Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa

🎄 What if Mr. Christmas was on the naughty list this entire time, thanks to a curse on his family for generations? 

Gerry Davila (Totally Rad Christmas) and Guy Hutchinson (Pointless Nostalgia) join us on a Christmas quest back to 1985 as Andy Williams leads a dozen “true believers” on a trip to Finland to find Santa and answer for his totally-not-made-up ancestor. 

📺 You can watch “Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa” on the Internet Archive. 

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💬 Topics & Tangents: 

The NBC Kids are: Soleil Moon Frye, Cherie Johnson, Ami Foster, and Casey Ellison from “Punky Brewster”; Lisa Bonet, Tempestt Bledsoe, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner from “The Cosby Show”; Alfonso Ribeiro from “Silver Spoons”; and Joey and Matthew Lawrence from “Gimme a Break!” But not Mindy Cohn from “The Facts of Life,” who shows up, sings half a line, and that’s it. 

Guy visits New York City’s Christmas cinematic landmarks, including the locations from “Mr. T and Emmanuel Lewis in A Christmas Dream.” 

Not Just Theo: Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Surprising Career. 

Alfonso Ribeiro’s Pepsi Commercial with Michael Jackson (1984) 

The painting supposedly featuring Lars Sven Olaf Williams, from 1863. 

The Sàmi. 

“Sea for Catwoman!” 

Porvoo Cathedral (pronounced like “Borga”). 

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📼 Commercials: 

NBC “Let’s All Be There” ID with Santa (1985) 

Polaroid: “Christmas – Santa Claus” (1985) 

Tinsel Tunes - The Christmas Music Podcast. 

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“Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa” © 1985 Pierre Cossette / Barnaby Productions. 

Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost. 
Full show notes with links at adventcalendar.house. 
Hosted by The Retro Network.