The Christmas Setup | |
---|---|
![]() Main poster | |
Genre | Romantic comedy Christmas LGBTQ |
Written by | Michael J. Murray |
Directed by | Pat Mills |
Starring | Ben Lewis Blake Lee Ellen Wong Fran Drescher Chad Connell |
Theme music composer | Michael Richard Plowman |
Country of origin | Canada United States |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Editor | Ryan Kovack |
Running time | 85 minutes |
Production companies | MarVista Entertainment Neshama Entertainment Wishing Floor Films |
Original release | |
Network | Lifetime (U.S.) CTV Drama Channel (Canada) |
Release | December 12, 2020 |
The Christmas Setup is an American-Canadian romantic comedy television film, directed by Pat Mills and broadcast in 2020. [1] The first LGBTQ-themed Christmas film ever broadcast by Lifetime, [2] the film stars Ben Lewis as Hugo, an uptight New York City attorney who comes home with his best friend Madelyn (Ellen Wong) to visit his mother Kate (Fran Drescher) for Christmas, and is forced to consider what he really wants in life when he reconnects with his high school crush Patrick (Blake Lee) just as he is offered a promotion to his firm's office in London. [3]
Lawyer Hugo Spencer returns home to Milwaukee with best friend Madelyn McKay over Christmas. His mother, Kate Spencer, immediately sets up a list of chores and Christmas activities for her sons, Hugo and Aiden, who returns later that week. While there, Hugo runs into Patrick Ryan, a boy he crushed on in high school. Kate sets Hugo and Patrick, trying to match them up, much to Hugo's embarrassment. Hugo finds out the neighborhood's landmark train station will soon be demolished and rushes to save it. Hugo and Patrick connect and finally have their first kiss under the northern lights.
Hugo receives a call from his boss regarding the senior partner position he had been hoping for. His boss gives him the promotion, on the condition that he relocates to London to open their new office. Hugo takes the opportunity into consideration, distressed by the idea of leaving his home country, family, and Patrick. While at family Christmas trivia game night, Madelyn accidentally tells everyone about Hugo's new job, forcing Hugo to seriously reconsider his decision. Aiden and Maddy become a couple while Hugo finds the paperwork needed to save the train station. At the train station's party, Hugo decides to decline the job and begin a long distance relationship with Patrick.
The movie ends with Kate filming Hugo and Patrick as they kiss outside the train station.
The film was shot in Ottawa and Almonte, Ontario, in 2020. [3]
The film premiered December 12, 2020 on Lifetime in the United States, [1] and December 18, 2020 on CTV Drama Channel in Canada. [3]
The Christmas Setup received positive reviews from critics upon its release. Patrick Serrano of O, The Oprah Magazine wrote "I've watched every made-for-TV movie in 2020. This is the most triumphant." [4] Glamour magazine gave it a positive review with the headline "The Lifetime Gay Christmas Movie Totally Broke Me—So, Yup, It Worked", writing, "exhilarating, freeing, and—if you're a gay man—totally soul-crushing. Isn't that what rom-coms are supposed to do?" [5] In a collective review of 2020's crop of LGBTQ-themed Christmas movies, Salon gave the film a mixed review, calling it cheesy and "derivative of probably 80 straight-to-television holiday movies", but called it "Salon's pick for just straight-up, saccharine Christmas fun. It hits all the marks that have become standard in the straight-to-television holiday movie genre" and praised the casting of real-life couple Lewis and Lee as the romantic leads and expressing relief that "at least none of the issues arise from the central couple". [6] TVLine listed Fran Drescher as an honourable mention in their Performer of the Week, stating, "The most groundbreaking aspect of Lifetime’s first LGBTQ-themed holiday movie The Christmas Setup was not that it had a gay couple at its center. It was that it was actually really good" and "Drescher layered her alter ego’s unabashed glee with notes of genuine happiness. In a sea of indistinguishable, cookie-cutter holiday movie matriarchs, Drescher gifted us with a true Christmas miracle: an actual human being". [7]
The Christmas Setup was nominated for the 2021 GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie. [8]
The film received two Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022, for Best TV Movie and Best Lead Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries (Lewis). [9]
Francine Joy Drescher is an American actress, comedian, writer, activist, and trade union leader, currently serving as the national president of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA). She is known for her role as Fran Fine in the television sitcom The Nanny (1993–1999), which she created and produced with her then-husband Peter Marc Jacobson.
Joely Fisher is an American actress and singer, the daughter of singer Eddie Fisher and actress Connie Stevens, and half-sister of actress Carrie Fisher. Her breakthrough came in 1994, starring as Paige Clark in the ABC sitcom Ellen, for which she received a Golden Globe Award nomination. Fisher later starred in the 1999 comedy film Inspector Gadget and had leading roles in the Lifetime comedy-drama Wild Card (2003–2005), and Fox sitcom 'Til Death (2006–2010).
LGBT representation in children's television is representation of LGBT topics, themes, and people in television programming meant for children. LGBT representation in children's programming was often uncommon to non-existent for much of television's history up to the 2010s, but has significantly increased since then.
Kevin Patrick Mills is a Canadian film director, screenwriter and actor, whose feature film debut Guidance was released in 2015.
Blake Lee is an American actor, known for his roles on Mixology, Parks and Recreation and the Freeform hit Cruel Summer. Blake and his husband Ben Lewis made history starring in The Christmas Setup, Lifetime's first Christmas movie centered around a gay love story.
Happiest Season is a 2020 American romantic comedy film directed by Clea DuVall, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mary Holland. Starring an ensemble cast consisting of Kristen Stewart, Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, Daniel Levy, Mary Holland, Victor Garber, and Mary Steenburgen, the film follows a young woman who struggles to admit to her conservative parents that she is a lesbian while she and her girlfriend visit them during Christmas. A semi-autobiographical take on DuVall's experiences with her family, Happiest Season is the first lesbian Christmas rom-com produced by a major Hollywood studio.
Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas is a 2019 American Christmas fantasy romantic comedy television film. Directed by Therersa Bennett and written by Laura Donney, the film stars Aisha Dee, Kimiko Glenn, Kendrick Sampson, Jazz Raycole, Missi Pyle, and LisaGay Hamilton.
For many years, LGBT representation has increased on animated series and animated films. In the 1990s, LGBT characters were depicted in animated series like South Park, The Ambiguously Gay Duo, and The Simpsons. In the early 2000s, LGBT representation increased in Western animation, culminating in GLAAD's "Where We Are in TV" report in 2005, even as representation was disparate. In the 2000s, series like Queer Duck, The Oblongs, The Venture Bros., Drawn Together, and Archer aired. It would not be until the advent of shows like Steven Universe, The Legend of Korra, and Adventure Time in the 2010s, that LGBT characters in animation would gain more of a prominent role, leading to shows such as She-Ra and the Princesses of Power in 2018 and Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts in 2020, along with other series in the 2020s.
Ben Lewis is a Canadian actor known for his role as the adult version of William Clayton in the last two seasons of Arrow. He also played Other Scott in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Bobby Beckonridge in Degrassi: The Next Generation.
The depiction of LGBTQ characters in animated series in the 2010s changed significantly from the previous decade; especially in Western animation. This included Rebecca Sugar's Steven Universe which aired on Cartoon Network and praised for going "above and beyond when it comes to inclusive storytelling" The 2010s also brought with it shows such as Adventure Time, The Legend of Korra, BoJack Horseman, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Amphibia, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and The Bravest Knight, among others, all of which had strong LGBTQ characters. Representation of LGBTQ characters would only continue to grow in the 2020s.
Dashing in December is an American romantic holiday drama film directed by Jake Helgren. The film stars Peter Porte, Juan Pablo Di Pace, Andie MacDowell, Caroline Harris, Carlos Sanz, and Katherine Bailess.
The Christmas House is a made-for-television film produced for the Hallmark Channel. A Christmas-themed comedy-drama, it was directed by Michael Grossman. It features an ensemble cast, including Sharon Lawrence and Treat Williams as a wife and husband who invite their two adult sons to come back home for Christmas and recreate a past family tradition. It premiered on November 22, 2020.
Netflix has contributed substantially to LGBTQ representation in animation. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, asexual and transgender characters have appeared in various animated series, and some animated films, on the streaming platform. GLAAD described Netflix as a company taking "impressive strides in viewership and impact," when it came to LGBTQ representation. Scholars have stated that LGBTQ characters on streaming services, such as Netflix, "made more displays of affection" than on broadcast networks.
Jake Helgren is an American film producer, director and screenwriter.
Single All the Way is a 2021 Canadian Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Michael Mayer and written by Chad Hodge. The plot follows a man who convinces his best friend to pretend to be his boyfriend when he goes home for Christmas, only to be set up on a blind date by his mother. Luke Macfarlane, Barry Bostwick, Jennifer Robertson, and Jennifer Coolidge also star.
Under the Christmas Tree is a 2021 romantic comedy Christmas television film directed by Lisa Rose Snow in her feature film directorial debut. The film premiered on Lifetime on December 19, 2021, as part of the network's "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" holiday movie slate. Telling the story of government worker Charlie attempting to secure a Christmas tree from business owner Alma, the film was Lifetime's first lesbian Christmas movie. It received generally positive reviews and was nominated at the 33rd GLAAD Media Awards for Outstanding TV Movie.
The Holiday Sitter is an American-Canadian romantic comedy television film, directed by Ali Liebert and broadcast in 2022. The first LGBTQ-themed film ever broadcast by The Hallmark Channel in its annual lineup of Christmas-themed romance films, the film stars Jonathan Bennett as Sam Dalton, a single and commitment-phobic gay man who is roped into taking care of his sister Kathleen's kids just before Christmas, only to find himself drawn into a romance with Jason DeVito, his sister's neighbour, after asking for his help.