Christmas Vacation | Tale of the Tape | Holiday Favorite 628
It will be a long winding journey down that holiday memory road with Clark and his family.
-
Tale of the Tape / Seasonal
Hobbit Architecture
http://www.dirtcheapbuilder.com/Articles/Hobbit_Architecture.htm
https://archerbuchanan.com/portfolio/hobbit-house/
https://www.core77.com/posts/24039/an-architecture-firm-takes-the-hobbit-house-seriously-24039
Christmas Vacation
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/60330/27-things-you-might-not-know-about-christmas-vacation
https://www.looper.com/1047576/the-festive-story-behind-national-lampoons-christmas-vacation/
Pink Panther Opening Sequences
https://www.startribune.com/7-of-the-best-ever-opening-credits-in-movie-history/600038027/
https://www.watchthetitles.com/titlesequence/the-pink-panther/
https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-art-of-the-pink-panther-movie-titles/
Extreme Christmas Lights
https://www.familyhandyman.com/list/the-most-outrageous-christmas-light-displays/
DOWN TO BUSINESS
Hopefully you’re not pondering too hard
Deep Dark Night United
Melanie (Zocdoc)
PLUGS
Friends of Hand in Hand; Pete Davidson SNL Cold Open; The Midnight MIssion; Trevor Project; Patreon; SleepPhones; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program
SPONSORS
Wild Health; Hello Fresh; Polysleep; Odoo; Helix Sleep; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive
INTRO
Colds, wind, any other seasonal stuff
Aural Safe Place
You can enter through the beaded curtains, velvet curtains, or our various doorway shapes
We have a Hobbit Anteroom
I wouldn’t mind living in a hobbit house, tbh
Jangle curtains for the holidays
My imaginary holiday TV show pitch
“Home Makeovers for the Holidays”
Candy Cane Curtains
Which entrance would my ego and I go through to enter the safe place?
Rabbits running down Christmas hills
What’s a Christmas hill, anyway?
I’m trying to remember National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
The tape that runs in my brain
I do, in fact, remember Beverly D’Angelo
I’ll probably call Randy Quaid Randy Newman
Bobby Quaid, are you listening?
Bobby Quaid, Houston Oilers QB
Now I’m picturing Beau Bridges
This is a real tangled web
WWBB (What Would Beau Bacon) say about this?
I can only assume that Dennis and Randy Quaid are brothers
I’ll take that with a side of Beau Bacon
Things overheard at a Bed and Breakfast
Last night I could really not sleep
On and on until the break of dawn
I’ve tried it all
STORY
Time to talk Christmas Vacation
I know I’ve liked a lot of National Lampoon movies
It has a great song but I won’t sing it lest it get stuck in your head
This movie has probably suffered from overexposure
Teen Boy Goofball Suburbanesque Target Demographic
The Middle Late Chevy Chase Period
Who knows how much I’ll remember, anyways?
I guess this movie is just a sequence of events
His name is Clark, not Wallace
The original Vacation is unbelievable
European Vacation doesn’t stay in my mind quite as much
An animated Pink Panther-esque opening
I think Santa has a really hard time entering the house in this sequence
Well done and very colorful
Verging into Kenny Loggins Territory
This may have been the beginning of Ford Tauruses
The Ford Taurus was the first aspirational sedan
We had 2 For Taurus
A powdered blue wood paneled one
And a soft green one
Then we went to a hot dog van that was colored like a hot dog
I don’t know if I’ve ever personally owned a Ford
Do they have an electric Ford Taurus nowadays?
The reveal of the children
Juliette Lewis appreciation
My dad loves Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon
Johnny Galecki is the other child
Clark wants to chop a tree down in the wild
Clark is a nostalgic dreamer
Family Unity Through Symbols
They run into some tough bikers on the road
Clark is getting unnecessarily competitive
Beverly D’Angelo is always being the voice of reason
We meet their next door neighbors, 80s yuppies
Julia Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t like her suburban buffoon neighbors
An ongoing issue where Clark has sap on his hands
Clark works for a food additive company
I don’t think I’ve ever worked at a job that had Christmas bonuses
Clark already used his Christmas bonus for a down payment on a swimming pool
His friend is often in these National Lampoon movies
Clark shouldn’t have spent his bonus until he actually got it
His boss can’t remember his name
Clark spends all day putting up Christmas lights
Clark will have the greatest lights in the history of the world
The beats of each episode are structured well
His lights won’t light!
He tosses the plastic Santa
He’s very funny when he boils over
Turns out the garage light switch was just off
An unbelievably bright light
The yuppies are blinded and crash into their shrimp flambe
I’m not sure how Randy Quaid is related to this family
Usually Randy Quaid is smoking and disheveled
What in the heck is he doing here??
Now they live in an RV
They want Clark’s family to house their children so RQ and his wife can have some alone time
We meet 2 cousin children
One little boy that looks like Elvis
One girl who’s name is Trudy or Rudy or something. Ruby!
Very nice and very verbose
Both sets of in-laws have also arrived at the same time
Ruby is a very cute voice of wisdom
A true believe in Christmas
She adds a necessary element of sincerity
The entire family being there adds an extra element of emotional charge
Cousin Eddy, that’s his name!
Clark has a hard time with things out of his control
This was before I knew what Wal-Mart was
Clark is buying presents for Eddy’s kids and dog
A lot of dog food
Clark runs into his wife who was secretly buying him a gift
Then they go sledding
Sledding is a quick sequence but very funny
Clark sprays an aluminum circular sled with industrial lubricant
He goes so fast that he speeds and jumps through the air
But this bit doesn’t always hold up after a few viewings
The night before Christmas Eve is next up
Clark fantasizes about the swimming pool
Vitality, Success, and Family Unity
Clark is softened by Ruby’s softness
Then it’s Christmas Eve
Tension builds
The parents don’t want Clark to go overboard
The arrival of guests is next
More trouble with the neighbors
Randy Newman dumps the RV right into the sewer
Then even more family show up
Some cheaper geriatric jokes
Some classic food humor
The uncle is kind of a jerk and is smoking
They’re drinking egg nog out of moose glasses
The dog gets in the kitchen garbage
And grandma’s cat gets too into the tree and then heads to Big Farm
They discover there’s a squirrel in the tree
The squirrel emerges and creates total chaos at dinner time
JLD can’t handle her neighbors anymore
The family is bonding over chasing this squirrel
It seems like Christmas couldn’t get any worse
The courrier shows up with his Christmas bonus
The power of swimming pools to unite family bonding
But his bonus is a yearlong subscription to the Fruitcake of the Month Club
Clark is over the top mad
One last tradition where they read “The Night Before Christmas”
An actual moment of togetherness
Randy Quaid goes to gather Clark’s boss so Clark can yell at him
JLD calls the ethics team on Randy Quaid
The guy playing this jerky boss is so great
The whole family starts laying into Clark’s boss
Don’t mislead people about Christmas bonuses!
Then the Ethics Squad rolls up full force
But not until after the boss writes Clark an actual check
Even the boss’s wife and the Ethics Squad can’t believe the boss would cancel the Christmas Bonuses
Then I’m not sure how it all ends, to be honest with you
The gas from the RV/sewer shoots the lawn Santa up into the sky
Ruby sees Santa flying through the night
Maybe there’s a unity song that ends this movie
Movie facts
Written by John Hughes
Music is by Angelo Badalamenti
Holiday movies aren’t really on the streaming services
A lot of famous people are in this that I didn’t realize
John Hughes initially wrote this as a magazine article for National Lampoon
Shot in Colorado and Warner Brothers lot
Oh, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” for the initial movie
This is the only movie to not feature this song
Whoa Back to the Future II came out the same weekend
Mixed Critical Reviews
Roger Ebert gave it 2 stars
PATREON THANKS
Laurie, Marsha, Patty, Meredith, Cindy, Genevieve, Privacy, Caitlin, Autumn, Charles, Rachelle, Gus, Damiana, Estina, Eric, Carolyn, Gwendolyn, Hana, Anonymous, Deanna, Barbara, Nicky, Deron, Nicholas, Jess, Timmy, Caleb, Kristen, Shenise, Pam, Chris, Mark, Debby, Ashley, Jennifer, Amanda, Mike, Karen, Rebecca, Matthew, Kat, Lea, Natalia, Rachel, Cartoons by Hilary, Megan, Sarah, Suzie, Carl, Renee, James, Rebecca, Lauren, Deborah, Kate, Sevi, Kirsten, Morgan, Loren, Sarah, Lisa, Renee, Rhonda, Michael, Lisa, Ellen, Kieran, Rachel, Sally, Bebop, Kara, Alexander, Maddy, Hannah, Alyssa
SUMMARY:
Episode: 1,216b / 628
Title: Christmas Vacation | Tale of the Tape | Holiday Favorite 628
Deep Dark Night United: Melanie (Zocdoc)
Plugs: Friends of Hand in Hand; Pete Davidson SNL Cold Open; The Midnight MIssion; Trevor Project; Patreon; SleepPhones; Emily Tat Artwork; NAPAWF; Anti-Racism Resources; Ukraine Relief; Crisis Textline; Referral Program
Sponsors: Wild Health; Hello Fresh; Polysleep; Odoo; Helix Sleep; Air Doctor Pro; Zocdoc; Progressive
Patreon Thanks: Laurie, Marsha, Patty, Meredith, Cindy, Genevieve, Privacy, Caitlin, Autumn, Charles, Rachelle, Gus, Damiana, Estina, Eric, Carolyn, Gwendolyn, Hana, Anonymous, Deanna, Barbara, Nicky, Deron, Nicholas, Jess, Timmy, Caleb, Kristen, Shenise, Pam, Chris, Mark, Debby, Ashley, Jennifer, Amanda, Mike, Karen, Rebecca, Matthew, Kat, Lea, Natalia, Rachel, Cartoons by Hilary, Megan, Sarah, Suzie, Carl, Renee, James, Rebecca, Lauren, Deborah, Kate, Sevi, Kirsten, Morgan, Loren, Sarah, Lisa, Renee, Rhonda, Michael, Lisa, Ellen, Kieran, Rachel, Sally, Bebop, Kara, Alexander, Maddy, Hannah, Alyssa
Notable Language:
- Aural Safe Place
- Hobbit Anteroom
- Candy Cane Curtains
- WWBB (What Would Beau Bacon)
- Goofy-Like Human (GLH)
- Teen Boy Goofball Suburbanesque Target Demographic
- Kenny Loggins Territory (KLT)
- Family Unity Through Symbols
- Suburban Buffoon
- Shrimp Flambe
- Cheaper Geriatric Jokes (CGJs)
Notable Culture:
- The Hobbit
- National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- Candy Cane Curtains, a Holiday homemaking show
-
- Beverly D’Angelo
- Randy Quaid
- Randy Newman
- The Bacon Brothers
- The Bridges Brothers
- Dennis Quaid
- “Holiday Road” song
- Vacation
- European Vacation
-
- Pink Panther
- Caddyshack
-
- Kenny Loggins
- Ford Taurus
- Juliette Lewis
- The Big Bang Theory
- Young Sheldon
-
- Johnny Galecki
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus
- Don Quixote
-
- “The Night Before Christmas”
- Scrooged
-
- John Hughes
- Back to the Future II
- Roger Ebert
- Angelo Badalamenti
Notable Talking Points:
- Colds, wind, any other seasonal stuff
- Aural Safe Place
- You can enter through the beaded curtains, velvet curtains, or our various doorway shapes
- We have a Hobbit Anteroom
- I wouldn’t mind living in a hobbit house, tbh
- Jangle curtains for the holidays
- My imaginary holiday TV show pitch
- “Home Makeovers for the Holidays”
- Candy Cane Curtains
- Which entrance would my ego and I go through to enter the safe place?
- Rabbits running down Christmas hills
- What’s a Christmas hill, anyway?
- I’m trying to remember National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
- The tape that runs in my brain
- I do, in fact, remember Beverly D’Angelo
- I’ll probably call Randy Quaid Randy Newman
- Bobby Quaid, are you listening?
- Bobby Quaid, Houston Oilers QB
- Now I’m picturing Beau Bridges
- This is a real tangled web
- WWBB (What Would Beau Bacon) say about this?
- I can only assume that Dennis and Randy Quaid are brothers
- I’ll take that with a side of Beau Bacon
- Things overheard at a Bed and Breakfast
- Last night I could really not sleep
- On and on until the break of dawn
- I’ve tried it all
- Time to talk Christmas Vacation
- I know I’ve liked a lot of National Lampoon movies
- It has a great song but I won’t sing it lest it get stuck in your head
- This movie has probably suffered from overexposure
- Teen Boy Goofball Suburbanesque Target Demographic
- The Middle Late Chevy Chase Period
- Who knows how much I’ll remember, anyways?
- I guess this movie is just a sequence of events
- His name is Clark, not Wallace
- The original Vacation is unbelievable
- European Vacation doesn’t stay in my mind quite as much
- An animated Pink Panther-esque opening
- I think Santa has a really hard time entering the house in this sequence
- Well done and very colorful
- Verging into Kenny Loggins Territory
- This may have been the beginning of Ford Tauruses
- The Ford Taurus was the first aspirational sedan
- We had 2 For Taurus
- A powdered blue wood paneled one
- And a soft green one
- Then we went to a hot dog van that was colored like a hot dog
- I don’t know if I’ve ever personally owned a Ford
- Do they have an electric Ford Taurus nowadays?
- The reveal of the children
- Juliette Lewis appreciation
- My dad loves Big Bang Theory and Young Sheldon
- Johnny Galecki is the other child
- Clark wants to chop a tree down in the wild
- Clark is a nostalgic dreamer
- Family Unity Through Symbols
- They run into some tough bikers on the road
- Clark is getting unnecessarily competitive
- Beverly D’Angelo is always being the voice of reason
- We meet their next door neighbors, 80s yuppies
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus doesn’t like her suburban buffoon neighbors
- An ongoing issue where Clark has sap on his hands
- Clark works for a food additive company
- I don’t think I’ve ever worked at a job that had Christmas bonuses
- Clark already used his Christmas bonus for a down payment on a swimming pool
- His friend is often in these National Lampoon movies
- Clark shouldn’t have spent his bonus until he actually got it
- His boss can’t remember his name
- Clark spends all day putting up Christmas lights
- Clark will have the greatest lights in the history of the world
- The beats of each episode are structured well
- His lights won’t light!
- He tosses the plastic Santa
- He’s very funny when he boils over
- Turns out the garage light switch was just off
- An unbelievably bright light
- The yuppies are blinded and crash into their shrimp flambe
- I’m not sure how Randy Quaid is related to this family
- Usually Randy Quaid is smoking and disheveled
- What in the heck is he doing here??
- Now they live in an RV
- They want Clark’s family to house their children so RQ and his wife can have some alone time
- We meet 2 cousin children
- One little boy that looks like Elvis
- One girl who’s name is Trudy or Rudy or something. Ruby!
- Very nice and very verbose
- Both sets of in-laws have also arrived at the same time
- Ruby is a very cute voice of wisdom
- A true believe in Christmas
- She adds a necessary element of sincerity
- The entire family being there adds an extra element of emotional charge
- Cousin Eddy, that’s his name!
- Clark has a hard time with things out of his control
- This was before I knew what Wal-Mart was
- Clark is buying presents for Eddy’s kids and dog
- A lot of dog food
- Clark runs into his wife who was secretly buying him a gift
- Then they go sledding
- Sledding is a quick sequence but very funny
- Clark sprays an aluminum circular sled with industrial lubricant
- He goes so fast that he speeds and jumps through the air
- But this bit doesn’t always hold up after a few viewings
- The night before Christmas Eve is next up
- Clark fantasizes about the swimming pool
- Vitality, Success, and Family Unity
- Clark is softened by Ruby’s softness
- Then it’s Christmas Eve
- Tension builds
- The parents don’t want Clark to go overboard
- The arrival of guests is next
- More trouble with the neighbors
- Randy Newman dumps the RV right into the sewer
- Then even more family show up
- Some cheaper geriatric jokes
- Some classic food humor
- The uncle is kind of a jerk and is smoking
- They’re drinking egg nog out of moose glasses
- The dog gets in the kitchen garbage
- And grandma’s cat gets too into the tree and then heads to Big Farm
- They discover there’s a squirrel in the tree
- The squirrel emerges and creates total chaos at dinner time
- JLD can’t handle her neighbors anymore
- The family is bonding over chasing this squirrel
- It seems like Christmas couldn’t get any worse
- The courrier shows up with his Christmas bonus
- The power of swimming pools to unite family bonding
- But his bonus is a yearlong subscription to the Fruitcake of the Month Club
- Clark is over the top mad
- One last tradition where they read “The Night Before Christmas”
- An actual moment of togetherness
- Randy Quaid goes to gather Clark’s boss so Clark can yell at him
- JLD calls the ethics team on Randy Quaid
- The guy playing this jerky boss is so great
- The whole family starts laying into Clark’s boss
- Don’t mislead people about Christmas bonuses!
- Then the Ethics Squad rolls up full force
- But not until after the boss writes Clark an actual check
- Even the boss’s wife and the Ethics Squad can’t believe the boss would cancel the Christmas Bonuses
- Then I’m not sure how it all ends, to be honest with you
- The gas from the RV/sewer shoots the lawn Santa up into the sky
- Ruby sees Santa flying through the night
- Maybe there’s a unity song that ends this movie
- Movie facts
- Written by John Hughes
- Music is by Angelo Badalamenti
- Holiday movies aren’t really on the streaming services
- A lot of famous people are in this that I didn’t realize
- John Hughes initially wrote this as a magazine article for National Lampoon
- Shot in Colorado and Warner Brothers lot
- Oh, Lindsey Buckingham wrote “Holiday Road” for the initial movie
- This is the only movie to not feature this song
- Whoa Back to the Future II came out the same weekend
- Mixed Critical Reviews
- Roger Ebert gave it 2 stars
-
Episode – Christmas Vacation | Tale of the Tape | Holiday Favorite 628
[START OF RECORDING]
SCOOTER: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and friends beyond the binary and my patrons…usually we put ads on here, patrons, but if you’re looking for a holiday gift…you don’t have much time, but you could get a song from The Mystery Bard, Jonathan Mann, over at song.jonathanmann.net and commission The Mystery Bard for a song if you’re looking for something. Thanks, and thanks for supporting the show, and let’s keep the show going.
INTRO: [INTRO MUSIC] Hey, are you up all night tossing, turning, mind racing? Trouble getting to sleep? Trouble staying asleep? Well, welcome. This is Sleep With Me, the podcast that puts you to sleep. We do it with a bedtime story. Alls you need to do is get in bed, turn out the lights, and press Play. I’m gonna do the rest. What I’m going to attempt to do is create a safe place where you could set aside whatever’s keeping you awake, whether it’s thoughts, feelings, physical sensations, anything you’re going through; seasonal stuff, colds, wind. Whatever’s keeping you awake, I’d like to distract you from that, to bring you into this aural — A-U-R-A-L, I think — safe place, to welcome you in. Come on in. You can leave the door open or you can close it. You can come in through the beaded curtains, the velvet…we have it all here. This safe place has multiple entry points but none of them you really notice, either. You can come in through a rectangle, a square, an oval, a circle, any other…what doorway shape…do you prefer to come in…? We have a hobbit anteroom, so you can come in through a hobbit house, look around, have a spice cake or whatever the heck they eat. Seed cake…I can’t remember. Then come on in to the safe place. I wouldn’t mind living in a hobbit house, to be honest, probably because of my apartment. But definitely more cozy. Let’s see, so you’d…oh, a safe place; so, come on in. I think I…do you like beaded curtains? Even for the season, we have jangle curtains. I also have silent jangle curtains, jingle curtains, we have cotton…candy cane curtains. That’s my new…that’s gonna be my new holiday styling guide. Oh no, that’s the Hallmark Channel I’m pitch…that’s a pitch I have coming up this week. All those home shows are big, and I’m pitching them. Well, it’s an imaginary pitch. It happens in the moments before I don't go to sleep. I say, I’m pitch…yeah, I’m pitching a new show. It’s home makeovers for the holidays. Oh, like those extreme Christmas light shows? Those are great. No; this is called Candy Cane Curtains. I’m gonna cover…I’m gonna go to people’s houses and put…like, in a doorway, I’m gonna put up candy cane curtains. Oh, how are you gonna do that? Well, I’m gonna…you know those mini candy canes that come in that cellophane wrap? I’m just gonna staple lines of those. That’s the show. Okay, and what else? Well, maybe I’ll sing…what Christmas carols do you have the rights to that I could sing on there? Usually people can’t tell what I’m singing anyway, so would you have to pay the rights if they don’t know what…they don’t even know what song I’m singing? I’m the only person that fantasizes about stuff and I still get…they say, I’m sorry. So, candy cane…oh, anyway, if you’re new here, welcome to the safe place. I was over-describing it. That’s a method I use on the show when I send my voice across the deep, dark night. I try to use lulling, soothing, creaky, dulcet tones, and I realize these dulcet…creaky, dulcet tones aren’t for any…everybody, but I’m just here to help. So…oh, structure…so, if you’re new, here’s the structure of the show; first four to six minutes are business. Since it’s a sleep podcast, we try to get that out of the way upfront. If you’re new, maybe you didn’t notice. Thanks for sticking through it. I realize…not really any other way to conduct a sleep podcast and keep it free with the 600 archived shows. Critical for regular listeners to support the sponsors or support the show, but if you’re new, not that important. Let’s see, so that’s the first few minutes, then there’s an intro which we’re four minutes into or so, where I usually get distract…I use over…what did I call that, over-description? Over-involvement…I said, let me describe a safe place. Then I started seeing all these different nice doorways or entry points, whatever I called them. Then I was thinking, huh, what one would I want to go…? Then my…I guess my ego can get in the way, too. It says, well, what one would we go through? Usually the intro…it kinda sets the mood for the podcast. Some people use it while they’re getting ready for bed. Some people fall asleep to it. Some people skip it; the timestamps are in the show notes. Let’s see…so, yeah, what was I gonna say? I got distracted there by my own brain. Oh, so, the intro…just a way to…it’s something familiar, but I do a new one every episode so everybody gets in the mood to fall asleep or you fall asleep. Also, you don’t need…what’s the thing I was trying to say? Huh…oh, you don’t need to listen. So, this is a podcast…oh wait, now I’m mixed up. So, that’s the structure…I’m talking about the structure of the show. Sorry; I got these Christmas…alls…I’m not kidding; I see rabbits running down Christmas hills in my brain. I don't even know what a Christmas hill is. But so, I’m gonna…so there’s a intro, then there’s a episode. Tonight’s the Tale of the Tape where I try to remember National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacationation, and then I’ll probably…three-quarters of the way through, depending on how bad my memory is, I’ll look it up on Wikipedia to try to correct myself. It won't be an accurate one; it will be the tape that runs in my brain. So, I’ll try to remember that and the parts I do remember. But it’ll be fixating on — probably — stuff, and mostly trying to remember people’s names…who are in the roles, which will take me a while. Then I’ll get…I’ll say, is that the kid from that movie or was he in the other one? What about…? Then I say, Beverly D’Angelo; I remember that one, D'Angelo. I didn’t remember it when I started this intro, though. I said, hm, I wonder if you’ll remember blah-blah-blah’s name. It hit me; Beverly D'Angelo, just now. So, that’s…I’ll probably call Randy whoever, Randy Newman, a lot, by accident, though that’s not a super-big stretch. I don't know, is Randy…? They both seem like they’re very tall, but I’ll try to remember Randy’s…Randy Quaid, Dennis and…is the Fabulous Baker Boys…is…are they all Quaids? Is Randy Quaid related to Dennis Quaid? Oh, I think I’m thinking of Bobby…maybe I’m thinking…is there a Bobby Quaid? Bobby Quaid, are you listening? Bobby Quaid. That sounds like a 1970’s quarterback. Bobby Quaid threw for four thousand yards…the Houston Oilers. I think I’m thinking of the Bacon…the fabulous Bacon brothers. Yeah, Kevin Bacon and Bud Bacon, but it’s not Bud. It’s Beau Bridges. How did I get Beau Bridges…how did I mix up Beau Bridges and Randy…think that…? This is how my brain works. This is live. So, I started thinking of…so, I tried…I called Randy Quaid Randy Newman 'cause I knew I would do that by accident, then I tried to think of Randy Quaid’s name. As soon as I said that, instead of picturing Dennis Quaid, I pictured Beau Bridges. Then I said, isn’t Beau Bridges in a band with…? Now, just now, as I’m talking, I realize Jeff Bridges is probably Beau Bridges’ brother. Not kidding. Let’s trace these thoughts back. So, then I pictured Beau Bridges in my brain as soon as…with Randy Newman, then I pictured Dennis Quaid, then I pictured the three of them jamming on stage. But I guess Kevin Bacon was there, but he was still in a dreamlike state. I mean, he’s dreamy. Then I was trying to remember who saw the Bacon Brothers live. I think it was my siblings one New Years Eve. So, then I was thinking, oh wait, Kevin…does Kevin Bacon have a brother? He must. Then I said, is it Beau Bacon? Then, inside I was giggling hysterically, 'cause that’s just…anytime you feel down, say Beau Bacon. WWBB; what would Beau Bacon say about this? Probably say, let me get…let me call Kevin and let’s jam it out. We’ll get Randy Quaid and Randy Newman on the horn. But yeah, so then it was Beau Bridges, and I didn’t even think of Jeff Bridges. That took me a while. I wonder if all of…I don't know. That’s a lot of siblings, though. But Randy Quaid, yeah, maybe is related to Dennis Quaid, though I can’t confirm that or…for sure, and I don't know if they have a band with them. But, okay, so, I’m gonna try…okay, so I’m gonna try to remember National Lampoon’s Vacation, and then we’ll have some thank-yous at the end. I get distracted. So, here’s the thing; you don’t need to listen to me. I think that’s…here, I think I made two things clear; you don’t really need to listen to me. I’m here to help. I don't know if I made that clear, but I bet you you weren’t thinking about whatever was keeping you awake while I was trying to think of Beau Bacon. I think that may not have made you laugh…but I said, well, give me a side of Beau…that sounds like something somebody would say to…the things that were said in a bed and…well, I’ll take that with a side of Beau Bacon, if you know what I’m saying. Anyway, so, those are people that came up in my brain. So, you don’t need to listen to me. You’re also under no pressure to fall asleep. I’ll be here for an hour 'cause I know there’s listeners that can’t fall asleep or don’t fall asleep or that listen while they’re sewing or coding or painting or trying to unwind or relax, like something’s spurted up in the moment and they say, okay, I need to take a few minutes here. I’m here to help 'cause I’ve been there in the deep, dark night, tossing and turning. Last night, oof, I could not sleep. It was just one of those…another baffling…I read until my eye…I could barely keep my eyes open, closed my book, turned out the lights, and then it was on, on and on ‘til almost the break of dawn. So, I’ve been there and I want to help. I want to help take your mind off of stuff, whatever it is, and be your companion while you drift off into dreamland, and I hope I can. Now, this podcast does not work for everybody. Give it a few tries. I can feel the resistance 'cause I get usually an e-mail a day from somebody the podcast may not have worked for and my personality may not have meshed with yours. I would say, that’s cool. There’s a lot of other stuff out there to try, or give the show a few tries or look on iTunes. There’s thousands of reviews. Almost every single one of them says, I was skeptical and then I gave it a few tries and it helped. Or maybe your gut’s right; this podcast won't help you, and I’m sorry. But I listen to…there’s…I’ve tried binaural beats, I’ve tried rain, pink noise, LibriVox, audiobooks, big read-style audiobooks. So, I hope one of those will help. But either way, I’m glad you’re here. I work very hard on the show because I really yearn and strive to help you fall asleep. Thanks for coming by.
Alright, so, here we are. We’re gonna be talking about National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacationation. This was the time…I think this was the tail-end of movie…feature releases, movie theatre releases, being…regularly-dubbed National Lampoon's movies, but they would come in less frequency. Maybe they never came in any type of frequency. I don't really know too much about National Lampoon's other than I’ve liked a lot of the movies and it was a brand that kinda stood for a certain type of quality humor. But this movie is called National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and I guess…I don't know if now it’s called Christmas Vacation. That just doesn’t…it has…I think — I my opinion — it has to be called National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, and those of you that have seen the movie as many times as me know that it has a great song that goes with it. It’s not so much an ear worm unless you remember it, so I’m not gonna try to make you remember it. I don't know if the theme song is at the beginning or the end, where there’s a animated sequence of a goofy human, I guess, which would be Chevy Chase. Like, the theme song’s…it never made it into the main Christmas carol lexicon 'cause it’s really kind of…it’s kind of more of a movie theme song than it’s…very related to the movie. I think this movie’s probably…yeah, we should talk about this upfront. It probably has been overplayed, I mean, with the way holiday movies…I think it’s one of those movies that suffered from overexposure, in my opinion, with my personal relationship with it. I don't know what year it came out, but I know I saw this in the movie theatre, so I don't know how old I was or if this was PG or PG-13, but I do know I saw this in the movie theatre, probably twice, and I was probably right around the exact target demographic; like, a teen goofball that the movie was…boy, teen boy goofball, like, suburban-esque. But so, okay…so, let’s see…oh, but I think it’s been played so much on cable, and it’s not that it’s…I think probably some of the humor…I think it was a movie that just is best flowing, and a lot of the jokes don’t stand up if you’re overexposed to them, at least in…'cause I haven’t seen the movie in a long time, because I just have…it’s just like some other snacks that I’ve had too much, like Trader Joe’s Deep Chocolate Covered Joe-Joe’s with Peppermint. I had those three Christmases in a row. I’d eat them by the box. Now I can’t touch them. I guess this probably depends on your opinion of the actors in it and your relationship with Chevy Chase, but this was our…I guess this was…or middle-late Chevy Chase, and I feel like this was a good role. Now, he did have another role…I don't know if that was a holiday movie, but I associate it with the holiday season, where he moved to the country. It was kinda like to write a book with his wife, and they bought…maybe they even bought a bed and breakfast and the whole town didn’t want them there or something. I don't know why I was thinking of that. But so, give this a chance. You could fall asleep to it…this episode. That’s the whole purpose, anyway. Plus, I’m not gonna remember…well, who knows how much I’ll remember, 'cause it’s just…I think as a kid it’s just a sequence of events, and I guess at the end there’s…there is a through-plot with what Chevy Chase wants, his character, Wallace? No, that’s not his name. Cliff Griswold…Clark Griswold. This movie was a sequel…third sequel to National Lampoon's Vacation, which is definitely…that movie’s unbelievable, and that one definitely holds up even though it’s older, I think, or maybe I’ve just seen it a little bit less. Then National Lampoon's European Vacation, which I’ve watched bits and pieces of when it’s been on TV…but I think I started watching it one time recently in the last…and when I say ‘recently’, in the last two years. But so, yeah. So, I don't know. Okay, so, the movie opens — let’s get to the good stuff here — with…I think it opens with…what do you call it? An animated Pink-Panther-esque opening. Or that could be how the movie ends. Either way, I don't really remember. Now that I’m thinking about it, I’m thinking about it…I think…I think it’s like, Santa Claus is the clumsy, goofy character, and — this is just how I’m remembering it — that Santa goes to a house, and this is while the titles are playing. I think this is what happens, and Santa just has a terrible time getting into this house and is kinda like a comic foil, even…like a pratfall. Like, Santa has trouble on the roof, has trouble with the Christmas lights, even at one point does a zip-line with a candy cane, and just has a terrible time getting into the house, probably runs amok. I don't know. But so, it’s pretty funny and it’s animated, but I guess I don't remember a lot of it. I think it was well done and very colorful, too, and set to the title song which kinda had…it wasn’t totally in Kenny Loggins territory, but pretty close. Kenny Loggins, I think…was Kenny Loggins dude the second Caddy Shack or both the theme songs for both Caddy Shack movies? But this was a little bit lighter version, a little more sing-songy, maybe, than…like, less poppy than Kenny Loggins, but still a pop feel. I don't know who did it, but maybe we’ll look that up. Or maybe it was just done for the movie. So, then the movie opens, and it opens in a…actually, I think this was the beginning of Ford Tauruses. It may have opened in a Ford Taurus station wagon, and those of you that didn’t grow up in the eighties would not know this, and I could be completely rewriting history, but for me, the Ford Taurus was the first aspirational family sedan for people that weren’t in…the earliest that people in my class…the middle-class aspirational family…it was one of the first things that seemed like it was designed in a wind tunnel, and it was marketed that way. Then the kids that were a little bit above you on the food chain started getting these Tauruses that were shaped like the future. First it was the Ford Taurus sedan, then there was a Ford Taurus station wagon. Now, I still am in wood-paneled…we had two different wood-panel station wagons — we had eight people in my family — and then one powder-blue one without wood paneling. I think the order went powder…oh no, we had a green one, too. Maybe we never had a…we had a powder-blue wood-paneled one, or a sky blue, then a navy blue wood-paneled one, and maybe then kinda a soft green one. Maybe we never…did we ever have a powder-blue one? I mean, we had the powder-blue wood panel, then we went to a hot dog van that was colored like a hot dog. So, those were…so, we didn’t have any Tauruses. But product…really well-placed product placement if it’s true and I remember it this far. It’s like, holy cow, did you get…? Now, I don't know if I’ve ever owned a Ford, but it’s pretty good product placement 'cause I just talked about it. I don't even know if…are Ford Tauruses still on the road? Do they have a Taurus plug-in hybrid or just a electric one? So, that’s how it opens, with that car going through kind of a wooded road, a highway. Then we see Chevy Chase is driving, Beverly D'Angelo is a passenger, and we get the reveal of the children, who I believe…I can’t think of their names right now, but Juliette Lewis is the daughter, I believe, in this movie, beloved eighties actress. I just watched another movie that she was in when I was at a hotel recently that she was spectacular in. Then the kid from…he’s now an adult. I know I know his name, and he’s on the most successful…my dad loves this show and now I can’t even think of it, 'cause alls I can think about is 3rd Rock From the Sun. But it’s the most popular show. Sheldon is the prequel to it. I’ll think of it, and I’ll think of his name. Oh, I just had it and it just passed. Oh, I just had it again; it just passed now. But he’s really good. That show’s really good. My dad loves it. Big Bang Theory. It’s my dad’s favorite show, and Sheldon. My dad’s a big fan of Sheldon, too. He’s quoted the Sheldon show to me a few times on the phone. He said, you know what happened on this week’s Sheldon…so, that’s where I get my life lessons from. Okay…oh, Johnny Galecki. That’s Johnny Galecki. I think I…holy cow, I did not…thank you, brain. So, those are the children, and they’re all in a car and they’re headed to go get a Christmas tree. The kids are…I think they’re…is it in this movie? The kids are kinda resistant. It’s very good acting, now that I think about it, because they’re like, geez, dad, why do we gotta go…why don’t we just buy a tree like a normal…? Clark Roosevelt’s like, no, I want to chop a tree down. He wants to chop it down in the wild because…I don't know. Then, let’s see, what happens next is…I guess they go to the woods and they find a tree. Wait a second…I’m picturing something else, but we’ll come back to that. So, they go to a tree and they…of course they have to hike out and everybody’s freezing. Clark…and if you’re…you can…this introduces you to Clark Griswold or it reminds you that Clark is this nostalgic dreamer and he has these fantasies of family unity through symbols and through shared experience, which I guess isn’t totally incorrect. It’s just a little misguided and that this is gonna be…this bonding experience and finding the perfect tree is what makes the perfect Christmas. So, I don't remember…I think there’s a hassle with getting the tree cut down, and they just go into the woods and cut down a tree. Then somehow they get it on the roof of their car, not without difficulty. Or maybe they even have to drive with it in the car and it’s filling up the whole car. I don't remember that part. Then they get on the road and they run into some trouble on the road with some car with some toughs or something that says Raw Dog or something. Clark is…he has a passive-aggressive over-boil or whatever. So, he gets a little road-competitive, and then they do a trick move where they go under this lumber truck. Meanwhile, his whole family is like, Clark, what are you doing? Beverly D'Angelo, whose character’s name I don't remember, she’s always trying to be the voice of reason and saying, Clark, Clark, Clark. So, then they somehow extricate themselves through that, and I thought they jumped over a giant snowbank into a tree lot, but that wouldn’t make sense with some of the later plot, that they still have a tree on their thing, 'cause the tree that they cut down in the wild plays more than one role in the show. So, then they get home and they get the tree in the house, and it’s way too big. It’s like a thirty-foot tree or something. They’re like…it breaks their windows. It also…we meet their next-door neighbors who are eighties yuppies, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and I’m not sure who the other actor is. I think this all takes place in the Chicago suburbs. But Julia Louis-Dreyfus is…and her husband are yuppies and they don’t like their neighbors 'cause they’re suburban buffoons, their neighbors, and…so, I think that’s the first trouble. Like, it breaks the window. We learn, I think, that there’s some squirrels in the tree, but I’m not positive about that. But Clark has to do a bunch of cut…trimming with his…he’s like, oh, I’ll trim the tree down. Then he gets covered in sap, which for a while becomes this ongoing thing where he has sap stuck to his hands. Then we see Clark at work. I think in this…this is probably still in the act one area where Clark kinda talks about what he’s gonna do. He works for a food additives company, which I thought this part was smart, these little jokes. There’s some jokes and then there’s their new boss, and Clark’s talking about that they get these Christmas bonuses. I don't think I’ve ever worked at a job that I had a Christmas bonus, that I know of. Maybe when I was selling iron-on patches for my friends I got a Christmas bonus, but I’m not sure. But I just never had that kind of job. But he’s talking about spending his Christmas bonus, and then he says he already spent it on a swimming pool, the down-payment, and then that’s gonna be…again, much like the tree, that this one pool’s gonna be this source of masculine power and success for him and family bonding, and it’s gonna make him the breadwinner and they’re just gonna have a lot of fun with it. He’s talking to his two companions. One of his companions is a very…actor that’s present in a lot of these movies. I think he comes out of Second City or the…out of the Canadian version of Second City, maybe. But he’s someone very recognizable. They’re saying, whoa, Clark, slow down. We didn’t get the bonuses yet. This new boss is big on the numbers. Then I think Clark gets called into the boss’ office and the boss can’t remember his name. He keeps…just like it’s a podcast. Anyway, Freddy, he says, what’s going on with the…? There’s a lot of cool jokes about ways they’re…what they’re doing to breakfast cereal and the manufacture…they’re in the manufactured food business. So, that’s a fun scene. Then we have the scene with Clark putting up Christmas lights, and that’s a day-long scene, and I think he causes more trouble for Julia Louis-Dreyfus and her husband. There’s a lot of comedy in that scene. Rusty is his son, who he calls Russ a lot…is trying to help, and he’s…he also tries to be the voice of reason at different times, the son and the daughter and the mother. He’s even trying to say, geez, dad, you get all these big expectations. You build up to the…you put so much meaning in these events. It’s okay; we just love you for who you are. He says, no, Russ; we’re gonna have the greatest lights in the history of the world. So, you get a bunch of funny sequences of Clark getting intro trouble just like Santa did, putting this extreme light thing on the house. I think this movie…even though it’s more like a series of scenes, it does seem like it’s structured, like, the beats-wise, pretty well. I guess. Maybe not. At least in my mind, 'cause then Clark…he puts so much work into it and then he builds it up, then he finally gets done despite his family’s objections and despite everybody’s doubts and despite the hurdles and the difficulties. He gets all the lights on. He says, come on everybody, come outside. They’re still resistant; oh Clark, it’s cold or whatever. He says, come outside, please. This is a big one for the lights. Then he goes to light it and he doesn’t light. Then he goes and tries a couple things, and it still won't light. Then maybe he tries one more thing and it still won't light. He goes…really loses it, so much…that they have decorations in their lawn. He starts yelling at Santa and I think he even tosses Santa. Like, they have a little plastic Santa and reindeer, and he’s like…this is the funny part of his character, is that when he boils over it’s very comedic. He’s yelling at Santa, the plastic Santa, in just this exasperated way. Then he’s defeated, and right in his moment of defeat…or maybe he says, I’m gonna do one more try. Then his wife accidentally flicks on the switch. It was just that the light switch in the garage was off. She turns it on and the lights go on, and then they go off again. Then somehow they solve that and the lights are saved, and it’s this unbelievable light, so bright it drains the power. The noise of the yuppies…so that they crash into their shrimp flambe or something. You can see it from outer space and it’s beautiful and there’s music. Then we just get this great sequence. He starts to cry and he’s so happy. His moment of family unity has been achieved and the lights are a symbol of his success, or the…or success in and of itself. Then he’s crying and then he sees that he’s leaning on Randy Quaid. He’s weeping and then he says, geez, isn’t it beautiful, Clark? Randy Quaid plays this character whose name I don't remember right off the top of my head, but kinda from his…he’s…I think Beverly D'Angelo…I never understand it. Maybe he’s married to Beverly D'Angelo’s sister. I think in the first movie I tried to figure it out a few different times and I couldn’t quite…if he and Beverly D'Angelo are related or if his wife and Beverly D'Angelo are related. But Randy Quaid’s dressed in flip-flops, boxers, and a bathrobe or something insane, and he’s like, oh, isn’t that beautiful, Clark? Usually he’s smoking and disheveled and spitting and that kinda thing. I almost thought of his name there. But Clark says, what in the heck are you doing here? He says, well, good news, bad news. He goes, aren’t you at home? He goes, this is our home. Then we see this old RV. He goes, well, the bank…had issues with the bank, so now we live in this RV. It’s great. But we just coasted into town on fumes and…I guess it is Beverly D'Angelo and his wife, 'cause she’s like, oh…Ellen, that’s her name, I think, Beverly D'Angelo’s character. ‘Cause the sisters, they greet and they’re happy, and Clark’s like, you gotta be kidding me. So, you’re gonna stay here? He goes, oh yeah, you want us to…? He goes, how about we stay in the RV so we can have some alone time and our kids stay in your house? Then we meet the children. I think we only meet two children. One is a young little boy who looks a bit like Elvis, and that’s all I kinda remember about him. He’s quiet. He’s has very nice eyes, like a very cute kid. Then we meet his sister who’s also young, like probably, I don't know, six years old, seven years old, and her name’s Trudy or Rudy or something. She’s very nice and she’s very verbose. I think the kid doesn’t talk. The boy doesn’t talk, I don't think. There’s a funny joke in there, like…goes down a well, eyes go crossed, kicked by a mule, eyes go uncrossed or something that Randy Newman says, but then he does…now he doesn’t speak or something. Ruby, I think is the girl’s name. Oh, I forgot about a whole ‘nother element which I think played into the lights, which was also both sets of in-laws arrive. So, Clark’s father and mother and Ellen’s father and mother are there, and maybe they’re there for the light drama, and that’s kind of a total disaster. Clark has the expectations of his parents who love him, and then he can never meet the expectations of his in-laws. So, I think that was the other thing…the challenges when he was doing the lights was like, just give up. Just give up, Clark. Just give up, son. Just come inside. You’re too much…you’re getting too much like Don Quixote here. So, that was another part of why it had such an emotional charge when he did succeed, 'cause he could show…see, in-laws? I’m good. Then, see, mom and dad? I kept at it and I succeeded. But also, I think it adds a nice element of having the in-laws there with Randy Newman’s…Randy Quaid’s kids, because then it just adds this humanity. Like, the grandparents can kind of dote over the…I don't know, otherwise…I just like…'cause Ruby’s this really cute voice of wisdom and a believer in Santa Claus. She’s a true believer in Christmas for this episode or this movie. I think having her grandparents there kinda adds…I don't know, an emotional layer that if it was just her…if there was no intermediaries, if it was just the Quaids and Clark and Ellen and their two children, they probably would…plus, having the in-laws and Clark’s parents adds this extra, like I said, emotional charge. Okay, so, that is…so, then he says, you gotta be kidding me. So, then he probably gets in bed, and I think that when he gets in bed, he’s reading a magazine and complaining to Ellen and getting all these magazine pages stuck to him while he’s…you gotta be kidding me. Eddie; that’s his name, Eddie, Randy Quaid’s character. Eddie and…I’ll think of it…and your sister. Yeah, he says…but he’s going off. He’s…I can’t believe they’re gonna be here. Then they find out Clark’s…finds out, oh, well, also, we’re gonna help them with Christmas 'cause they can’t afford…Ellen’s very generous and Clark really is generous, I guess in some way, but he’s also resistant to things outside of his control and unpredictable things that don’t fit into his plan. So, having them here…he gets irritated by the generosity. So…whatever. This is all building towards Christmas Eve. So, then the next day comes and they go shopping. This was when I didn’t live in a city with Walmart. This was before Walmart was good. So, the one place they go is Walmart, and…what’s the guy’s name? I already forgot. Eddie has…okay, we have a list of all the presents the kids want, Clark, so here you go. He buys all this dog food, 'cause also they have this dog that likes people’s legs and is a little mangy and kinda eats through everything. So, let’s see…so, yeah, so that happens. I’m trying to think what else. So, they go to the store, then they go to the mall. I think the mall scene is that also Clark’s a romantic 'cause he’s nostalgic. So, he wants to get this perfume for his wife as a beautiful gift, but then he also is a nostalgic, romantic fantasy person, so then he gets kind of caught up in an imaginary fantasy. I don't know if there was any other comedic scenes at the mall. I would think that there would have been some sort of physical comedy. But usually then Ellen kinda shows up, his wife, and says, what are you doing, Clark? He says, well, I was buying you a gift and this nice person just wanted to help me. So, that’s that sequence. Then they go sledding, I guess would be the next sequence, which is a quick scene but that was one of the funniest scenes for me. They all go sledding and then Clark has to do it, and he says he has this spray can with him. He says…they say, well, what are you gonna do, Clark? He sprays one of…this aluminum, circular sled, like one of those dish-style ones. He sprays it and he says, this is this industrial lubricant we’re using — I don't even know — for Frosted Flakes or something. He’s like, ten times slipperier than oil. They say, okay, Clark. Then he goes and he goes so fast on the sled that he goes down the hill, across the parking lot, goes on a jump, through a sign, and just a quick…that’s one of the things that just doesn’t stand up. The first few times you see it, it’s hilarious, but after a while you say…but I don't know, maybe this emotional…trying to see the richness and the emotions. So, then there’s that sequence, then I think that’s it. There’s probably one more…oh no, so then there’s the night before Christmas Eve, I think is the next one. So, this night, and Clark’s alone and he sees Ruby. Or, I think that’s her name. She says…Clark’s fantasizing about the swimming pool. He’s looking out his window and staring at his backyard, imagining a swimming pool there and imagining that’s gonna give him his vitality and this success and this family unity. Then Ruby says, Clark, what are you doing? I thought you were Santa Claus, Uncle Clark. He says no, and then she says, well, geez, I don't know if I believe in Santa 'cause last year we didn’t get presents, but that’s because we were moving. We see her softness and Clark says, don't worry, I believe in Santa and I believe in…Ruby, you’re our guest, and Santa’s gonna find you. I’ll make sure of it. I guess that helps us root for Clark again, and then I think the next day is Christmas Eve. So, we have the Christmas Eve build which kinda seems like Clark and his…Clark having run-ins with his in-laws and his parents. They say, don’t get too carried away tonight, Clark. I’m trying to think what else. Probably some build-up during the day, or maybe that’s when they went sledding. I want to say, though…I’m trying to think what else…like, if there was another transition, but I can’t think of one. But yeah, then we have the big lead-up to Christmas Eve and everybody getting ready, and Clark and everybody…Clark having these big expectations and then I guess the arrival of guests. If I think of a transition scene before that…but we also see that the dog is…or, oh, more trouble with the neighbors. Randy Newman emptying all the RV stuff right into the sewer and that having some toxicity, maybe something with the dog. I can’t remember. Definitely Julia Louis-Dreyfus slowly…I remember she looks out the window at Randy Newman and saying what a beast that dude is. When does…? I’m trying to think when they get fed up. Maybe in another few minutes. But then Christmas Eve arrives, so the guests are to arrive first. So, we already had everybody…Clark and everybody gets dressed up for Christmas Eve. So you have Clark, Ellen and the two kids, and then Ellen’s parents, Clark’s parents, Eddie and his wife, Carolyn, maybe? And their two kids, Ruby and Elvis. Then a dog, then an older aunt and an older uncle come together. I don't know if they’re in a relationship or…a really, really old aunt and then a fairly, fairly old uncle. So, maybe eighties and…seventies and eighties, I’d say. Maybe even nineties. There’s a lot of cheaper geriatric jokes, but I think at the time…the acting was pretty good. But so, she arrives and then the prep for dinner is going. Of course there’s comedy there, like the turkey doesn’t turn out right. The older aunt or whatever, grandmother, her…she made some gelatin, but she also topped it with cat food. She brings her cat as a present, so then they let the cat out. Then…what else happens next? The uncle, he’s kinda a jerk and he’s smoking and he just throws his cigars wherever he wants. Then there’s a build-up to dinner, and there’s these moose glasses that they’re drinking eggnog out of that are…seem like a thing. But I don't really remember them that much from the movie, just at some point things…so, the turkey goes bad, then at some point the dog trashes the kitchen, like gets into the garbage, so they say, I can’t believe the dog…then the cat, the grandmother’s cat or the aunt’s cat, gets too much into the tree and goes to the big farm where they keep all the pets. Then…what else happens next? Then they discover there’s a squirrel in the tree. That’s right at dinner, like right when they sit down at dinner. Then Clark makes a big speech and it kinda seems like the calm…things have gotten calm again. They say, okay, okay, everything’s calm. We’re gonna eat dinner now with…make the best of the bad situation. Then a squirrel comes out of the tree and creates total chaos. Somebody faints, it jumps on people, the dog runs through and…whatever, windows are breaking, things are flying, and they fly into the house next door. Julia Louis-Dreyfus says, I can’t. This is it. Either you go over there or I go over there, to her husband. He goes, well, I don't want to deal with it. So she goes, I’ll go over there 'cause I had enough and I can’t take it anymore. These neighbors are rude. So, she goes over there. Meanwhile they’re chasing the dog and the cat…or the dog and the squirrel, and at that point it becomes a bonding thing and kinda funny. I think one…I think Clark’s dad is someone famous, too. But they kinda try to sneak up on the squirrel and then they finally chase it out the front door right when Julia Louis-Dreyfus gets there. So, she’s had enough. Then she goes in and she says to her husband…he goes, how’d it go? She goes, I need a night off from this relationship. Then the house is…it seems like Christmas is ruined, right? It can’t get any worse. I think this is the moment…and then the doorbell rings and in the midst of the chaos…or maybe this is before the chaos, but Clark says, listen, I know things aren’t going great. I know I’m a buffoon, but this is a courier and the courier has my Christmas bonus. I’ve been waiting for it. I don't know where it is, but here it is. I have a big announcement, that I’m putting in a swimming pool and I’m gonna host you all this summer because I believe in the power of swimming pools to unite family bonding. He goes, go ahead, Rusty, or somebody, open it up…or Ellen. They say, okay, you’re subscribed to a year-long subscription to the Fruitcake of the Month Club. Then Clark goes…and he loses his temper and starts going off on a tangent. He says, geez, what kind of cheap move is that? I’d love to…and everybody’s mad, but Clark’s over the top. He says, yeah, well, I wish to see my boss here and just tell him my opinion of him for being so cheap. You see a light go off over Randy Newman’s head. Then they recover again, or maybe this was…it might be out of sequence, but…and everybody’s kind of like, okay, well, it wasn’t the greatest Christmas, but we have this one last tradition where we read The Night Before Christmas. Clark goes to his father. Are you gonna read it, dad? He goes, no, Clark; you are. He goes, it’s your house. It’s your holiday. Go for it. Everybody…he gets all into it and he’s got his hat on. It’s like this Christmas interlude or holiday interlude where everybody’s yin. He’s actually getting what he wants right here, almost. Despite things going well, there’s this yin moment of togetherness where he’s excited. Then while that’s playing out, we’re seeing a sequence where Randy Newman goes to go get Clark’s boss and say, hey, come on down to…Clark wants to talk to you. He says, well, I’d rather not go. Randy Newman says, well, let me talk you into it. Right at the height of Clark reading it…like, what wondering eye should appear but Uncle Eddie and my boss out on the lawn. The boss comes, and meanwhile the wife is at home and said, hey, this greaser or whatever came and wanted…we’re trying to eat dinner and he was a beast of a man and he took my husband to one of his employee’s houses, and that’s unethical. So, she calls the ethics team. So, the boss is there and the boss is played by, again, another character…actor whose name escapes me, who’s…excels in these kind of roles. He has the perfect voice for it. So, he plays this jerky boss and he says, what is the meaning of all this? Look at these plebs, despite their house being huge. Then they say, listen, man, we have a legit gripe. Why would you…? Then Ellen is actually the leader who says, my husband has a point. What kind of person…? Then Rusty and the grandfathers, they all…the grandmothers, they all get into it. They kinda shame the CEO or whatever for saying…you know, people rely on these bonuses. If you’re not gonna give them, tell them a long time ahead of time. Don’t leave them hanging. Or maybe give some bonuses, because that’s absurd. The boss says, I guess you’re right. What were you doing? Were you reading The Night Before Christmas? Clark says, yeah. Let me just finish up, or something. Then right then the ethics squad comes, like full force. They say, okay, you’re busted. I think at some point the boss writes a check, but maybe that wasn’t ‘til later. The wife of the CEO is there. She says, the ethic squad’s here to…so you’re not affiliating with these line-level employees. The boss says, I actually worked it out. She goes, well, what did they want, anyway? He goes, well, I canceled all the Christmas bonuses. Then his wife…and then all the ethics team, they say, well, what kind of person cancels Christmas bonuses that are planned for? They kinda shame him and they say, okay, we’re gonna leave. Then he writes the check, I think, and says, this one’s for your pool, man. Enjoy it down the road. Then I think…I don't know how the movie ends, to be honest with you, but at some point it ends after that. Yeah, I don't know how it…oh, they all go outside. I think what happens is the gas from the RV…is that the note that the movie ends on? I guess so, yeah. The gas from the RV and the sewer shoots the Santa up from the ground and it shoots across the sky, just like…it looks like a meteor, but Ruby’s there with Clark and she says, Santa’s on his way here to give me a gift that I’ve been deprived of. Then maybe there’s an…a unity song like at the end of Scrooge, but then everybody’s together and looking at that moment and sharing it, and the movie came to a close. Okay, let’s just…it came out in 1989. Huh, so, I guess I…I don't know if it was PG. I can’t believe I saw it. It was written by John Hughes, director…directed by Jeremiah Chechik. It was based on a short story from National Lampoon's Magazine, Christmas of ‘59, or Christmas ‘59. It stars Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Juliette Louis, and Johnny Galecki. Produced by John Hughes. Music is by Angelo Baldamenti…Badalamenti. The cinematography’s by Thomas E. Ackerman. No relation. Came out December 1st, 1989. 97 minutes. Its budget was $25 million. The box office was $71 million, but I’m sure it made a lot more than that. I guess it was a direct-to-TV sequel. I saw that when I was looking for…holiday movies aren’t really on the streaming services. I guess 'cause all the cable TV channels have them. I’m trying to think…bonus…yeah, cast…who else do we have? John Randolph is Clark Sr. Diane Ladd, E.G. Marshall, Doris Roberts. So, a lot of famous people are in this that I didn’t realize. Oh, Ruby-Sue…Rocky was the boy’s name. Catherine is Eddie’s wife, played by Miriam Flynn. Sam McMurry is Bill. Frank Shirley, Brian Doyle-Murray is the actor. Julia Louis-Dreyfus…Nicholas Guest is…was Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ husband, Todd. Let’s see, any other things? John Hughes had originally written the story for the 1980 issue of National Lampoon's Magazine, and the studio begged for another one. But he said it was a little more than a Chevy Chase vehicle. Shot in Summit County, Colorado, Silverthorne, Breckenridge in Frisco, and then on the Warner Studios facilities in Burbank. Oh, Lindsey Buckingham had done Holiday Road for the first movie. That was a classic. It was the only installment not to have that movie in it. Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil…and it was performed by Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers fame. It was also covered by High School Musical star, Monique Coleman, for a Disney Channel holiday album. Yeah, that’s about it. Let’s see what else. Number two at the box office. Oh, Back to the Future II came out the same weekend. Holy mackerel. Critical response; it got mixed to positive reviews, but many people have called it a Christmas classic. 64% on Rotten Tomatoes for film critics. A variety said a positive film. So, Roger Ebert gave the film two out of four stars. Curious in how close it comes to delivering sequences after sequences…seem to contain all the necessary material on the way toward a payoff, but somehow it doesn’t work. I guess it kinda worked for kids and hopefully it worked as a sleep podcast. Thanks for listening, and goodnight.
[END OF RECORDING]
(Transcription performed by LeahTranscribes)
Listen on your favorite app
