‘The Holiday Ster’: Hallmark Debuts Gay Rom-Com this Sunday – Deadle

Contents:

• JONATHAN BENT WANTED TO CREATE A GAY UNCLE BUCK FOR THE HOLIDAY STER
• MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI
• HALLMARK'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE IS HERE — AND GEE KRISSA IS OVERJOYED TO BE A PART OF
• TV’S GAY CHRISTMAS MOVI ARE AS BENIGN, CHARMG AND CLICHE AS WE ALWAYS HOPED THEY’D BE
• HALLMARK PREMIER S FIRST LGBTQ HOLIDAY MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD UPLE
• FALLY, HALLMARK’S HOLIDAY FARE MAK A GAY UPLE ‘PART OF THE FAY’
• HAPPY HOLIGAYS: EVERY 2021 LGBTQ+ HOLIDAY MOVIE

JONATHAN BENT WANTED TO CREATE A GAY UNCLE BUCK FOR THE HOLIDAY STER

For Lifetime, which last year had “The Christmas Setup, ” the channel’s first-ever movie starrg gay leads, the move was a big one: the premiere of “Unr the Christmas Tree, ” s first movie featurg lbians as the uple at the center of a holiday romance. Meanwhile, Hallmark ma a smaller step by settg “The Christmas Hoe 2: Deck Those Halls, ” a sequel to 2020’s “The Christmas Hoe, ” which featured Jonathan Bent and Brad Harr as a gay uple lookg to adopt. The dispary between the extents to which the Christmas-obssed ble channels are focg on LGBTQ holiday ntent 2021 is nsistent wh their rpective cisns ma on the matter last year, when Lifetime st a gay uple as leads “The Christmas Setup” and Hallmark featured s first homosexual uple as part of an ensemble “The Christmas Hoe.

“Even though we’ve got ‘Unr the Christmas Tree, ’ which is a real highlight, we’ve got several others the mix that are clive, whether they’re gay upl or jt characters, we’ve been tryg to make sure that people are reprented across the board, ” Lifetime head of programmg Amy Wter told TheWrap durg an Oct.

When “The Christmas Setup, ” Lifetime’s first-ever movie starrg gay leads, played by married--real-life uple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee, buted last year, Wter told TheWrap she had been lookg for a project starrg LGBTQ leads for some time, but was very agast somethg “really sacchare. “The fact that big Hallmark — the greetg-rd divisn — overturned Bill Abbott’s cisn on the Zola ad shows that the pany is ser about diversy their mographics, and we’re seeg lots of baby steps the 2020 and 2021 movi wh gay and lbian B-stori.

MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI

(Durg the Abbott era, spottg a queer uple was like tryg to fd a gay character a 1940s movie that somehow slipped past the Productn Co. In the movie, which buts Sunday, Bent plays Sam, a gay guy whose personal life suffers at the st of his profsnal life — work over marriage. '" Add to the formula the actor's love of the '80s classic Uncle Buck starrg John Candy, pl his sire to see a movie that was "really thentic to what 's like beg a gay man 2022.

HALLMARK'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE IS HERE — AND GEE KRISSA IS OVERJOYED TO BE A PART OF

" And that turned to me and my love for Uncle Buck, the movie wh John Candy that I grew up on, and I kd of put those ias together and I said, "What if Uncle Buck was gay? Sam is beg really thentic to what 's like beg a gay man 2022 and what that experience is. As gay men, we're navigatg what our liv look like wh kids, or gettg married, or whout kids, and 's not black or whe — there's so many different avenu to startg a fay and havg a chosen fay.

Somethg I found so funny is how Sam realiz that Jason is gay — when Jason ments on Sam's sho. Like, "Oh wow, he is gay.

TV’S GAY CHRISTMAS MOVI ARE AS BENIGN, CHARMG AND CLICHE AS WE ALWAYS HOPED THEY’D BE

The tradn ntu 2021, wh films starrg RuPl, Michael Urie, Jonathan Ben and more — pl appearanc by gay favor like Jennifer your holiday season bge-watchg ssns acrdgly wh the upg movi and specials. 2, NetflixTony-wng director Michael Mayer (“Sprg Awakeng”) helms Netflix’s first gay holiday film, which se perpetually sgle Peter (Michael Urie) beggg his bt iend, Nick (Philemon Chambers), to e home wh him and pretend to be his boyiend to put an end to his fay’s nstant meddlg. But the se is put to the tt when his mother (another gay fave, Kathy Najimy) sets him up wh her hunky traer (“Brothers and Sisters” actor Le Macfarlane) to “Sgle All the Way” for stg three out actors as gay characters — and for stg Jennifer Coolidge, perd.

3, NetflixFormer nttants return to the tents for a pair of holiday-themed episos: In “The Great Christmas Bakg Show, ” out ic Tom Allen subs for Noel Fieldg to -host wh gay prenter Matt Lus as season ne’s Jon Jenks and Kim-Joy Hewlett and season 11’s Herme and Rowan Williams whip up wondro Yuleti treats.

“The showstopper challenge, they’ve got to make a ftive feast illn ke, ” judge Pl Hollywood teased, acrdg to “The Great New Year’s Bakg Show, ” 's season five wner Nancy Birtwhistle up agast season ne champn Rahul Mandal and two nttants om season 19: Gay nerd Henry Bird and wchy Helena Garcia.

HALLMARK PREMIER S FIRST LGBTQ HOLIDAY MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD UPLE

Baneatta’s gay son, Kenny (Anthony Chatmon II), brgs his boyiend, Logan (Derek Chadwick), home for the holidays but is given an icy receptn.

FALLY, HALLMARK’S HOLIDAY FARE MAK A GAY UPLE ‘PART OF THE FAY’

18, Hallmark ChannelLast year, after sparkg outrage by pullg a jewelry ad featurg lbian bris, Hallmark ma amends by featurg the first gay uple one of s many, many holiday movi: "The Christmas Hoe" sred more than 13 ln viewgs over the 2020 holiday season, so a sequel was a no-braer. In the origal, Bill and Phylis Mchell (Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence) ved their adult sons home for the holidays, then drop a bomb that they’re sellg the fay time around, gay son Brandon (Jonathan Ben) and his hband, Jake (Brad Harr), pete wh Brandon’s straight brother, Mike (Robert Buckley), to see who n create the most ftively rated Christmas hoe. 19, LifetimeLast year, Lifetime buted s first gaycentric holiday flick, "The Christmas Setup, " and this season, 's brgg a lbian romance to the small this holiday tale om "The Christmas Setup" screenwrer Michael J.

HAPPY HOLIGAYS: EVERY 2021 LGBTQ+ HOLIDAY MOVIE

The new, LGBTQ+ holiday films and seri are gog to make the yuleti hella gay this holiday season! Drama and secrets get exposed this brand new, queer-clive fay saga that featur a gay uple played by Broadway actor/photographer Anthony Chatmon II and out mol Derek Chadwick!