80's Dan: Christmas Eve in Springfield

12/18/2012

While the others spend their Christmas Eve wrapping gifts and baking cookies, Dan thinks he's found another lead on his long lost friend Smitty.

18 Comments

Pseudonymous

3/4/2014 07:39:15 am

BEST
EPISODE
EVER
I hope this series returns

LloydFan

5/8/2014 11:30:43 am

Canceled way too early.
Just like an authentic 80's sitcom.

Rhody

6/7/2014 05:26:03 am

mmmmmm I liked the other Christmas special more.

This one involved 80's dan wrongfully being arrested for pedophilia; wrongful arrest isn't funny, pedophilia is, so I don't know what I'm supposed to laugh at.

I loved the Rob and Travis cookie making plot, that was hilarious. Also, gotta love the smitty, I dare someone to try that and get away with it.

I love 80's Dan, I hope he brings it back sometime soon. He still references it at least; he has Travis Crabtree appear on Cinema Snob. I hope we get a 2014 Christmas special.

Rhody

6/7/2014 11:29:39 am

But I gotta admit, I laughed my ass off at "CHRISTMAS EVE!.....DAY!"

Chap

8/10/2014 02:32:41 pm

I have mixed feelings about the pairing of Rob and Travis in this episode.
On the one hand, it was great two have the two worst characters removed from most of the scenes with the other characters.
On the other hand, the scenes that did have Rob and Travis were twice as terrible.

That nitpick aside, this was definitely a fantastic episode. Dan is easily one of my favorite Internet characters.

Chap

8/10/2014 02:58:18 pm

Curses! I just noticed I accidentally jumped to December '12 when I meant to click on December '11. I better back-track a couple of months.

Oh, and I feel I should elaborate on my criticism on Rob and Travis..
Here's the deal, I think that the base concept of them is fine. I get it, Travis is supposed to be the stuck-up prick and Rob is supposed to be the anthropomorphic wise-ass. They're both in that regard kinda like Willy Tanner and ALF. The difference is that Willy, though strict and unyielding, still managed to be warm and likable. And ALF was obnoxious and oblivious to his own destructive nature, but managed to keep a handle on it and be sensitive and considerate.
Travis and Rob seriously need some likable traits.

Rhody

8/10/2014 11:46:19 pm

Well, here's my look at it.

Rob is likeable because he and Dave have super good chemistry. Whenever there's a scene where Rob and Dave are in the same room together I can't help but see both as a hilarious team while everyone else in the room plays the straight man.

Rob is also likable because he's kind of an underdog to Travis. He's a robot who's trying to get some Crabtree pussy (that sounds... very wrong now that I say it that way), but the fact is that he probably never will. After all, it's explained in an earlier episode that Rob's semen is mostly just battery acid, and I don't think Mrs Crabtree wants that in her.

Now onto Travis.

Travis in my eyes is supposed to be the villain of the series. There's never a moment in the show where I've felt like I was rooting for Travis. Travis is always making fun of Dan, protecting his wife from horny little robots, and acts like the straight man that shouldn't be there. Travis in his existence represents the stereotype of the ignorant and sarcastic nature of modern Americans.

Now I must admit, sometimes I feel that Travis's presence can get a bit annoying because Dave's wife also acts as a very similar character, she's just more charismatic and drops a lot of jokes, most having to do with being married to a man who's recently been transported into the future from the 1980's.

So yeah, I tend to look at Rob as Dave's sidekick. He's kind of like what would happen if the audience could understand Chewbacca from star wars. Chewbacca was kind of a wise cracking smartass in the original movies, but you couldn't understand what he was saying, you just understood the gist of it based on Han Solo's reactions. But that being said, Rob has a lot better chemistry with Dan than Chewbacca did with Solo. When Rob makes a smartass remark to Dave, Dave either ignores it with some 1980's joke, or makes an epic comeback remark while making that hilarious grin of his.

Chap

8/11/2014 10:34:04 am

I can totally see what you're saying, Rhody, and I understand, but here's my issue...

Rob and the Crabtrees are miserable, petty, bitter, apathetic and disgusting. There are no redeeming qualities within them that would have me care about them and get me invested in them. If they were to just drop out of the series entirely, I wouldn't care.
Even a well written antagonist can get us invested and interested.

If their purpose is shock effect, they still don't have to be written as obnoxious fodder in a slasher film.
'Married... With Children' is a great example of a sitcom with shock value. Looking at Al Bundy, we see a pessimistic, chauvinist, crude and rude man who insults his customers, neighbors and family. Why we care about him is because we can empathize. This is a man who had great potential in his youth, but had to marry his knocked up girlfriend and get a crappy job, and his life has gotten worst ever since.
Many of us can feel for Al because we have experienced big let downs.
And despite all his bitterness and seemingly apathetic attitude, we see that he still cares about people and many times makes personal sacrifices for his family's interest. This is a character we can get emotionally invested in, despite his flaws.

Also, there has to be repercussion for a character's vile attitude or act to alleviate the tension and allow us to laugh. You can't have a character be a constant asshole without them getting bitten in the ass. And no, watching Travis get shot doesn't work.

And I just want to add that battles of wits have much potential for good writing, clever dialogue and fantastic delivery. But when it turns into a contest of dark humor and toilet humor and who can out do the other, it can turn a light and funny scene into a very dark and tense scene. That's where humor dies.
When Rob and the Crabtrees bicker with each other, it's just short of being a scene from the Jerry Springer Show. ...Okay, maybe that last part was an exaggeration.

Anyway, I want to end this on a good note.
I still think the '80s Dan show has a great deal of potential. It's a fantastic concept.
The "fish out of water" theme is so '80s, and Dan and Dolly's chemistry is as fabulous as Balki and Larry's from 'Perfect Strangers'.
I sincerely would like to see more episodes.

Rhody

8/11/2014 11:13:13 am

I agree with you on that. Honestly I do think that Travis is pretty annoying, but i don't think Rob is that bad of a character.

Honestly, i get a kick out of Rob's dialogue. I'm sorry maybe it's just me, I think it's just Jake's voice that makes me laugh so much.

I mean seriously there hasn't been a single thing on this website that has involved Jake that I haven't laughed at... except the "Free Birds" midnight screening... that was... yikes.

River Acheron

11/28/2014 03:10:41 am

Hey Brad, can you tell me what song that is in your opening? Shazam doesn't know, and I can't find it anywhere. lol. Totally wanna put it on my ipod.

LloydFan

11/28/2014 02:04:33 pm

It's the theme song to "Hawaiian Heat"

SlickRob

5/11/2015 04:13:38 pm

Love the "CHRISTMAS EVE... DAY!" callback. That was fantastic. I hope that some day soon we will get more 80's Dan.

Zac

1/17/2016 12:44:10 pm

This show was/is fucking incredible.

Gift for him link

11/3/2016 05:31:42 pm

Chap chap...Totally agree with you

MaryYeager link

6/29/2017 11:51:42 am

I've never seen Friends. Can you tell me what is so special about the movie series that didn't let you have a rest from your job, gut, even on the Christmas Eve?

MaryYeager

6/29/2017 11:56:45 am

Sorry for misprint: "gut" must be "guy" ( I mean: .....didn't let you have a rest from your job, guy, even on the Christmas Eve? )

80's Zac

12/11/2017 11:54:44 am

Maybe someday, somehow, we will get some sort of a reincarnaion of this. One can hope.

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9/18/2024 03:20:12 am

Velki live registration, Agent list, Register as an agent. 9 WICKETS. thanks

80's Dan: Christmas Eve in Springfield

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