Christmas on TV: Shelley Long and A Holiday Engagement

Remember this post last year? Well, The Santa Trap wasn't Shelley Long's first foray into the cheesy Christmas movie genre. Nor was it her last. Just see this year's post about A Different Kind of Christmas. In fact, Shelley Long has been quite prolific in the made-for-TV Christmas category, even if those movies haven't always turned out stellar.

For instance, apparently Shelley Long couldn't let Dean Cain keep The Dog Who Saved... franchise to himself. In the newest direct-to-DVD addition to this series, Shelley Long joins the cast. Technically I haven't seen The Dog Who Saved the Holidays, so I won't say anything against it other than IT'S CALLED The Dog Who Saved the Holidays, and that's all I need to know about it.

But there is one Shelley Long made-for-TV Christmas movie I can recommend without hesitation.

A Holiday Engagement (also available on Netflix)

A Holiday Engagement plays as a spin-off of Holiday in Handcuffs, but without the kidnapping of the fake boyfriend. Instead our leading lady offers two airline tickets to a guy willing to pretend he's her fiancé for Thanksgiving. The main love interest in this movie is a guy who looks very much like Kyle Howard, but isn't. Which is strange because Kyle Howard plays Melissa Joan Hart's brother in Holiday in Handcuffs. Compare for yourself.

Despite not having been crazy enough to kidnap her fake fiancé like Melissa Joan Hart did, the lead actress in A Holiday Engagement acts quite crazy at times as if she's forgetting that this guy is not actually her boyfriend. Of course, by the end of the movie he's in love with her and she him, but her crazy does come out in spades.

Shelley Long plays that age-old character, the marriage-obsessed mother who rudely reminds her daughter that her biological clock is ticking in every other scene. But honestly, the first time I saw this movie, I was shocked that Shelley Long was actually Shelley Long--she just looked so much older than her character on Cheers. I have no problem with her aging, but I think the costume and makeup people overdid it in this movie. Tell me if you agree.

Also watch for Haylie Duff as a sister who seemingly has it all and Sam Horrigan, the mean skater from Brink!, as one of the potential fake boyfriends. 

Later this season, keep your eyes peeled for a review of Merry In-Laws, a new Lifetime Channel Christmas movie with a copycat storyline: a girl gets engaged to the child of Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus.

And yes, that is her Cheers co-star George Wendt as Santa Claus. So this one should be worth a look if nothing else than to examine what would have happened if Diane had returned to be with Norm instead... (Hint hint: Ted Danson would have become a crime scene investigator in Las Vegas.)