Podcast in a Pear Tree: Christmas Movie Reviews · Aaron Lee Harvey, Danielle Espino, Samantha Gifford

Going from Buffalo Bills to Parisian Inuendo

·32 min·4 clips

A mysterious gift-giver has helped a family survive for decades since Vietnam deployment.

Samantha, Aaron Lee, and Danielle open with a holiday catch-up. Family visits have slowed the first two down, while Danielle has watched a lot more. They quickly circle back to Danielle's earlier warning that A Very Jonas Christmas Movie is wild. After watching it, the group agrees that wild is still the right word. They like how it takes the usual have-to-get-home-for-Christmas setup and pushes it into something even more ridiculous. The movie feels more like a holiday-vacation-style scramble than a neat rom-com. They talk about Disney Plus money showing up in the form of zany cameos, and Will Ferrell comes up as part of the fun. From there, the panel shifts into Finding Mr. Christmas. They compare the current winner with last year's winner, who was all abs and not much else as an actor. This year's choice feels more like a real Hallmark hunk to them. They also note that the broader cast feels stronger this season. One contestant gets special mention for having toured with Hamilton and being able to sing, dance, and act. Even so, they suspect the show may still lean too hard on good looks because it cannot help itself. That worry does not take away the fun. They enjoy how the show pokes fun at Jonathan. Baked with Love Holiday gets a quick check-in too. A recent elimination surprises them. They complain that these competitions can feel unfair because one bad week wipes out a long run of strong weeks. They finish by looking ahead to Christmas at the Cabinet Cafe, Cranberries and Carols, and Deck the Hallways.

As heard by us

Warm holiday-TV banter with enough bite to stay lively.

Holiday-TV chatter drives the episode, with Samantha, Aaron Lee, and Danielle comparing what they have managed to watch and landing most strongly on A Very Jonas Christmas Movie, which they all treat as delightfully wild. They also weigh Finding Mr.

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Why you'd press play

For a wild Christmas-movie catch-up that also riffs on Hallmark hunks and baking-show shocks.

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