Behind the Scenes of a Lifetime Christmas Movie

The latest in pop-culture news, recaps, and reviews, plus close reads, profiles, interviews, and more from Vulture.com. [Brand Logo]( set visit [I Made a Lifetime Christmas Movie!]( Over 100 made-for-TV holiday movies will premiere this season. Here’s what it’s like to work on one. Photo: Stacy Kranitz/Stacy Kranitz In a ritzy suburban home outside Nashville with a turret, a wine cellar, and an anachronistic Tuscan motif, 55 of Santa’s helpers are spending the already humid Christmas morning (here, every morning is Christmas morning) building lighting rigs, ensuring the nutcrackers flanking the front doors are symmetrical, drinking bad coffee, and hanging up tinsel, wreaths, and a large banner welcoming everyone to “Santa Bootcamp.” I’m standing a few feet away from [Melissa Joan Hart](, who graduated from Sabrina the Teenage Witch to Lifetime Christmas-movie lead to Lifetime Christmas-movie director. [Santa Bootcamp]( will be her third Christmas movie in the director’s chair (her most recent, Feliz NaviDAD, stars Mario Lopez as a widowed high-school principal who has lost his Christmas spirit), and she has only 16 days to make the holiday magic happen. So “Action!” she calls, and a bubbly woman dressed as an elf (What We Do in the Shadows’ Marissa Jaret Winokur) throws her arms open and says, “Welcome, new campers!” to a group of smiling background actors. It’s hard to make out the dialogue over the sound of cicadas reminding us that it’s still summer. A bald crew member in a black T-shirt aims a leaf blower at Winokur, and her Santa Bootcamp sign-up forms swirl into the air as if shaken in a snow globe. Then it’s “Cut!” and time to reset the stack of papers to do it all over again. [Read More]( [Subscribe for 75% off]( and unlock unlimited access to Vulture and everything New York. Plus, get exclusive access to The Strategist’s Incredibly Exhaustive Gift Guide. The Latest TV Recaps • Welcome to Chippendales: [Not My Kind of Place]( • Andor: [Foregone Conclusions]( • Wednesday: [I Myself Am Strange and Unusual (Ep. 1)](, [Let the Games Begin (Ep. 2)](, [Burn, Baby, Burn (Ep. 3)]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( Stories We Think You’ll Like [Tony Gilroy Built Andor’s Finale Crescendo First The showrunner illuminates the long road to Maarva’s big moment.]( By Roxana Hadadi [A Definitive Ranking of Friends’ Thanksgiving Episodes Missing toes, Brad Pitt, and Chandler in a box.]( By Brian Boone [Marla Mindelle Hijacks Seth Meyers on Her Quest for World Domination The Off Broadway cast of Titanique gave TV viewers a taste of its live-theater magic.]( By Rebecca Alter [The 14 Best Movies and TV Shows to Watch This Thanksgiving Weekend Including Mistress America — you heard me.]( By Savannah Salazar [Three Big Questions About Disney’s Streaming Future Bob Iger’s back. What does that mean for Disney+?]( By Josef Adalian [Wilko Johnson, Dr. Feelgood Guitarist and Game of Thrones Actor, Dead at 75 “This is the announcement we never wanted to make, & we do so with a very heavy heart.”]( By Jason P. Frank [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Today’s Crossword]( 9-Down, Three Letters: Anthropomorphic dumpling in a Pixar short. Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos by CrazyGames, Jevone Moore/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images and Daniel Knighton/Getty Images) [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe](param=vulture-daily) | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2022, All rights reserved