December 17, 2025 • 14 mins
🎙️ Episode: https://share.transistor.fm/s/66598d91
📓 Show Notes: https://midsomermaniacs.transistor.fm/bonus35
Mystery Maniacs SPOILER-FREE Mini-episode! In Mini-episode 35 where we ask why there are no zombies in this episode and unveil a new segment.
How To Watch Midsomer Murders s25 ep02 Like A Maniac
- Who is trading cooties?
- Who is the creepiest blonde in this episode?
- Where does Barnaby do his math?
- What is F.A.B.?
- Find three weird yellow striped things?
- Who are the men in black?
Sarah’s Christmas Classics Revisited - Frosty The Snowman(1969)
Mark & Sarah
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah (00:15):
Hey, maniacs.
Mark (00:17):
Hey. Midsummer maniacs. Yeah, man.
Sarah (00:20):
Show me.
Mark (00:21):
Week two of Midsummer.
Sarah (00:23):
Get ready for a mini. Spoiler free. Listen before you
watch it.
Mark (00:26):
So quick recap. If you haven't seen episode two of
season twenty five of Midsommar,which is The Dawn of the Dead,
that's okay because this is whatyou should be listening to
before you watch the episode.
Sarah (00:39):
That's right. We're not gonna spoil it. We're not gonna
tell you who dies or who did it.We're just gonna tell you how to
watch like a mania.
Mark (00:45):
Yes. And
Sarah (00:46):
so It's a lawn bowling episode.
Mark (00:48):
We'll have a number of questions. And boy, did we get
some responses to the lastepisode. First of all, I have to
say Jack Kelleher is a good boy.
Sarah (01:00):
You say that because he's he appears to be very young.
Mark (01:03):
This young man from Australia messaged us saying he
wanted to savor the mini beforethe episode and then listen to
it right away.
Sarah (01:15):
Like a true maniac.
Mark (01:17):
Yes. And then we also got a comment from Neil Charles
which he discussed the locationsthat we mentioned last episode.
Sarah (01:26):
And how he reacted while he was watching.
Mark (01:28):
And then
Sarah (01:28):
I Oh. Oh. I know that place.
Mark (01:31):
And then I Facebook stalked him and he is kick ass.
Sarah (01:36):
Yeah, he is.
Mark (01:37):
He's a landscape designer in Austin, Texas and just
fantastic. Go check him out.
Sarah (01:44):
And thanks for watching Like a Maniac.
Mark (01:46):
Oh, absolutely.
Sarah (01:48):
If you've been watching Like a Maniac, send us a
message. Share your maniacalexperience.
Mark (01:53):
One of the questions we asked last week was what was a
wick and jar?
Sarah (01:57):
How do you make one?
Mark (01:58):
Yep. If you look on our YouTube channel for that mini,
Nocturnal Druid, a long timelistener and good friend, nailed
what we needed to know.
Sarah (02:09):
Thank you, Nocturnal Druid. We appreciate
Mark (02:11):
It's fantastic.
Sarah (02:12):
Your wisdom and knowledge. Yes. You are all
Mark (02:16):
certified maniacs.
Sarah (02:18):
Yeah you are. Are we ready for how to watch like a
maniac for episode two of seasontwenty five, lawn of the dead?
Mark (02:25):
Yes, of course we are. So this is the one with the
zombies. But but it's Lawn OfThe Dead.
Sarah (02:31):
People die on the lawn.
Mark (02:32):
But but okay. Dawn of the Dead? Zombies.
Sarah (02:35):
Mhmm.
Mark (02:36):
Shaun of the Dead? What what does it got?
Sarah (02:39):
Zombies. Zombies. Okay.
Mark (02:40):
Day of the Dead?
Sarah (02:41):
That doesn't rhyme with lawn.
Mark (02:43):
It doesn't matter. It still has zombies in it. Why are
Sarah (02:47):
you Did know that when you mow the grass, that nice
smell that you get from grass isactually it's screaming?
Mark (02:53):
No. I did not know that.
Sarah (02:55):
It releases chemicals in distress. Oh. So that nice smell
is the smell of distress.
Mark (03:01):
There's a lot a lot of drone shots of grass
Sarah (03:05):
Yes. This episode. Including a fantastic opening
sequence.
Mark (03:08):
Yes. It's very good. Save it. Very good.
Sarah (03:11):
Okay. We have
Mark (03:12):
This is a return to form.
Sarah (03:15):
Yes. We have six questions.
Mark (03:17):
Yes.
Sarah (03:17):
Six things to look for if you want to watch like a maniac.
These will be in the notes, soyou don't have to jot them down
or anything like that unless youjust want to, I guess. If you
like to play, pause, play,pause, play, pause, play, pause,
Quick things
Mark (03:31):
recap. It's an episode about lawn bowling. Mhmm.
Sarah (03:35):
Which is not curling or bowling or shuffleboard, but
very similar
Mark (03:40):
Kind all of mix. And if you wanna do yourself a
weirdness, go searching for howmuch lawn bowling balls are
because wow. They may
Sarah (03:50):
be some of the most expensive sports gear out there.
Mark (03:53):
It's crazy. Insane.
Sarah (03:54):
Alright. Six questions. Are you ready?
Mark (03:56):
Yes. Yes. I am ready.
Sarah (03:58):
Question number one. If you wanna watch like a maniac,
look out for the answer to thisquestion.
Mark (04:02):
Yes.
Sarah (04:03):
Who is trading cooties?
Mark (04:06):
Oh. I know the answer to this. Well, I watched it with
you so I knew the answer to thisquestion. But there is Cootie
trading. Cootie trading.
That is for sure.
Sarah (04:17):
Question number two, who's the creepiest blonde in
this episode?
Mark (04:21):
Okay. There's a number of blondes in this episode, but
Sarah (04:26):
we But one of them is really creepy. Creepy. And
you'll only notice that blondeif you watch Like a Mania. Yep.
Question number three, wheredoes Barnaby do his math?
Mark (04:37):
Yeah. There there's a whole subplot in this episode in
the four by four
Sarah (04:42):
math. Fourth fourth form math challenge.
Mark (04:45):
Fourth form math challenge. Betty. Which I have
no idea what that is. I'm savingit for the full episode.
Sarah (04:51):
That's right.
Mark (04:52):
Because I plan on actually doing this with my wife.
Sarah (04:56):
Oh, that won't go well. No. The question is where does
Barnaby do his math? Yes. Numberfour, what's fab?
Mark (05:03):
What is fab? It is It's fab.
Sarah (05:07):
Yeah. It is. You'll see it.
Mark (05:08):
Yep.
Sarah (05:09):
Number five, find three weird yellow striped things Yes.
In this episode. You can't missthem.
Mark (05:18):
One of them we picked out right away. Yes. And then the
last one was like, what?
Sarah (05:23):
Three weird yellow striped things.
Mark (05:26):
Yes.
Sarah (05:26):
And the last question, who are the men in black? We
this is our we don't know theanswer to these questions.
Mark (05:32):
Know the answer to this question.
Sarah (05:34):
But I would like to know what listeners have.
Mark (05:35):
A guess. Mhmm. But is that is not confirmed or denied. And
that guess has no realinformation, like it's just a
guess.
Sarah (05:46):
I think one of our listeners is gonna have a good
theory.
Mark (05:48):
It kind of is like a parallel situation going on.
Sarah (05:52):
Don't say too much.
Mark (05:53):
I'm not saying
Sarah (05:54):
too much. The question is, who are the men in black?
Yes. And that's how you watchlike a mania.
Mark (05:59):
So that is one of the dead. But wait, listeners, we
wanted to add a little bit extrato these episodes. I just
recently found out that my wifehad not seen a majority of the
(06:25):
classic Christmas specials. Sowe're talking Christmas Charlie
Brown, we're talking
Sarah (06:32):
Rudolph.
Mark (06:32):
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, and we're talking
Frosty the Snowman.
Sarah (06:37):
I don't know why I haven't seen them. I didn't make
an effort not to see them. Maybemy parents were protecting me or
something. I don't know. So ButI haven't seen them.
Mark (06:47):
We sat down on Sunday night and watched nineteen sixty
nine's Frosty the Snowman.Frosty the Snowman was a
production that was animated,done half in Japan, half in The
United States.
Sarah (07:03):
Made for TV.
Mark (07:04):
Right? Jimmy Durante does the narration. Billy Dee Wolf
stars as a the most professor ymagician y weirdo ever. And
Jackie Vernon is Frosty theSnowman. Now, based on the song,
right?
There's the song Frosty
Sarah (07:23):
the That's So,
Mark (07:24):
they take that song and they made an animated short film
about it, which I remember.Well, first of all, it was
released on the 12/07/1969,which means I've been alive for
every airing of this particularshow.
Sarah (07:40):
Yeah. But you were less than a year old for the first
time.
Mark (07:45):
Yes. But by the time I remember it, it was definitely a
classic.
Sarah (07:49):
A classic already.
Mark (07:50):
I don't remember watching it at the farm that I lived in
till I was five. I don'tremember watching any television
there, but I definitely rememberwatching it at the second farm.
Sarah (07:59):
So Mark would like you to believe that this is an exercise
in him exposing me to awesomeChristmas classic
Mark (08:05):
shows They are awesome.
Sarah (08:07):
That I have had some kind of hole in my life because I've
not seen them before.
Mark (08:12):
So, we watched Frosty the Snowman.
Sarah (08:16):
Would you like to hear my review of Frosty the Snowman?
Mark (08:20):
I guess. So so this is Sarah's Christmas classics.
Sarah (08:26):
I I know that you would prefer that I say, oh my gosh. I
can't believe I've never seenthis before. It's so delightful
and joyous and really makes mefeel like I'm in the holiday
mood, and I can understand whyso many people love it.
Mark (08:39):
It is.
Sarah (08:41):
It is not. It's a twenty five minute instructional video
on child endangerment. Oh. Grandtheft and why you shouldn't hop
freight trains as a seven yearold. It's got a homicidal maniac
in it who is literally trying tokill the main character for the
entire twenty five minutes.
Mark (09:00):
Well, Frosty is the main character.
Sarah (09:03):
Yeah. And he's being killed by global warming,
agricultural practices, and ahomicidal accessory freaked out
maniac.
Mark (09:12):
But Santa comes to save the day.
Sarah (09:14):
No. He's a mobster.
Mark (09:15):
From what?
Sarah (09:16):
But Santa is a blackmailing mobster in this
movie. I'm
Mark (09:19):
Oh, no.
Sarah (09:20):
He threatens professor Henkel with never getting
another Christmas present againand makes him go write a
gazillion trillion times. I willnot steal Frosty's hat or
whatever.
Mark (09:30):
I thought that number was a bit high.
Sarah (09:32):
He's really bad, professor Hinkle.
Mark (09:35):
He is. He is.
Sarah (09:37):
We get introduced to him because the teacher has hired
him to come entertain the class.What is wrong with her? Oh. I
mean, I know educational budgetsare tight, but surely there
would have been a volunteer intown that would have done a
better job than this guy He maybe. Who is a horrible magician.
Mark (09:53):
He may be a poor magician. He's a bad person. Okay? My the
the part that kinda stunned meon the rewatch because I loved
it. It was all magical.
Frosty says happy birthday whenhe comes to life and he goes
down the hill and thumpity thumpthump and all that great stuff.
(10:14):
No. There's parades. No. No.
All that great stuff.
Sarah (10:16):
None of the kids have long pants on. Half of them
don't wear coats. Karen has adeath wish.
Mark (10:22):
Karen gets really cold. Yeah. And taking a train from
whatever What
Sarah (10:28):
are parents thinking when she's hopping this freight train
on a refrigerated car with astranger who's five minutes old
and freezing to death.
Mark (10:36):
It's also a train that only has one car.
Sarah (10:39):
Yes. And it's full of cake.
Mark (10:41):
Why is it full of cake?
Sarah (10:43):
I don't know.
Mark (10:44):
Like exposed cake.
Sarah (10:46):
And I'm not falling for the whole magical poinsettia
greenhouse in the middle of thewoods. That's a pothouse. I'm
sorry. There's a drug problem inthis town.
Mark (10:56):
Clearly. They're they're not they're growing holiday
They're growing.
Sarah (11:01):
Poinsettias near the windows, and in the middle,
they're growing the real stuff.
Mark (11:07):
Is that why Frosty melts?
Sarah (11:12):
Well, now Frosty is part of the irrigation system in the
drug house.
Mark (11:16):
They hung on Karen's tears alone.
Sarah (11:18):
Because it's a movie about torture and suffering. The
main character is going to dieany second. Then in the end, the
happy ending is, yes, children,he will die, but he'll come back
again and die again and thencome back again and die again.
That is a miserable existence.
Mark (11:39):
Okay. But he gets happy birthday every time. Happy
birthday.
Sarah (11:45):
How would you like that? You come back to life to
celebrate your birthday and thenyou die again.
Mark (11:51):
I also thought it was a clever bit of gaslighting when
clearly Frosty comes alive.Right? Mhmm. He's animated,
walks, and talks. Yep.
Okay. First of all, the childrenshould be screaming at that
point Yeah. In time.
Sarah (12:08):
Well, I'm impressed that they build a snowman that's got
legs. Have you ever tried tobuild a snowman with legs?
Mark (12:13):
Their structural integrity is on point.
Sarah (12:16):
You would need some kind of infrastructure inside of it.
I'm sorry.
Mark (12:20):
But then Hinkle is like, I didn't see anything. No. Like,
he totally gaslights them.
Sarah (12:26):
And if these kids were smart, they'd be like, if that's
what it does to a snowman, whatdoes this hat do to other
inanimate objects?
Mark (12:33):
I don't know why it doesn't make the rabbit into
something.
Sarah (12:37):
It does. He's the smartest character in the show.
Oh.
Mark (12:41):
Oh, I I Clearly,
Sarah (12:43):
he's supernatural. He speaks every animal language.
When they're in the woods, hecan explain to everybody. He
does perfect charades, and hesurvives living with Inkle.
Mark (12:53):
So let's see. You're saying this is full of violence
and drug use.
Sarah (12:59):
It's a low key horror movie, Mark.
Mark (13:00):
It's a low key horror movie. At least it's not racist.
Sarah (13:04):
No. It is.
Mark (13:05):
A what?
Sarah (13:06):
Did you see any people of color in it?
Mark (13:08):
No. No. None. None. And the cop is kinda really Irish?
Irish y over the top.
Sarah (13:15):
Yeah. And so dumb that he swallows
Mark (13:17):
his own whistle. He doesn't mention the Blarney
Stone.
Sarah (13:20):
No. It's just short of that. They don't call him Patty.
It's really bad. I hope yournext choice is a better movie.
Mark (13:30):
Oh, the next one's a doozy. I'm we're gonna watch and
you guys know how this is goingto go. We're gonna watch Rudolph
the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Sarah (13:40):
Is that the one with the big, woodcutter with the red
beard? Yes. Maybe I'll like it.
Mark (13:46):
And the Abominable Snowman?
Sarah (13:48):
Neatmow. It's got a bad guy. Yeah? I'm gonna cheer for
him then.
Mark (13:51):
Okay.
Sarah (13:51):
Alright. That's Sarah's Christmas classics corner. Fight
me. Tell me why I'm wrong.
Mark (14:00):
Next time on Midsummer Maniacs mini episode 36, death
strikes three. The killer boobyclock.
Sarah (14:09):
Yes. Otherwise known as a cuckoo clock. You'll get that
joke if you listen to the lastone.
Mark (14:13):
Yes. The episode drops on the December 22 and sometime
that week of Christmas we willdrop a mini and another
Christmas classics review.
Sarah (14:27):
I hope it's better than this one.
Mark (14:29):
Happy birthday.
Sarah (14:31):
This one was really bad. Bye, maniacs. Bye, maniacs.
Mark (14:36):
Thanks for joining us on the mystery maniacs podcast. If
you enjoyed our crazy podcasttoday, don't miss out on future
episodes. Follow us on socialmedia for updates, beyond the
scenes content, and exclusivesneak peeks. Subscribe, like,
and share to spread the word.Bye, maniacs.
Hey, maniacs.
Mark (00:17):
Hey. Midsummer maniacs. Yeah, man.
Sarah (00:20):
Show me.
Mark (00:21):
Week two of Midsummer.
Sarah (00:23):
Get ready for a mini. Spoiler free. Listen before you
watch it.
Mark (00:26):
So quick recap. If you haven't seen episode two of
season twenty five of Midsommar,which is The Dawn of the Dead,
that's okay because this is whatyou should be listening to
before you watch the episode.
Sarah (00:39):
That's right. We're not gonna spoil it. We're not gonna
tell you who dies or who did it.We're just gonna tell you how to
watch like a mania.
Mark (00:45):
Yes. And
Sarah (00:46):
so It's a lawn bowling episode.
Mark (00:48):
We'll have a number of questions. And boy, did we get
some responses to the lastepisode. First of all, I have to
say Jack Kelleher is a good boy.
Sarah (01:00):
You say that because he's he appears to be very young.
Mark (01:03):
This young man from Australia messaged us saying he
wanted to savor the mini beforethe episode and then listen to
it right away.
Sarah (01:15):
Like a true maniac.
Mark (01:17):
Yes. And then we also got a comment from Neil Charles
which he discussed the locationsthat we mentioned last episode.
Sarah (01:26):
And how he reacted while he was watching.
Mark (01:28):
And then
Sarah (01:28):
I Oh. Oh. I know that place.
Mark (01:31):
And then I Facebook stalked him and he is kick ass.
Sarah (01:36):
Yeah, he is.
Mark (01:37):
He's a landscape designer in Austin, Texas and just
fantastic. Go check him out.
Sarah (01:44):
And thanks for watching Like a Maniac.
Mark (01:46):
Oh, absolutely.
Sarah (01:48):
If you've been watching Like a Maniac, send us a
message. Share your maniacalexperience.
Mark (01:53):
One of the questions we asked last week was what was a
wick and jar?
Sarah (01:57):
How do you make one?
Mark (01:58):
Yep. If you look on our YouTube channel for that mini,
Nocturnal Druid, a long timelistener and good friend, nailed
what we needed to know.
Sarah (02:09):
Thank you, Nocturnal Druid. We appreciate
Mark (02:11):
It's fantastic.
Sarah (02:12):
Your wisdom and knowledge. Yes. You are all
Mark (02:16):
certified maniacs.
Sarah (02:18):
Yeah you are. Are we ready for how to watch like a
maniac for episode two of seasontwenty five, lawn of the dead?
Mark (02:25):
Yes, of course we are. So this is the one with the
zombies. But but it's Lawn OfThe Dead.
Sarah (02:31):
People die on the lawn.
Mark (02:32):
But but okay. Dawn of the Dead? Zombies.
Sarah (02:35):
Mhmm.
Mark (02:36):
Shaun of the Dead? What what does it got?
Sarah (02:39):
Zombies. Zombies. Okay.
Mark (02:40):
Day of the Dead?
Sarah (02:41):
That doesn't rhyme with lawn.
Mark (02:43):
It doesn't matter. It still has zombies in it. Why are
Sarah (02:47):
you Did know that when you mow the grass, that nice
smell that you get from grass isactually it's screaming?
Mark (02:53):
No. I did not know that.
Sarah (02:55):
It releases chemicals in distress. Oh. So that nice smell
is the smell of distress.
Mark (03:01):
There's a lot a lot of drone shots of grass
Sarah (03:05):
Yes. This episode. Including a fantastic opening
sequence.
Mark (03:08):
Yes. It's very good. Save it. Very good.
Sarah (03:11):
Okay. We have
Mark (03:12):
This is a return to form.
Sarah (03:15):
Yes. We have six questions.
Mark (03:17):
Yes.
Sarah (03:17):
Six things to look for if you want to watch like a maniac.
These will be in the notes, soyou don't have to jot them down
or anything like that unless youjust want to, I guess. If you
like to play, pause, play,pause, play, pause, play, pause,
Quick things
Mark (03:31):
recap. It's an episode about lawn bowling. Mhmm.
Sarah (03:35):
Which is not curling or bowling or shuffleboard, but
very similar
Mark (03:40):
Kind all of mix. And if you wanna do yourself a
weirdness, go searching for howmuch lawn bowling balls are
because wow. They may
Sarah (03:50):
be some of the most expensive sports gear out there.
Mark (03:53):
It's crazy. Insane.
Sarah (03:54):
Alright. Six questions. Are you ready?
Mark (03:56):
Yes. Yes. I am ready.
Sarah (03:58):
Question number one. If you wanna watch like a maniac,
look out for the answer to thisquestion.
Mark (04:02):
Yes.
Sarah (04:03):
Who is trading cooties?
Mark (04:06):
Oh. I know the answer to this. Well, I watched it with
you so I knew the answer to thisquestion. But there is Cootie
trading. Cootie trading.
That is for sure.
Sarah (04:17):
Question number two, who's the creepiest blonde in
this episode?
Mark (04:21):
Okay. There's a number of blondes in this episode, but
Sarah (04:26):
we But one of them is really creepy. Creepy. And
you'll only notice that blondeif you watch Like a Mania. Yep.
Question number three, wheredoes Barnaby do his math?
Mark (04:37):
Yeah. There there's a whole subplot in this episode in
the four by four
Sarah (04:42):
math. Fourth fourth form math challenge.
Mark (04:45):
Fourth form math challenge. Betty. Which I have
no idea what that is. I'm savingit for the full episode.
Sarah (04:51):
That's right.
Mark (04:52):
Because I plan on actually doing this with my wife.
Sarah (04:56):
Oh, that won't go well. No. The question is where does
Barnaby do his math? Yes. Numberfour, what's fab?
Mark (05:03):
What is fab? It is It's fab.
Sarah (05:07):
Yeah. It is. You'll see it.
Mark (05:08):
Yep.
Sarah (05:09):
Number five, find three weird yellow striped things Yes.
In this episode. You can't missthem.
Mark (05:18):
One of them we picked out right away. Yes. And then the
last one was like, what?
Sarah (05:23):
Three weird yellow striped things.
Mark (05:26):
Yes.
Sarah (05:26):
And the last question, who are the men in black? We
this is our we don't know theanswer to these questions.
Mark (05:32):
Know the answer to this question.
Sarah (05:34):
But I would like to know what listeners have.
Mark (05:35):
A guess. Mhmm. But is that is not confirmed or denied. And
that guess has no realinformation, like it's just a
guess.
Sarah (05:46):
I think one of our listeners is gonna have a good
theory.
Mark (05:48):
It kind of is like a parallel situation going on.
Sarah (05:52):
Don't say too much.
Mark (05:53):
I'm not saying
Sarah (05:54):
too much. The question is, who are the men in black?
Yes. And that's how you watchlike a mania.
Mark (05:59):
So that is one of the dead. But wait, listeners, we
wanted to add a little bit extrato these episodes. I just
recently found out that my wifehad not seen a majority of the
(06:25):
classic Christmas specials. Sowe're talking Christmas Charlie
Brown, we're talking
Sarah (06:32):
Rudolph.
Mark (06:32):
Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, and we're talking
Frosty the Snowman.
Sarah (06:37):
I don't know why I haven't seen them. I didn't make
an effort not to see them. Maybemy parents were protecting me or
something. I don't know. So ButI haven't seen them.
Mark (06:47):
We sat down on Sunday night and watched nineteen sixty
nine's Frosty the Snowman.Frosty the Snowman was a
production that was animated,done half in Japan, half in The
United States.
Sarah (07:03):
Made for TV.
Mark (07:04):
Right? Jimmy Durante does the narration. Billy Dee Wolf
stars as a the most professor ymagician y weirdo ever. And
Jackie Vernon is Frosty theSnowman. Now, based on the song,
right?
There's the song Frosty
Sarah (07:23):
the That's So,
Mark (07:24):
they take that song and they made an animated short film
about it, which I remember.Well, first of all, it was
released on the 12/07/1969,which means I've been alive for
every airing of this particularshow.
Sarah (07:40):
Yeah. But you were less than a year old for the first
time.
Mark (07:45):
Yes. But by the time I remember it, it was definitely a
classic.
Sarah (07:49):
A classic already.
Mark (07:50):
I don't remember watching it at the farm that I lived in
till I was five. I don'tremember watching any television
there, but I definitely rememberwatching it at the second farm.
Sarah (07:59):
So Mark would like you to believe that this is an exercise
in him exposing me to awesomeChristmas classic
Mark (08:05):
shows They are awesome.
Sarah (08:07):
That I have had some kind of hole in my life because I've
not seen them before.
Mark (08:12):
So, we watched Frosty the Snowman.
Sarah (08:16):
Would you like to hear my review of Frosty the Snowman?
Mark (08:20):
I guess. So so this is Sarah's Christmas classics.
Sarah (08:26):
I I know that you would prefer that I say, oh my gosh. I
can't believe I've never seenthis before. It's so delightful
and joyous and really makes mefeel like I'm in the holiday
mood, and I can understand whyso many people love it.
Mark (08:39):
It is.
Sarah (08:41):
It is not. It's a twenty five minute instructional video
on child endangerment. Oh. Grandtheft and why you shouldn't hop
freight trains as a seven yearold. It's got a homicidal maniac
in it who is literally trying tokill the main character for the
entire twenty five minutes.
Mark (09:00):
Well, Frosty is the main character.
Sarah (09:03):
Yeah. And he's being killed by global warming,
agricultural practices, and ahomicidal accessory freaked out
maniac.
Mark (09:12):
But Santa comes to save the day.
Sarah (09:14):
No. He's a mobster.
Mark (09:15):
From what?
Sarah (09:16):
But Santa is a blackmailing mobster in this
movie. I'm
Mark (09:19):
Oh, no.
Sarah (09:20):
He threatens professor Henkel with never getting
another Christmas present againand makes him go write a
gazillion trillion times. I willnot steal Frosty's hat or
whatever.
Mark (09:30):
I thought that number was a bit high.
Sarah (09:32):
He's really bad, professor Hinkle.
Mark (09:35):
He is. He is.
Sarah (09:37):
We get introduced to him because the teacher has hired
him to come entertain the class.What is wrong with her? Oh. I
mean, I know educational budgetsare tight, but surely there
would have been a volunteer intown that would have done a
better job than this guy He maybe. Who is a horrible magician.
Mark (09:53):
He may be a poor magician. He's a bad person. Okay? My the
the part that kinda stunned meon the rewatch because I loved
it. It was all magical.
Frosty says happy birthday whenhe comes to life and he goes
down the hill and thumpity thumpthump and all that great stuff.
(10:14):
No. There's parades. No. No.
All that great stuff.
Sarah (10:16):
None of the kids have long pants on. Half of them
don't wear coats. Karen has adeath wish.
Mark (10:22):
Karen gets really cold. Yeah. And taking a train from
whatever What
Sarah (10:28):
are parents thinking when she's hopping this freight train
on a refrigerated car with astranger who's five minutes old
and freezing to death.
Mark (10:36):
It's also a train that only has one car.
Sarah (10:39):
Yes. And it's full of cake.
Mark (10:41):
Why is it full of cake?
Sarah (10:43):
I don't know.
Mark (10:44):
Like exposed cake.
Sarah (10:46):
And I'm not falling for the whole magical poinsettia
greenhouse in the middle of thewoods. That's a pothouse. I'm
sorry. There's a drug problem inthis town.
Mark (10:56):
Clearly. They're they're not they're growing holiday
They're growing.
Sarah (11:01):
Poinsettias near the windows, and in the middle,
they're growing the real stuff.
Mark (11:07):
Is that why Frosty melts?
Sarah (11:12):
Well, now Frosty is part of the irrigation system in the
drug house.
Mark (11:16):
They hung on Karen's tears alone.
Sarah (11:18):
Because it's a movie about torture and suffering. The
main character is going to dieany second. Then in the end, the
happy ending is, yes, children,he will die, but he'll come back
again and die again and thencome back again and die again.
That is a miserable existence.
Mark (11:39):
Okay. But he gets happy birthday every time. Happy
birthday.
Sarah (11:45):
How would you like that? You come back to life to
celebrate your birthday and thenyou die again.
Mark (11:51):
I also thought it was a clever bit of gaslighting when
clearly Frosty comes alive.Right? Mhmm. He's animated,
walks, and talks. Yep.
Okay. First of all, the childrenshould be screaming at that
point Yeah. In time.
Sarah (12:08):
Well, I'm impressed that they build a snowman that's got
legs. Have you ever tried tobuild a snowman with legs?
Mark (12:13):
Their structural integrity is on point.
Sarah (12:16):
You would need some kind of infrastructure inside of it.
I'm sorry.
Mark (12:20):
But then Hinkle is like, I didn't see anything. No. Like,
he totally gaslights them.
Sarah (12:26):
And if these kids were smart, they'd be like, if that's
what it does to a snowman, whatdoes this hat do to other
inanimate objects?
Mark (12:33):
I don't know why it doesn't make the rabbit into
something.
Sarah (12:37):
It does. He's the smartest character in the show.
Oh.
Mark (12:41):
Oh, I I Clearly,
Sarah (12:43):
he's supernatural. He speaks every animal language.
When they're in the woods, hecan explain to everybody. He
does perfect charades, and hesurvives living with Inkle.
Mark (12:53):
So let's see. You're saying this is full of violence
and drug use.
Sarah (12:59):
It's a low key horror movie, Mark.
Mark (13:00):
It's a low key horror movie. At least it's not racist.
Sarah (13:04):
No. It is.
Mark (13:05):
A what?
Sarah (13:06):
Did you see any people of color in it?
Mark (13:08):
No. No. None. None. And the cop is kinda really Irish?
Irish y over the top.
Sarah (13:15):
Yeah. And so dumb that he swallows
Mark (13:17):
his own whistle. He doesn't mention the Blarney
Stone.
Sarah (13:20):
No. It's just short of that. They don't call him Patty.
It's really bad. I hope yournext choice is a better movie.
Mark (13:30):
Oh, the next one's a doozy. I'm we're gonna watch and
you guys know how this is goingto go. We're gonna watch Rudolph
the Red Nosed Reindeer.
Sarah (13:40):
Is that the one with the big, woodcutter with the red
beard? Yes. Maybe I'll like it.
Mark (13:46):
And the Abominable Snowman?
Sarah (13:48):
Neatmow. It's got a bad guy. Yeah? I'm gonna cheer for
him then.
Mark (13:51):
Okay.
Sarah (13:51):
Alright. That's Sarah's Christmas classics corner. Fight
me. Tell me why I'm wrong.
Mark (14:00):
Next time on Midsummer Maniacs mini episode 36, death
strikes three. The killer boobyclock.
Sarah (14:09):
Yes. Otherwise known as a cuckoo clock. You'll get that
joke if you listen to the lastone.
Mark (14:13):
Yes. The episode drops on the December 22 and sometime
that week of Christmas we willdrop a mini and another
Christmas classics review.
Sarah (14:27):
I hope it's better than this one.
Mark (14:29):
Happy birthday.
Sarah (14:31):
This one was really bad. Bye, maniacs. Bye, maniacs.
Mark (14:36):
Thanks for joining us on the mystery maniacs podcast. If
you enjoyed our crazy podcasttoday, don't miss out on future
episodes. Follow us on socialmedia for updates, beyond the
scenes content, and exclusivesneak peeks. Subscribe, like,
and share to spread the word.Bye, maniacs.
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