Connect with us!

You think you grew up watching claymation Christmas specials.
You didn’t.
In this episode of Original Geek, we take a deep dive into the Rankin & Bass Christmas specials—Rudolph, Frosty, Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town, The Year Without a Santa Claus—and break down the truth most people never learned.
We cover:
Why Rankin & Bass animation wasn’t claymation (it was Animagic)
How these specials were made in Japan on tiny budgets
Why every story is about misfits, redemption, and not being a jerk
The characters that secretly terrified us as kids
And why these half-hour specials still matter more than most modern holiday movies
If you grew up planning your night around network TV…
If the Miser Brothers still live rent-free in your head…
If your kids think this stuff is “old” and you’re ready to prove them wrong—
Welcome back to the basement.
Welcome to Original Geek—the podcast for anyone who rolled their first d20 on shag carpet, waited hours for a comic book JPEG to load on dial-up, and wore the label “geek” back when it got you mocked, not monetized.

Hosted by stand-up comic Steve Scarfo and Forever DM Jeff Shaw, we dive deep into what it meant to be a geek in the '70s and '80s—and how that underground culture became the mainstream multiverse we live in today.

🎙️ Subscribe for weekly episodes on Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, comic book chaos, geek court debates, and critical hits from your childhood basement.

👾 Follow us @OriginalGeekPodcast on socials and visit OriginalGeekPodcast.com for merch, extras, and to send us your own geeky tales.

If you ever hid a Monster Manual like it was porn, you’re not alone. You’re an Original Geek. Welcome home.