The Hallmark Channel launched in 2001 with a foundation of original holiday-themed movies, the first of which truly took off starring Steve Guttenberg as Santa’s heir. exist Single Santa looking for Mrs. Claushe plays Nick, who hopes to find a partner before taking over the family business, when he meets Beth (Crystal Bernard), an advertising executive and single mother.
“It really means a lot to me to have such an active role,” Guttenberg said THR. “While this may be a simple Santa Claus movie, it’s really fun to perform, which posed a big challenge for me to make this guy human.”
The star is famous for hits from the 1980s such as police academy and three men and a babypraising director Harvey Frost—yes, that’s his real last name. “Harvey was great and used five cameras a lot, so we were shooting really fast,” Guttenberg recalled.
Single Santa looking for Mrs. ClausPremiered on December 11, 2004, it performed so well that a sequel was released in 2005, Meet Santa Claus. “We had a great script for the third one, but the machinations of the deal got in the way,” lamented Guttenberg, who still hopes to one day complete the trilogy.
Christmas-centric romantic comedies have become synonymous with Hallmark, and Frost himself went on to direct many of the brand’s holiday projects. Other platforms are following suit: see Netflix’s hot froststarring Lacey Chabert, who has starred in 40 Hallmark movies.
“Sometimes movies really work,” Guttenberg marvels, “and then people take them with them and remember the moment they saw the movie, who they saw it with, and it becomes a holiday in their memory.” .
This story appears in the Dec. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
