[Warning: General spoilers ahead.]
We have our favorites around here, and Jonathan Scarfe is absolutely one of mine. Before he landed on Van Helsing last year, he’d done a one-season turn alongside Kelli Williams in UP Television’s Ties That Bind. Sunday night, Scarfe and Williams return to UP in Christmas Solo, a holiday romance written by Ties That Bind creator Sheryl J. Anderson and directed by frequent Hallmark director Christie Will Wolf.
It’s a darling story about Jennifer and Nate, two single parents doing the best they can to raise teenage daughters. After an an initial meet-cute over Christmas decorations, they find friendship and maybe more with each other without realizing the girls are rivals at school.
That arc is a bit more fractious. Nate’s daughter, M. J. (Kayla Wallace), is a queen bee mean girl who’s the de facto lead soloist in chorus until Jennifer’s daughter, Charlotte (Pippa Mackie), unwittingly challenges her. And not just in school, but also for the affections of longtime friends, Henry (A Gift to Remember‘s Ricky He) and Audrey (Van Helsing‘s Naika Toussaint).
M.J. does not respond well on either front. When the rivalry escalates into bullying and vandalism, it’s up to the parents to intervene. Look for regular Hallmark fixture Lucie Guest, who was in Wolf’s Eat Play Love, as Jennifer’s friend, Christina, and Natalie von Rotsburg (The Art of Us) as choral director, Ms. Baxter.
No disrespect to the lovely young women playing the daughters, but I could’ve totally just watched a movie about their respective parents tentatively navigating a romance that neither expected or was seeking. Scarfe and Williams were so, so good as married couple Allison and Matt McLean in Ties That Bind and they pick that chemistry up again here.
If you’re like me and was so sorry to see Ties That Bind not get a shot at a second season, you will thoroughly enjoy this. Promise, swear. And if you’re just looking for a holiday romance with the something for the parents and the kids, this fits that bill, too. I love seeing Scarfe in these kinds of roles, especially alongside Williams.
Watching them again here made me totally miss their dynamic, and similar to the way Hallmark has no trouble repeating pairings, I vote that Williams and Scarfe do a movie a year together. They’re obviously having a ball, and it’s fun to watch their characters discover each other and then be kind of nerdy about their newfound relationship. I just adored them in this.
Christmas Solo premieres Sunday night at 7 pm/6c on UP Television and repeats at 2 am/1 c and should repeat throughout the season. Click through the title for a sneak peek.
George R. Olson, Tim Rozon, and Sarah Levy Talk the SurrealEstate S2 Finale
[Spoilers for the SurrealEstate Season 2 finale.] How’s everyone doing after the finale? As we close out the second season of SurrealEstate, some of our merry band of misfits are scattering to the winds–Zooey to law school, Phil to the Vatican, and Augie back to his think tank with Rochelle,…
Previewing SurrealEstate Season 2 Finale + Revisiting the Season with George R. Olson
[Warning; General spoilers ahead.] Strap in, SurrealEstate fam, because we’ve arrived at the Season 2 finale, and it’s a doozy. As we saw in the closing moments of last week’s episode, Susan is back. But because we have one more episode left, it’s not as simple as all that, as…
Tyler Hynes Talks Through His Eight-Film Hallmark Holiday Library
Things you realize when you have to re-record your shows on a new DVR – just how many Hallmark movies your people have done. Fan favorite – and one of ours – Tyler Hynes has done eight Christmas movies for Hallmark Channel and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries since 2018. Alongside…
Spencer Creaghan Talks About Creating SurrealEstate’s Signature Sound
SurrealEstate is winding down its second season, with two episodes left, and just as in Season 1, Spencer Creaghan’s music continues to be a character unto itself. And every week, he shares tidbits with the fans via his s social media channels, something he started to help give them an…
Andrew Walker Talks Christmas Island and the Magical Hallmark Community
[Warning: Spoilers for Christmas Island.] Now that the Screen Actors Guild strike has been resolved, we’re able to resume regularly scheduled programming and interview our favorites and yours. Up first, earlier today, I spoke with Andrew Walker about Christmas Island, which premiered last weekend and encores tonight and through the…
George Olson and Danishka Esterhazy Talk SurrealEstate “I Put a Spell on You”
[Warning: Spoilers for the episode.] Tonight’s fun new SurrealEstate found Luke caught up in an especially bewitching woman, Kay, played by Tara Yelland, Susan trapped in her house, and Zooey learning the ropes. In the next part of my conversation with showrunner George R. Olson and producing director Danishka Esterhazy,…
Danishka Esterhazy Talks SurrealEstate: “The Butler Didn’t”
[Warning: General spoilers for the episode]. Tonight’s new SurrealEstate, “The Butler Didn’t,” follows the team as they investigate the years-earlier mysterious death of a woman whose ghost now reenacts her hanging by dropping over the banister from the second floor to terrify anyone on the landing or at the bottom…
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk the From Season 2 finale
[Warning: Spoilers for the season finale.] How’s everyone doing after that finale? While we wait and wonder and hope for a third season announcement, soon, here’s what Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders had to say about their parts of the finale, and where they hope they get to go next….
Scott McCord and Elizabeth Saunders Talk From Season 2 + A Season Finale Preview
[Warning: General spoilers ahead.] It all comes down this, #FROMily. As Sunday’s episode wraps up Season 2, we begin with the aftermath of the terrifying onset of seemingly simultaneous attacks on Julie, Marielle, and Randall, which accelerate the “We gotta get out of this place” of it all. Sara comes…
Alison Sweeney Talks About What’s Next for Hannah and Mike After Carrot Cake Murder: A Hannah Swensen Mystery
[Warning: Spoilers for Carrot Cake Murder.] Everybody OK after that Hannah Swensen Mystery twist? Thankfully, our favorite crime-solving couple is still on speaking term, even if they’re on a break (hopefully not that kind of break). Most importantly, we already know this isn’t the last film in the series. No…
What They Said: Three Revealing Conversations from Survivor’s Remorse “Closure”
WARNING: Spoilers for Survivor’s Remorse “Closure” The latest episode of Starz’s Survivor’s Remorse featured conversations that showed characters really digging deep into their thoughts, emotions and motivations.
Two Takes: The Catch “The Knock-Off”
Who can you trust? If this episode of The Catch was any indication, the answer is just about nobody. Betrayal was running rampant as Felicity (Shivani Ghai) arose from the dead to seduce-con Margot, Gretchen (Maria Thayer, Gotham, The Mindy Project) played gold-hearted Alice 2.0 before swindling Ethan, Tessa jumped…
What They Said: Top 3 Quotable Moments from Preacher “El Valero”
Both Quincannon and Jesse refuse to give up on what they each think is rightfully theirs. While Jesse is struggling to face the consequences of his actions, Quincannon has laid his past demons to rest and is hellbent on moving forward and putting Annville on the map again. Despite a…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Supergirl “Worlds Finest”
Oh, Supergirl. That ending was cold. But I can’t hate on you because the latest episode has quickly become one of my favorites.
What They Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Black Sails “XXIII”
The dialogue in “XXIII” is phenomenal. It’s always a fun ride when Black Sails carries its viewers along without giving them the chance to catch their breath. When an episode moves at this unforgiving pace, there is no chance for a breather nor is there a respite from the information…
What Lucifer Said: Favorite quotes from Supernatural “O Brother, Where Art Thou?”
Supernatural episodes are almost always funny but thanks to the dialogue and a certain man speaking said dialogue, I laughed a lot during “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” You know, when I wasn’t busy fearing for Sam’s life or wondering what in the world was going on with Dean and…
What They Said: The Flash, “Legends Of Today” and Arrow, “Legends Of Yesterday”
Two nights of Arrow + The Flash = what more could we ask for?! I don’t know what it is about blending these shows, but I can’t help but feel that every time they come together, they somehow become greater than the sum of their parts. And that’s saying a lot…
What they Said: Top 4 Quotable Moments from Graceland “Little Bo Bleep”
Shoot outs. Fake outs. And long-awaited revelations. “Little Bo Bleep” was a jam-packed episode that wrapped up some loose ends and totally frayed others. Â It finally gave us one Sarkissian in jail and pulled back the curtain on Briggs’ master plan, but it also set up Jakes for a world…
What They Said: Favorite Quotes from Poldark “Part 4”
“What have I told you, I don’t require my wife to crochet and sip tea, but I do require her to remember she’s not a beast of burden.†No, I’m not talking about The Rolling Stones! I have to admit though, just for a second, the lyrics popped into my…