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“Big City Greens” Holiday Musical Episode

By Melanie Gable

Disney Channel invited Erin to attend the “Big City Greens” holiday episode sneak peek, and she asked me to attend in her place for the purposes of this post. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Disney Channel kicked off the holidays on Nov. 18th with a sneak peek screening of “The Big City Greens Holiday Musical Episode” at their headquarters in Burbank! A select group of local bloggers were invited to bring their families to view the episode and meet with the creators of the series, brothers Chris and Shane Houghton.

“Big City Greens,” which just premiered its second season this month, follows the misadventures of rowdy—but well-meaning—10-year-old Cricket Green, who moves from the country to the big city with his older sister Tilly, father Bill, and Gramma Alice, who are wildly at odds with their urban surroundings.

The series is inspired by the Houghton brothers’ childhood experiences in the rural town of St. Johns, Michigan, and real-life family members and townsfolk even influenced some of the characters. Cricket Green is voiced by Chris Houghton himself, with Shane occasionally stepping in to voice additional characters.

“The Big City Greens Holiday Musical Episode” takes place on Christmas Eve, when Tilly warns Cricket that he probably won’t make it onto Santa’s Nice List due to his troublemaking over the past year. Cricket then sets out to do whatever it takes to get himself on the Nice List before the end of the day, while Gramma and the kids’ mother, Nancy, try to come up with a last-minute gift for Bill. Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”) returns as Nancy Green, while Christopher Lloyd (“Back to the Future”) guest stars as Santa Claus.

After the screening of the hilarious episode, which included references to classic holiday specials, the friendly Houghton brothers met with the families in attendance to talk about the creation of the show and give a drawing demonstration, which party guests were invited to participate in by creating their own storyboards. Chris and Shane also answered questions about the show, posed for pictures with fans, encouraged little artists, and signed autographs. Chris even talked a bit in his Cricket voice, which the kids loved.

Party guests also went home with “Big City Greens” t-shirts, notebooks, stickers, and black-and-white glossy pictures of Cricket Green signed by Chris and Shane. Fans of the show can check out Amazon.com/DisneyChannel for an exclusive t-shirt design by the Houghton Brothers, plus other merchandise.