You aren’t the only one who loves Hallmark Christmas movies! As we’ll see when CBS’ Ghosts decks the halls on December 15 in a festive two-parter, Sam (Rose McIver) is also a fan. She wants to play merry matchmaker when her sister-in-law Bela (Punam Patel) brings her hopelessly devoted platonic pal Eric (Andrew Leeds) to haunted Woodstone Mansion for the holidays.
But jealous ’90s finance bro Trevor (Asher Grodman), who got his flirt on with Bela last season, and drama-loving Native Sasappis (Román Zaragoza) have a different plan we won’t spoil: “Things never go quite the way that Sam anticipates,” McIver says in an understatement, “but there is a happy ending of sorts.”
While Viking Thorfinn (Devan Chandler Long) is the resident Scrooge — believing Christmas is an appropriation of his Norse culture — other ghosts definitely have the spirit. The hour is a big one for Revolutionary War captain Isaac (Brandon Scott Jones), who takes his relationship with redcoat Nigel (John Hartman) “to another level,” Jones hints. “Because it’s Christmas, and there’s mistletoe, you never know what’s gonna happen,” he adds. Something you can count on: Seeing Isaac’s wife, Beatrice (Hillary Anne Matthews), via flashback.
Sexually awakened Gilded Age socialite Hetty (Rebecca Wisocky), meanwhile, adds to her growing list of obsessions that includes the TV show Bodices & Barons and videos of stable boys. “There is a shocking moment that is the manifestation of some of these unleashed new feelings,” Wisocky teases. (Do not miss the final seconds!) She also promises there’ll be some singing: “It wouldn’t be a true Christmas spectacular without a carol!”
Showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman admit they were inspired by McIver’s starring role in a certain Netflix franchise. (“The whole thing feels like it could be Christmas Prince IV, I will say that,” the actress jokes.) Port says his wife is very into Christmas movies and they “devoured” the McIver-led trilogy. “We just thought it would be really fun to do our weird ghost spin on a Hallmark-type movie, and I think it definitely qualifies as that,” he says of the show’s yuletide offering. “It has a lot of weird stuff and fun stuff, and it has a lot of heart, too.”
Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays Sam’s husband Jay, concurs: “With the Christmas episode, you’re afforded a little more magic—not that our show lacks it,” he says. “It’s that whimsy that comes with Christmas. There’s a little bit more color and vibrancy to this double episode. It’s almost like a mini-movie.”
Ghosts, Thursday, December 15, 8/7c and 8:30/7:30c, CBS
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