Broadway Trivia, Legal Ethics, & The "Mr. Hankey" Christmas Special

Dec 19, 2025

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Welcome back to Legal Late Night! In this episode, host Jared Correia dives into the dark side of holiday cinema, explores the intersection of law and theater, and gets schooled on Broadway musicals.

First, Jared presents his list of Weird Christmas Movie Characters, from Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo (South Park) and the Heat Miser (The Year Without a Santa Claus) to the deeply disturbing Flasher Gremlin and the "penis cancer in human form" insult from The Holdovers.

Then, we are joined by the father-daughter duo Keith Shannon (Paralegal Instructor at Central Piedmont Community College) and Kara Shannon (NYC Actor). They discuss their own podcast, Fourth Row Center, and the unique challenges of their respective industries. Keith explains why paralegals might actually have more job security than lawyers in the age of AI, while Kara reveals why the acting community is fiercely anti-AI.

Finally, stick around for the Counter Program where the Shannons take over! They grill Jared with Broadway Trivia, forcing him to guess which musicals are real (is Bat Boy: The Musical a thing?) and even tricking him into singing a show tune.

Connect with Keith Shannon on LinkedIn.
Learn more about Kara Shannon on Backstage.
And subscribe to their podcast here.

Take a very brief tour of Jared's favorite show tunes in this week's playlist!
Subscribe on YouTube.

Thanks to those supporting this episode:

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(00:00) - Intro & Monologue: Weird Christmas Characters
(01:07) - The Underrated Thad Stone (The Family Stone)
(03:04) - Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo (South Park)
(04:17) - The Darkest Christmas Special (Black Mirror: White Christmas)
(06:42) - The Flasher Gremlin (Gremlins)
(08:31) - Klaus: The Best Animated Christmas Movie?
(10:17) - Queer Icons: Heat Miser & Snow Miser
(12:11) - In Defense of Home Alone 3
(13:04) - The Holdovers & Paul Giamatti's Best Insult
(16:38) - Introducing Guests: Keith & Kara Shannon
(18:14) - The Fourth Row Center Podcast
(21:22) - Keith's Vaudeville Past (Jim Varney & Welcome Back Kotter)
(28:37) - From Lawyer to Paralegal Instructor
(32:17) - Why Paralegals Are Embracing AI (And Lawyers Aren't)
(35:35) - Why Actors Hate AI: The "AI Actor" Controversy
(37:55) - How Lawyers Should Work with Paralegals (Don't Be a Dick)
(44:03) - Legal Ethics Lesson: Into the Woods & Moral Relativity
(49:26) - Counter Program: The Shannons Take Over
(50:42) - Jared Sings! (A Musical Inside His Brain)
(53:07) - Broadway Trivia: What Qualifies as a "Broadway" Theater?
(55:16) - The Actors' Equity Association
(56:11) - The Book of Mormon vs. Titanique
(59:09) - Patti LuPone's Famous Audience Meltdown
(01:03:22) - Pop Stars Writing Musicals (Cyndi Lauper vs. Dolly Parton)
(01:04:33) - Real or Fake Musical Plots? (Bat Boy vs. UFOs)
(01:07:28) - Jared Finally Sings "There's No Business Like Show Business"
(01:08:38) - Conclusion & Outro

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