Watch What Crappens: My Secret Santa Part Two With Reality Gays

Episode #3135 | December 26, 2025
Hosts: Ben Mandelker & Ronnie Karam | Guests: Reality Gays (Matt Rogers, Jake Cunningham, Michelle Buteau)

Episode Overview

This lively and irreverent crossover between "Watch What Crappens" and the "Reality Gays" podcast gleefully dissects a cheesy holiday movie about a struggling mom, her ambitious daughter, and a questionable snowboard academy. The hosts lampoon the movie’s plot holes, poke fun at the plausibility of its characters, and riff on the tropes and oddities unique to the world of Hallmark-style Christmas movies—with an eye (and a side eye) on representation, generational humor, and holiday nostalgia.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Fake Snowboard Academy and Plot Absurdity

• The hosts immediately call out the ridiculous premise: a daughter (Zoe) gets into a prestigious, totally made-up “Sun Peak Snowboard Academy,” which the panel suspects doesn’t exist in real life.
• [05:08] Matt Rogers: "Say that again… can’t wait till you learn to do brain surgery over there."
• They dig into the financial insanity of the tuition (throwing out numbers up to $80K) and the logistics around a “snowboarding academy.”
• [09:05] Jake Cunningham: "She said, 'oh, that’s a lot of zeros.'... Like, can this woman not determine the relationship between a numeral and cost?"
• The group wonders why the daughter, well aware of their dire finances, feels entitled to this luxury—and how the plot keeps skirting the actual tuition number.

Parenting, Blame & Why The Daughter is Actually The Villain

• The hosts dub the daughter “one of the villains in this movie,” suggesting her guilt-tripping is off-the-charts.
• [07:51] Michelle Buteau: “She just wants to make her mother feel terrible…"
• They compare her to the infamous Natalie Grace adoption story—entertainingly, if not flatteringly.
• The ongoing lack of parenting boundaries is a running theme; they wish the mom would simply say “no” instead of martyring herself.
• [15:11] Bryan Safi: “Taylor, like, put your foot down a little bit… the child’s already disappointed.”

The Hilarious Inconsistency in Set and Circumstance

• The crew notes the glaring contrast between the family’s “poverty” and their surprisingly nice apartment.
• [18:14] Michelle Buteau: “Saying that this lady can downsize is crazy. You guys called this a flop house 10 minutes ago!”
• The bleak attempts at hustle—selling records, considering OnlyFans—are satirized as dated or toothless ways to address financial desperation.

Nostalgia Tangents: Vinyl Records & Cultural References

• Discussion erupts about the return of vinyl—how it’s now more valuable and desirable, poking at the plot's out-of-touch attitude.
• [20:13] Jake Cunningham: "Joe cool. And he’s like, ‘Whoa, Screaming Kittens!’ Which is, by the way, funny that… her own daughter is so disinterested in her mother…”
• Guest Matt Rogers brings up Barbara Streisand’s epic audiobook and goes on a brief, highly entertaining tangent.

The “Bad Boy” Love Interest Who Isn’t

• The movie’s supposed “bad boy” is too polished for the description. The panel jokes about how little “edge” he actually brings.
• [37:01] Michelle Buteau: “Yeah, I mean, the whole hot chocolate thing… you’re basically asking somebody to a farty party.”
• They wish he’d been a true disaster, so his redemption would have weight.
• [37:24] Bryan Safi: "When we first meet him, he is a disaster… and then we see him get his shit together because of her. When we meet him, he’s actually like Brooks Brothers and pretty on top of shit."
• Everyone ridicules the film’s saccharine use of hot chocolate as a stand-in for grown-up romantic tension.

The (Non-)Use of the Mom's Punk Rock Past

• The mom’s music past is fun on paper but never pays off (“wasted” is a recurring word).
• [32:23] Michelle Buteau: “...the subtext was blaming it on the kid. I don't think she ever took a moment of responsibility…Like, what kind of inspiration is this supposed to be exactly?”
• [32:07] Bryan Safi: “She is going to step back into her rock star roots… spoiler alert: That never happens.”
• They lament the missed opportunity for a punky, energizing Christmas performance; instead, the big number is blandly conventional.

Gay Representation: The “Horror Gays”

• The movie gets props for actually casting horror gays who look “real,” not like West Hollywood archetypes.
• [42:12] Matt Rogers: “I appreciate…horror gays look like these two guys. They don’t look like West Hollywood guys. This was representation.”
• The panel riffs on different “gay tribes” and agree this niche was accurately depicted.

Generational Humor, Dating & Cultural Gaps

• Panelists joke about being “dinks” (dual income, no kids), “sinks,” and the generational divide, especially around sarcasm and cultural references.
• [44:58] Michelle Buteau: “Gen Z is earnest. Gen Z is earnest… they actually don’t know how to say thank you.”
• This segment morphs into a discussion of Seinfeld, Soapdish, and 80s-90s nostalgia, plus modern dating woes.

The Hotel & Workplace Satire

• The hosts annihilate the movie’s depiction of hotel hierarchy and staff hiring, including the farcical way the Santa job gets filled (“only old white men need apply”).
• [54:33] Bryan Safi: "There are no jobs available unless you're an old white man who can play Santa Claus—or also probably just an old white man."
• They laugh at the overcomplicated Christmas event logistics and the oblivious, exposition-heavy dialogue of hotel management.

Italian Law Enforcement & The Vatican Ticket Tangent

• In a standout tangent, Michelle Buteau recounts getting actual traffic tickets from Vatican City, paralleling a subplot with the movie’s “bad boy.”
• [56:40] Michelle Buteau: "I got tickets for all sorts of shit going into a place I’m not supposed to go into. They’ve got cameras everywhere..."
• The panel finds this funnier and more plausible than the movie’s legal peril subplot.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• [07:51] Michelle Buteau: "She just wants to make her mother feel terrible."
• [09:05] Jake Cunningham: "Can this woman not determine the relationship between a numeral and cost?"
• [15:11] Bryan Safi: "There is nothing worse than a child with dreams."
• [18:14] Michelle Buteau: "Saying that this lady can downsize is crazy. You guys called this a flop house 10 minutes ago!"
• [32:23] Michelle Buteau: "Like, what kind of inspiration is this supposed to be exactly?"
• [37:24] Bryan Safi: "I wish… when we first meet him, he is a disaster… Then we see him get his shit together because of her."
• [42:12] Matt Rogers: "Horror gays look like these two guys. They don't look like West Hollywood guys."
• [44:58] Michelle Buteau: "Gen Z is earnest. They actually don't know how to say thank you."
• [54:33] Bryan Safi: "There are no jobs available unless you're an old white man who can play Santa Claus—or also probably just an old white man."
• [56:40] Michelle Buteau: "They are tickets from Vatican City. And let me tell you, when I say I did nothing wrong in this goddamn city…"

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 03:20 — Movie recap begins
• 05:03-10:30 — Snowboarding Academy, financial plot holes, and “villain” daughter
• 15:05 — Parenting, boundary setting, and child guilt trips
• 18:14 — Flop house vs. middle-class apartment debate
• 20:13-22:34 — Vinyl nostalgia & Streisand audiobook tangent
• 27:00 — “Bad boy” love interest analysis and credibility issues
• 32:07 — The mother's punk past and missed storytelling opportunities
• 41:38-42:43 — Introducing the “horror gays” and authenticity in gay representation
• 44:58 — Generational difference in humor, dating woes, and nostalgia
• 54:33 — The farce of Santa hiring and hotel logic
• 56:40 — Michelle’s Vatican City ticket story

Tone and Delivery

The episode’s tone is snarky, affectionate, and highly referential—leaning into decades of pop culture, with a particular affection for trashy holiday movies, Gen X nostalgia, and Real Housewives-style evisceration. The chemistry between Ben, Ronnie, and the Reality Gays results in a fast-paced, joke-heavy takedown punctuated by personal anecdotes and pop culture detours.

Summary for Listeners

If you haven’t seen the movie—or even if you have—this episode gleefully rips apart every logic gap with warmth and wit. You’ll get deep dives into holiday TV tropes, generational shifts in pop culture and queerness, and the real economics of Santa gigs and snowboarding schools. Most importantly, this spirited collaboration is a sharp reminder that “we mock because we love”—and sometimes, the best Christmas tradition of all is making fun of the movie with your most sarcastic friends.