'Tis The Season For Love

The vomit inducing title should give you an idea of what to expect with this one. Chuck's Sarah Lancaster, now a Christmas Cheddar alumni after Fir Crazy  (and at one point walks through a Christmas Tree lot past a sign saying "Douglas Fir," which I don't think is a coincidence), plays a struggling New York City actress spending the holidays back in her little hometown. Hallmark seems to be running out of seasonal ideas, as this is a simply a vapid love story wrapped up in a Winter package. Although there's a Santa who may be real, a Christmas Pageant (very standard for this kind of stuff) and a fantasy element about dreaming about life after an alternate path, they're minor elements to the same old "choose between your old life of ambition and a new life of love" story. The ultimate outcome is obvious from the get go, and Hallmark is littered with lead characters who give up on their dreams, the message being there's nothing more important than love (blorch), ignoring that these small town characters are never the ones who chose to make the sacrifice. Is Hallmark following the conservative republican conceit that rural and small town life is the real America and cities are for phonies? I don't expect originality, but keep your politics out of it. Lancaster is a delight but it's not enough. Nausea factor high. Christmas factor low. MSG Middle finger.

Fir Crazy

Chuck's sister from "Chuck," Sarah Lancaster, loses her cushy marketing job and has to sell her family's Christmas Trees while the shop owner next door tries to shut her down. Like always, some town in Canada is the stand in for New York City, but at least they had the good sense to bumper scenes with b-rolls of Manhattan, although I could have done without the best friend's shameful attempt at a Brooklyn accent, which I can't tell if it's supposed to remind us we're in NYC or that the leading lady has a jewish friend. Who's Line Is It Anyway?'s Colin Mochrie makes a surprisingly effect straight foil as the Scrooge-like antagonist and there's a few solid laughs. Of course there's a romantic subplot but who the hell cares. Sarah Lancaster and Christmas trees, you can't go wrong. An MSG fav.