? It’s 1973, and a musical cricket is about to save the Christmas spirit during New York City’s quietest power failure.  Join us for a one-cat open sleigh ride into Chuck Jones’s beautifully animated sequel to “The Cricket in Times Square.”  ****  ? Guest:  Michael DiGiovanni (Pop Culture Retrofit, Classic Film Jerks, @TheyCallMeDiGio).  ****  ? Topics & Tangents:  1. A very insightful Letterboxd review.  2. Name That Christmas Special’s screenshot gallery for this special.  3. Today’s TV Trope: Bully Bulldog.  4. Mel Blanc’s voice for the Alley Cat sounds his voice for Clarence the Cat in “Birds Anonymous.”  5. DiGio introduces me to Yorkshire pudding.  6. “Down by the Old Mill Stream.”  7. The similar “Joy to the World” segment from “Will Vinton’s Claymation Christmas Celebration.”  8. The final Classic Film Jerks movie, “Babes in Toyland (March of the Wooden Soldiers).”  ****  ? Retro Commercial Break:  Mel Blanc American Express Card Commercial, 1971.  ****  ? And Now, These Messages:  Rediscover the 80s podcasts, including The 80s Weekly and Memory Jogger.  ****  “A Very Merry Cricket” © 1973 Chuck Jones Enterprises.  Theme song by Bronwen’s Ghost.  Full show notes and social links at adventcalendar.house.