Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas Roundtable

The much-anticipated Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas holiday special debuted on The Roku Channel on Wednesday. Let’s first find out what this holiday special was about.

Here is a synopsis for this special holiday movie:

It’s the Clarke family’s first holiday together after their beloved patriarch Mitch has passed away. Zoey attempts to recreate the perfect Mitch Christmas but walking a mile in her father’s shoes is complicated.

Join Nice Girls Roz, Rueben, and Karen as they share their thoughts on this special holiday movie. [Spoiler Alert!]

Rueben:

When the news was announced that NBC was cancelling Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist after only two seasons, I was upset to say the least. This was one of the few shows that was truly a stand-out to me; and I know it helped a lot of viewers through those harrowing early days of the COVID lockdowns. So when The Roku Channel saved the show – at least for a “two-hour” holiday-themed movie – I was ecstatic! Needless to say, I couldn’t wait for December 1 to roll around.

And, thankfully, I wasn’t disappointed at all by this holiday special. We had the Clarke family back. Zoey and Max were a full-fledged couple (again). Mo was singing his heart out. The SPRQ Point team was all there. Simon was in fine shape and even Deb was around to add a little zing. And, we even got to see JAG star David James Elliott as the local Christmas tree lot owner (Lumber) Jack.

The opening “monologue” with Zoey explaining to a mall Santa Claus how she came to have her powers was an absolute hoot. It was a great way to explain to those who weren’t familiar with the show (and a great refresher for folks who have seen the show) how Zoey came to hear people’s innermost thoughts in the form of song and dance routines that Zoey came to call “hearing their heartsongs.” And, what was even more surprising was that Max, in the season two finale, somehow got Zoey’s power, allowing him to hear Zoey’s heartsong too.

But, of course, this being the first holiday without Zoey’s beloved dad Mitch (played by the incomparable Peter Gallagher), it was hard for Zoey to get into the season especially when her mom, brother and sister-in-law all shared they wanted to do other things other than celebrate the holiday together. Of course, Zoey put on a brave face, but Max saw her heartsong of “Bad Blood,” which said otherwise.

It was great to see Zoey ask her family to let her take over the Mitch Christmas traditions (her cooking in the kitchen was pretty priceless!) and asking them to stay at home for the holiday; although I did enjoy the juxtaposition between Max and Zoey when he was trying to convince her via “Just the Two of Us” that they should head out on their own for the holidays while she clearly tried to convince him that “We Need(ed) a Little Christmas.” While all the traditions didn’t necessarily work out, they certainly had a memorable holiday together.

Seeing Zoey’s black and white dream of “White Christmas” with Mitch was pretty special; and having them pose at the end of that scene just like the figurines inside the special snowglobe was touching. It only seemed fitting that since that snowglobe got broken, and Simon gave her a replacement (without knowing that was what he was doing) helped propel their trying new traditions.

I also have to say that as great as it was to hear Mo belt out songs at the kid’s choir performance, Perry was so very correct in telling Mo that what happened wasn’t right. That program was for the kids, and while Mo may have meant to dispel knowledge to those kids, it wasn’t a Mo-in-the-spotlight moment. The “Most Wonderful Time of the Year” heartsong performance in the mall – now that was perfect!

I was very surprised to see David James Elliott in the episode, as I was a BIG fan of JAG back in the day. It was kinda cute watching his character and Maggie flirt; but it was clear that while she may have sung “Call Me Maybe” in her heartsong, she’s just not ready to move on just yet.

Most of all, I loved that Max and Zoey sang “Time After Time” to each other while Max’s power seemed to dissipate and then disappear all together. I think that was actually a good idea that he got to see Zoey’s power for himself; he got to learn what it’s like for Zoey and he’ll have a better appreciation for what she deals with every…single…day.

Let’s just hope that the holiday special performs well enough that we can get more episodes.

RELATED: Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

Karen:

I heartily concur with every single thing that Rueben said above, but here are a few thoughts from me:

I’m so happy that we got a Christmas “episode” courtesy of Roku. It’s free as well, so there’s an added bonus.

It’s the first really Christmasy thing I’ve watched this year, and I was so happy. It was up to the standards of a network-based production and I just adored it.

The only thing I had issue with is Mo’s takeover of the children’s performance. I’m not sure Mo would normally be that selfish, and it wrang a little untrue to me. Still, the performances (from everyone) were fantastic.

Seeing Mitch back with another song for Zoey… sob city. He has undeniable chemistry as Zoey’s dad, and they play so perfectly against each other. He’s so talented and I can’t imagine the show without him. So to have him back posthumously is incredibly satisfying.

The Max getting powers plot was sewed up very well. I liked the explanation for each of them getting the heartsong powers, so summing it up – just in case this is the last Zoey’s we get – was great.

Overall, I was not only overjoyed to get this movie, I was even happier to find that it was perfect in every way.

Roz:

I’m at the point in my year where I was glad to have something festive and still reminding me of the good old days of “Zoey’s”.

This all felt like the show that I’m missing so much, with a Christmas flare.

Zoey still trying to process Mitch’s loss rings really true to me; she’s trying so hard for everything to be the same, and it’s really not.

Max’s work with heartsongs was rather sad to see, though. He meant well each time, but it makes sense that his work with the songs is not as refined as Zoey’s. When he lost that power, though, it was heartbreaking. He loved sharing those moments with Zoey.

As we all know, NBC pulled the plug on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist after only two seasons; but (thankfully) The Roku Channel stepped up to give the show some closure with this holiday special.

If this special performs well enough, there is a possibility that The Roku Channel just might keep the show alive with new episodes so if you haven’t watched Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas, get over there and watch it! And if you’ve seen it already, make sure to watch it again; it’s well worth the additional viewing(s).