25 Days of a Christmas Carol

COME IN AND KNOW ME BETTER, MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's Day 25 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and the Sullivan Twins came through to talk about the Muppets Christmas Carol but then ended up just rambling! It's Christmas! In the words of Tiny Tim, "Please don't call me Tiny. It feels patronizing!"

Stay tuned in 2021 for another adaptation project but until then listen to Two Boys in a Balcony every Wednesday 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Come in and know me better, thank you very much! It's Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas and it's Christmas Eve and ho, ho, ho my own dang Ghost of Christmas Present, Bill McMorrow stopped by to hold my hand and finally walk me the iconic Scrooge from 1970 starring Albert Finney! Bill is the goodest boy in the balcony and really been a great source of fun over the course of this unending pandemic garbage world! 

Google any list of Christmas Carol adaptations and this one is always in the top three. People absolutely love it and it was new to me and after some of the slogs I've had to go through to get this point, it was a real delight sitting down with these old goofs, singing and dancing in the dirty streets of Soundstage London! There's only one more sleep till Christmas and I can send this podcast to the farm upstate where there's plenty of fields and rabbits to chase. Now get outta here! Go, you stupid old podcast!

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Come in and know me better, blam! It's Day 23 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and whoa-ho-ho-ho could it possibly be? Is that that Ghost of Christmas Past? No... it... it's.. why it's Seangeorge! Seangeorge is a filmmaker in Los Angeles and more importantly, my old roommate and sketch partner! His company Heckler Films is just about to release it's latest short film, Stark Raving Actress!

It's the Seans reunion you never knew you needed. After almost a decade of not doing anything funny together, the Seans gathered once more, separately on different coasts to ostensibly talk about Richard Williams' beautiful Academy Award winning animated short film, A Christmas Carol but really it was an unspoken contest to see who could get the other to call them an idiot first! If you've missed all the fat banter of two idiots with the same name screaming across the UMass Theater Department than you're in luck, friends because it's Day 23 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and this gift has no receipt. 

Also check out Hecklerfilms.com for more information on their new short film, Stark Raving Actress!

A Christmas Carol (1971) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN6IMZFwY50

Heckler Films www.hecklerfilms.com

Come in and know me better, Guy! It's Day 22 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and boy golly, it's a Christmas miracle! Originally we were going to try and tackle a new 2020 Hallmark movie but we couldn't find it streaming either legally or illegally!  So we called an audible and stumbled upon a movie from 2004 that was made for television called Karroll's Christmas which finally asks the question "what if the ghosts went to the wrong house?" It's a pretty wild movie but also good? Tom Everett Scott, Wallace Shawn, Larry Miller, VERNE TROYER! It's very strange but maybe the best version of this type of thing. Comedian Andrew Mayer stops by to discuss this hidden surprise!

Karroll's Christmas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MVra6ZTIe4

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan and @mayercomedy on them social media machines

Come in and know me better, ! It's Day 21 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and boy do we have an episode for you ! This aint your daddy's Christmas Carol. We're looking at the dirty, grimy, gritty THREE HOUR LONG FX/BBC Mini-Series from 2019, written by Steven Knight and produced by Tom Hardy and Ridley Scott. It's insane. At the end of this episode, you are going to hear things and think, "there's no possible way any of that is in the movie" but believe you me, there was so much more we couldn't get to. It's got the highest production values and at every turn, the creative team seem to ask "What's the most up way to do this?" Comedian, pal, and loud laugher Sam Ike dropped by to discuss. Enjoy !

A Christmas Carol (2019) is streaming on Hulu but don't bother. Spend time with your family or read a book or watch a different one that won't take you a week to get through it because it's so upsetting. 

@MrSeanSullivan and @TheSamIke and @TheSamIkeBot on twitters

Come in and know me better, Alex P Keaton! It's Day 20 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and today comedian and friend Kelly MacFarland logged on to go through a really fun episode of the second season of Family Ties that just so happens to be a slightly insane Christmas Carol homage. It was a fun chat about Christmas and our own dang traditions but also a ton of goofs over some of the truly bizarre choices this show made and how almost every member of the cast rose to the occaison (sorry Tina). Podcasting at the holidays! I am truly losing my mind!

Genuine Nonsense with Kelly MacFarland twitch.tv/2mbstudios

@MrSeanSullivan and @kellymacfarland on the twitter thing. Does anybody read these? 

Come in and know me better, doc! It's Day 19 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and thank heavens it's a short one today! We watched segment one from 1979's poorly produced Looney Tunes special, Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales. This ain't your daddy's Looney Tunes and thankfully it's probably not yours either but it was 8 minutes long. Now you might be thinking "But Sean how did you guys talk for another about a 40 year old, 8 minute cartoon?" Fret not, loyal listener, cause Merry Christmas Eric Tayor is here and we dive headfirst into Eric's conservative religious upbringing, his disdain for Star Wars, MY disdain for Sturbridge Village, and then we commiserate on how hard it's been to be a fun Christmas dad during the Covid-19 quarantine. 

Bugs Bunny's Christmas Tales https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ji4wa

@MrSeanSullivan and @ericisnotfunny on the social medias

Come in and know me better, babe! It's Day 18 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and today, television historian, illustrious podcaster, comedian, and friend Ken Reid drops by with the beautiful corpse of a one season sitcom, The Famous Teddy Z starring Jon Cryer and Alex Rocco. I'm completely transparent on this: I had no idea what this was. It's very hard to find episdoes and info on it but this one episode is a real comedic masterclass from Alex Rocco. He's genuinely pretty incredible in it. So for all you guidance counselor heads out there, this one is for you. It's me. It's Ken. It's the Famous Teddy Z. 

Famous Teddy Z "Seasons Greetings from Al Floss" https://vimeo.com/478147751/e1fec37a47

TV Guidance Counselor https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tv-guidance-counselor-podcast/id821665905

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Come in and no me better, gran-ite! It's Day 17 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and I don't know if I have the strength to push through writing anymore glowing things about these movies or my guests but thankfully the Ghost of Christmas Good Times, Will Smalley flew in through the window with a little podcast pick-me-up (cocaine) and we have a real fun time talk about the absolutely unnecessary and dreadful The Flintstones' Christmas Carol from 1996. 30 years after it's heyday, some executive trying to build off the earlier good will of the 1994 John Goodman Rick Moranis starrer decided now was the time to thrust America's Favorite Stone Age Family back into primetime with their own INEXPLICABLY LONG version of A Christmas Carol. It's not one to gather the family round and watch!

The Flintstones Christmas Carol is available to rent on Amazon and Blockbuster Video. It stinks

@MrSeanSullivan and @WillSmalley on the social media things but have no expectations. We're old men. 

Come in and know me better, Co-nan! It's Day 16 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and today Santa's sleigh is making it's first (but not last) stop to the Hallmark Channel and the endless drivel that they wrap around the bones of the classic Dickens tale. Only four months after the premiere of the daytime talk show Ellen, Hallmark presented a Christmas Carol about a rotten daytime talk show host who is visited by Gary Coleman, William Shatner, and absolutely in know way James Cromwell. It's a real drag but fortunately my old buddies from my Conan internship days and accomplished podcasters themselves, Eric Szyszka from We Hate Movie and his podcast partner Ben Worcester from their TJ Hooker rewatch podcast, Hooked on TJ Hooker were willing to reunite with your boy, me, and talk about this monstrosity and reminisce about our time at 30 Rock! 

A Carol Christmas https://t.co/TsvLd4Mncx?amp=1

Hooked on TJ Hooker 

We Hate Movies

Two Boys in a Balcony 

@MrSeanSullivan, @ericszyszka, and @benworcester on the twitter machine 

Come in and know me better, clam! It's Day 14 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and today, the great Lamont Price is stopping by for what was supposed to be a deep dive into a seven minute Gumby short but took a slight detour through Dallas, Texas. It's a great episode and really very funny. It's for sure the Christmas Carol adaptation that avoids the source material the most but at this point, I was just so happy to not have to discuss another ghost. It's Gumby. He's weird. It's Lamont. He's great. 

Gumby "Scrooge Loose" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V1ZY6UV6No

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan and @LPizzle on twitter and other things probably

Come in and know me, can! It's Day 13 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol! Officially past the halfway and I can think of a 1,000 better ways to celebrate such an inconsequential milestone but unfortunately we're stuck with having to endure a truly deranged special from 1978 where inexplicably famous impressionist Rich Little subjects the North American public to endless barrage of completely outdated impressions! They don't make'em like this anymore and thank God for that. To discuss, it's Mark Gallagher from the Mark Gallagher Thing and also friendship! Mark is one of my favorite people to talk to and I owe him a true life debt for agreeing to go through this thing!

Rich Little's Christmas Carol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AdkFdOs-Vs

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

The Mark Gallagher Thing www.mgthing.com

TwentyFiveCarols@gmail.com

Come in and know me better, Batman! It's Day 12 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and to mark the halfway mark of this endless project, I've fit in what I, me, Sean Sullivan, consider to be the very best traditional adaptation, A Christmas Carol from 1984 starring George C Scott. I can't really keep singing the praises of this same story but I love it and I love it mainly cause this movie that has neither a Mickey Mouse or a Kermit Frog is so engaging. It's a real favorite and to talk about it is another dang favorite, actor and comedian Nate Johnson! Maybe you've seen him in commercials for regional banks or the Connecticut lottery or maybe he's been your good, good friend for nearly 20 years. WHO KNOWS! But he's a delight and for all you listeners who think Tiny Tim is sitting to high on his crutch, your time has come!

A Christmas Carol is available to stream on Amazon or iTunes or other places probably. It might be on Starz. Ask your parents if it's part of their cable package!

@MrSeanSullivan and @natedjohnson on the social mediasa

Come in and know me better, bro! It's Day 11 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and today we're looking at a two-part television Christmas classic, the two episodes of Saved by the Bell where Zack's mom does a Christmas Carol in the mall with the gang. It's a busy Christmas for the Bayside gang as they all balance seasonal jobs with charity work and their love of food court theatrical productions. To discuss it all, I've got the host of Mindful Metal Jacket and Tuesdays with Stories, Joe List! Joe's a great comedian with a brand-new hour stand up special called "I Hate Myself" available for free on Comedy Central's Youtube page. It's a fun chat!

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Mindful Metal Jacket https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/joe-lists-mindful-metal-jacket/id1497367623

Tuesdays with Stories https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tuesdays-with-stories/id705474769

@MrSeanSullivan and @joelistcomedy on social media

Come in and know me, slenderman! It's Day 9 of the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol and today, we're looking the Walt Disney produced, Robert Zemeckis directed A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey! Wait a sec, the director of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Back to the Future, teamed up with the star of Dumb and Dumber and the Mask for a fresh, energetic take on the Dickens' classic? Well color me excited. Just kidding! It's the finale of Zemeckis's motion capture trilogy where he glues little dots to real human beings faces and insists that they do "acting" in front of a green screen. Then after he turns all the "acting" into computer generated NPC characters from a Sega Dreamcast game. The entire thing looks like it was rendered on a Game Gear and is truly a nightmare. Thankfully, good buddy Casey Malone acquiesced to this mind-melting torture. It's the 25 Days of A Christmas Carol! I'm so tired

Disney's A Christmas Carol is available to stream on Disney+ (use offer code "25Carols" to pay full price for a subscription package!) 

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan and @CaseyMalone on the socials

Play Marvel Strike Force on your phone! I think that's the game Casey makes!

Come in and know me betta, kehd! It's a New England Christmas miracle as Bill McMorrow from the Two Boys in a Balcony podcast was able to skate on over to the his computer and through a series of bloops, bleeps, and whistles, magically record a fun Day 9 episode of the other host of Two Boys in a Balcony's mistress podcast, 25 Days of a Christmas Carol! Hurrah huzzah and sit on it, Potsie aaaaaaaaaay. It's Depression-era Concord, New  Hampshire and America's favorite unstuck in time greaser, the Fonz, dons 75 pounds of facial prosthetics to become the most solid rubber faced miser this side of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre! It's a very fun time about a mostly pretty good adaptation!

There's a new episode today too of Two Boys in a Balcony where we're in the middle of our Kurt Russell appreciation month! We watched Big Trouble in Little China! Aaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654 

@MrSeanSullivan and @billyberue or @billmcmorrow I can't remember on social media

Come in and know me better, mon! It's Day 8 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and today we're breaking the rules a little bit! Technically The Man Who Invented Christmas does have a Scrooge but all the rest of the story is just the mental breakdown of this biopic's principle subject Charles Dickens, admirably played by Dan Stevens. This is a movie that no one has seen and I think it's a pretty pleasant watch. On the pod today is Boston comedian, Erin Spencer. She's been a finalist in the Boston Comedy Festival and more importantly for our purposes is a Christmas Carol enthusiast. 

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan and @erinspencecomic on social media

Thanks. 

Come in and know me better, lamb! It's Day 7 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and in honor of my wife's birthday, it's the laziest birthday present of all time - one 30 minute conversation about a cartoon we watched while she was at the store! Today on the program, it's me, Sean Sullivan, and my children, Harry and Lucy, talking about the 1983 Christmas classic, Mickey's Christmas Carol. If you've ever wondered who the kids from the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe would play in a Christmas Carol, wonder no more! It's a good one. 

Mickey's Christmas Carol is available on Disney+ (use offer code "25Carols" at the Disney store for a chance to be escorted out of the mall) 

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan on social media

Come in and know me better, plan! It's Day 6 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and boy howdy do we have a piece of art for you today. In 1964, the United Nations produced a series of television movies to try and convey to the public at large what their mission was. To do this, they reached out to a number of great screenwriters and directors and Rod Serling and Joseph Mankiewicz came together for a very heavy and beautiful updated take on the Christmas Carol story. Joining me to pick through this beautiful piece of propaganda is Boston comedy legend and all-around great guy, Tony V. Tony has a new hour special available on Amazon called "Two Boston Guys" that he released with Jimmy Dunn that you absolutely need to check out. He's one of the funniest and most thoughtful people I know and I was so happy he could carve out a little time right before Thanksgiving to talk about this hidden gem of a movie. 

A Carol for Another Christmas https://vimeo.com/397971503

Two Boston Guys https://www.amazon.com/Two-Boston-Guys-Tony-V/dp/B08JPLBF2Z

Two Boston Guys Whack Up a Pie https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boston-guys-whack-up-a-pie/id1225704305

@MrSeanSullivan and @TonyVComic on all the socials

Come in and know me better, Stan! It's Day 5 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and today we finally get to the first adaptation that threatened to throw this show off the rails and make me break my laptop (don't worry... everything is moving forward as planned!) Comedian and secret Barbie enthusiast Andrea Henry joins me to discuss the Direct to DVD holiday cashgrab, Barbie in a Christmas Carol. Little Kelly doesn't want to go to the charity ball so Barbie spins a yarn about an opera singer who is mean to her friends but after being visited by three spirits of Christmas, turns her life around and she buys an orphanage. It's not great but the conversation with Andrea sure was. I've known Andrea as long as I've known anyone and the revelation of the depths of her Barbie knowledge really through me for a loop. 

Barbie in a Christmas Carol is available to stream on Hulu

twentyfivecarols@gmail.com

@MrSeanSullivan on the socials

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Come in and know me better, Dan! It's Day 4 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and we're looking today at the very first animated television Christmas special, Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol starring everyone's favorite near-blind Social Security recipient and here to help guide me through this piece of historic television is the TV Guidance Counselor himself, Ken Reid! It's a fun chat about a surprisingly straightforward adaptation that manages to give us a couple of Magoo goofs while hitting all the beats that a true Christmas Carol adaptation needs to hit. Make sure to check out Tv Guidance Counselor wherever you get your podcasts. Ken has hundreds of hours of archives with some of the great unsung television stars of yesterday and today! It's Boston's easy listening podcast!

Mr Magoo's Christmas Carol https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x55fqu0

twentyfivecarols@gmail.com

@MrSeanSullivan on the socials and give @kennethwreid a look as well!

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

TV Guidance Counselor https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/tv-guidance-counselor-podcast/id821665905

Come in and know me better, Pam! It's Day 3 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and we've (we've?) got a doozy of an ep for you today. The roller coaster is at the top of the hill and here to push it over and start the long, crazy road to Christmas is the host of the Make My Day Podcast and executive producer for Desus & Mero on Showtime! It's Josh Gondelman! I've known Josh for literally since we both had hair. It's been a long, very fun run and he was the first guy I called when I was looking for guests (because of the twitter followers. I don't particularly care for the boy. I'm a complete parasite.) It's a very fun conversation but an even more fun film. If you haven't seen Scrooged, correct that. It walks around like a big grumpy, cynical boy but it's just as sweet and sincere as any traditional Christmas Carol PLUS it's got Bobcast Goldthwait running around with an Elmer Fudd shotgun! 

Scrooged is available to rent on Amazon, itunes, vudu, blockbuster, or your dad probably has a copy... just talk to him. What's it gonna hurt you to pick up the phone?

TwentyFiveCarols@gmail.com
Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

Make My Day https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-my-day-with-josh-gondelman/id1507871978

@MrSeanSullivan on the socials @joshgondelman for the other guy on the same sites!

Come in and know me better, ham! It's Day 2 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and we're (we're?) looking at what the New York Times critic A.O. Scott called the best adaptation of a Christmas Carol of all time. It's 1951's Scrooge starring Alastair Sim in one of the most defining versions of this story ever created. It's a solo episode but it's the last solo episode! Starting tomorrow, we're full steam ahead with a ship full of guests but for one last time, I put on my film journalism hat and regurgitate stuff I read other places on the internet. 

Shoot me an email and let me know if you absolutely hate the show at twentyfivecarols@gmail.com. You could also email nice things but it's the internet!

Scrooge (1951) https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2c1woo

Two Boys in a Balcony https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/two-boys-in-a-balcony/id1468349654

@MrSeanSullivan on Facebook/Twitter/Instagram and no other ones

Come in and know me better, fam! It's Day 1 of the 25 Days of a Christmas Carol and I'm going all the way back to the beginning for a look at the very first filmed adaptation of A Christmas Carol. Though only 3 and a half minutes of footage still exists," Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost" is a pretty impressive display of special effects from the dawn of the age of film. I also spend a little bit of time putting the novella in context and hopefully it's a fun enough listen that you'll come back tomorrow for the first full-dive in a feature length film. There's only one more solo podcast tomorrow before I start bringing in some truly excellent guests. Please remember to share the podcast with a friend. I truly am not in this for the numbers but its exciting to know whether people are enjoying the show. 

If you have a comment, question, or want to just tell me your favorite version of A Christmas Carol, please email me at TwentyFiveCarols@gmail.com

Scrooge, Or, Marley's Ghost: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Mk-B7MKP8

Email: TwentyFiveCarols@gmail.com

Twitter/Instagram/Facebook: @MrSeanSullivan

Join comedian Sean Sullivan on a 25 day journey through the wild and weird world of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol and the various adaptations that have followed! Email any questions or comments to 25Carols@gmail.com!

The first episode drops 12/1/2020 and the last one comes out 12/25/2020. Listen in real time to a man unravel because of a totally voluntarily holiday burden!