radio show prep: tv christmas specials for this week, gift buying for your paranoid friends, your kids want an iPad, and is flossing a waste of time?

ShowStarters for Monday 11.23.12

cuttin' cake

• Peter Facinelli from the Twilight flicks is 39
• Tina Turner is 73!(Simply the Best)
• Rich Little, who did all of those great impressions of Ronald Regan and Ronald Reagan and... well, he's 74

Today is...

Cyber Monday!: ("Welcome to the Internet, my friend. How may I help you?") This is the day to pretend you're working while you actually Christmas shop online. The term "Cyber Monday" first appeared in a Shop.org press release entitled: "Cyber Monday' Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Online Shopping Days of the Year" (source)

primetime monday

abc: Dancing With the Stars: All Stars (LIVE), 2 new episodes of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (the Wilson Family)
cbs: How I Met Your Mother is new followed by a repeat of The Big Bang Theory. 2 Broke Girls and Mike and Molly are new followed by a new Hawaii Five-O
nbc: The Voice is live followed by a new Revolution
fox: Bones and The Mob Doctor are both new
cw: 90210 and Gossip Girl are new

Holiday TV Specials This Week!

Thank goodness we have holiday specials on TV to take away from the stress of shopping... what's your favorite? Here's what's coming up this week...

Monday (11/26)

• Christmas Every Day (midnight ABC Family)

Tuesday (11/27)

• nothing

Wednesday (11/28)

• Christmas in Rockefeller Center (8pm, NBC)
• Saturday Night Live - Christmas (9pm, NBC)
• Three Days (Kristin Davis) (midnight, ABC Family)

Thursday (11/29)

• Mickey's Christmas Carol (6pm, ABC Family)
• The Christmas List (midnight, ABC Family)

Friday (11/30)

• Santa Baby (Jenny McCarthy, 4pm, ABC Family)

Saturday (12/1)

• Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (7am, ABC Family)
• Richie Rich's Christmas Wish (8:30am, ABC Family)
• A Dennis the Menace Christmas (10:30am, ABC Family)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1994, 12:30pm, ABC Family)
• Jack Frost (1998, 6pm, ABC Family)
• It's a Wonderful Life (8pm, NBC)
• ELF (8pm ABC Family)
• Snowglobe (midnight, ABC Family)

Sunday (12/2)

• Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas (7pm, ABC Family)
• Miracle on 34th Street (1994 8:30am, ABC Family)
• Hoops and Yoyo Ruiin Christmas (10:30am Hallmark)
• I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (11am ABC Family)
• The Search for Santa Paws (1pm, ABC Family)
• Jack Frost (1998, 3pm, ABC Family)
• Elf (5pm ABC Family)
• The Holiday (5:15pm TBS)
• Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas (7pm ABC Family)

pop quiz: movie monday

15 years ago this was the hottest movie just after Thanksgiving... two hints:

Hint #1 From the movie soundtrack: Goo a little dance

Hint #2: From the trailer

Answer: Flubber! The remake starring Robin Williams. The original, called "The Absent Minded Professor," appeared in 1961.

joke of the day

A New Yorker was forced to take a day off from work to appear for a minor traffic summons. He grew increasingly restless as he waited hour after endless hour for his case to be heard.

When his name was called late in the afternoon, he stood before the judge, only to hear that court would be adjourned for the rest of the afternoon and he would have to return the next day.

"That's ridiculous!!!" he screamed to the judge.

His honor, equally irked by a tedious day  roared out loud: "Twenty dollars contempt of court! Is THAT ridiculous?"

Then, noticing the man checking his wallet, the judge relented: "That's all right. You don't have to pay now."

The young man replied, "I know. But I'm just seeing if I have enough for two more words."

Surviving the Holidays

Interesting nuggets from newspapers, magazines, and the web to help you survive, and possibly enjoy, the holiday season. Check back every day for fresh finds...

Holiday gift ideas for the truly paranoid... We all have one on our Christmas list -- the uncle or cousin that have three months worth of food and water stored away in their bomb shelter just waiting for the day the world implodes. What do you get these guys? Jezebel.com has some suggestions:

Pepper Spray Phone Case: It's a cell phone case that holds an iPhone AND a can of pepper spray. They never saw it comin'! (link)

Survival Wisdom and Know-How: A book that teaches them how to survive under adverse conditions when they have absolutely no prior training. (link)

American Red Cross Axis Self-Powered Safety Hub: It's a radio, USB power source, flashlight and emergency beacon all in one handy unit. It's self-powered, too... just crank it! (link)

Homesafe Hardback Book Safe: It looks like a dictionary, but it's hallow and has a lock. Great to stash emergency cash and the 'ol passport in case they need to leave the country ASAP! (link)

Facebook/Phones: Who is the most paranoid person in your family, and what have you given them in the past?


Gift ideas for the unemployed... Does your jobless friend need a pick me up? Here are a few ideas from Lindy West...

• Disposable Flasks... to sneak the cheap stuff into any bar or party (link)
• Literally anything from SkyMall... "SkyMall is made from 100% pure comedy gold." (link)
• A good bra: Take them to Nordstrum for a good old fashion bra fitting. This idea may need to be tweaked for a guy.
• Every Harry Potter movie ever. There's nothing like magical escapism to pass the time. ()
• A tank of gas.

Sitting down for this? Your kids want an iPad... A Nielsen survey discovered 48% of kids age 6 to 12 will ask Santa for an iPad this year. Will Santa deliver? This is the third year that an iPad tops the list. Here's the wishlist... and man are kids getting expensive!

1. iPad ($500)
2. Nintendo Wii U ($400)
3. iPod Touch ($199)
4. iPad Mini ($329)
5. iPhone

Have fun, Santa!


Teaching your kids to be thankful... It is so easy for your kids (translation: MY KIDS) to get so wrapped up in the toy catalogs that it's easy to miss the true blessing of the holiday. YourTango.com has a great list of 7 ways to teach your kids to be grateful... Here are a few:

1. Model gratitude for your children: They can easily see when you're thankful for the things in your life and whether you share that thanks with the people who bring things into your life.
2. Introduce gratitude as a game: Play a game (in the car or at the dinner table) where each person shares something they are grateful for. Name things that start with different letters of the alphabet. There are so many ways you can play the grateful game...
3. Focus on why we are grateful. You are grateful for the sun shining today (because) ________. Reasons provide a deeper acknowledgement.
4. Don't just be grateful for the good things: If you get in a car accident and no one was hurt -- that's a pretty good reason to be grateful. You can be grateful when it's a rainy day because the farmers love it. Get it?

Waste of time?

Dentists hound us about it and scientists say it prevents heart disease, but an expert now says they've got it all wrong -- flossing our teeth may be a waste of time! According to Dr. Ellie Phillips, flossing does nothing to reduce your risk of tooth decay. She has a study from 2006 to back her up that found no difference in the number of cavities suffered by adults who flossed and those who didn't.

But an independent dental hygienist says flossing does help reduce cavities and gum disease, and the reason studies don't show it is because too few people do it properly. "Properly" means to hook the floss like a 'C' around the tooth. Got it?