The Radioactive Man Christmas Special is a fictional television special in the Simpsons universe. The special takes place years after the end of the campy Radioactive Man series, which takes place in the same continuity.[1]
Inspiration[]
The Radioactive Man Christmas Special clearly spoofs similar television specials from the 1970s. As with Legends of the Superheroes, the lead actors from the earlier series—in this case, Dirk Richter and Buddy Hodges—reprise their roles, even though the latter has visibly aged. The Radioactive Man special has a laugh track and a decidedly cheesy sense of humor, like its source material.
As with the Star Wars Holiday Special, the Radioactive Man Christmas Special has amassed a reputation for its low quality and obscurity. Comic Book Guy mentions a rumor that Morty Mann's estate incinerated every known copy of the special, a reference to a similar but apocryphal statement famously attributed to George Lucas.[2]
The special has a slapdash production quality, with visible boom mics and a plenitude of continuity errors.
Cast[]
The network that carried the initial television series created this special some years later. The series's two leads, Dirk Richter and Buddy Hodges, reprised their roles as Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy, and the rest of the Superior Squad plays a supporting role. The producers could not produce the rights to Captain Squid, however, and thus, they replaced his character with Major Mollusk.
The special also contained cameos from Joe Namath as himself, Betty White as Bug Mom, and Rainier Wolfcastle as a henchman of Dr. Crab. The special credited Wolfcastle as "Rainier Strong," a reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who went by "Arnold Strong" in Hercules in New York.
Story[]
The special opens during the Superior Squad's annual Holiday Extravaganza. Despite that the party does not allow sidekicks, Fallout Boy sneaks in, where he expresses concern that Santa Claus has not returned his letters. Joe Namath makes a walk-on appearance at this point.
Disguised as a photographer, Dr. Crab steals the squad's holiday cheer. He then reveals his plan to kidnap the concept of Christmas and ransom it for a fortune. He kidnaps the squad as well as Namath, taking them to his underground lair alongside Bug Mom and Santa Claus. Undaunted by Crab's machines, Fallout Boy breaks free of his bonds defeats Dr. Crab and destroys his machine, freeing the entire Squad. The cast then breaks the fourth wall to wish the viewers a Merry Christmas.
Notes[]
- ↑ Simpsons Winter Wingding #9
- ↑ https://www.cbr.com/star-wars-holiday-special-lucas-sledgehammer/