Podcast Summary: "How Did This Get Made?"

Episode: My Secret Santa

Release Date: December 26, 2025
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas

Episode Overview

In this festive edition of “How Did This Get Made?”, Paul, June, and Jason break down the 2025 Netflix holiday rom-com My Secret Santa. They bring their trademark energy, banter, and critical deconstruction to a movie that attempts to combine feel-good Christmas tropes, mistaken identity shenanigans, and a dash of Mrs. Doubtfire farce—with mixed results. The trio unpacks the plot, logic holes, themes about the societal role of Santa, and the curious absence of both character arcs and authentic holiday magic, all the while riffing on standout (and bizarre) sequences.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Premise & Immediate Issues

• [02:34] Paul summarizes the film: Taylor disguises herself as Santa at a resort to fund her daughter’s ski lessons, working with the charming manager Matthew, finding holiday cheer and a chance at love.
• [03:37] Jason questions the premise:

  "My fundamental issue with this movie: that sentence. 'Disguises herself as Santa.' If you are working as a Santa, you are disguising yourself as Santa no matter what."

• June and Jason jointly note that the movie creates a strange universe where Santa is presumed “real,” and any deviation (especially a woman as Santa) seems radical, bringing up themes of gender and the “Santa industrial complex.”

2. Logic Holes and Missed Stakes

• [05:29] Paul draws parallels to Mrs. Doubtfire but notes the film misses the core stakes—Taylor’s disguises lack a real sense of being discovered or risk.
• [06:16] Jason:

  "The movie is interrogating our misogyny, the patriarchy, in hiring… Yes, in hiring men as Santa performers in hotels."

• All agree the film needed a scene explicitly showing Taylor denied the Santa job because she’s a woman, which instead is missing.

3. Taylor/Hugh Mann/Santa—Identity Confusion

• [09:41] Jason notes Taylor is presented as smart (a cookie factory overseer), but her scam is convoluted and half-baked.
• [11:16] Paul:

  “Her job is a baking overseer... so what? Like we don't even know what her... and it's what she's good at."

• [12:39] Paul highlights the “Mom as Santa” concept, a genuinely new idea.

  "What if Santa was a mom? That's what she brings to Santa, which is a revolutionary idea in the world of Santa."

• [13:13] Jason:

  "Please know that the labor of Santa is the magic of Christmas... done by women."

4. Class, Motherhood, and Holiday Realities

• [14:20] The panel scoffs at the “luxury” sport plot—Taylor seeks the Santa job for a half-off ski lesson discount for her daughter, which is a rich-person problem:
  • [16:08] Jason:

    "It was hard for me to emotionally connect to, like, she can't go to snowboarding school."

  • [16:35] The hosts note the bullying subplot and the portrayal of “rich” families being only marginally wealthier (like the hotel manager’s daughter).

5. The Film’s Tone & Missed Comedy

• [17:08] Jason pitches: Why not have Tia and Tamara Mowry actually play both Taylor and Santa? Missed opportunity!
• They debate the “Halloween mask brothers” with Hollywood-level FX equipment, noting how little the movie does with the potential for comedy and mistaken identity.

6. Romance & Chemistry (or Lack Thereof)

• [28:08] June:

  "They had an opportunity to have a Gilmore Girls esque vibe between [Taylor and Zoe], but they don't."

• [29:27] Jason ribbing on Matthew’s supposed “bad boy/free spirit” status while looking strictly like a start-up CEO:

  “He looks like he's running a startup. He does there on vacation.”

• [33:56] Jason feels the movie never clarifies what any character really wants.
• [45:29] Jason:

  "I also couldn't tell why she was that into him because he didn't seem to have much of a personality… but then I went back and remember the locker room scene? She saw something."

• They joke that the only plausible attraction comes from Taylor (disguised as Santa) seeing Matthew naked in the locker room ([45:17]).

7. Queerness & Subtext

• [65:13] June and Jason dig into Matthew’s emotional attachment to “Hugh Mann”—and the bisexual undercurrents in Matthew’s feelings for Santa, as also reflected in a robust second opinion (see Notable Quotes).

8. Absence of Holiday Magic & Message

• [52:13] Jason:

  "To me, this movie had nothing to do with Christmas… the stories had nothing to do with remembering the reason for the season."

• [53:34] June:

  "The process has not... made it seem as though they both are more comfortable because they have found each other... They are clinging to each other as the answer to their lost and aimless lives."

• The hosts agree the film is a generic rom-com with a thin Christmas coating.

9. Bizarre and Memorable Moments

• [36:06] The strange locker room scene: June remarks on the contrast between the film’s sexual conservatism elsewhere and Taylor-in-disguise casually seeing Matthew naked.
• [38:15] Locker room tales and “hole in the wall” stories segue into 80s movie culture, with the team laughing about Porky’s era childhood.
• [49:13] Jason:

  "She hides the heart attack and dresses up as him."

• [51:27] The crew lampoons how Taylor’s “Santa” instantly and magically cures a child’s stutter (the one magical event in a largely mundane film).

10. Second Opinions Segment

• [71:03] They read hilarious and thoughtful audience reviews, including one that unpacks bisexual subtext with references to set design and even unicorn chapstick ([72:47]).
• [74:35] A striking, personal audience review about queer awakening and attraction to both leads.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the Santa Concept:
  • Jason [03:37]: “If you are working as a Santa, you are disguising yourself as Santa no matter what.”
  • June [12:46]: "What if Santa was a mom? Now that's... By the way, that's the move."
• On Character Stakes:
  • Jason [05:55]: “Why does Taylor not show up as herself to the Santa audition...?”
  • Paul [06:14]: “The movie is interrogating our misogyny, the patriarchy, in hiring men as Santa performers.”
• On Class and Believability:
  • Jason [16:08]: “I imagine the pressure of growing up as a regular person in a snowtown, as you put It. Paul, is difficult.”
• On the film’s lack of an arc:
  • June [47:23]: “They're more comfortable settling rather than figuring out... who they are as individuals and how to be happy as themselves and then... share that self with someone else.”
• On Romance/Queerness:
  • June [64:55]: "Matthew was connecting with another man in a way that you could tell... his sexuality was being challenged."
  • Jason [65:13]: “This is a red flag, ladies. Guy’s only friend is Santa? You’re fucked.”
  • [74:47] Letterboxd user "Karen95" (read by Paul): “This movie was bisexual as for everywhere you look at it… Matthew looking at who he thought was a man, AKA Santa Claus, and catching feelings… Also, obviously Taylor was bisexual. She literally had a unicorn chapstick and unicorns represent bisexuality.”
• On Christmas:
  • Jason [52:32]: "It is literally to give up your dreams... and to settle with whatever life delta up until this point."
• On the Mask Bros’ Hobby:
  • June [18:12]: “They're making Mission Impossible level masks… for their Halloween costumes.”

Highlighted Timestamps

• [02:34] – Opening: Explaining the film’s plot and initial reactions
• [05:55] – Deconstructing the disguise premise and missed scene opportunities
• [12:46] – "What if Santa was a mom?" discussion
• [14:20] – Class tension, snowboarding subplot criticism
• [16:35] – Noting the hotel manager’s daughter as both “rich” and only marginally more privileged
• [17:08] – Tia & Tamara Mowry as an improvement suggestion
• [28:08] – Bemoaning the lack of a Gilmore Girls-style relationship
• [36:06] – Locker room absurdity and gender performance
• [52:13] – Christmas themes (or lack thereof)
• [60:09] – Comedy about the “look path” search engine
• [71:03] – Second Opinions: Audience reviews, including the Letterboxd bisexuality debate

Final Thoughts

• Paul: Enjoyed the film’s relatively painless watchability despite its many flaws—"went down easy" ([69:01]).
• Jason: Felt let down by the untapped potential, lack of comedic stakes and shallow characters.
• June: Found it better than other recent fare, but more frustrating for hinting at, but never achieving, a sharper, funnier or more heartfelt film.

Additional Fun (and Weirdness)

• [50:53] – Taylor-as-Santa “curing” a child’s stutter, audience laughter at the film’s oblivious, borderline magical realism moment.
• [63:02] – Paul reveals he once met a monkey in a Santa suit at a party.
• [68:01] – Common Sense Media gives the film a 10+ rating ("beyond good for families").
• [78:21] – Written by Ron Oliver, known for Prom Night II and now a Christmas movie master.

Bottom Line: 'My Secret Santa' is a sincere but hollow holiday rom-com that never quite decides if it wants to lampoon its genre or take its own story seriously. The podcast hosts find much to amuse and critique, ultimately wishing for a bolder, wackier, and more self-aware film. A recommended listen for fans of the show and anyone curious about the limits of the Netflix Christmas formula.