Totally Rad Christmas!
It's a show about the raddest time of year in the baddest decade ever! That's right! We talk all things Christmas in the '80s to the max! Toys, movies, specials, music, books, games, comics, decorations, food, fashion, and fads--if it was gnarly during Christmas in the '80s, we got it covered!
Totally Rad Christmas!
Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home (w/ CJ Bélanger)
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What’s up, dudes? If you’re looking for the ultimate Dolly Christmas special, her 1990 NBC holiday TV event “Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home” is a heartwarming trip back to a simpler Christmas. CJ Bélanger from Rose Suchak Ladder and I have a blast with this one!
The special was made to coincide with the release of her new Christmas album. It follows Dolly from a charming Christmas store to a garland-filled Nashville recording studio in the middle of July—where she records holiday classics surrounded by enough tinsel, bows, and magnificent mullets to make any child of the ‘80s smile. From there, she heads home to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, reuniting with her family for playful sibling teasing, treasured childhood memories, and unforgettable performances of Christmas favorites including “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” “Deck the Halls,” “We Three Kings,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” and “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” It’s classic Dolly: equal parts laughter, storytelling, heartfelt nostalgia, and sparkling holiday magic.
As the special continues, Dolly visits a nursing home, takes children through Dollywood during Christmastime, shares touching stories about homemade gifts and family traditions, and celebrates the true meaning of Christmas with performances of “Little Drummer Boy,” “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town,” “Joy to the World,” “The First Noel,” “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” and a beautiful closing rendition of “Silent Night.” Watching today also offers a delightful time capsule of 1990 Christmas commercials, featuring Chevy, Kodak, McDonald’s, Toys “R” Us, Tylenol, and other nostalgic favorites that instantly transport viewers back to the golden age of holiday television. Filled with faith, family, unforgettable music, and enough Christmas spirit to light up the Smoky Mountains, this is one Dolly Parton Christmas special that deserves a place on every retro holiday watchlist.
One hundred year old carousel? Check. Wagon rides? Got it. Brothers teasing a sister’s looks? Definitely! So grab your guitar, sing about the wisemen, and visit a nursing home with this episode on “Dolly Parton: Christmas at Home!”
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It was 1990. Home Alone was in theaters. Nelson Mandela was released from prison, and Dolly Parton went home to Caverville for Christmas. I'm your host, Jerry D with another episode of Totally Rad Christmas, the podcast that talks all things Christmas in the 80s, toys, movies, specials, music, and fads. If it was gnarly during Christmas in the 80s, we got it covered. Now, joining me is a Totally Rad Christmas all-star, ratty winner, and just all around good dude. You'll know him from Rose Such a Gladder. It's CJ Bellanger. CJ, what's happening? Was that better? I've I keep trying to get it, and I'm I keep failing, but I I'm gonna get it right one day.
SPEAKER_07I appreciate you trying, but uh yeah, not quite. Yeah, but no, you know what? I am a multiple ratty winner. I am one of the best people in the Christmas Podcast Network. You're absolutely right, and I'm so happy to be here with my favorite guy, Jerry, and to discuss one of my favorite things, the Dolly Barton. So I'm happy to be here. Thanks for having me again. Uh, we've tried to get this recorded a couple times, but now we're finally getting it done. So I'm just happy to be here, man. Thanks for having me, dude.
SPEAKER_05I always love having you on. I mean, you're like a brother to me, so yeah, it's great, it's great seeing you again. Just how you been in general? Like, you know, I know you you uh you're an umpire for you know baseball, little league. Like, like, tell me how's that going? How's life?
SPEAKER_07Well, yeah, between like working and also umpiring now, it gets a little busy, so it's kind of kind of like a minimum six-day week thing, sometimes seven. So uh between now, I guess while we're recording this, we're in uh what mid-May? I'll be busy till about October. So it's a bit of a stretch. So like we'll we'll get there. But when I am done humping, that just means Christmas is that much closer. But no, I've been I've been good, man. Yeah, it's kind of locking down now as far as schedule goes, but we'll be all right, we'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_07And you said you're like a brother to me. I appreciate that, man. You're like a dad to me.
SPEAKER_05I'll take it. Hey, I'll take it.
SPEAKER_07Even though we're what like four years apart, you're what 81?
SPEAKER_05No, no, 85.
SPEAKER_07But yeah, you're not born in 85.
SPEAKER_05No, no, I was born in 80. I was I was making a joke about my age that I'm like 85. No, no, I'm I'm 46, yeah, 1980.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, okay, so I'll be 41 this year. So yeah, we're like five years apart.
SPEAKER_05Okay, that's not bad. Yeah, so you're like you're as old as my little brother Danny.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, okay, cool. So yeah, we're we're like brothers, but you're more of a I'm just calling you old, basically.
SPEAKER_05It's all right. My 13-year-old's doing it all the time, you know. If she can make an old joke, it's it's gonna happen. So I'm used to it now.
SPEAKER_07All right, just get called unk at all? Do they call you unk?
SPEAKER_05Not yet, not yet. It's usually a lot of you're ancient and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I get called unk, and uh my kids will be 15 in uh July, so I don't whatever. I don't get it, I don't understand the new slang, but we still say stuff like radical and gnarly and stuff like that. So I almost said my first cuss word, I stopped myself.
SPEAKER_05I showed uh I showed I do appreciate that it makes editing easier, but I showed my kids a little bit of uh son-in-law and a little bit uh you know poly shore and the way he's talking, and same thing with Encino Man, and like so don't go, you know, taxing my whatever taxing my so hard cruster or something like that. And they were just like, What is he talking about? I was like, that's exactly how I feel when you speak.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, take that. Well, I couldn't I couldn't believe the other day I was watching uh it's called Rooster, it's on HBO, it's with Steve Corell from uh The Office, and the guy the guy from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, the friend with the Oh Cameron with the Detroit jersey on, yeah. Cameron, yeah, he's in that show, and I'm like, Oh, he looks familiar, and the guy is in his 60s. I was like, What the frick? Like, how does that even happen? Because he looks so old. I was like, I think he was something astonishing, like 66 or something, and I was like, How did this happen?
SPEAKER_05Man, I tell you what, I woke up and my daughter went from being like two weeks old to almost 14. So, yeah, I definitely get it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it that's basically how it happens. So I sit here watching old videos wondering what happened and why they're so cruel now.
SPEAKER_05They'll grow out of it, so it's what I hear. Everyone says from about 13 to like 16, maybe 17, that's when they're a little more rough, and then all of a sudden you're their best friend, and when they're like 17, 18.
SPEAKER_07So I hope I'm alive to see it.
SPEAKER_05So same. I hear that. I hear that. Well, just like Carol Kane did to Bill Murray and Scrooge. I want you to hit me with the toaster. So I'm gonna ask you a few questions, and I want you to hit me with the first answer that you know you can think of. Okay, you don't have to think too hard about it. So let's say that Christmas vacation was being made today. Who would you cast Dolly Parton as?
SPEAKER_07Can I say Dolly Parton? She's still alive. Yeah, she could be herself. That works. No, Christmas Vacation. I think I think there's an obvious answer here. There's somebody out here that's blonde and well endowed. I think her name is Sydney Sweeney. That's probably who I'd go with.
SPEAKER_05I mean, she's she's definitely like a Dolly Parton ringer for sure.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, she could definitely do that.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I could see Sydney Sweeney as Ellen, and maybe Dolly as like not Aunt Bethany, but uh the mom, like maybe Clark's mom.
SPEAKER_07Oh, yeah. Oh, you're asking, hold on a second. You're asking if you could cast cast. Yeah, I was like, I was trying to find the connection of how does Dolly make sense now. I get it. Okay, who would I cast Dolly as in this? She'd probably about have to be what is her name, Aunt Bethany. Anne Bethany, yeah. She's not yeah, I'm so dumb. I was trying to figure out like I'm like, what does Dolly have to do with this? And like I didn't understand the question. It's all good, but yeah, I'd probably be able to do that. It'll probably I thought you were like, Oh, put Dolly in the movie or something. Anyway, no, it would be yeah, Aunt Bethany. I know she's a little old now, I know, but whatever. That's who she'd be. She could definitely play it up too.
SPEAKER_05Oh man, the way she was in this, yeah, she totally could ham it up. All right. Well, what would you call, like, what would you title a Hallmark Christmas movie starring Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers?
SPEAKER_07They've already done something like I'd call it a Christmas to remember. They've already done they've already done that. I would call it hmm, I don't know, the Christmas affair. Because we we all wonder if they uh they did hook up because they were really figured it out. No, nobody knew so. We'd call it the Christmas Affair, and uh or something along the lines of I don't know, yeah. No, the Christmas affair. Because I've always wondered like did they do it or did they not do it?
SPEAKER_05I know, I know. I I mean you can tell Kenny. Remember the last one we did, you could see it in his eyes, man.
SPEAKER_07He was oh, yeah. Kenny was he was all in, yeah. He was like he was ready for it, man.
SPEAKER_05Oh, for sure, but I don't blame him either. Yeah, all right, and then here's another easy one. Would you rather have a sing along with Dolly Parton or Mariah Carey?
SPEAKER_07Oh, it'd easily be Dolly Parton. No, for sure, no hate on Mariah, but I really love Dolly. I grew up on Dolly. The Christmas album with Dolly and Kenny was a fixture in our house, and it was a fixture even as I got older. So, yeah, if I can do a little bit of a duet with Dolly or even sing some kind of Christmas song, if I could stop crying, I'd probably sing with her.
SPEAKER_05I feel that though, man, because she has that effect. I was like watching this and watching it with her family and her kids, and I was getting a little emotional. Like, man, I I wish I was back with all my brothers and like at Christmas time, and you know, just something.
SPEAKER_07I just wish it was the late 80s, early 90s again. And yeah, it's looking back at it, it was it was nice. It was a good, it was a good little special, but we're gonna get into it.
SPEAKER_05So oh, for sure, for sure. Well, that's just a way for our listeners to get you to get to know you a little bit better. So thank you for that. So, like we said earlier, we're talking Dolly Parton's Christmas at home.
SPEAKER_10Oh, you know, this is one of the happiest places in the whole world. I just love it because it's always Christmas in here. Look at all these things, and look at that. Ain't that cute with the little glasses and all the little ones would love that. You want to go home with me? Oh, and look at the carousel. That's great. That reminds me, I want to remember to take all the kids on a carousel ride while I'm here. You know, we never did call it a carousel when I was growing up, it was always just a merry-go-round.
SPEAKER_05Had you seen this? Like, what do you remember about this special? Is this something that you know? Like, what's your history?
SPEAKER_07No.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. Uh-huh.
SPEAKER_07I looked it up because we were looking for something to do, and it was there. All I really know is the original Kenny and Dolly Christmas special. I think it was made in 1983, which we've covered. And I was looking for something else, and surprise, surprise, this came up. Uh, it might have been something that showed in the United States, maybe not in Canada, but I had no memory of it at all, except for the first time I watched it, and I kind of really enjoyed it because I'm a sucker for religious style hymns as far as Christmas Christmas music goes. I think it's some of the best. So I really enjoyed this, but no, I hadn't had any history with it until I watched it, and it felt real good.
SPEAKER_05I gotta say, same. I'd never heard of it, I didn't know she did this. The only two that I knew were the ones that we covered already, you know, the that first one, Christmas to remember, and then what was the the second one part of her show, Remember that we did with Burl Ives. Like those are the only two I knew. I had I had no idea about this. Of course, Smoky Mountain Christmas, and you know, some of the other stuff, but the Jezebel the mountain, or was it mountain magic or was oh god, that was the crap. Man, I still that's a good episode, though. I do love listening to that episode, but the the special is wild. This one felt like and yeah, I think you've said it before, like a warm hug, right? Like a warm blanket at Christmas time. This one felt like that. Like I could I could just see this, my family watching this at home, like just sitting on the couch with some popcorn, maybe some MM cookies, and just I mean, this it felt great, and I liked watching it.
SPEAKER_07It's one of those things where I think a lot of people, because we go through January, February, March, April, and then I think like May starts coming around, and you kind of get the feeling almost like, oh, you know, like because during that time you're trying to process Christmas being over, but in May, you're kind of like open to the idea of a little because it's been a while, you've kind of been detached from it. You get a little bit of Christmas cheer, and it kind of gives you that little glimmer of hope in your gut kind of thing, you know what I mean? That little warm feeling that kind of just sparks you a bit, and that's that's what it did for me because I watched it a couple weeks ago when we were supposed to do it. Then I watched it again today just as a refresher. And as I was watching it, I was getting that little hint of Christmas glow, you know, in my stomach, and it felt good because May's about the time when you want to you want a little bit of Christmas, but we still got all of summer yet.
SPEAKER_05We still have a long way to get through, but you're right, it's like you get through winter, winter's kind of bleak, right? And you're looking back, but at least here, I don't know about in Canada, but here the hobby lobby, they'll start putting a few like Christmas ornaments out, and sometimes they're like way up high on the top of the shelves, but sometimes there's like one aisle that's just a few Christmas ornaments, and it's like, oh, okay, I see what you're doing, and it just really gets you a little bit going, right?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, um, so I we don't have uh we we don't have a hobby lobby, but we have a few places like we do have like Dollar Tree, like dollar store. They will put some stuff out, but not too early. They're pretty they're pretty good with it. Most of the time, the earliest you'll see is Costco because Costco will start sprinkling some stuff in in late August, kind of, and then you're you'll see a tree, and then September will come, you'll see a little maybe like some bows and wrapping paper, and then it really amps up in October, yeah, and you see almost everything else. And I'm big on picking it up early, like I'll grab the wrapping paper one time, the bows, just so I'm not spending you know a hundred bucks in one trip buying a bunch of stuff. But I've gotten good with it though, like even sometimes because there's so much at Costco, you have some left over, so you can really mix up your color pattern for Christmas if you keep the old stuff. But I like to keep a I like to keep it you know color coordinated per se.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. We we tend to like uh when things are on sale, we'll pick like one, each kid will pick one, and so that's like that's how we know the presents are from them, you know, uh to different relatives or whatever. And so it's that's kind of how we do it. But usually after Christmas, we'll yeah, same thing, we'll pack up a few tubes of stuff, and then randomly once we're there, we'll pick up another one, like September, October. And because you're right, like dumping it all at one time is rough.
SPEAKER_07Oh, it's it all it all depends because if you're grabbing the bows, if you're grabbing the cards, you know, if you're grabbing all of that at the same time, it it adds up, yeah. It adds up, and it you know, like the uh little name, like the name plates or whatever, you know, like the name cards that you get to put on the actual gifts, it adds up. But I'm gonna ask you, do you guys have a special Santa Claus wrapping, or do you go just all the same?
SPEAKER_05So Santa Claus actually doesn't wrap presents down by the time he gets to Texas, he's uh he's tired and like he's just needs to get it done. So that's how they know which ones are from Santa because uh his gifts aren't wrapped, so Santa sounds super lazy, you know. There's so many other presents to wrap. Um but that's how they know, like that's how the kids know which ones are from him, and so it's like all their gifts will be piled and his presence there with like the stuff the stockings usually on top, like full. Yeah. So uh that's cool. Yeah. At least that's how it was with us. We like to say once he gets to the valley, you know, once he gets to South Texas, man, he's like, I just gotta get home, I gotta get this done.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I mean, that's a great excuse for you know being oh for sure.
SPEAKER_05I'm sticking with it, yeah. Um, but yeah, so no, we don't have a particular one. My wife did, you know, but she's north Texas, so she always had special Santa paper, and I guess by that time he wasn't tired enough to get it done.
SPEAKER_07Geez, yeah, you know, that's sad, man.
SPEAKER_05Well, but speaking of Santa, he does make an appearance in this thing.
SPEAKER_09Hey, look, here he comes now. Hey, Santa! Oh, it is so good to see you!
SPEAKER_01Well, it's good to see you too, Donna.
SPEAKER_05This aired December 21st, 1990, on ABC. She actually was on David Letterman's show the night before, and she was talking all about it. And I was trying to find footage of it, but I I I only found like the teeniest little snippet that I don't think I can use. But anyway, she was there, and really this whole thing was just like with the previous one, was done to promote her album that came out that year, Home for the Holidays. So, I mean, good job because like when you get that kind of synergy, like especially back then, that's how you had to promote, right? I mean, if you if you'd had to have like a some kind of special or or concert or something to tie in with it to make sure you got the sales.
SPEAKER_07It was different then. Now we're just like, you know, the albums coming out on this day on Spotify or wherever, and it's like, okay, but then yeah, you had like specials, and people try to do it now, but everything streaming, like uh I've said before on podcasts, like it felt like an event when you had to watch a Christmas special or something because you could only see that one time, and especially if you wanted to record it, it record it, you needed to watch it at that time, so it's like it was like an event. Now it's a bit different, but no, that's what they had to do. You know what I mean? They would promote through television many different avenues because television was the biggest way to get out to the world, you know what I mean? There was no, I mean, like technically, internet existed, but it wasn't what it was now. So it was looking at you, Eldor. Yeah, there's there's a lot that went into it that felt special, and this felt special. And if I watched this, I would have definitely been like, Oh man, I need to get that album, and I need to like listen to that at Christmas because this made me feel made me feel Christmassy inside, to be honest. Was it the best?
SPEAKER_05Maybe not, but it's you know what though? But that's sometimes that's all you need. It doesn't have to be the best, it just has to keep that spot, you know, just right. And I think this one really does. Now it starts off, right? She's in like this Christmas store, she's looking at toys and decorations, and she's talking to some kids about a train. But then this is kind of what we're talking about. She hears herself singing on like the I don't know, the store intercom or radio or whatever it's called, and she goes to ask the cashier about it. She's like, Hey, is that is that me? Am I singing? My first thought was like, Dolly, you know it's you. Yeah, like what you have a distinctive voice, you you know what you sound like, you know what your song is, but but that's I mean, that's what kicks it off. Yeah, for sure. But that's what kicks it off, and she's talking about how they recorded this in July and they had to like get themselves in the mood, and I think she even says something like Christmas is a state of mind or something, right?
SPEAKER_10Yeah, listen, I think I hear me sing it, isn't it? Sure is, we just got it in. Well, you know what? We had to start recording that back in July in order to get that record out for Christmas. How in the world do you get in the mood to do Christmas music in July? Oh, Christmas is a state of mind. You just kind of throw yourself into the spirit, it can happen almost anytime.
SPEAKER_05And she's right. I mean, but I mean, that's how our shows are.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no, Christmas is a state of mind. Like, so when you start getting into the months, it gets really like. I mean, before that, I'm not really like if I had to do a you know an album like she did or whatever in July, I know I could get in the mood, but there's something that just doesn't beat the real feeling and real anticipation of Christmas, you know what I mean? So kudos to her. The opening scene was a bit funny. I know it was all like I know they were actors, but like a part of me wondered if she just popped out of that store and those people weren't a part of the crew. I don't know. Like, does that I don't know? Do you remember when she said hi to those people as she was leaving or whatever? She said something, and like I'm like, they kind of were either like were just there that day or like are good actors because they kind of did look surprised. Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, totally, totally. I are you kidding? If it was me and like they were shooting something and I just happened to walk in, I'd be I mean, come on, we'd be freaking out. We'd be like, Oh my god, it's Dolly Parton!
SPEAKER_07Like, yeah, oh, if I saw Dolly, I I'm normally pretty like yeah, I'm pretty composed for the most part, but if I saw Dolly, I'd probably be like, Holy crap, man, that's freaking Dolly Barton.
SPEAKER_05Like, hello, like you know, yeah, that's that's what I'm saying. Like, like, there's no way. I mean, they had to be extras because there's no way I think regular would just be like going gaga over her.
SPEAKER_07But they did look super surprised, yeah. Maybe they were just pulled off the street and been like, Hey, want to be a part of it? Like, I don't know. They're they I I'm giving way too much attention to these extras, but they look surprised. So I'll give that's all right. Credit to you guys if you're still out there.
SPEAKER_05That's all right. Give us a give us a buzz, we'll talk about it. Yeah, but as they're talking about it, she like has a flashback to she's like, Well, hey, look, this was we recorded this in July. Yeah, and we had to get in the mood, and so they do a little flashback, and it's July 9th, 1990. They're in the Nashville studio, she's like in this gorgeous white dress. I gotta say, a lot of our white dresses almost look like wedding dresses, but I I think that might have just been the style at the time.
SPEAKER_07All I know is that Raleigh Raleigh, Dolly could rock the hell out of a white dress back in the dance. That's all I'm gonna say. I'm not gonna say too much more. No, no, I agree. I agree with Dolly. I will always have a crush on Dolly.
SPEAKER_05We know what Anthony would say when he were here, but uh apologies, yeah. But yeah, but for sure, like I agree. Just just something about her, right? Just it's kind of magical, and yeah, and like she's just so wholesome, but like honest.
SPEAKER_07She's so cheery, like, even if she's putting it on, like she's just so like it's infectious, like the way that she, you know, how she acts, how she treats people, how nice she is. Like, it's it's amazing, man. To be honest, like, yeah, every time I watch her, I get happy, and I wonder like what it takes inside of her, even on her bad days, to be that cheery, you know what I mean? So I don't know. She's she's a gift to this world, she still is.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and she and she's not just a gift by her presence, but in like her philanthropic endeavors, right? I mean, she she gives so much. She didn't you I think you're the one that told me she has like libraries, right? Like books for kids and things like that. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07She she's done a lot in her lifetime, and right now I think she's kind of going through some health stuff. Uh she's trying to do a residency in Vegas, I think, but she postponed it again. She's just trying to get strong again. So I'm hoping that you know Dolly sticks around a little bit more because Dolly's a fixture in the world for the last what at least 60 years. So you know what I mean? Like we need more people like her in the world, man. Like so, you know, watch. This kind of made me a bit sad, but it made me happy. I just hope that she can get better, have a tour, one last tour, and you know, live her remaining days happy.
SPEAKER_05Not have you seen her in concert? No, yeah, I haven't either.
SPEAKER_07It's one of those things where it was kind of it. I was I'm 40, right? So, like, she hasn't really toured in a long time. When you're 20, I'm not, you know, when you're 20 years old, you're not planning to go to like Dolly concerts. But sure, if I could if I can go back in time and create something, and if they did like not many people were doing Christmas tours, like I know that Mariah Carey does them, but if her and Kenny ever did one, I would love to go, or like even if I can dream about it, it would be amazing. Yeah, I would love to see them do a Christmas tour, like even just see Dolly in general. Man, she was she was, she is, she's she's awesome. Yeah, and that's one of the concerts I never got to go to that I wish I could have. You know what I mean? That and like you know, Freddie Mercury.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, I mean, if um if she does get that Vegas gig, I mean, maybe maybe we should go, man.
SPEAKER_07Oh go to Vegas, me and him. Oh my god.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, Vegas, baby, Vegas!
SPEAKER_07I'm not much of a uh I'm not much of a Vegas guy, oddly enough. I know I'm loud and boisterous, but I'm not even a strip club guy either.
SPEAKER_05Like no, I mean I'm not either, but it'd be fun.
SPEAKER_07I mean you would just walk the strip and maybe maybe gamble a little bit, but that's uh yeah, that's yeah, you just take some set aside just for that, you know.
SPEAKER_05You're not worried if you're gonna lose the thing. Yeah, but they do have some pretty good shows.
SPEAKER_07Oh, of course. I'd love to go see that backstreet boys one, that would be cool. Oh, I know, right? Yeah, well, one of my friends, one of my friends went there and posted about it. It looked really awesome.
SPEAKER_05That's cool. My wife loves the Backstreet Boys and InSync and all those, you know, 90s. She doesn't, man. So it's like I gotta get her to see him one time, but man, tickets are expensive, yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_07I feel like the concert experience has gotten a lot more expensive since COVID. Yeah, it's kind of insane, but you know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. Well, so they flash back to the studio, it's like all decorated with tinsel and garland, and there's bows and snowflakes, and there's a Christmas tree, and there's mullets, lots and lots of mullets. So lots of them. I loved it, man.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no, it definitely reminded me of a time that those hairstyles are actually coming back a bit. Yeah, that's a weird just the whole the whole vibe, the whole vibe of it all. Like it was just like looking at it, I was like, man, this feels like old time Christmas.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, no, I know what you mean. Because it was like denim shirts with no sleeves, right?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was very honky tonky.
SPEAKER_05But they all sing, I'll be home for Christmas. It has the photo frame, and then it yeah, let's do a little bit of I'll be home for Christmas.
SPEAKER_10Good one. Oh, I'm gonna get homesick and start thinking about the smoking. Well, it's my crap play loud.
SPEAKER_05You know, kind of freeze praying for a little bit, and then we're in back in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where her dad picks her up from that store and they drive to the house.
SPEAKER_07Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_05And she said something here that really it got me because it's true. Every time I go see my parents, I I get this feeling. She says that she hopes to feel like a kid again, you know, just kind of become a kid again for a little while.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_05And every time I'm back home with my brothers, with my mom and dad. I mean, I just same. I feel like a kid, even though I'm 46 years old. And my mom's like, Miko, you know, sit down, let me get you some chocolate or whatever. And yeah, it's great.
SPEAKER_07No, it's I I can understand that. I still spend you know Christmas with family. We do it at like different places, but it's not, it's not like are you visiting your like childhood home again?
SPEAKER_05Or no, they they sold it. They they bought a new one about eight, six years ago. Yeah, so I don't get to go back to the childhood home, but my they're in the town where my grandma lives now, and so when we go to her house, well, my aunt's house now, it's the it's the same house there, so it's still like Christmases I grew up in as well, you know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, sometimes when I am with my family, I get that feeling, but I don't know. Maybe I'm too lost in the feeling of wanting it to go back to that where I'm too what's the word like too nostalgic? Not too nostalgic, just sometimes I like resent the fact that I'm not a kid anymore. You know what it does that make sense?
SPEAKER_04No, I I do it.
SPEAKER_07I love living through my kids, but I was like, I don't resent it. It's just I think everybody goes through the sadness of nostalgia where you want it to be that way again, and you know, yeah, this did remind me of like a a hometown Christmas, and you know, then you have like the brotherly and sisterly love where you know he he sings a song and compares her to a dog.
SPEAKER_03Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05I wrote it down. I this was great. We all love our sister Dolly Fallala because she looks like grandpa's collie.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_05This is perfect.
SPEAKER_01We wrote you a song for Christmas.
SPEAKER_10You did, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But then she says something, she's like, You better have something, or you gotta have something better than that, or you're off the show.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, that almost sounded like it wasn't scripted.
SPEAKER_05I know I could see her improv of that. But then he says, Since it is the Christmas season, hope she knows we're only teasing. But yeah, I looked him up on IMDb because if you look up this special, it has the pictures of her her brothers and sisters. Have you seen his photo? It's no, oh man, it's great. He's like rocking that like that album cover lean, but he's wearing he's wearing like this um American flag like wind jacket.
SPEAKER_07I mean, it's he'd fit into 2026.
SPEAKER_05Oh, for sure. For sure.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I love how some of her sisters looked just like her, and then some did not at all.
SPEAKER_05Some were, yeah. There was one in particular, I think I I know which one you're talking about, that I was like, Yeah, is that her sister? And it took me a while to realize, oh, it is her sister. But then there was another one.
SPEAKER_07She had lots of teeth.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_07Is that the one you're thinking of?
SPEAKER_05That's exactly the one I'm thinking about. Yeah.
SPEAKER_07I was like, this looks like Dolly if she grew up and chose crack cocaine.
SPEAKER_05I was like, oh, you could you could watch a movie on those teeth.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Methy Parton.
SPEAKER_05Molly. Molly Parton. But we get a first commercial break, and when we come back, Dolly's there in a plaid dress. I just she had she always had the nicest looking, prettiest dresses. And this one's plaid. She's talking about the magi and how they brought gifts, but somehow she links it to like Dr. Thomas, who was like, I guess, their local doctor, right?
SPEAKER_07Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_07And so it was very weird. And just this part was the lack of care and attention to detail here. This was, I guess, supposed to be like in what the 40s or something.
SPEAKER_05I think so.
SPEAKER_07And so when they're leaving the church, they have one of those newer style signs in the front where you know you put the classic letters in. Oh, yeah. Like, I don't think those were around at that time, especially like that. Like, did you did you see that? Did you catch that or not?
SPEAKER_05I didn't catch that. No, I'm gonna have to go back and watch it. I think, and you know what though? Honestly, I'm gonna say I probably will go back and watch it because I think this one it was sweet enough, yeah, that and like homey enough that I think it's probably gonna be an annual watch for me.
SPEAKER_07Oh, yeah, definitely give it a like one-time watch. There's things worthy of multiple views, but like this, if I remember it, I'll definitely give it a watch. Because every day in the season, you're trying to find something to you know really get you in the mood even more. So this would definitely do that. This it's going into my it's going to my rotation too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so yeah. But she's talking about the doctor that sometimes the people would would pay him in like a live chicken or corn meal. Yeah, because he would just go up the mountains just trying to take care of people, but he was also the preacher. She made a joke about he was trying to deliver her from sin, but he didn't succeed or something. And I was like, Oh, geez, what does that mean, Dolly?
SPEAKER_07I know what it means. You look at Dolly.
SPEAKER_05Maybe that Kenny thing is right.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, there's a little freak in that little blonde mama. I think you're right. How's your head?
SPEAKER_05I haven't had any complaints yet.
SPEAKER_07Excuse me.
SPEAKER_02I think I'll live.
SPEAKER_07And yeah, there was nice little scenes where like he would go help somebody. He offered him money, and then he told him to keep the money. And the acting was phenomenal, and I'm kidding. Because the guy's walking away and just he's smiling at him as he's walking. I'm like, this is awful.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, there was some of that because then she sings, she turns it into singing We Three Kings, and there's like these three musicians with her, right? And like they're just playing, but they're all kind of just staring in the distance that they're playing, and yeah, and one guy's just sitting.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05I was like, okay, he's I don't know what he's doing, he's just sitting. But as Dr. Thomas like leaves on horseback, then the guy just gets up and walks away, just like a random horseback.
SPEAKER_07It's like that was the scene where you could see the sign in the background. Like, this is so weird.
SPEAKER_12We threaten the Orientar Bearing gift, we traversed a far, field and fountain more mountain following yonder star.
SPEAKER_05But she yeah, she's so she's trying to relate Dr. Thomas to uh to the Magi somehow, and I guess it's just bringing gifts of health and yeah, whatever. But then she thanks him and she goes to the kitchen where the kids are like baking cookies, and this looked like a lot of fun. Like, if I had been a kid, I would have wanted to like make cookies there in that kitchen with all my cousins, you know.
SPEAKER_07Did you ever do any cookie parties when you were young?
SPEAKER_05No, we never had cookie parties. We my mom would never really allow us in the kitchen. So my goodness, she was like, No, no, get out, like go be a kid. I'm cooking here. Yeah, but I I think really she just wanted uh some you know quiet.
SPEAKER_07Oh, for sure. Get the hell out of here, kid. That's right, yeah. No, our family used to have cookie parties, but here's the cruel part.
SPEAKER_05That's cool.
SPEAKER_07It was only for girls, and the boys couldn't go. That's a it was like oh, it was a source of pain for a while because like my sister would get ready to go and she'd go over to my cousins and I'd hear all the stories. She'd bring back some, like she'd make some special for me, which was nice. Yeah, and then I think finally when we were like nine, they invited the boys over, so me and my cousin Otalo could go over and like uh make cookies, and it was fun, man. It was really fun.
SPEAKER_00Frog. You know, life, life, not all guessing games, frog. Sometimes we have to care about the friends, especially friends who love cookies, friends who love cookies so much they pay silly guessing games because maybe, maybe just maybe a frog, a very handsome frog who has cookie, will give best best friend who no can live without cookies. Give that best friend a cookie. But if friendship means nothing.
SPEAKER_07But this reminded me of that, and I missed I still I still have a couple family videos of those uh cookie parties, man. And this is the stuff that gets me in the mood for Christmas. This is what gives me that little burn inside when I see people making cookies, you know, all the patterns, all like everything around, especially like you know, what Dolly's wearing, the the whole feeling of it. I love this part so much.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah. Well, and I like what she's wearing because she's got like a Christmas sweater, and it looked like I think it's supposed to be a reindeer, but it looked almost like a chihuahua on it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I think it was supposed to be a reindeer considering the song she was singing, right?
SPEAKER_05Because she sings Rudolph, right? While they're making the cookies, and she leaves and then she comes back in a reindeer costume that she wore in a special, a Bob Hope Christmas special from the 80s.
SPEAKER_07Oh wow, yeah.
SPEAKER_05She makes an appearance in that special, and he's wearing that reindeer costume too, but it's the same one. I was like, I know that because I've seen that picture. So I was the Leo beam, right? Like just pointing at pointing at the TV.
SPEAKER_07But but uh the song was perfect for this too because it they're having fun. They're you know, they're making cookies and they're singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Like it's one of the most fun Christmas songs.
SPEAKER_05Well, it's a kid's song, so it works. Yeah, it just it works.
SPEAKER_10Why don't we sing that while you put a big red nose on? Do you want to have me sing? No, but do it anyway.
SPEAKER_09This is a television show. What do you mean, though? You gonna have me sing when we get there?
SPEAKER_10You will want to be. That's right. I hate someone with that big old red nose.
SPEAKER_05But the little girl brings cookies to uh grandma and grandpa, right? Or Dolly's parents, and Dolly, now she's wearing a white dress, so she changed again. And this is where she's talking with her folks about uh like their tradition, and it's a sweet tradition. They're talking about how, like, when they were first married, they barely had any money. The mom had one dollar, so she bought a box of cherry, like chocolate covered cherries, I think. It was like cherry candy, yeah, and a handkerchief. And so that's what she gets Dolly's dad, like every single year.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05But that's cool.
SPEAKER_07This the the the funniest part of the scene was me putting together that these two made 12 children. Did she say six sisters, six brothers?
SPEAKER_05That's exactly what she says because she said, What did dad get to 12 beautiful children?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, like I can you imagine having 12 kids.
SPEAKER_05No, three is hard enough, man. Like 12, just oh no.
SPEAKER_0712, no wonder they were poor.
SPEAKER_05Well, remember at the last uh special that we saw where they talked about how they would they would have one gift on the tree and whoever found it got it.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, exactly. You had to be up earlier stay up all night.
SPEAKER_05That's right. But then they all like they all thank her, right? Thank you, mama. Thank you, Daddy, and just all this rehearsed all the girls together.
SPEAKER_07It's kind of weird.
SPEAKER_05But I don't think I think the only the one brother was there, right? Was there another one?
SPEAKER_07Maybe two, but I no, I think I I think was there, I thought there was a second one, or maybe it was just somebody else.
SPEAKER_05Maybe, but I definitely don't think there were six there. I think it was mostly the girls.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it was mostly the girls, and they were like deck to the halls, we would say.
SPEAKER_05No, for sure. Yeah, yeah. They were dressed to the nines, right? Yes, the sisters are all in like white looking, wedding-looking dresses. You know, they're talking about Dolly always wanted makeup for Christmas. She would like burn matches and then like wet them and use that as eyeliner.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, eyeshadow, and she used to pinch her cheeks until they were red, and then it looked good until they turned.
SPEAKER_05That's right. I love the way she said that. And she talked about poke berries, which I don't know what they are, and I didn't look at poke berries.
SPEAKER_07I don't know.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, but as they're doing that, they sing Oh little town of Bethlehem, and they start in unison and then they harmonize it really, really gorgeously. I thought her and her sister sang really well together.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, no, they did.
SPEAKER_02We hear the Christmas day to the great black tidings tell.
SPEAKER_07Poke berries are. You've seen them before. It's like the berries people tell you never to touch on a tree.
SPEAKER_05Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07I know which ones are because you never know, they might be poison, but that's uh that's a poke berry. You've definitely seen them before. I got to, but yeah, yeah, I know they did sing really well together. And what song was this again?
SPEAKER_05Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem.
SPEAKER_07Okay, so this is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I don't, it's one of my favorites because I don't know what it is, it's always the hymns that for me. I I consider this a hymn.
SPEAKER_05Like, oh, it is, yeah, yeah. My grandma loved this one too.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it's just so good. I love like you know me, I'm not a super religious guy, but all the hymns are just so fantastic. And this one is one of them. Like, it just it reminds me of being a kid again because I did go to Catholic school and they play it all the time. And um, just the words in it, it's just it's beautiful. If it's sang properly, man, I love it. And this was good, gave me the feels for sure.
SPEAKER_05They did a great job. I mean, the the harmonies were spot on. I mean, it just it was it was blended really well, it was great. Yeah, so we got another commercial break, and now they're back in the studio with their drummer, right? Playing Joy to the world on chime, so it's like a little quick flashback again. Yeah, and but then uh they talk about sleigh bells for uh jingle bells, and then he tells they like talk about Christmas caroling with family. Yeah, so it was just like a little weird interlude that I didn't quite I didn't understand it. Yeah, I didn't get how it matched up, but I I mean I was I was into it, it was cool.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, because we know you you used to sing as a family.
SPEAKER_05We do, yeah. We anytime we're together for Christmas, we do we go Christmas caroling.
SPEAKER_07That's amazing, man. I'm gonna come, I'm gonna join that party one time.
SPEAKER_05I swear to god, you're always invited anytime you want to.
SPEAKER_07So it's gonna be like it's gonna be like a bunch of Mexicans and one fat white guy. I guess I could I I could maybe I could maybe pass for a mexicano. I don't know, maybe.
SPEAKER_05I think you could.
SPEAKER_07You do you do a good uh Manny, his accents uh yeah, but my my Mexican accent is way too racist, it's just normally like gay man, what's going on?
SPEAKER_05Like Cheech.
SPEAKER_08Yeah, hey, listen, it's Santa Claus. We're gonna sing some girls, okay? We're gonna go vatos locos forever.
SPEAKER_07That's the that's all I know. I just fine. Let's just be like, who is this idiot?
SPEAKER_05Oh man, my mom would be cracking up though. So they load up the wagon and Dolly on the and the kids hop in the back, there's poinsettas, horses, and they go to the Seaver County nursing home, which I thought was pretty cool too. This is something that I've only done a couple of times. Like we'd actually go carol and stuff to the at a nursing home. And I tell you what, though, it feels great. Like just singing to them and seeing the smiles on their faces and the ones that can sing along. I mean, it's so I can imagine how she felt.
SPEAKER_07But are you the type that likes go ahead, sir?
SPEAKER_05No, I was just gonna say, as a kid, I bet they they were pretty bored, if I had to guess.
SPEAKER_07Maybe I was gonna say, when you sing, do you like when people sing along, or do you want the spot lady like hey, let me no?
SPEAKER_05I don't mind when people sing along. If we're caroling, yeah, everybody join in, you know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, if they do join in, you they're probably having a good time. I don't even know how I would how I'd react if somebody came up to my door and just started caroling. I'd probably just stand there and be like, okay, I'm gonna sing too, but I wouldn't know what to do, it's never happened to me.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, a lot of them the people usually do, they'll they'll watch for like one, and then when we get to the next song, then they start singing along, and you'll see them sometimes kind of bob their head or tap their foot, and yeah, it's how how many songs do you sing, or do you just vibe it out? We usually just do like three at at a person's house, yeah. And then, but if it's like an aunt or an uncle, then we'll do like four or five.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no, that's cool. You gotta what you should do is just sing, keep singing until they like want to leave, and then don't let them leave, and just keep singing, just keep singing, yeah. And then when they try to close the door, like kind of stop them, and then just put your head through the crack in the door and just be like just don't let them leave, and then just turn it into a horror film.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say that sounds like the beginning of a great horror film, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_07The Carolers. That's right. You thought they were here for festive joy until you became the prey.
SPEAKER_05Oh, I like that, and then they take their guitar and it's like like the with the strings like a bone.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, and then they take their flute and do ridiculous things with it.
SPEAKER_05One time at band camp. That's what I was about to say. Yeah. Cut, edit. So they're there, there's a band playing, right? It's like this this band of older folks playing and they go visit her best friend's mom and they give her one of the cookies, and she makes a joke about it being shaped like North Carolina. Which, you know, okay. But then Dolly shows up and she joins the band. They sing Well, no, she doesn't join the the she asked them to sing and they sing ring them bells, which I didn't really know.
SPEAKER_07No, me neither. I had no idea.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01They've been rehearsing a Christmas number called Ring Them Bells, and they want to play it for you before they take it out on the road.
SPEAKER_09Well, that sounds good. We'd like to hear it.
SPEAKER_05But she's there with Elwood the silly hillbilly from Dollywood. Yeah. I've never been to Dollywood. I don't know if if he's real or this is a thing, but I'm gonna take her word for it that there is an Elwood the silly hillbilly.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I don't know if he truly exists.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I don't either.
SPEAKER_07But yeah.
SPEAKER_05So she talks about folks in their golden ears that can still enjoy Christmas, and then they all sing, We wish you a Merry Christmas. And I got a ton of the Christmas vibes from that, we wish you a Merry Christmas. Like that put me in the spirit. And I gotta say, I needed it. It's been it's been a fun, like few months, but also like a hectic and stressful few months. So this was great. I needed that. We wish you a Merry Christmas for sure.
SPEAKER_07For sure. No, it was a good little good little scene.
SPEAKER_09Let's go! There we go. Let's see the last thing.
SPEAKER_10We had so much fun. We thought you'd enjoy all them ugly cookies. We all had so much fun making.
SPEAKER_07And then what song do we have next?
SPEAKER_05Well, she takes the kids to Dollywood. They get to get back in the wagon and then commercial break. So now she's in a green dress with red, and she takes the kids to this hundred-year-old carousel. And this is where they find Santa and they sing Santa Claus is coming to town.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_11You better watch out. You better not cry. You better not pout. I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town.
SPEAKER_05This is uh Burrow Ives looking Santa.
SPEAKER_07Very much. That's what I was kind of getting a vibe from it when I saw it too. It was good though. I liked it. I liked it too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. I was like, well, he's a good, healthy Santa. That's kind of what I'll say.
SPEAKER_07You're looking like a drunk Santa. He's lucky though, man. He got to sit beside Dolly.
SPEAKER_05Rosy cheeks. Oh, you know he loves it. Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_07I get Dolly to sit on my lap.
SPEAKER_05Gee whiz. Have you been naughty or nice? Please say sit down and you'll find out.
SPEAKER_00Hubba Hubba.
SPEAKER_05But see, he had like little teeny tiny little sleigh bells on his hat, which I'd never seen before. Like, usually when there's bells, they're like big bells, but there was like several, a lot of little smaller ones. I thought that was an interesting choice.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I'd never seen that before, to be honest. We should we should talk to Matt about that one.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, for sure. Because I don't, I mean, I I can't imagine they have a ton of those out. Like that's got to be pretty specific to that. But she takes like like an old letter, is like, hey, does this look familiar? It's an old letter that she wrote.
SPEAKER_07She starts reading it. It's like it was corny as hell.
SPEAKER_05Oh man.
SPEAKER_07Meanwhile, Santa's just trying to like just trying to get a feel. Yeah, as he's like, come here, doll. My my how you've grown.
SPEAKER_05That's great. Would you like to be my Mrs. Claus?
SPEAKER_07Yes, very much so. Just sit on my lap. And there were no, it's like from the office. Uh, you ever watch uh you ever watch The Office?
SPEAKER_05I did watch The Office, yeah.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, so when Michael Scott and Phyllis they dress up as Santa, and then he's like, Don't go over there with Mrs. Tranny Claus, and he's like, Come sit on my lap. I'm a man, sit on my lap, and there will be no doubt. And then he's like, No, no, not not penis-wise. Sorry if you have to edit that out. I think it's fine, it's an office.
SPEAKER_05Okay, it's fine. I'll just put an E on it. So she starts like walking, because where this carousel is, I guess there's like a little street in the town, and so she starts walking down. There's a guy named Lee carving like a wooden St. Nicholas. Yeah, he's giving homemade gifts. They talk about giving homemade gifts to each other because they were, you know, kind of poor and so they couldn't afford a lot. Again, she talks about the magi, and then there's a bell choir, and she hear hears the bell choir play for a little bit.
SPEAKER_10You know, there's a long tradition of giving gifts with special meaning at Christmas time, and I guess it goes back to the very first Christmas when the wise men came from the east bringing gifts to honor the Christ child. But even then, they tell us that the gifts that were the most pleasing in the eyes of God were the ones given with love and devotion, regardless of the column. That's a sweet sound. The best of times.
SPEAKER_05And then she passes a dulsomer shop. I mean, it's just like thing after thing after thing. This part is pretty rapid fire. Yeah. A sawmill, a candlelight shop. I mean, it just it was it was pretty nice. And then there's a little boy named Jason with a drum, and she starts singing Little Drummer Boy, and that's I love Little Drummer Boy, man. Yeah, yeah, it was great.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, no, it's one of my favorite songs. Actually, one of my newest versions, like the newest version that I like is with Carrie Underwood. And she does it, she does it with her son. That's cool.
SPEAKER_05I don't think I've heard that one.
SPEAKER_07No, yeah. If you go look it up after it, it's like it's not like super amazing, but it's really, really cute. It's something that their family can like have forever. And you know what? The Carrie Underwood Christmas album is pretty good. It's pretty good. But if you want, listen to Little Drummer Boy with her son, and he does the rup upum.
SPEAKER_05You gotta start somewhere. But yeah, so she sings at she walks by like a living nativity played by a lot of relatives and friends because it's a small, like super small community.
SPEAKER_12Yeah, our finest gifts we bring for.
SPEAKER_10Like everything else on our Christmas show, this too is a family affair. All the folks in the nativity scene, the shepherds and kings and angels, Mary and Joseph, they're all played by relatives and close friends of ours. Even our little drummer boy Jason is family. Oh, and he wanted to play this part so bad, I just couldn't say no. I'm just happy to see he got his Christmas wish.
SPEAKER_12Oh my god.
SPEAKER_05And then we cut to another commercial break. Yeah, she's in white fur-trimmed dress. I mean, she looks like almost like a Russian doll or Russian princess, you know, with the fur and everything.
SPEAKER_01She looked good.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. She has a hat, she's getting out of the horse and sleigh carriage, and she's talking about she talks about fake snow, so she at least admits that it's like fake, which I thought was fun. But but they're on their way to church. They were saving a seat right up front for her, and you can hear angels we have heard on high underneath. She goes up front, she makes what she just sings, right? She just starts singing. I think Joy to the World. And um all her family, of course, is sitting up front.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, they're all up front, but like, can we talk about the aesthetics of all this? The way that looks, the old leaf, the you know, the garland. It just reminded you of a simpler Christmas. Oh, I loved it. Um, yeah, it just the simplicity of it was really nice. They just had the the nice garlands, you know. They're in a church, right? I'm assuming, yeah. Yeah, and you know, it's it's decorated beautifully, and you know, I just love the simplicity of Christmas because I think we're all guilty of trying to like recreate this nostalgia from our youth. I know I am, I am and we don't re yeah, but we don't realize that we're creating new nostalgia for the little people on our lives while trying to like so hard to recreate the nostalgia for us. So this was like a little scene where I was like, this is just where the simplicity of Christmas is enough. You don't need to overdo it, you don't need to do a million things, you don't need to try to force it. This is what Christmas is all about family. If you want to sing, you sing. The simplicity of all the decorations, that's what Christmas is all about. Family, love, and then obviously Jesus Christ, they're in a church. So whether you're religious or not, it's what it's all about. It's the birth of Christ. It's what it's what they're it's what they sing about, most of all, when you know it's Christmas. So it kind of put me in the mood for Christmas this scene. This kind of sealed it from me. I was like, Yeah, I miss Christmas. I almost wanted to put up some decorations, but I'm like, I'll wait. I'm not gonna do it yet.
SPEAKER_05Not quite, but we're getting there. We're getting there. Christmas in July, right? Yeah.
SPEAKER_10You know, the good book says, make a joyful noise unto the Lord, and I don't know of a better time or a better place to do it than right here, right now. So join me in song, and let's just raise these old rafters as high as they can go.
SPEAKER_12Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let her receive her key.
SPEAKER_05But you're right though, like we're we're nowadays, right? It's all about what's the new thing. Like, there's look at this decoration and look at this, and we're go to Hallmark and buy all the ornaments, which I love, but also like at the same time, there's something about just like just simple garland with the red bow.
SPEAKER_07It just it feels fantastic, and it's yeah, this the scene reminded me that like uh sometimes you just need to stop, take a breath and appreciate the small things. And like, this is one of those things where today I was like, it's you know, we're middle of May. I'm watching this, you know, this special, and this scene just makes me feel so good. I took a nice you know, I've been stressed. A lot of us have been stressed. I took a deep breath, and like I just felt like very Christmassy, and I think that's why we all love Christmas here. Yeah, it just brings us to a better time and it can always, you know, ground us and uh bring us back to a certain place. So sometimes we just need to take a chill pill, take a breath and appreciate the little things.
SPEAKER_05100% agree. Yeah, and so she reminds us of that by singing joy to the world. Yeah, then the first Noel, and then uh go ahead, go ahead.
SPEAKER_07I was gonna say the first Noel is again one of the most beautiful, it's one of the most beautiful Christmas songs, and you know, hymns that I just love hearing it. It reminds me of Christmas, there's a message to it, and it just makes me feel so warm inside. I love this song, I really, really love this song.
SPEAKER_05There's a version of it. I'll see if I can find it, but there's a version of it where they intersperse Paco Bells, Canon, and D. Bum bum bum bum. Oh, yeah, send that to me on top of it, and it's it's really cool, it's just a different effect, but it's yeah, it's really nice. And so she she sings first noel, and then go tell it on the mountain, and like a big gospel choir comes out and joins her, and then they start, of course, because it's you know, play it in double time, go tell it on the mountain, you gotta right.
SPEAKER_07You know what's hilarious, and I wrote this down because I like write little notes as I go. Yeah, you want to know how much of an idiot I am when I think of this song, I don't think about Christmas. I didn't is it supposed to like I even looked it up. I'm like, this is a Christmas song, like, yeah, of course it is. Like I was like, when I hear this, like don't tell it on the mountain, but then when you hear that the Jesus Christ was born, obviously it's a Christmas song, but like I've never really put I don't I've never had it on my Christmas music list. Why is that?
SPEAKER_05Well, I think because it started off as an African spiritual, okay, and so I think if you're not usually part of that culture, I think it wasn't played as much in rotation.
SPEAKER_07Ah, so I was accidentally racist, got it.
SPEAKER_05No, I mean I don't really say, you know, yeah, I have to at least not be that all over the place, right? But that's a fantastic thing. But like more and more, I think, as people have broken down some of the racial barriers, you'll you've more and more it's kind of been integrated into the mainstream, and people have covered it and things. So I think you'll find more versions of it as the years progress. But no, I I I agree. Growing up, it wasn't one that I heard all the time, you know.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, especially in South Texas where we're like, I was wondering too.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_07But I'm like, you know what? I still think one of the most underrated Christmas albums is by Boney M. Do you remember that?
SPEAKER_05I love the Boney M album, it's a fantastic album.
SPEAKER_07It's so it's so underutilized, underrated. I love it. I listen to it every year, it just makes me so happy. So yeah, I'm not I'm not racist. The problem is I listen to Boney M at Christmas.
SPEAKER_05I know you're not. I'm just telling your fans. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. They might not, yeah, yeah. No, but finally, after that, we cut to another commercial break, which this one was funny. They had a GM transmission test in that commercial break. But then we it ends with uh Dolly and her family, they're in front of the church, they sing my favorite Christmas Carol, Silent Night. Yeah, mine too.
SPEAKER_10Well, times have changed, but not my memories. And no matter where I am at Christmas, my heart is always home. Merry Christmas, everybody, and may God always bless you.
SPEAKER_05And head outside into that fake snow. A lot of camera zooms to like the bell tower and I even wrote in my notes.
SPEAKER_07The snow scenery for the final scene is beautiful, very flock heavy, though. There's a lot of flocking.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, flocking and batting is all it is.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, I was just like, wow, but it looked good. It looked good, but it is one of my favorite songs, too. I think Silent Night is the perfect Christmas song. Yeah I listen to it every Christmas Eve when it hits midnight. So yeah, I just I love that song. It's a way to finish it off. It's just so beautiful.
SPEAKER_05But and I know I've I've mentioned it to you like on your shows as well, that's uh it was never my favorite but until my son was born, and then I would use it as a lullaby to sing him to sleep. Yeah. And yeah, so now it's yeah, now it's like my all-time favorite.
SPEAKER_07You know what we need to do one year? Instead of the Raddies, we need we need a Jerry Davila Christmas special, and we need music videos with it. With your family. We need we need you to like have an epic production. We got to figure this out.
SPEAKER_05All right, I'll see what I can do. Yeah, videos might be a little harder, but AI could probably help.
SPEAKER_07So no, screw it, man. We got we got uh phones, we can do it. I'll come down there and videotape it. We need we need a Jerry Christmas album, even if it's like a six-track run.
SPEAKER_05I I had enough songs probably for an EP, and I was started writing out like how I was gonna do them, and it's just one of those where I just have never gotten around to it because of other things.
SPEAKER_07And we need to create this a Jerry Christmas special where people are like, I just want it to gain momentum on like YouTube, and every year people watch this and like, who the hell is this guy? Where did he come from? And then they learn about the Christmas podcast network, and they understand that you have thousands upon thousands of episodes of Christmas Podcast. I mean, I want to create a legend out of you, but in a thousand years, your Christmas special will be watched by people in you know the year 3025.
SPEAKER_05That'd be funny. Like, who's this random guy that I we don't know anything else about him except for this weird special from YouTube?
SPEAKER_07Yeah, he just popped up singing with his family. Like, what? Why does it why does it have millions of views? I've never heard of him because you've it's been out for like thousands of years. I think it'd be hilarious. I really do think you should do one. It costs way too much money, but you know what? A phone's free and you can edit it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, that's true, that's true. And nowadays with the filters, I'm sure you can well well, didn't what's his name? Uh Zach Snyder do a whole movie on his phone? I mean, I think it's possible.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, it's it's definitely possible, but you need to be a creative genius, apparently.
SPEAKER_05Well no, I won't say it. I was gonna make a bad joke, never mind. But that's the that's the special, you know. If yeah, if you could be like in this special, you know, like what scene or what part would you want to be in?
SPEAKER_07Obviously, Santa Claus and Santa, you know the ritual is sitting on Santa's lap. That's true, that's true. Come come have a seat, tell me what you want for Christmas, and I'm gonna tell you what I want for Christmas in a non-weird way, right? But yeah, I would definitely if I could be anyone in there, I would be Santa Claus with Dolly Parton with the chance to you know have the great Dolly sit on my lap and we tell her how amazing she is.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, yeah. I mean, I think that's the only choice, right? The only other one would might be the wood carver, but everybody else is family, so no thanks.
SPEAKER_07I don't know. Maybe you want to be Dolly's dad because like apparently they're they're they're having a lot of uh intercourse, like 12 kids.
SPEAKER_05Like, hey man, I wouldn't want the uh financial responsibilities, but the tricky maybe they went uh the the bone zone or what the pound town, whatever they call them something like that. Yeah, they definitely did quite a few times, yeah. Oh man, well, what would you say? And I think you've kind of already alluded to it, but what would you say is your hap, hap happiest like moment in the special?
SPEAKER_07Well, it's probably the cookie party or them. Well, you know what? It's a cookie, it's three things, but my most favorites probably probably the church when they're doing joy to the world, but the cookies, and then obviously at the end when they're doing silent night, because that caps off any sp if any special ends with Silent Night, yeah, it's automatically my favorite. Yeah, there was three parts I really loved in this.
SPEAKER_05The cookie part looked, yeah, for sure, looked a lot of fun, and especially with your history.
SPEAKER_07I could see and I'm hungry, so like I would love I gotta show you.
SPEAKER_05I gotta find a way to like send you some tamales or something, you know. I'll see if I can. I don't know how, but I'll I'll figure out a way.
SPEAKER_07By the time they get here, molded.
SPEAKER_05I'm sure they'll put them on ice or something, right? Yeah, but now we come to my favorite part of the special, which or of the show, which is a little segment I call Gag Me with the Spoon, where we do our best impression of our least favorite part of this of the special here as a guest. I'll let you go first, just kind of set up the scene for us a little bit.
SPEAKER_07How do I always forget that you asked this question? Uh oh geez, I don't know. Wasn't on my least favorite, but I'll do like the part when she's like, you know how I used to put on, I used to have a no, what'd she say?
SPEAKER_06No, I think her sister said, Yeah, you used to have a match, and then you'd you know, you put it out, and then you'd use I'd use it as my eye makeup. She's like, and then I just used to pinch my cheeks until it turned red, but they didn't look good, and when they turned blue, I can't do Dolly, but uh yeah, I it wasn't my least favorite part.
SPEAKER_07No, I know what you yeah. What was my least favorite? I don't know, maybe I don't know. Yeah, don't say your sister looks like a uh a collie, all right?
SPEAKER_05Don't be don't don't be a dickhead, but that's also totally like like a total big big brother thing to do, right?
SPEAKER_07Oh, I would totally do that, yeah. Yeah, yeah. So like even my sister was over this weekend and she has a massive forehead, and um now like at the age of 43, she decided to have a kid. So now I have a seven month, seven-month uh nephew. And I'm like, look at the forehead you gave this kid. I'm like, you can hang a coat off of this thing.
SPEAKER_05Hey, I I can't I can't be talking here.
SPEAKER_07Oh, neither can I. I got I got a big forehead under the hat. So but yeah, I always joke with her. I always, you know, what's your sisters are for? You make fun of them, call them ugly.
SPEAKER_05That's right, that's right. But if anybody else does it, you you know, knock their teeth out.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, we're we're taking you to Poundtown and not to do it.
SPEAKER_05That's right. So for me, I I couldn't decide. There were two lines that were like, Well, that's not the best line. One of them was where they're in the studio and they're playing the chimes, and she goes, Oh, that's a sweet sound. The best of chimes. Like instead of like the best of times. I was like, Okay, I get it. And then the other one, you can tell she was like, she was like trying to get some jokes here and there, but she goes, I guess that's where they got to saying one good turn deserves another. I'm trying to be funny here at Christmas. I was like, Well, if you gotta say it, you're probably not funny. Oh man, but but you know, G.I. Joe taught us that knowing's half the battle. What do you think the other half is?
SPEAKER_07The other half is knowing that when Dolly Parton is beside you, never pass up on the opportunity when you're Santa to get her to sit on your lap. And no, I'm not having an obsessive thought. Maybe I am, but god dang it. Dolly looked great in the special, she looked great.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, she did. This was like peak, you know. Oh, absolutely.
SPEAKER_07Well, uh, maybe peak was like well, maybe a little bit 83. This was like this was like MILFY MILF Dolly.
SPEAKER_05That's just as good. That's just as peak, man. Absolutely. Oh man, yeah. I thought if no one's half the battle, the other half is just changing dresses a lot.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, yeah, for sure. And she looks great in them, so you might as well just keep it going, Dolly. Gosh dang it.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, every everyone. I was like, wow, she looks good in that too. And then the next man, she looks good in that too.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, but yeah, we are definitely uh men in our 40s, in our 40s, yeah. Still loving on Dolly. We'll never stop.
SPEAKER_05No, no, she's fantastic. I mean, we've known since we were younger.
SPEAKER_07Oh, I did, I did know. I got some stories, pal, and I ain't proud of them.
SPEAKER_05Well, this has been a lot of fun. Tell me about your show or anything else you want to plug.
SPEAKER_07Well, I have a show called the Roast Such a Gladder Podcast. We're about to start season three. I may have an episode in the can, one coming. I've never really released before September, but I think I am this year. So, yeah, if you want to look me up, I'm on the Roast Such a Gladder podcast on all outlets wherever they have podcasts. Also, you can catch me on Instagram at roastuchladderpod. Like I always say, don't DM me weird stuff, but you can interact when I'm posting. Sometimes I'll post a countdown, haven't done it in a while, but I post a lot more near Christmas, so yeah, you can find me there. And I always plug another podcast. So today I'm going to plug, hmm, who should I plug?
SPEAKER_05Well, why not Kristen? She was going to be here.
SPEAKER_07Yeah, Kristen was gonna be here, then she got fake sick on us.
SPEAKER_08She's like, Oh, I'm sick now. I can't, I can't show up. No, I'm playing around.
SPEAKER_07Uh, but yeah, you can listen to her podcast, Holidays After Dark. Jerry's been on it, I've been on it. She has some really good guests, but she also has like it's just a really good podcast overall. She covers different different stories, different themes. You're we're talking like Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day. She finds really good stuff, and she's really detailed with it. She's detail-oriented, and she's not boring. So it's really good. So, yeah, check out her podcast, Holidays After Dark. And if there's anyone else, uh always check out Tiz the podcast. Check out Jerry like you're checking him out now. Check out Tim at Can't Wait for Christmas. Don't go listen to Manny because he never posts. Felice Christmas, Mary Nobby Dodd died three years ago.
SPEAKER_05I was gonna say, I don't think he has a podcast anymore.
SPEAKER_07Well, we still love him anyway.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we do. But we, you know, his podcast is our wrestling episodes here.
SPEAKER_07So yeah, basically. Are we doing one of those soon or what?
SPEAKER_05Yeah, we gotta. I gotta find one.
SPEAKER_07All right, cool. We can do it.
SPEAKER_05But for sure, yeah. But on that note, let me say thanks again. Love you, bro.
SPEAKER_07Love you too, man.
SPEAKER_05And I'm gonna end it with Christmas is a state of mind. You just kind of throw yourself into the spirit, and it can happen almost anytime. So check us out on our social media pages, which you can find at linktree.com slash totally rad Christmas. And if you're feeling like Dolly's brother making fun of her in song, leave us a review on iTunes. It helps us reach more people and spread some rad holiday cheer. Now don't forget to check out our merch shop on tpublic.com and our super dope website, totallyradchristmas.com. Merry Christmas, everybody, and may God always bless you. Later, dudes.
SPEAKER_10The best part about Christmas is being home with the ones you love. Join us. See what I mean.
SPEAKER_01Dolly Party, Christmas at home, Friday.
