As the year winds down and the holidays rev up, 'tis the season to embrace joy and camaraderie and all things convivial.
We love Christmas and also have a bi-faith family, so we've been doing a lot of window shopping online and immersing ourselves in holiday-mode TV.
There's nothing that gets one in the holiday spirit better than the queer-friendly Christmas baking shows. Whether it's Mary Berry's "Ultimate Christmas" on PBS or the "Christmas Cookie Challenge" on Food Network, we are all in for holiday trifles with the perfect tweel on top or gorgeous royal icing confections.
We also love ABC's "The Great Christmas Light Fight." This is just the wildest show. Two hour-long segments with four families in each one vying for the best holiday light display. Designers Carter Oosterhouse and Taniya Nayak judge these elaborate Christmas displays created by families across the country.
These are just extraordinary displays that will knock your Santa socks off. The breadth of imagination and craftsmanship, combined with the incredible amount of dedication and work is just breathtaking. The detail in these displays is truly incredible.
Some have themes. Some are super modern, while others hearken back to an earlier era with animatronics. Some people literally create new facades for their homes to fit their theme. The only bad part is only one of the four wins the prize of $50,000 and a trophy because you really are cheering for everyone.
Romcom-arama
If you need a queer holiday rom-com, "The Holiday Exchange" stars Taylor Frey, Rick Cosnett and Kyle Richards in a house-swapping adventure turned romantic as a single gay man living in Hollywood looks for a vacation getaway and finds it in a quaint European town in a house swap.
Both men find that their new locales offer more than a change of scene as yes, romance is in the air. And there are accents to add to the glamour.
The movie's official tagline reads: "Wilde (Frey) has just sold his company, but facing the holidays as a single man, he decides to swap houses on an LGBTQ app with handsome, Brilfax-bred Oliver (Cosnett). In their efforts to escape their woes, each end up meeting respective handsome locals in the forms of Julius (Samer Salem) and Henry (Daniel Garcia), who will spice up their visits. In the process, romance ignites in both sunny L.A. and a charming, snowy town called Brilfax."
"The Holiday Exchange" was written by Frey and directed by Jake Helgren, who also directed last year's hot Lifetime holiday offering, "A Cowboy Christmas Romance,"on Peacock and Amazon Prime video.
"The Holiday Club" is a delight. Sam hates the holidays. Bailey loves the holidays. On a lonely Valentine's Day, the two meet-cute, quickly bond and become friends. With every passing holiday Sam and Bailey spend together, they fall further in love with each other.
Written and directed by Alexandra Swarens ("Looking for Her," "LA Web Series") and starring Alexandra Swarens and Mak Shealy, it's on Apple TV and Amazon Prime video.
Comic crush
"Fortune Feimster: Crushing It" is out now on Netflix and you really want to watch. The beloved lesbian comedian shares some hilarious stories from her life, including her "romantic" honeymoon with her wife and her reflections on no longer being her mom's surrogate husband.
"With her always unique comedic perspective and infectious energy," Netflix says, "Fortune invites audiences into her world where laughter and love reign supreme." This is funny and feel-good and who doesn't want to watch that?
Netflix is doing a great job of giving us queer TV for the holidays. On Dec. 12 the new series "No Good Deed" debuts and it's queer and funny and just a little dark.
From the stellar lesbian writer/comedian Liz Feldman ("Dead to Me"), "No Good Deed" stars Lisa Kudrow and Ray Romano as a couple of who are trying to divest of their past and move forward as empty nesters by downsizing, but then when a series of people start vying for the house, but things go awry.
In the cast are Abbi Jacobson and Poppy Liu who play a lesbian couple who have been trying to get pregnant unsuccessfully via IVF. Perennial lesbian heart-throb Kate Moennig (forever Shane) plays Gwen, a developer who's in a secret lesbian relationship.
There's a lot happening here and you're gonna love it because Liz Feldman always puts on a good show.
Dark night
The holidays aren't always comedic as too many of us know, and family can present some problems we don't always want to face. "You Are Not Me" is all about that dark side of the holiday story, and we do mean dark.
Aitana (Roser Tapias) returns home for the first time in three years, excited to introduce her wife and their adopted infant son to her extended family and celebrate Christmas together. The family villa in the Spanish countryside is exactly as she remembers, except for the addition of Nadia (Anna Kurikka), a Romanian refugee who has claimed Aitana's bedroom, her clothes, and her family heirlooms.
Why have Aitana's conservative parents, long suspicious of immigrants, embraced the mysterious Nadia with such uncharacteristic warmth? Is Nadia a shrewd usurper, or an unwitting vessel for darker forces?
Doppleganger Films notes, "A twisty thriller that locates the uncanny in the reflexive cordiality of the holiday season, 'You Are Not Me' is a dark and disturbing dispatch from that most irrational of realms: family." It's in Spanish with subtitles, on Fandango and YouTube.
Jimmying
On his Dec. 4 show, Jimmy Kimmel did a send up of Trump with Christmas music — "Have Yourself a MAGA Little Christmas" — that is a must-see and will leave you howling. "Sold at Hobby Lobby right by the cisgender bathrooms." It's a classic. (on Instagram)
President Biden should put Kimmel on his list for pre-emptive pardons because Trump has quite the axe to grind with him, the only late night host who has never stopped holding him accountable.
On "General Hospital," Brad (Parry Shen) is still looking for ways to woo his ex-husband Lucas (Van Hansis) back. He's not above continuing to blackmail chief of staff Portia (Brook Kerr), but due to some unlikely intervention this week, Portia decides to send him to the same conference in hot Miami that she's sending Lucas to. Will sparks fly in South Beach?
Battalion
"The Six Triple Eight" is a Netflix original film written and directed by Tyler Perry. It's about the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, an all-Black and all-female battalion in World War II.
The film features an amazing ensemble cast that includes Kerry Washington, Ebony Obsidian, Milauna Jackson, Kylie Jefferson, Shanice Shantay, Sarah Jeffery, Pepi Sonuga, Moriah Brown, Gregg Sulkin, Susan Sarandon, Dean Norris, Sam Waterston and Oprah Winfrey.
"The Six Triple Eight" was released in select cinemas on December 6 before its streaming debut by Netflix on December 20.
Finally, NBC's "Meet the Press" had an exclusive interview with Trump on Dec. 8. In case you missed it, host Kristen Welker asked a lot of questions and Trump told a lot of lies, including reiterating that he won the 2020 election.
It's gonna be a long four years, friends, so bake those cookies, sob through those romcoms and revel in all the joys of the season while you still can. For the merry and the bright, you know you really must stay tuned.
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