Revisionist History · Pushkin Industries

Christmas in Connecticut

December 25, 2025·45 min·4 clips

Arnold Schwarzenegger's agent calls a TV producer to pitch him directing a Christmas movie, leaving everyone stunned.

The ingredients sound impossible. A small TNT production pulls Diane Cannon, Tony Curtis, and Chris Christopherson into a remake of Christmas in Connecticut, a 1940s screwball comedy carrying holiday nostalgia and a little cable-network hunger. Nick Lombardo still sounds baffled by it, which gives the episode its best kind of evidence. Even the executive who lived through it cannot quite make the casting feel normal. Then Arnold walks in. Fresh from returning as a time-traveling cyborg, the Austrian former bodybuilder is suddenly preparing to direct his first Christmas film. The budget is modest by Hollywood standards, but big enough to make people sweat. That mismatch is the joke, and also the story. Revisionist History treats the project as more than trivia: old studio comedy, television money, celebrity confidence, and private ambition all packed into one oddly fragile holiday movie. Nobody sounds especially relaxed. The producers know TV movies do not usually get material this tempting, and the mood feels like opportunity mixed with people being careful around open flame. Arnold wants to prove something. Because he has never directed a feature film, the production tries to make the job easier by shooting more or less in story order, so continuity will not become another problem. Of course, even the practical fix has its own headaches. The episode spends time on process because that is where the feeling is. A director is learning in public. A crew is protecting a gamble. A cozy title is hiding a surprising amount of suspense. The humor stays dry, especially once Tony Curtis and Chris Christopherson share the same cast list. Still, the affection is real. By the end, the story has softened into something warmer: a strange production, yes, but also people trying to make Christmas magic with pieces that do not obviously belong together. Ben Nadeff-Haffrey's sign-off, the resident Schwarzenegger fan, and the collapsing holiday singing all help it land human instead of polished.

As heard by us

A remake, a strange cast, and Arnold Schwarzenegger make for a sharp Christmas argument.

Revisionist History takes the 1992 made-for-TV remake of Christmas in Connecticut and turns it into a clean little test case: a strange cast, a three-million-dollar budget, and Arnold Schwarzenegger directing his first feature.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you like a holiday movie story that starts with a strange casting call, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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