Episode 133 - WINTER WONDER-THON 2018

Before we enter holiday hibernation, we're gifting our listeners another stockpile of seasonal delights in our third annual Winter Wonder-Thon, including six scratch-off cards, five lumps of clay, four ninja teens, three father figures, two chocolate morsels, and a singing turd on your TV.  And this time, we're snowed in with that manifestation of merriment himself, Nate Tapp.  (You all must have been extra good this year!)

Come celebrate the season with this collection of clips, commercials, sitcoms, and specials all liberally sprinkled with holiday cheer.  We'll be back again in 2019!

Featured in this episode:

Clips and Shorts
Gumby Adventures - "Humbug" (aired 2/20/1988)
Pennsylvania Lottery commercial - "Snowfall" (1992, 2012)
M&M's commercial - "Faint" (1996, 2017)

TV Episodes and Specials
Full House - "A Very Tanner Christmas" (aired 12/15/1992)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: We Wish You A Turtle Christmas (1994)
South Park - "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" (aired 12/1/1999)

Episode 132 - HOME ALONE / HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK

The first two Home Alone movies didn't just give us ideas for inflicting pain and suffering upon hapless burglars. They affirmed the importance of familial bonds, turned Macaulay Culkin into a prepubescent celebrity icon, and sold kids a dream of heroic self-sufficiency via jury-rigged deathtraps and handheld voice changers. More than just a slapstick romp, Home Alone has blossomed into an essential holiday tradition.

Join us for a yuletide double feature as we thoroughly unpack the McAllister mythos, from its homespun John Hughes-ian roots to its emergence as an unstoppable--and unchanging--comedic force. Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals! (And a happy new year!)

Home Alone (1990)
Directed by Chris Columbus
Written and produced by John Hughes
Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Roberts Blossom, and John Candy

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)
Directed by Chris Columbus
Written and produced by John Hughes
Starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Tim Curry, Dana Ivey, Rob Schneider, Eddie Bracken, and Brenda Fricker

Episode 131 - MRS. DOUBTFIRE

Robin Williams spends the bulk of Mrs. Doubtfire demonstrating the many acting talents from his own résumé as his character vies to retain custody of his children in the guise of an elderly female housekeeper. The perfect vehicle for a beloved entertainer with a deep well of voices and slapstick chops, this poignant divorce dramedy sees the comedian don matronly movie makeup to prove his paternal prowess and remind us why he felt like a filmic father figure to a generation.

In keeping with the theme of family, we welcome our first guest appearance from a sibling! Eric's sister, Amy Ambler, joins us to bring the fourth and final round of our Robin Round Robin full circle with another Williams classic. He's the true champion in the eyes of these nostalgic podcasters, but we invite dissenting opinions! If Mrs. Doubtfire teaches us anything, it's that people can have their differences and keep their distance... and that's okay.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993)
Directed by Chris Columbus
Produced by Marsha Garces Williams, Robin Williams, and Mark Radcliffe
Written by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon
Based on Alias Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine
Starring Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, Harvey Fierstein, Robert Prosky, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence, and Mara Wilson

Episode 130 - ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES

To modern eyes, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is not unlike a superhero movie. In this retelling, the titular hero resembles Bruce Wayne or Tony Stark--a rich, handsome adventurer driven to vigilantism when he experiences injustice firsthand. There's also a scene-stealing villain in Alan Rickman's delectably evil Sheriff of Nottingham, and even an eleventh-hour cameo that functions as a kind of easter egg.

Still, this Robin Hood is a very '90s affair. It's an earnest attempt to appeal to modern audiences without alienating the traditionalists, and features Kevin Costner at the peak of his laconic powers. So crank up the Bryan Adams for round three of the Robin Round Robin, as we celebrate a pioneering wealth redistributor in this special Thanksgiving episode!

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Directed by Kevin Reynolds
Produced by Pen Densham, John Watson, and Richard Barton Lewis
Written by Pen Densham and John Watson
Starring Kevin Costner, Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Christian Slater, Michael Wincott, Geraldine McEwan, Nick Brimble, Mike McShane, and Sean Connery

Episode 129 - BATMAN & ROBIN

Forever frozen in time as an aggressive expression of comic book camp, Batman & Robin had a chilling effect on the entire superhero genre: its icy reception did much to precipitate our current cinematic reality. And while our culture has buried the movie in an avalanche of snark, consider this podcast our modest attempt to bring it in from the cold.

That chill dude, Gensho Tasaka, joins us once again as the Robin Round Robin enters round two with the toyetic tour de force that is Batman & Robin. 

Batman & Robin (1997)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Produced by Peter MacGregor-Scott
Written by Akiva Goldsman
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, George Clooney, Chris O'Donnell, Uma Thurman, Alicia Silverstone, Michael Gough, Pat Hingle, Elle Macpherson, and Robert "Jeep" Swenson

Check out all current episodes in our Batman series:
Batman
Batman Returns
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Batman Forever
Batman & Robin

POLL: Choose WWWW's Next Christmas Movie

Calling all Christmas creeps! Help us decide our holiday screening! Vote for one of these four festive favorites featuring incredulous faces. The film with the most votes will be discussed on a future episode.

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Episode 128 - HOOK

Welcome back to Neverland, Pan the Man! Long considered a black sheep in Steven Spielberg's filmography, Hook is a touchstone for countless '90s kids who dreamed of living in an awesome treehouse and hanging out with Robin Williams. It's an all-out smorgasbord for the juvenile ego, full of insult battles, mincing pirates, and food-based weaponry.

It's also the perfect place to launch our latest themed month: the Robin Round Robin! In round one, Mr. Williams awakens the inner child in all of us, while special guest Brian Rudloff helps us recover some of our earliest movie-going memories. Bangarang!

Hook (1991)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Frank Marshall, and Gerald R. Molen
Written by Jim V. Hart and Malia Scotch Marmo
Based on Peter Pan by J. M. Barrie
Starring Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, Bob Hoskins, Julia Roberts, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, Caroline Goodall, Dante Basco, and Maggie Smith