
5. Rewind This! (2013) 1/7 Netflix DVD
6. Road to Singapore (1940) 1/8 Netflix DVD
7. On The Town (1949) 1/9 TCM
8. Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) 1/10 DVD
9. Let's Be Cops (2014) 1/13 Netflix DVD
10. Into the Storm (2014) 1/15 Netflix DVD
11. Trouble Along The Way (1953) 1/22 Netflix DVD
12. Road to Zanzibar (1941) 1/23 Netflix DVD
13. A Kiss For Corliss (1949) 1/24 TCM
14. Life Itself (2014) 1/25 CNN
15. Magic in the Moonlight (2014) 2/5 Netflix DVD
16. Maleficent (2014) 2/6 Redbox
17. Earth to Echo (2014) 2/7 Netflix DVD
18. The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water (2015) 2/9 R/C Hanover Movies 16
19. Step Up: All In (2014) 2/10 Netflix DVD
20. Lucy (2014) 2/12 Netflix DVD
21. Road to Morocco (1942) 2/28 Netflix DVD
22. Misty (1961) 3/1 DVD
23. Airport (1970) 3/2 Netflix DVD
24. Airport 1975 (1974) 3/3 Netflix DVD
25. Call Me Bwana (1963)  3/6 MGM HD
26. Airport '77 (1977) 3/8 Netflix DVD
27. The Road to Hong Kong (1962) 3/9 Netflix DVD
28. The Flintstones and WWE: Stone Age Smackdown (2015) 3/10 DVD
29. Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) 3/13 R/C Hanover Movies 16
30. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T (1953) 3/14 Sony Movie Channel
31.  Lost in Alaska (1952) 3/15 Netflix DVD
32. The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979) 3/17 Netflix DVD
33. Gone Girl (2014) 3/18 Redbox
34. The Late Shift (1996) 3/23 Amazon Prime
35. Barbie in Princess Power (2015) 3/24 Netflix DVD
36. Cinderella (2015) 3/24 R/C Hanover Movies 16
37. Marathon (1980) 3/31 DVD
38. Earthquake (1974) 4/1 Netflix DVD
39. Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) 4/2 TCM
40. Birdman (2014) 4/8 Netflix DVD
41. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) 4/11 DVD
42. The Music in Me (2015) 4/12 UP
43. Bad Words (2013) 4/13 HBO
44. Walk of Shame (2014) 4/16 HBO
45. Top Five (2014) 4/19 Netflix DVD
46. Monkey Kingdom (2015) 4/24 Regal Westminster 9
47. E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) 4/26 HBO
48. The Avengers (2012) 4/29 DVD
49. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) 4/30 R/C Hanover Movies 16
50. Lovelines (1984) 5/11 DVD
51. Legally Blonde (2001) 5/15 Netflix
52. Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 (2015) 5/17 R/C Hanover Movies 16
53. Stripped (2014) 5/19 Amazon Prime
54. Mortdecai (2015) 5/26 Netflix DVD
55. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) 5/27  DVD
56. Student Bodies (1981) 6/1 VHS
57. Superfast! (2015) 6/3 Netflix DVD
58. Hot Girls Wanted (2015) 6/6 Netflix
59. Tyler Perry's Madea's Tough Love (2015) 6/7 Netflix DVD
60. Barbie in A Mermaid Tale (2010) 6/9 DVD
61. Jurassic World (2015) 6/16 R/C Hanover Movies 16
62. Snoopy Come Home (1972) 6/17 DVD
63. 22 Jump Street (2014) 6/22 Netflix DVD
64. Jurassic Park III (2001) 6/23 SyFy
65. Inside Out (2015) 6/24 Frank Theaters Gettysburg 10
66. Batman vs. Robin (2015) 6/29 Netflix DVD
67. Kidco (1984) 6/30 HDNet Movies
68. Jaws (1975) 7/5 DVD
69. Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) 7/5 DVD
70. A Night at the Roxbury (1998) 7/5 DVD
71. These Amazing Shadows (2011) 7/7 HDNet Movies
72. Poison Ivy (1985) 7/12 VHS
73. Treasure Planet (2002) 7/13 DVD
74. Blue Summer (1973) 7/16 Netflix
75. Teen Witch (1989) 7/19 Netflix
76. Ant-Man (2015) 7/19 R/C Hanover Movies 16
77. Horrible Bosses 2 (2014) 7/19 Netflix DVD
78. Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown (1977) 7/20 DVD
79. Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser (2015) 7/22 Crackle
80. Aquamarine (2006) 7/22 HDNet Movies
81. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015) 7/27 SyFy
82. Tarzan (1999) 7/28 DVD
83. Swiss Miss (1938) 7/28 DVD
84. The Pink Panther (2006) 7/28 Sony Movie Channel
85. Tom & Jerry: Spy Quest (2015) 7/30 Netflix DVD
86. Vacation (2015) 8/1 R/C Hanover Movies 16
87. Staten Island Summer (2015) 8/8 Netflix
88. Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) 8/9 Netflix
89. My Little Pony: Equestria Girls - Rainbow Rocks (2014) 8/11 Frank Theaters Gettysburg 10
90. I Am Chris Farley (2015) 8/12 Spike
91. Black Sheep (1996) 8/14 Netflix
92. The Great Outdoors (1988) 8/14 DVD
93. Canadian Bacon (1995) 8/22 DVD
94. Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015) 9/2 Redbox
95. A Deadly Adoption (2015) 9/3 Lifetime
96. Cinderella (1950) 9/6 DVD
97. The Longshot (1986) 9/7 Netflix
98. Plasitc Galaxy: The Story of Star Wars Toys (2014) 9/8 Amazon Prime
99. Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003) 9/9 Netflix
100. I Am Big Bird: The Carol Spinney Story (2014) 9/10 Amazon Prime
101. To Kill A Mockingbird (1962) 9/13 Netflix
102. The Caddy (1953) 9/13 Netflix DVD
103. The Legend of Lobo (1962) 9/19 VHS
104. The Big Wedding (2013) 9/21 Amazon Prime
105. Scared Stiff (1953) 9/22 Netflix DVD
106. Brewster's Millions (1985) 9/24 Netflix DVD
107. Lady and the Tramp (1955) 9/28 Outdoor screening
108. Barbie in Rock 'N Royals (2015) 9/29 Netflix DVD
109. Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery (2015) 10/2 Netflix DVD
110. I Dream of Jeannie...Fifteen Years Later (1985) 10/3 Sony Movie Channel
111. Live From New York! (2015) 10/4 NBC
112. The DUFF (2015) 10/5 Netflix DVD
113. Boy, Did I Get A Wrong Number! (1966) 10/6 MGM HD
114. Police Academy 5: Assignment Miami Beach (1988) 10/12 DVD
115. Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol (1987) 10/13 DVD
116. Hot Pursuit (2015) 10/18 Netflix DVD
117. Little Giants (1994) 10/20 Amazon Prime
118. Back to the Future Part III (1990) 10/21 Amazon Prime
119. Get Hard (2015) 10/25 Netflix DVD
120. Robocop (1987) 10/28 HBO
121. Barbie and Her Sisters in A Pony Tale (2013) 11/1 DVD
122. I'll Take Sweden (1965) 11/1 MGM HD
123. Back in Time (2015) 11/2 Amazon Prime
124. Adjust Your Tracking (2013) 11/3 Shout Factory TV
125. Kindergarten Cop (1990) 11/7 HDNet Movies
126. The Peanuts Movie (2015) 11/6 R/C Hanover Movies 16
127. Hats Off To Christmas (2013) 11/14 Hallmark Channel
128. Volunteers (1985) 11/16 Netflix DVD
129. Blue Denim (1959) 11/18 Fox Movie Channel
130. Wild (2014) 11/19 Netflix DVD
131. Pixels (2015) 11/20 Netflix DVD
132. The Shaun the Sheep Movie (2015) 11/24 Netflix DVD
133. Barbie: A Perfect Christmas (2011) 11/28 Netflix DVD
134. Grumpy Cat's Worst Christmas Ever (2014) DVD
135. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014) 12/2 Netflix
136. The Good Dinosaur (2015) 12/6 R/C Hanover Movies 16
137. A Flintstones Christmas Carol (1994) 12/10 DVD
138. Sun Valley Serenade (1941) 12/13 TCM
139. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) DVD
140. Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) 12/19 R/C Hanover Movies 16
141. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) 12/20 DVD
142. White Christmas (1954) 12/21 Netflix
143. Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! (2011) 12/24 DVD
144. A Very Brady Christmas (1988) 12/26 ABC Family
145. The Shop Around The Corner (1940) 12/27 TCM
146. Ernest Saves Christmas (1989) 12/27 DVD
147. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) 12/28 DVD
148. My Boyfriend's Back (1993) 12/28 Hoopla
149. A Christmas Story (1983) 12/29 TNT
150. Road to Utopia 12/29 (1945) Hoopla
151. A Lego Brickumentary (2014) 12/30 Amazon Prime

10 Favorite Films I Saw in 2015

I was able to see a lot of movies this past year. From classics to new releases - popular films and obscure titles - one thing most of the movies I saw had in common: they are light hearted. At the end of the day, when I have an hour or two to sit and take in a film, the last thing I want to do is use my brain. But here's a list of 10 of the best films that I saw for the first time in 2014.

Airport (1970; dir. George Seaton)

I got into a bit of a disaster film phase earlier in the year and watched a handful of classics in the genre, including all four entries in the Airport series. The first one is a real bang up of a motion picture with about 17 different storylines going on - some of them funny, some of them serious and a whole slew of great actors that I love. Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Helen Hayes, Maureen Stapleton...and even good ol' Gary Collins show up in this nail biter about an evening at an airport where just about everything goes wrong. It was really cool to see how much the beloved Airplane! (1980) borrowed from Airport in terms of style, pacing and some of the situations and characters. This is a really good movie, it won Best Picture for the year it came out. If you can handle the slower paced action films of the early 70's, this one certainly holds up and I highly recommend it. 

Bad Words (2013; dir. Jason  Bateman)

Jason Bateman finds a loophole in the National Spelling Bee's rules that allows him to enter as an adult and get revenge on the system that made him a looser in his childhood. Painfully funny and fantastic script, this is one of the few films that lays out a really solid story while never forgetting to be laugh out loud hilarious.
 

          Cinderella (2015; dir. Kenneth Branagh)

Kenneth Branagh makes awesome high culture Shakespeare pictures and he is an absolute master at making fantastic popcorn movies. This live-action translation of Disney's beloved animated Cinderella (1950) is both luxurious and playful. So many modern updates of fairytales and cartoons try to deviate from the original source material. Branagh's Cinderella delights in bringing the memories of the cartoon movie to life while filling in some holes and offering alternate vantage points on some of the key story elements. The result is a fresh take on an old tale that is every bit and magical and Disney as the animated film we all grew up with.  

Gone Girl (2014; dir. David Fincher)

Every year, one or two Oscar-worthy films make it into my DVD player. Gone Girl was just an intense thriller with twists and turns and surprises all over the place. A really well made movie that I thoroughly enjoyed. It was also cool to see supporting players Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Casey Wilson in such a high caliber dramatic production.

Inside Out (2015; dirs. Pete Docter & Ronnie Del Carmen)

Inside Out is Pixar running full throttle and doing everything right. Hysterical, touching and wildly creative, this film has everything going for it. There's also perfect cartoon casting with Amy Poehler as the optimistic Joy, The Office's Phyllis Smith as Sadness and even Mindy Kaling (who I usually cant stand) was really good as Disgust. Lewis Black as the fiery haired Anger is one of those rare moments when a comic's physical and creative voice are matched perfectly with an animated character. As with any really good animated film, this one plays equally to children and adults.

 

 

Jurassic World (2105; dir. Colin Trevorrow)

I was never really a fan of the original Jurassic Park but something about this movie looked like it would be a fun Summer afternoon with my kids and boy was I right. I really liked how they completely fleshed out the idea of a theme park this time, showing how a real working tourist attraction with living dinosaurs might actually work out. The performances are great, not only Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard but the really solid comedic pairing of Jake Johnson and Lauren Lapkus as well.

On The Town (1949; dirs. Stanley Donen and Gene Kelly)

Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra and some other dude are sailors with 24 hours of shore leave in New York City. They step off the boat and then just go at it singing and dancing and chasing girls for two solid hours of entertainment. Unrelenting in it's energy, this was one of the first musicals to be shot on location and it's packed with great shots documenting what The Big Apple looked like in the late 40's. Man, I just enjoyed the hell out of every minute of this film.

 

The Peanuts Movie (2015; dir. Steve Martino)

This was my Facebook post the night I saw The Peanuts Movie: "When they announced years ago that they were making a computer animated Charlie Brown movie, I immediately thought of all the ways they were going to screw it up - like making them look like real kids and farting and crude humor. And then the teaser and eventually the trailer came out....and they relieved my worries somewhat but I still had no faith that a modern movie was going to do justice to a group of friends that have been so near and dear to my heart my entire life. I went into The Peanuts Movie tonight with very high expectations and very little confidence that I would be satisfied. I'm happy to report that every single frame of The Peanuts Movie is wonderful and magical. My boys (who have also grown up with these characters) laughed and giggled with glee throughout the entire movie. I was really proud that my kids loved a movie so simple and wholesome and that somebody created a movie worthy of the legacy of Charles Schulz."

 

Road to Bali (1952; dir. Hal Walker)

This is the year I discovered "the Road pictures," a series of seven super lightweight comedies made between 1940 and 1962. The films don't have much to do with each other but all star Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorthy Lamour. Hope and Crosby always play some sort of scam artists, Lamour is always a beautiful woman they run into somewhere along the way who helps them out of a pickle. The boys always come to blows over the heart of Lamour, there is always singing and dancing and there is never too much of a story. But if I had seen these movies when I was younger, my head would have exploded! There's ad-libbing, breaking the fourth wall, jokes about the movie studio, insults lobbed at each other, super corny bits and gags...they are all just great fun! I managed to track down 6 of the 7 films this past year. They were all really fun, but Bali is the one I saw first so it took me by surprise the most. 

 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015; dir. J.J. Abrams)

The new Star Wars did so many things perfectly. It took key ingredients from the first film, reshuffled them and dealt them out with a deck of new ingredients which resulted in a movie which serves as a nice souvenir of all our childhood Star Wars memories and paves the way for new adventures (and merchandising) to come. Force Awakens needed to do about 50 things to live up to it's own hype and serve as a worthy sequel to what is easily the most loved film of all time. It delivered on all 50 of those points, added in another 30 things you didn't even realize you were looking for and then topped it off with about 50 things that made itself a unique and entertaining movie all it's own. Not only has Star Wars: The Force Awakens become the highest grossing movie of all time, it has set the stage for a new wave of nostalgia films that will pay homage to film franchises of the past while attempting to move forward with new chapters. The ripples of the film go far beyond the box office numbers and toy isle sales.

 

 

Honorable Mentions/Almost Made The List: Let's Be Cops (2014) was nothing new, but it was just about the laugh out loud, gut busting, funniest movie I've seen in a long time! Tina Fey narrating the Disneynature documentary Monkey Kingdom (2015) is an inspired idea that accompanies a compelling and fascinating story about a group of monkeys in Asia. Another documentary, I Am Big Bird: The Carol Spinney Story (2014) traces the amazingly cool life of the guy inside the Big Bird suit. And while at 58 minutes it's hardly a movie, but of course I ate up every minute of The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown (2015) even if professional wresting wouldn't by first choice of subject matter for the first new piece of Flintstones animation in 14 years.

 

 

What were your favorites that you saw in 2015?

White Christmas

Why isn't this version on the radio every 20 minutes?

Marilyn McCoo and the incomparable John Davidson nailing WHITE CHRISTMAS on a 1983 episode of SOLID GOLD!

A Marshmallow World

There is nobody on the planet today even half as cool as these two guys.  Watch Dean Martin and his pal Frank Sinatra breeze through a performance of A MARSHMALLOW WORLD on a December 21, 1967 episode of THE DEAN MARTIN SHOW.

Legend has it that NBC wanted Dean Martin for a show so badly, that they only made him work one afternoon a week. He would come in a record the show without any rehearsal and it ended up working quite well for the show. The laid back feeling rolled over to the guests too! Watch Frank just go ahead and pull up his socks while singing on national television:



Compare that to this next clip, which I assume is from a few years later...I'm not sure ol' Dean even knows where he is:

The Christmas Song

This is the real deal, right here...Nat King Cole singing his signature holiday tune - The Christmas Song.



Nat King Cole believed that smoking cigarettes gave his voice the nice crisp, low tone he was known for. He was known to chain smoke several cigarettes in a row before recording, often smoking three packs a day. He died in 1965, just a few months after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

A Christmas To Remember

In 1984, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton were both huge mega stars at the top of their game. When they got together, people just couldn't get enough of it. One of the many specials they did together was the peculiar KENNY & DOLLY: A CHRISTMAS TOGETHER.  The entire special is on YouTube, I've watched it - and I'm not sure why. But here's Kenny, dressed as Handy Smurf, and Dolly, dressed as a 5 year old's Christmas arts and crafts project, singing their huge hit A Christmas To Remember along with a cast of 20 some store window mannequins...

Silver Bells

This week we're featuring some YouTube clips of various Christmas songs from various sources. Join us all week for festive holiday fun, won't ya!? First up is the odd pairing of Bob Hope and Olivia Newton-John lip synching SILVER BELLS.

Silver Bells is one of those Christmas standards that you assume has just been around forever, but it's origins are actually directly connected to Bob Hope. The song was written for the 1951 comedy musical THE LEMON DROP KID staring Hope along with Marilyn Maxwell and William "Fred Mertz" Frawley. The movie debuted in March of '51, but in Christmas 1950 a recording of Silver Bells was released sung by Bing Crosby. When the record became such a huge hit, the movie studio quickly brought the stars back in to film a more elaborate musical number to do the song justice.

The song, of course, became a classic and Bob Hope used it as his signature Christmas song and performed it almost every year on his annual Christmas special. He asked Olivia Newton-John to join him in a performance in his 1977 descriptively titled special THE BOB HOPE ALL STAR CHRISTMAS COMEDY SPECIAL. Along for the ride in the special was Christmas staple Perry Como, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker and The Muppets!

Sadly, nobody has uploaded the entire special (at least I couldn't find it) but here's Bob and a much younger Olivia (uncomfortably) flirting through a snow covered Burbank soundstage singing the holiday classic:

The Ultimate Netflix Christmas Episode List

Saved By The Bell "Home For Christmas"

Christmas television programing continues to gain popularity with each passing year. What used to be a few prime time specials every December has turned into 24 hour Christmas movie channels, marathons of Christmas Specials and Christmas episodes and more and more new original Christmas content making it to our screens each year. It's a great time to be a Christmas TV fanatic. Christmas themed episodes of beloved television series have become just as much a part of some people's holiday viewing traditions as Rudolph and Charlie Brown. There are several DVD compilations of vintage Christmas episodes and of course the closer we get to Christmas, the more you see jolly episodes of reruns airing. A great place to find loads of Christmas from television's past is Netflix - which features not only the latest "binge-worthy" trending series but plenty of goodies from the last several decades.

We've scoured the merriest corners of Netflix to compile a fairly comprehensive list of Christmas Time Episodes from a variety of series. The Netflix interface varies from platform to platform, so we've included the Season and Episode Number for each episode for the easiest searching. Happy Viewing!


About A Boy S2E8 "About A Christmas Card"

Ally McBeal S1E11 "Silver Bells"; S2E10 "Making Spirits Bright"; S3E7 "Saving Santa"; S3E8 "Blue Christmas"; S4E8 "The Man With the Bag"

The Andy Griffith Show S1E11 "A Christmas Story"

The Bernie Mac Show S1E7 "A Christmas Story"

Bob's Burgers S3E9 "God Rest Ye Merry Gentle-Mannequins"; S4E8 "Christmas In The Car"

Bojack Horseman "Bojack Horseman Christmas Special" (individually listed)

The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That "The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About Christmas"

Cheers S6E12 "Christmas Cheers"

The Cleveland Show S1E9 "A Cleveland Brown Christmas"; S2E8 "Murray Christmas"; S3E7 "Die Semi-Hard"; S4E6 "`Tis the Cleveland To Be Sorry"

Crossing Jordan S1E10 "Blue Christmas"

The Dick Van Dyke Show S3E13 "The Alan Brady Show Presents"

Doctor Who S2E1 "The Christmas Invasion"; S4E1 "Voyage of the Damned"

Everybody Loves Raymond S2E12 "All I Want For Christmas"; S3E12 "The Toaster"; S4E11 "The Christmas Picture"; S5E11 "Christmas Present"; S6E12 "Season's Greetings"; S7E11 "The Thought That Counts"; S8E10 "Jazz Records"

Frasier S1E12 "Miracle of Third or Fourth Street"; S3E9 "Frasier Grinch"; S5E9 "Perspectives on Christmas"; S6E10 "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz"; S7E11 "The Fight Before Christmas"; S8E8 "Mary Christmas"; S10E10 "We Two Kings"; S11E11 "High Holidays"

Friends S7E10 "The One With the Holiday Armadillo"; S9E10 "The One With Christmas in Tulsa"

Futurama S2E8 "Xmas Story"; S4E2 "A Tale of Two Santas"

Girl Meets World S1E16 "Girl Meets Home For The Holidays"

Glee S2E10 "A Very Glee Christmas"; S3E9 "An Extraordinary Merry Christmas"; S4E10 "Glee, Actually"; S5E8 "Previously Unaired Christmas"

Handy Manny E19 "Flicker Saves Christmas"; E20 "The Ayala"s Christmas Extravaganza"

House, M.D. S3E10 "Merry Little Christmas"; S5E11 "Joy To The World"

House of Mouse "Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse" (stand alone)

It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia S6E13 "A Very Sunny Christmas"

Jessie S1E10 "A Christmas Story"

Last Man Standing S1E10 "Last Christmas Standing"; S2E7 "Putting A Hit on Christmas"

MacGyver S5E11 "The Madonna"

Malcom In The Middle S3E7 "Christmas"; S5E7 "Christmas Trees"; S6E6 "Hal's Christmas Gift"

30 Rock offered up several holiday episodes during its seven season run.

M*A*S*H S5E15 "Dear Sis"

Melissa & Joey S3E16 "A New Kind of Family Christmas"; S4E2 "A Melanie & Josiah Christmas"

Murder, She Wrote S9E9 "A Christmas Secret"

NCIS S6E11 "Silent Night"; S7E10 "Faith"; S9E11 "The Newborn King"; S10E10 "You Better Watch Out"; S11E11 "Home Sick"

New Girl S1E9 "The 23rd"; S2E11 "Santa"

The Office (U.S.) S2E10 "Christmas Party"; S3E10 "A Benihana Christmas"; S5E10 "Moroccan Christmas"; S6E13 "Secret Santa"; S7E11 "Classy Christmas"; S8E10 "Christmas Wishes"; S9E9 "Dwight Christmas"

The Office (U.K.) S2E7&8 "Christmas Special"

Orange Is The New Black S1E13 "Can't Fix Crazy"

Parks and Recreation S2E12 "Christmas Scandal"

Pee-Wee's Playhouse "Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special" (individually listed)

Psych S5E14 "The Polarizing Express"

Quantum Leap S3E10 "A Little Miracle - December 24, 1962"; S5E11 "Promised Land - December 22, 1971"

Rules of Engagement S5E12 "Little Bummer Boy"

Rosewell S2E10 "A Rosewell Christmas Carol"

Saved By The Bell S3E24&25 "Home For Christmas"

30 Rock S2E9 "Ludachristmas";  S3E6 "Christmas Special"; S4E8 "Secret Santa"; S5E10 "Christmas Attack Zone"

The Twilight Zone S2E11 "Night of the Meek"

The Vicar of Dibley S2E2 "The Christmas Lunch Incident"; S3E2 "Winter" (There is also a whole section of Vicar of Dibley Christmas Specials which lists four more episodes)

The Wonder Years S2E3 "Christmas"; S4E9 "A Very Cutlip Christmas"; S5E9 "Christmas Party"; S6E10 "Let Nothing You Dismay"

The X-Files S5E6 "Christmas Carol"; S6E6 "How the Ghosts Stole Christmas"


Missed any good ones? Drop us a line or leave a comment!
Netflix availability as of 11/12/15

10 Favorite Dutch Wonderland Attractions

Just the other day, Fox News posted their list of 10 Best Attractions at Dutch Wonderland. It seems like an odd choice for an article by a national website and just like the Fox News we're all come to love and admire on television, the story has more than one factual inaccuracy. Either way, the article made me think, "Well, I should do a list of favorite DW attractions!" Just about every attraction at the park is hit with one member of my family or another, but this is a sampling of the things I enjoy most at the Lancaster park...

Astroliner  Long before every theme park had a motion simulator ride and even before Disney perfected the art by taking us on a Star Tour into the Star Wars universe, the Astroliner would provide similar thrills by rocking back and forth while a movie showed an out of control space mission on the cockpit screen. This ride would pop up at carnivals and beach-side amusement areas and I loved it. Whenever I saw one of these set up, I would beg my parents to let me ride it. I even have fond memories of riding it at Dutch Wonderland when I was little.  Dutch Wonderland installed the ride in the 70's and tried to sell it shortly before 2000. When they couldn't find a buyer, DW decided to spruce up the ride and present it as a piece of amusement park history. Now the ride serves as one of the parks more unique attractions.  The 8mm rear projection film has been replaced with a wide screen TV and a DVD of the original film, but the experience is still good old fashioned fun. (There's a more modern version of the ride, the VR Voyager, housed right across from this amusement park antique.)

Decades of Dutch Wonderland Dutch Wonderland offers quite a bit of live entertainment for a park of it's size. As season pass holders for three years I've probably seen at least a dozen different shows in the park. To celebrate the park's 50th Anniversary in 2013 they added Decades of Dutch Wonderland which offers a brief history of the park but a pretty darn good soundtrack of hits from the 60's through today. Most of the musical show offerings at DW consist of a two person cast, Decades benefits from four live actors as well as Duke The Dragon (who doesn't sing, but he can dance!) The show basically plays like a mini-concert and if you look around in the middle of the show, you'll see more than one parent tapping their feet or bobbing their head to this great collection of songs.

Double Splash Flume This is a fairly standard Log Flume style ride but it is a nice one, where the track sits in the ground instead of above like most others. The ride has two drops, the first one is small but produces a surprising splash. The ride out to the main lift is enjoyable. There used to be statues of animals and a mist tunnel along the way but the animals have retired and the mist shut off. You still get a nice scenic trip with great views of the roller coaster and a nice way to cool off without getting drenched. It's also nice that there is no height restriction so the whole family can ride together.

Dragon's Lair This is one of the park's earliest attractions, even though it has been altered greatly since opening day. Little log boats, similar to the ones on the log flume ride, take you on a nice relaxing ride around a small lake in the front of the park. There's not much action here, just an experience similar to renting a boat for an afternoon and peacefully cruising the local lake. The boat is guided by an underwater rail, but steering wheels on each log boat give kids the opportunity to drive. There are a few animated and non-animated pretend animals along the way before entering the dragon's lair itself. The dragon in question, is Duke, the park's lovable mascot represented by a huge audio animatronic that pops up out of his mountain home every so often to laugh and sing. Once you are greeted by Duke, you boat takes a quick tour of inside his mountain for a brief glimpse and a look at Dutch Wonderland's own "back side of water."

Exploration Island Last year, Dutch Wonderland took a neglected portion of their park (a large island along the back end of the park) and spruced it up into one of the most modern and heavily themed areas of the entire park. Exploration Island is now the home to 20 audio-animatronic dinosaurs that you can visit along Prehistoric Path, a short walking trail with great views of the various dinosaurs. Some of them are animated, some of them make noise, some you can ever control. None of the dinos are too tall or frightening keeping the parks target audience in mind. A nice touch is that similar attractions at other area parks have an additional entrance fee - but at DW, the dinosaurs are included with every admission ticket. The dinosaurs are also visible from the islands two other rides; the Gondola Cruise and the newly renovated Sunoco Turnpike - which was moved from the middle of the park to the island and expanded to triple in length. Exploration Island is also where you will find Dino Dig, three large sandbox areas where kids can use excavation tools to uncover dinosaur fossils. The entire island experience is enhanced with terrific atmospheric music and sound effects as well as it's own dino-filled gift shop.

Kingdom Coaster  You wouldn't expect a real, honest-to-goodness roller coaster at such a little kiddie oriented park, but Dutch Wonderland's wooden coaster is the real deal. A family coaster that provides every bit of fun as a bigger coaster, just minus the first drop. Kingdom Coaster was the first project of Custom Coasters International back in 1991. Since then, CCI has gone on to be the largest manufacturer of wooden coasters in the world. The coaster hits speeds of 40 MPH and features plenty of air time, sharp curves and a pretty intense helix near the end of the ride.  In the evening hours of the park, it's not uncommon to be able to stay on the ride and go multiple trips without getting off the train. Sometimes they don't even slow the train down through the station - and that's a unique experience you'll never get at a bigger park.  On more than one occasion, the kids and I rode 5 times without stopping - nowadays one trip around at a time is enough for me!

Monorail Not many parks have a monorail, in fact Dutch Wonderland was one of the first to have one after Disneyland.  Dutch Wonderland's monorail leaves a very vintage looking station in the middle of the park and travels a loop around most of the grounds. You'll get a bird's eye view of the adjoining Mill Stream Campground as well as some of the behind the scenes areas of the park. The monorail also travels through the park's wooden roller coasters at a couple different points. The ride also takes you out of the castle walls and into the parking lot through an old abandoned monorail station and out along Rt. 30 in front of the park. Kids often have a fun time finding the family car in the parking lot. This is another of the park's great relaxing rides and I'm happy to announce that as of mid-2015, there is a new (updated) recording that plays in each monorail car to accompany your ride.

Tug Boat Sadly, the Tug Boat (and it's sister vessel the Lady Gay) has been out of commission for the entire 2015 season. The park's website listed the attraction as temporarily closed until recently when it stated the ride would be shut down for the entire season. The Tug Boat was just another boat ride, that actually traveled the same path as the Gondola Cruise, just along the outside of the island. What set the Tug Boat apart from all the other boat rides at Dutch Wonderland is that it was a free floating boat that did not ride on a track or rail, and required a real boat captain to pilot the ship alone the Mill Stream Creek. It was a great ride though, that allowed you to take in more of the surrounding nature than the other boats allow. This ride was a favorite of my kids as well, and we hope it makes a comeback before our season passes expire.

The Wonderers Music plays such a key role in the theme park/amusement park experience and few things can top a live band strolling the grounds. The Wonderers are a 4-5 piece band that stroll throughout the park playing classic kiddie tunes, a few hits you might recognize from the radio and they have more than one Disney song up their sleeves. The best place to catch the guys is in front of the One Room School House, next to the Off-Road Rally. There they often stop a play a few numbers before continuing a loop around the park. We've also seen them stop in front of the Celebration Theater. One of our favorite bits is a TV theme song medley they do, where guests shout out the names of the shows to each theme. The Wonderers also make an appearance at the daily 5:30 Funsation Celebration show and every night at the exit of the park at closing time. This is a group of talented guys you won't want to miss.

Wonderland Special   Man, I loves me some amusement park trains! Dutch Wonderland has an especially nice miniature train ride. The excursion starts off with a trip through an abandoned diamond mine before making it's way out into the park and zig-zaging through the grounds showing off most of the park's offerings. The train even goes over an old fashioned authentic Amish covered bridge. The station for the train is the very first thing you see upon entering the park, so the lines can get quite long at the beginning of the day. On days where the lines are long, DW is able to run two trains at a time to cut down on the wait.

Christmas In July

Today check out my guest post over at  Christmas TV History where I answer some questions about one of my favorite subjects - Christmas Specials! And if you're joining via hopping over from Christmas TV Party, then Welcome! Here's a few Christmas related links from years past you may enjoy...

My Top 50 Christmas Viewing List

8 Christmas Songs I Never Need To Hear Again

Crabs For Christmas

Greatest Christmas Movie Ever!

He-Man + She-Ra + Christmas = Awesome

More Posts tagged Christmas Specials

Hey, Remember Treasure Planet Was A Movie People Paid To See Once

The other night the kids and I popped in Treasure Planet, Disney's 2002 animated futuristic adaption of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island. It's one of the last few Disney animated classics that my kids haven't seen yet, and I myself only saw it once upon it's theatrical release. At the time, it was a rare misstep for Disney Animation but having had another odd flop a few years earlier with Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) it was to signal the end of Disney's decade long reign of producing classic animated fare year after year. Now, Treasure Planet sits on a growing list of titles like Chicken Little, Bolt and Home on the Range as lesser loved and lesser known Disney Animated Films.

So it is with some trepidation that I started up the movie. For me, Disney films are best when they are about princesses and magic and funny animals. They are at their least inviting when they are trying to do something outside of the "Disney Box." Treasure Planet is not a bad film but it's one main flaw runs throughout the entire film. The character design of almost the entire cast is unpleasant and perhaps uninspired.

A dog/man scientist, a cat/person captain, a rock thing is a suit, a lobster, a spider...none of these really played for laughs. The human characters are all bland, and the Long John Silver character is supposed to be half machine half something else...I'm not sure what.

The story is tight, the action is good, there's plenty of humor...although a Star Wars reject character that only speaks through rear-end noises seems a little low brow by Disney standards. I just can't get by how ugly and unappealing the characters look.

Two characters stand out as having a traditional Disney look; a little floating shape shifting blob called Morph and a crazy robot named B.E.N who is voiced by Martin Short. These are the only two characters that could even support any merchandise from this movie. And that's kind of the strange thing about this movie, because even though it's only 12 years old - I don't think the suits at Disney would even finance a movie nowadays that wasn't chockfull of characters that would easily translate into plush toys, action figures, T shirts or the 100 Million other things they need to make a movie a real cash cow nowadays.

In the end, Treasure Planet is not as bad as it's legacy would lead you to believe. It's based on a time tested story retold by master storytellers who chose to step a little too far out of the magical world of Disney for their visual inspiration.

This Is The Best Ice Cream I Have Ever Had

Imagine you've only ever seen your favorite movie on a 20 inch television screen. Now imagine seeing that movie on a 70 ft. Imax screen. That lame analogy is my way of describing the depth of flavor you'll feel when you take your first taste of Mr. G's Old Fashioned Hand Made Ice Cream. It is hands down, the best ice cream I have ever tasted!

Mr. G serves up his outrageous ice cream from a century old building in Gettysburg's tourist area. In fact, Mr. G has such a great location - Abraham Lincoln walked by the place on his way to give the Gettysburg Address. If you don't believe me, check out the trees on either side of the building. They both have plaques confirming Mr. Lincoln's passing by! I'm sure the building was used for something less exciting than ice cream back then, but it's still a cool distinction.

Mr. G's is a quint little shop that is pretty big on fun. The inside is not too big and it can get pretty tight in there on nights when the line stretches out the door. Each day Mr. G offers up only a handful of flavors. You won't find crazy designer flavors like Ben & Jerry make. You'll find a pretty typical collection of ice cream flavors. But the homemade work that goes into each batch of ice cream can be detected the second you take your first lick. I'm sure it has to do with the amount of butterfat or whole cream or some science mumbo jumbo like that...I don't know, all I know it is easily the best tasting ice cream I have ever had!

The shop offers a few other selections like Root Beer Floats, Milkshakes, Sundaes and even soft serve, but it's the homemade hand dip scoops that have people buzzing about this Summer sweet spot! My personal ultimate indulgence at Mr. G's is a waffle cone with a scoop of Birthday Cake Batter and a scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter. I always ask for the latter scoop on top so I have easy access to the huge chunks of thick peanut butter floating in the chocolate goodness. My wife like the fruit based flavors like their super fresh tasting Peach or the yummy Dreamsicle, The boys did Mint Oreo while my younger daughter is just happy with anything you put in a cone and then hand her!

 

There is a little bit of seating inside the historic building and plenty of seating outside all around the place. Another big attraction at Mr. G's is the number of Ring and Hook games they have set up on their property. This is the simple game of trying to swing a small ring attached to a string onto a hook on a pole in front of you. If you've never played this game it might sound easy, but it takes a certain skill to get the hang of it. The best part is, it keeps kids mesmerized for hours. My kids have literally spend half an afternoon standing there playing it, while I lounged at a nearby picnic table eating my daily caloric intake and scrolling Facebook. The game has become so popular at Mr. G's that have even organized some tournaments help periodically throughout the season.

 

When you're done with your ice cream you can stroll through the rather large Mr. G's Gift Shop located in a separate building directly behind the ice cream shop. Back there, Mr. G sells Gettysburg souvenirs as well as a few keepsakes of his own place. They also carry a full line of Life Is Good apparel as well.

 

Mr. G's Old Fashioned Home Made & Soft Serve Ice Cream is a great way to cool off in the middle of a hot summer day. It's located right in the middle of all the tourist fun of historic Gettysburg at 404 Baltimore St.

 



Chalk It Up!

Our town hosts an event every year called Chalk It Up where everybody is invited to the downtown area and given a square of sidewalk and some sidewalk chalk and create a temporary work of art. Everybody from little kids to professional artists come out and make all kinds of cool creations on the walkways in front of the downtown businesses. We've been wanting to take part in it for years, this year we finally made it down. The kids had a blast. Here's a look at our process and our finished product (which we were all pretty proud of!)

New Amusements For You in 2015

Spring is in the air and all the theme parks and amusement parks are rolling out new attractions for the upcoming Summer season. Here's a rundown of what's new behind the admission gates of some of the parks in the region...

Kings Dominion updates it's water park and gives it the new name Soak City. Besides the name change and facility upgrades the new park will feature several new attractions. "Hurricane Heights, the 65-foot tall slide complex features three thrilling new attractions. On Paradise Plunge, thrill-seekers will step into one of three chambers and wait anxiously for the floor to drop out from underneath their feet, sending them in a high-speed, almost vertical free fall through a series of loops and s-curves in a translucent flume. Aqua Blast will send riders twisting and spiraling through an enclosed chute featuring four intense 360-degree loops across 449 feet of slide before they’re dropped out into a pool of water. A wet and wild adventure will await guests on Thunder Falls as they climb into a single or double raft before being launched down a series of intense drops and turns." There will also be a new kids area.

Busch Gardens Williamsburg debuts a new roller coaster: "In the rich tradition of the classic Italian daredevils, no single man wowed the crowds like Tempesto. Busch Gardens’ daring new roller coaster, Tempesto, lets riders take center stage and recreate his signature stunt. Guests daring enough to take on Tempesto will race into unbelievably tight turns at 63 miles per hour and defy gravity as they roll through a complete inversion 154 feet in the air. Busch Gardens^® newest thrill coaster features three launch experiences and Tempesto’s signature loop-the-loop."

Hersheypark in Pennsylvania also has a unique new roller coaster. "Laff Trakk is the first indoor, spinning, glow-coaster in the United States. This family friendly house of laughs spins riders through an exciting adventure of sights and sounds complete with glimpses of colorful characters, a dizzying hall of mirrors, and more!"

 Impulse is the largest construction project in Knoebel's history. The traditional amusement park in Elysburg, PA has added a major new coaster to their lineup. "This steel tower coaster will consist of over 2,000 feet of track throughout which the ride will reach speeds of over 55 miles per hour. To begin the ride, the cars will be pulled via a chain lift up a 98-foot vertical hill, creating anticipation for what’s to come. Following the ascent to the peak of what is called a top hat hill, is a 90-degree free fall drop."

Dorney Park in Allentown, PA offers a new swing ride, Cedar Creek Flyers, to it's guests in 2015.  Riders will sit in one of eight “eagles” suspended from arms 28 feet in the air. As the ride spins, the eagles will swing outward – and riders have the unique opportunity to control their flight experience from mild to wild!"

Another variation on the swing ride with debut at Dutch Wonderland. “Bon Voyage Balloon Chase will take guests on a magical ride in one of eight flying hot air balloons where every seat has a view. The ride soars to lofty heights of 20 feet while rotating clockwise. Your balloon will ascend and descend as it spins; while the wheel at the center of your gondola basket lets you control the direction and speed of your spin."

For Six Flags fans, Six Flags America presents a shiny new version of a carnival classic, "Bourbon Street Fireball, a wild looping coaster. Our new coaster will seat riders in a forward and backward, face-to-face position for a pendulum style take off with multiple 360° revolutions. Just when you think you can’t take any more, the train will suspend upside down and reverse course for additional loops!" A similar ride will also debut at sister park Six Flags Great Adventure in New Jersey, with the name El Diablo.

Quoted information from park's press releases.





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