Santa Lore Explained By Movies/TV

Originally Santa Claus was just a cartoon used to sell Coca Cola products. But as he became more popular, his lore had to be fleshed out. First we had "Twas the Night Before Christmas" which gave us a lot, including his belly being like a bowl full of jelly. Then we as "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" which added things like the "he sees you when you're sleeping, knows when your awake". However, there are still lot of questions about how Santa operates. And over the years, movies have gone a long way to fill some of those gaps. 

Here ae five examples of what I mean.

"How Does Santa Deliver to the Whole World in One Night", Santa Claus:The Movie

This movie is basically an "origin" movie so it makes sense that it would explain some things. The one part I like is when Burgess Meredith's character, "Ancient Elf" I guess, explains that the time continuum breaks down when Santa is in his sleigh and "time moves with you". Meaning that Santa is moving super fast from our point of view. This is something that stuck, it gets mentioned in The Santa Clause and even the much more recent "The Santa Chronicles" used this.

My Favorite Macy's Thanksgiving Parade Balloons

 When the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1927, called a Christmas parade then, one of the features was a big Felix the Cat balloon. In the old days, the balloons would be released into the air at the end of the parade. Since the 80's the balloons have taken the form we know today, featuring all kinds of popular characters. Awhile back I mentioned a few reasons I love the parade and of course there was no way I could cover every balloon. And while I still can't mention them all, here are the ten best that I love to see every year.

And we'll overlook the disaster these balloons have caused over the years, let's just look back at the good stuff.

Underdog

What is it about this one that makes it so iconic? It seems like when any show wants to mention the balloon's it's either Woody or this one. Even though Underdog is hardly a massively popular characters. And yet shows from Friends to Will & Grace bring it up.

Five Actors Who Appeared in Two Shows at the Same Time

One common TV trend is when an actor or actress appears in two different shows that are on at the exact same time. Even more amazing when the two shows are on different networks. There are a ton of examples of this happening including Heather Locklear appearing on TJ Hooker and Dynasty to Armin Shmmerman doing double duty on Buffy and DS9 to more modern examples like Alison Brie appearing om Community and Mad Men at the same time. It can't be easy to be bouncing from studio to studio, not to mention character to character, but it's been done. 

Here are five examples of what I mean. And to be clear these aren't actors doing taking a break from their show to do a one time character as a guest star. These actors had multiple appearances on both shows as regulars.

Gail Edwards (Blossom/Full House)

I once read an article where Edwards talked about how crazy it was bouncing between studios. And in this case, networks. Saying she probably had the other shows script with her. On Blossom she played Sharon, who was Six's mother. And of course at the same time she was playing Vicky, Danny's long term love interest. 

Underrated Trek:Cost of Living (TNG)

 Welcome back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by most. TNG had a rough patch in season 5 where the episode were less than stellar. There was one that a lot point out is the worse. Then why do I kinda like it? This is...

It isn't easy for supporting characters to take over an episode and for the episode to actually work. This one tries...and almost works. 

My Tribute-Alex Trebek on Sitcoms

 I've commented before that Jeopardy was never my favorite game show. For reasons I have explained elsewhere. But if there was one thing I loved on that show, it was its host. Alex Trebek was coolness personified. He wasn't the first host of Jeopardy and he hosted other game shows, my favorite being Classic Concentration, but he will always be known as THE host of Jeopardy.

He passed away today and as a tribute I wanted to go over five time's Alex Trebek appeared on sitcoms. Usually as himself, hosting Jeopardy. There are more than these, including an appearance on Blossom that even IMDB has forgotten, but here are a few examples.

Mama's Family

I don't recall the setup, but long story short Mama ends up on Jeopardy. And since she has no real class...hijinks ensue.

Five Other Champions of Metropolis

Superman is well known for being the champion of Metropolis. It's his city and the residents love him as much as he loves them. He has fought many foes in that city and it's impossible to not connect the two.

However, Superman can't be everywhere and do everything. What about the smaller problems like street gangs? Or organized crime that are smart enough to work around Superman? This is why Metropolis has had other defenders over the years. Sometimes they work alone and other times they work with Superman, and while none are as well known or loved as The Man of Steel it's all part of the same never ending battle. Here are five:

Black Lightning

Even Metropolis has to have a slum section, and as you can expect a city as big as this one would have a large section of poverty. It's called Suicide Slum and is where Black Lightning first made his home when he first appeared. He was a teacher who donned the mask to help out his students. It makes sense, Superman can handle the big threats but who can handle the small one's that happen in parts of the city? I have no idea what his modern origin is these days.