Nolan Parker by Nolan Parker The days of truly bizarre, esoteric, sometimes raunchy public-access television aren’t over necessarily, but finding the good stuff is much harder now that the homogenization of Netflix and Prime are a lmost complete.  Introducing The Big Box Set, an online series harnessing the energy of both public-access television and the classic variety show to giddy effect. Developed by Bay Area transplants Elyse Schrock and Richard Alex Olsen, each episode of The Big Box Set features a band playing live (usually from Portland), incredible hand-built sets, animation and plot by the creators, and a theme. Shorts, sketches, skits, music videos, and more pop up in the variety show style format—you never know what you’re going to get. Puppets and cameos from the Portland music community are the easter egg highlights you’ll miss if you blink.  With the remerging interest in public-access television style content and programming—A24’s I Saw the TV Glow and a screening of Alice Coltrane’s Eternity’s Pillar at a Hollywood Theatre album release show earlier this year being two recent examples—The Big Box Set is a potent reminder of the artistic cosmos floating around the basements and garages of Portland and beyond.  Turning their entire NE living room and dining room into the fully functioning Playland Studio, Schrock and Olsen build new sets for each of the episodes themselves. “Space,” “the deep,” “the old west,” “pizzeria,” “suburbia,” “medieval,” and more have all been themes on The Big Box Set. Themes are, and don't you dare argue this point, the unsung heroes of having a good time. More often than not, when leaving a themed party or concert, someone inevitably, without fail, will say “That’s the best party I’ve been to in a minute!” And it’s themes we should be thanking.  After releasing their post-punk opus Zig Zag Lady Illusion II, the Portland/Tacoma/Seattle band Casual Hex pulled up for a “prehistoric” Big Box Set set. Bory—featuring Sonia Weber of Alien Boy on drums—came in to play the “museum” themed set. And Conspire were invited to play The Big Box Set's Halloween episode last year, with Emi Pop doing us the spooky honor this year. Related: Read the Mercury's review of Casual Hex's Zig Zag Lady Illusion II album.  On the new, very yuletide episode of The Bog Box Set, we find Santa, Mrs. Claus, and a muppet crunching numbers and in need of some cash… quick! Luckily, Portland’s Dean The Dog was on hand to shred—bassist Sonny Thomas dressed as the Lamb of God—giving the Claus’ time to make a plan. When one of the most famous toymakers of all time, Mr. Miserman (cameo by Asher Weinbaum of Triple Lutz) says he’s going to put his toy factory’s septic tank in Santa’s workshop when the Claus’ go bankrupt. Mrs. Claus, played by Schrock, claps back with a “Don’t move in too quickly, because we just invented the hottest toy of the season!”  With the playfulness of the variety show format, we’re torn from the North Pole drama, and thrown head first into a music video for Seattle psych-rockers Acapulco Lips. “Slowly Disappearing”—a single pulled from Now, the band’s LSD-soaked take on brat pop-punk—is the frosting on a gingerbread cookie. Christmas-y? Perhaps. Spirited? Absolutely.  There’s something innately DIY about the gentle whiplashing to and fro that keeps the variety show energy going. The through-line Santa skit is the silliest thing, keeping the viewer firmly on the edge of their sleigh seat. Buffering Acapulco Lips’ music video and another live set by Dean The Dog is a stop motion animation short featuring a snowman hurling snowballs and an appearance by Krampus in muppet form.  When Letterman Dan (cameo by Portland illustrator Daniel Iley) delivers a devastating telegram from Santa’s sales department, Mr. Miserman’s workshop takeover seems imminent. Just then, we’re spirited away to an animated short of Santa slaying a first person shooter game, only to be torn away from his screen by a persistent elf offering the Big Man a trip to his favorite restaurant, Ricky’s Rockin’ Crawdaddy Kitchen. The inside joke going unexplained for the rest of the episode—peak public-access television behavior.  Lulled into a false sense of security, Dean The Dog launches into their last set of the episode. “Garages,” an original ode to the garages, bus stops, and fish tanks of Portland melts into a psych cover of classic low-rider anthem “Tequila.” And in true public-access TV style, “Tequila,” like so many office Christmas parties, turns into holiday tunes. Guitarist Nathan Moore has no problem shredding through “Carol of the Bells.”  Dean The Dog and Lamb of God.  Santa’s workshop is ultimately saved by Krampus and a cigarette-smoking muppet blowing up Mr. Miserman’s corporate toy manufacturing facility that, in case you were wondering about its dubious affiliations, had a cyber truck parked outside.  This episode of The Big Box Set better become an underground Christmas cult classic. If you’re a band or artist keen to collaborate with Schrock and Olsen on an episode of The Big Box Set, reach out to them at the Playland Studio website. ...read more read less