Gorging on Holiday Movies And Loving It!

I’m a sucker for a feel-good holiday story. You know those Christmas-themed romance anthologies? Love ‘em. Christmas mysteries? Sign me up. Special holiday episodes of my favorite shows? Yes! It should come as no surprise that my DVR works overtime this month, catching all the new cheeseball movies. I mean, where else can you see familiar faces, in between jobs, falling in love under the mistletoe? Let’s see what’s we can unwrap this year:

• The National Tree: The Hallmark Channel kicks off their Countdown to Christmas with this new original film starring Andrew McCarthy as a father whose son, Evan Williams, wins the search for a new national Christmas tree. Accompanied by Kari Matchett, playing the contest’s marketing rep, father and son drive across the country to take the tree to Washington, D.C. During the trip father-son bonding, a little romance, and realization of the true meaning of Christmas ensue. Premieres November 28 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.
• Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle: Novelist Macomber’s holiday story comes to life with Doris Roberts as “Mrs. Miracle”, the woman who comes to serve as housekeeper for widower/single father James van der Beek. Erin Karpluk is the woman Mrs. Miracle sees as perfect for him. A Christmas pageant in need of assistance, and convenient musical and acting experience equal holiday romance. Premieres December 5 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.
• Twelve Men of Christmas: The adorable Kristin Chenoweth stars as a New York publicist who loses her job and her fiance in one night. Moving to Montana to escape the mess in New York, she takes on a fundraising job that turns into a steamy calendar of men in (and out) of uniform. Mr. December in particular gets temperatures rising. Premieres December 6 at 9/8c on Lifetime.
• Christmas in Canaan: Billy Ray Cyrus stars in this heartwarmer set in the 1960s about two little boys – one black, one white – who bond over love of a puppy. Premieres December 12 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.
• Three Gifts: Dean Cain and Jean-Louisa Kelly star as a childless couple who invite three orphans to spend Christmas with them and end up falling in love with the boys. Premieres December 19 at 8/7c on The Hallmark Channel.

These are the new holiday movies coming our way; which old favorites are airing that I should add to my list?

The Anatomy of Drop Dead Diva

On October 7, I attended a Paley Center for Media event saluting the Lifetime hit series Drop Dead Diva with several friends. It was a wonderful night as all of us in the audience had the opportunity to not only see the cast and crew in person, but also to watch the season finale called “Grayson’s Anatomy” prior to its official airing this past Sunday night.

The evening started out with the airing of the finale to a packed house with the cast – Brooke Elliott (Jane Bingham), Jackson Hurst (Grayson Kent), Margaret Cho (Teri Lee), Ben Feldman (guardian angel Fred), Josh Stamberg (J. Parker) and April Bowlby (Stacy) – as well as creator and executive producer Josh Berman and producer Alex Taub – in the audience.

After enjoying a wonderfully entertaining finale with a surprising twist ending, Mr. Berman announced that Ben Feldman would be joining the show as a series regular next season and that new episodes will be back on the air in June. He also shared that the inspiration for the show was his 4 foot 11 inch grandmother. As Mr. Berman spoke of his grandmother, you could easily see the love and admiration he has for her.

The question and answer session brought forth talk of all the fantastic guest stars the series has had, including Sharon Lawrence, Liza Minnelli, Delta Burke, Nia Vardalos, Ray Wise, Rosie O’Donnell, Gina Torres, Gregory Harrison, Chris Carmack, Teri Polo, Kathy Najimy, Elliott Gould and Jorga Fox among many others. Mr. Berman hopes to get Cher on the show at some point and explained that Rosie O’Donnell and Paula Abdul have both expressed interest in returning.

Moderator Janice Littlejohn, entertainment journalist from the LA Times, asked about finding the right actress for the lead role of Jane Bingham. Mr. Berman stated all of the United States was searched for just the right woman with a number of really great actresses coming in for auditions, but until Brooke Elliott, Broadway star of The Pirate Queen and Taboo, walked in the door. Once that happened, Mr. Berman said he could only “hear Brooke’s voice as Jane.”

Ms. Elliott then explained she feels the show has a wonderful message attached to it and in order to balance between her character’s two “personalities” (if you will), takes a lot of focus. Ms. Cho stated she fell in love with Josh and the show and believes it is deeper than just a romantic comedy series. She also joked that, “our personalities are (the) people (we play).” And, since Mr. Feldman plays guardian angel Fred, he was asked what he would like to be able to do as an angel. He kidded that he would love to fly.

Audience questions included asking about the colorful wardrobe, which Mr. Berman explained is discussed in their “tone meetings” with the wardrobe supervisor who is always changing it up each episode, allowing it to evolve. There are no signature looks as of yet as designers were initially hesitant to provide clothing to the show, but that could potentially change now that the show is confirmed to return for a second season.

Much joking was made about their filming in Georgia, especially their “like of peaches” – since they film in Peachtree (although some of the cast has severe pollen allergies) and that they have “the biggest, most luxurious, most functional sets” more so than anything they could have in Los Angeles. Also, Mr. Berman stated he thought there were too many dream sequences, but the goal was to balance out how many there were within each episode.

Mr. Berman stated they hope to see more of Deb (outside of being inside Jane’s body) in future episodes; that their cases are collected from as many places as they can, including legal consultants and scouring the paper for thematic stories; getting 13 episodes for season two and Jane probably getting more songs in the future to which Ms. Elliott got excited about being able to sing in season two.

In the DVD for season 1, a longer pilot will be featured including seeing original Jane going to heaven. The reason for guardian angel Fred being “missing in action” twice during the first season was not fully addressed except with Mr. Feldman saying it was “boring silly things” and Mr. Berman stating “a lot of people wanted to work with (him)” that caused those absences to take place. One of the closing comments was “memories remain with the soul” when Mr. Berman and Ms. Elliott were asked about how much of Jane is left over and how much of Deb returned from heaven.

If you would like to revisit the show or watch it for the first time, please visit http://www.mylifetime.com/on-tv/shows/drop-dead-diva.