This item does not appear on the IMDB for Ms. Lacey Chabert under "actor", but under "self" so I'd initially missed it. But it popped up on Hallmark as an option, and I wasn't going to not watch it.
So, what is it?
It's a bizarre artifact of where Hallmark was in 2019, I guess. And the watchword for the whole show is "awkward". There clearly was a lack of rehearsal time, and a spirit of "we're pros, we'll wing it" that doesn't play particularly well. No one here is Bob Hope and keeping this on the rails.
The show is *not* exactly a concert, but kinda, sorta framed like one of those old-school Christmas specials where a celebrity pretends they're in their house. Lacey Chabert is throwing a party where other Hallmark stars are her guests, but she's also acknowledging the camera (and sometimes awkwardly looking at it).
One-by-one, a series of Hallmark stars come in, and then they each sing a Christmas standard in what I assume is not actually Chabert's livingroom and kitchen. But it's not a set - I'm pretty sure that's a real house. No set would be this poorly constructed for television.
What's absolute gold is, it's a chance for Hallmark stars who would love to also sing for a living to ham it up and show off their talents in a barely contained format. The set is just a living room with a piano shoved into a corner, and an increasing line of Hallmark actors, as each ding-dongs the doorbell and Lacey lets them in as they sort out spacing, blocking and trying to not make this look like a disaster they seem to know it is. Then they wind up sitting too closely together on the furniture while whomever is singing stands at the end of the couch, facing the camera. It's designed so everyone is always on camera, crammed into the end of a shoe-box shaped room.
It's so weird. I have absolutely no idea why they set it up this way. It's also not clear that these people actually know each other. There's no real reason they would. They clearly didn't really rehearse and trusted they all know the songs as the penultimate song, which appears recorded at the time, is a trainwreck.
The cast is:
- Lacey Chabert
- Jen Lilley
- Nikki Deloach
- Paul Greene
- Jessica Lowndes
- Jack Wagner
- Larissa Wohl
- Happy the Dog?
- Peter Dyer on piano
Back when this came out I guess Hallmark had a sort of talk show called Home and Family, and it seems Larissa Wohl was on it? Because she's not an actor. She has lots of "self" credits on IMDB appearing on shows about dogs. Because she has no acting credits, for a minute I thought maybe the dog trainer just assumed she was on screen for a holiday show, so she dressed up and they were like "yeah, you look terrific. Join the show." But, no. She's a TV personality type.
Happy the Dog and his three minutes of screen time gets a credit but the kids choir which briefly appears does not.
2019 is also just before Candace Cameron Bure got mad they let movies have gay people in them and was so furious she ran off and started her own network, Great American Family, and took a few Hallmark stars with her. It may be that this special is the last time two or three of these people worked for Hallmark before defecting to the GAF camp. Because only like 2.5 of them are still among the favored actors Hallmark is shoving at fans in 2025.
I also don't think any of the other actors like Jessica Lowndes. It's just a vibe.
By the way, clearly Chabert doesn't trust her own voice enough to sing solo. And yet, she's the host of the sing-along show. She is also clearly a bit unsure of herself as she keeps dropping the Chabert chuckle and straightening her dress. You're doing great, Lacey! No worries.
There's just odd bits of chatter, like when one of the other actors takes way too long to tell a story about fudge. And then proceeds to lip synch to "Sleighride" while decorating cookies, which is accidentally flirty as they decide to not look at the camera and only at each other.
Really, among the show's biggest challenges was decided if the actors were supposed to acknowledge the cameras or not. A sub-problem is that it seems like the other actors really brought Lacey presents and she has to respond in real time. And is like "oh, nice. Anyway, we have another song to do."
It's all so half-assed. Even pre-recorded, no one has a phenomenal voice that would lead one to believe this was a good idea.
That Hallmark never did this again is probably very telling.
As mind-numbing and tedious as the Star Wars Holiday Special? No. But do you get to see actors kind of make goofs of themselves on camera in the most cringe-tastic way? You sure do. But it is blessedly short.
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