While coming to terms with his dad's recent passing in a tractor accident, 13-year-old George McCray (Gage Munroe) is living with his grandparents on their Kansas farm. George misses his mom, Jill (Josie Bissett), who has moved to Minnesota to deal with her grief, but there is the promise of their reunion at Christmas. George feels needed on the farm as he helps his grateful grandfather Bo (James Brolin) with daily chores and comforts his grandmother Cora (Barbara Gordon). He has also made friends with Mary Ann (Helen Colliander) and became attached to Tucker, the smart and friendly dog the McCrays take in when his troubled owner Frank Thorne (Ron Lea) lands in jail.
Twenty-five-year-old Jennifer Mills (Anna Chlumsky) lives her life without commitment, relieved her boyfriend isn’t even close to putting a ring on her finger. Not at all like her older sister, Mandy (Chelah Horsdal), who married young and settled into family life, Jennifer loves being carefree. But her mother, Kathryn (Susan Hogan), sees Jennifer’s wild ways as a fear of settling down, and hatches a secret plan to take her from playful to parent in just three weeks. When Mandy and her husband plan a three-week European vacation without their three kids, Kathryn convinces Jennifer to help watch them until she can get into town.
Mitch Albom (Bradley Whitford) has a pretty great life. He lives in Detroit and is happily married, he's an award-winning sportswriter, a must-read newspaper columnist, a screenwriter, a radio and television broadcaster. Then two men come into his life, and he realizes something's missing. The two men are Rabbi Albert Lewis (Martin Landau), who presides over a thriving synagogue in a comfortable New Jersey suburb, and pastor Henry Covington (Laurence Fishburne), a recovering drug user and dealer, who preaches to the poor and homeless in a crumbling Detroit inner-city church. Moving between their worlds – Christian and Jewish, African-American and white, impoverished and privileged – Albom witnesses first-hand how these two very different men – the feisty, funny rabbi and the intrepid inner-city pastor -- not only live life, but celebrate life. What do rabbi and reverend have in common? Albom comes to realize they both take profound comfort in believing that there's a divine spark in all of us, and that one person – or in this case, two – can make a big difference in others' lives, as long as they have a little faith.
Professor Evan Farnsworth (Jason Gedrick) is a widower who works tirelessly at a prestigious boarding school in Maine, dedicating all his time to helping his students believe in themselves. Accepting a job to teach the students left behind during Christmas vacation, including talented scholarship student Juliet (Emmalyn Estrada), nerdy outcast Albert (Amitai Marmorstein) and privileged bad boy Drew (Richard Harmon), Farnsworth quickly faces a challenge when Drew gets into trouble. Upset his wealthy parents ditched him for a Paris skiing vacation, he takes his anger out on the neighboring town’s ancient Wishing Tree, a bare tree decorated with handwritten notes containing the townspeople’s greatest holiday wishes. A much loved tradition, it doubles as a fundraiser for needy families, depending on donations from eager wish-makers.
Bailey Daley (Erika Christensen) is a hapless young bride who has run away from the altar with not one, but three dogs she adopted from past relationships. Running into a small diner one rainy evening in a soaked wedding dress with her dogs at her feet, Bailey launches into the story of her strange predicament to the restaurant owners, Louie (Michael Kopsa) and Nikki (Joyce DeWitt). She explains that she hasn't been able to find the right love, always longing for the more loyal, stable companionship she finds in her ex-boyfriends' canine companions. Against the knowing advice of her mother Dina (Teryl Rothery) and best friend Amber (Emily Holmes), Bailey tries to transform herself into the perfect fit for each new guy she meets. As each relationship ends, Bailey adopts her ex's dogs, but remains hopelessly single. Will a twist of fate that stormy night lead her to realize that true puppy love happens only after one stops searching for it? Starring Erika Christensen, Teryl Rothery, and Joyce DeWitt.
Lauren Hennessey (Danielle Panabaker) has always loved to cook and is a proud perfectionist at her job at "Food & Entertainment Magazine's" test kitchen while she dreams of being able to finally afford culinary school in Paris. When her boss offers her a bonus if she agrees to ghostwrite the cookbook of a difficult celebrity chef, Lauren sees her dream becoming a reality as soon as she can tame the notorious bad boy chef in question, Dexter Durant (Shawn Roberts). Slowly peeling back the layers of Dexter's tough-guy persona, she starts seeing a different, vulnerable side to this big-shot chef. Suddenly, their dueling culinary styles become the perfect complement in the kitchen and an attraction between them starts to boil over.
Santa (Robert Wagner) and Mrs. Claus’s (Jill St. John) magical home, Northpole, has grown into a huge city powered by the magic of holiday happiness around the world. Yet the city is in trouble, as people everywhere are too busy to enjoy festive time together. One of these stressed-out souls is Chelsea (Tiffani Thiessen), a single mom who is trying to get noticed at her new reporting job while helping her ten-year-old son Kevin (Max Charles) adjust to a new school. When he starts talking about real elves and actual sleigh rides, she worries that his imagination has gotten out of control. With a little added help from Kevin’s charming teacher Ryan (Josh Hopkins), a mysterious elf, Clementine (Bailee Madison), and a gospel singer named Josephine (Candice Glover), Chelsea may learn that even chasing down the facts can lead to holiday magic.
On the night of her 30th birthday, Lindsay Corwin, an unlucky environmentalist with astring of bad relationships, decides to make the ultimate wish: for all of her birthday wishes tocome true. When her nearly three decades of wishes, including everything from losing weightto meeting Mr. Right, start magically coming true all at once, Lindsay is awestruck - until sherealizes the life and the man, she’s always wished for might not be the one she really wants. Starring Megan Park and Ben Hollingsworth.
A couple on the brink of divorce decides to keep their marital woes a secret as they help their daughter plan her wedding. As the two work together on the happy occasion, they soon discover that their own marriage might just be worth saving. Starring Teri Polo and Paul Johansson.
