Dino Stamatopoulos has an idea for a Christmas episode of Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, his latest stop-motion animation to hit Adult Swim.

“Elizabeth gets into Christmas and it's a hassle for [Frankenstein] so he goes back in time to try and stop the Virgin Mary from getting pregnant and he actually finds out where Christianity really began,” he explained to a group of journalists at his Comic-Con roundtable session last Saturday. “That will be the surprise for you kids.”

The idea of a Christmas episode might be expected considering that Stamatopoulos notes that he grew up on Rankin/Bass specials. But, Stamatopoulos is the creator of the now-defunct Middle America satire Moral Orel and responsible for what is the saddest episode of an American animation program we've seen, “The Best Christmas Ever.” In that episode, Orel, a sweet but naive young boy, is overwhelmed by the thought that his brother might be the second coming and his parents' rocky relationship. We won't spoil the ending, but it's the sort of show that will hang over you for days as a constant reminder of how truly miserable life can be.

We couldn't help but wonder if a potential Frankenhole seasonal episode would be depressing as well.

“I hope so, but Adult Swim won't let me do depressing anymore,” Stamatopoulos answered.

“That's what I'm fascinated by, these puppets are kind of clean slates,” he said. “They have emotions, they evoke emotions from us.”

“The more basic design of something, the more you have to inject your own personality onto it,” added actor Scott Adsit, who plays Professor Polidori on Frankenhole. “You feel a little more for something that is less specific.”

“I would like to do a show that's just a glob,” said Stamatopoulos, “and the glob makes you cry. “

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