Christmas is less than two weeks away, but the average TV viewer will bump into at least one holiday special a day, whether it be Rudolph, Scrooge, George Bailey or the Grinch.
The odds get even better thanks to cable TV offering literally hundreds of Christmas movies, mainly thanks to the Hallmark Channel and Lifetime. Their holiday libraries are so big they usually start just after Halloween, and wrap up on New Year's Eve. Through all those movies, it's likely that several members of the Whedonverse may appear.
In fact, there's several movies where we see our favorite actors...
Dear Santa: Lifetime premiered this movie three years ago. Amy Acker plays a party girl named Crystal, whose parents demand she straighter herself out by Christmas or they'll cut off her credit cards. She gets an idea from a letter to Santa from a seven year old girl, who wants her widowed dad named Derek to get a new wife. He also runs a soup kitchen. Crystal volunteers there, but also has to battle Derek's jealous girlfriend. Acker is really cute in this movie, quite different from her roles on Angel and Person of Interest.
Holiday Wishes: Also a Lifetime movie, I thought this had one holiday trope too many, but it's still OK. Amber Benson plays woman looks for her missing sister, and gets support from her boyfriend who may not be who he seems (hint: think angel). Then there's a rich girl and an orphan who switches bodies thanks to a magical ornament. With those three typical holiday plots, it's a bit crowded, but the helpful boyfriend does play a part is resolving things before his true identity is revealed.
Call Me Mrs. Miracle: This was a sequel to a Hallmark Channel movie with Doris Roberts as the angelic helper who gets a job at a department store although no one remembers hiring here. Jewel Staite plays an assistant to a fashion designer, and she'd like to get her nephew a popular toy. Mrs. M comes up with a better idea that helps her and her store, and gives off a Jennifer Aniston vibe. Despite beng well-known to Firefly and Stargate Atlantis fans, it would be great to see her in a rom-com or two. I reviewed it in my other blog.
A Golden Christmas: This is from Ion Television. Nicholas Brendon is in this story about a lawyer who's upset her family home has been bought by Brendon's character. The story makes her look like a Scrooge when she tries to get the stop the sale, but a dog plays a big part in changing her attitude. It also turns out they knew each other as kids, but she doesn't remember.
Help for the Holidays: Another cute holiday movie from Hallmark, with Summer Glau as an elf who helps out at a Christmas store. It seems the owners put too much time in their store and not enough on their kids. She also has a purse that is a smaller version than the one Mary Poppins has. She also starts falling for a guy, which threatens her mission. Glau is a great elf, but I said in my review the story had a ton of missed opportunities.
A Christmas Wish: The original Buffy, Kristy Swanson, is a woman with three kids whose husband leaves her and leaves her penniless. She gets a job waitressing at a diner that may also close down. However, thanks to finding a root beer recipe, thinks will be looking up for them. Swanson is in a new holiday movie on Ion called Merry X-mas, where she plays a woman who's about to divorce her two-timing husband thanks to some misleading photos. He can't get her to hear his side, but he hopes a blizzard could help.
Road To Christmas: we can't leave out our favorite SHIELD agent, Clark Gregg, from the list. A Lifetime offering from 2006, it's about a fashion photographer who's on her way to a dream wedding, but is held up by bad weather. Gregg is an artist turned teacher with a teenage daughter. He takes in the photographer, and if you suspect she falls for the teacher, then you know your Christmas plots. Seems inevitable, since the photographer is played by Gregg's wife, Jennifer Grey
Snow Bride: Tom Lenk plays a small role in this Hallmark movie>He's a reporter for a website hoping to get some dirt on a political family about to announce an engagement. A female rival tries to infiltrate the family, and does thanks to an accident. Thing is, this big-shot political family is more down-to-earth than the reporter thought. It doesn't stop the editor of the website from planning to use some info Lenk uncovers, whether it's true or not. Lenk's also sporting a mustache in this movie.
If you click the DVD covers, you will find out when they will air through Christmas. If not, you'll get a link to where you can buy the DVD.
