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Top Five Holiday Specials
12/23/2025
Top Five Holiday Specials
Artists, puppeteers, and pop-culture enthusiasts Artie Esposito, Sean Johnson, and Patrick Johnson pull up the roll-up door and invite you into the conversations they have while sitting across the workbench from each other. This is Pop Culture Shop Talk—where creativity, nostalgia, and fandom collide. In the pilot episode, Artie, Sean, and Patrick count down their Top Five Holiday Specials, celebrating classics like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Christmas Eve on Sesame Street, Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration, and John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together. It’s a fun, thoughtful, and in-depth conversation that may even introduce you to a few new holiday favorites to add to your yearly viewing tradition. The episode kicks off with the Pop Culture Moment, where the hosts share stories and adventures from their own journeys through pop culture. The show wraps up with Show & Tell, as Artie, Sean, and Patrick highlight some of their favorite holiday-themed collectibles. Pull up a chair, join the fun, and listen to the very first episode of Pop Culture Shop Talk! Artie Esposito Artie Esposito is an accomplished puppeteer with nearly 30 years of experience and over 100 performance credits across television, stage, and film. His work spans iconic projects including Disney’s The Jungle Book, The Tonight Show, and the Five Nights at Freddy’s feature film, where he performed the title role. In 2009, Artie was honored to understudy Kermit the Frog for The Muppets and has since performed the beloved character in numerous high-profile appearances. Beyond performing, Artie is an acclaimed Puppet Director, having worked with Disney Theatrical Productions and Walt Disney Pictures, and is currently collaborating with DreamWorks Animation to bring the Gabby’s Dollhouse franchise to the stage in both the U.S. and U.K. As a puppet builder, his credits include The Muppets, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, The Pee-wee Herman Show, and Cocomelon. He is also a skilled toy maker, having prototyped plush for brands like The Simpsons and Pokémon, and is the designer and co-creator of The Coffee Bean Bears plush line. https://x.com/ArtieEsposito Sean Johnson & Patrick Johnson Twin brothers Sean and Patrick Johnson are the co-owners of Swazzle Inc., a California-based puppet company specializing in custom puppet design and fabrication, rentals, live shows, and full production services. Swazzle also produces original puppet content for stage and screen. Their work spans film, television, new media, and live performance, with credits including Netflix’s Waffles + Mochi, Showtime’s Kidding, Comedy Central’s Crank Yankers, and The Little Mermaid Live! on ABC and The Pee-Wee Herman Show. Sean’s puppetry appears in Disney’s 2016 feature The Jungle Book and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, while Patrick is best known as the voice and principal puppeteer of Lenny, the long-running Lending Tree pitchman. Together, the Johnsons have performed puppets in the films The Muppets and The Muppets Most Wanted, and ABC’s primetime series The Muppets. The Johnson brothers also worked at Jim Henson’s Creature Shop building puppets for Netflix series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
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