Ladies of the ’80s: A Divas Christmas (2023 Lifetime)
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Cast: Loni Anderson, Morgan Fairchild, Linda Gray, Donna Mills, Nicollette Sheridan, Christopher Atkins
Director: Christie Will Wolf
Writer: James Berg, Stan Zimmerman
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Synopsis (via Lifetime)
In Ladies of theāÆā80s: A Divas Christmas, five glamorous ā80s soap opera stars reunite to share the spotlight to shoot the finalāÆChristmasāÆepisode of their long-running soap opera. The producer, Alex (Travis Burns) and director Nell (Taylor Ann Thompson), old college friends, do their best to keep things on the rails but as the ladies come together, old rivalries resurface that threaten to tear the whole production apart. With the show nearly canceled before it even begins due to the ladiesā famous diva behavior, they reluctantly agree to set aside their differences and past secrets to āactā as if they all still love each other.āÆ When old sparks reignite between Alex and Nell, the ladies become eager to play cupid andāÆconspire to bring the couple together.āÆAlong the way, the divas also discover that the love between them all is still very strong too.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
The movie starts in Hollywood at a Christmas movie set; Alex is a cutie writer/producer working on a reunion Christmas episode of the long-canceled hit daytime soap, The Great Lakes. The episode will air LIVE on Christmas morning. He is joined by a friend from film school named Nell, who will be the director of the movie, and she likes to check out his butt.
Morgan Fairchild watches the press for the episode and calls her agent, Jeffery, and bemons being in LA. She is a New York girl and is keeping a secret. She also has Tony’s and Emmy’s (Most likely daytime.)
Donna Mill is the Mother Teresa of the group. She adopted five kids from war-torn countries.
Nicollette Sheridan is the only holdout for the reunion. She vents to her Son until she is interrupted by a Zoom call from Japan. “Konnichiwa!”
Back on set, Loni Anderson arrives with trunks of clothing and her outfit still on from filming a Celebrity version of Survivor with Lisa Vanderpump.
Linda Gray is married to Christopher Atkins and seems like the most normal person. The strangest thing about her is she has a secret fast food addiction.
The ladies meet Nell and are less interested in her vision and more in her crush on Alex. When Nicollette Sheridan shows up unannounced, Donna Mills becomes upset and feels like she is being ambushed. Everyone quits the show except for Loni Anderson, who offers to play all the roles with a character with multiple personalities. (She feels inadequate because she has only been nominated for Emmy’s, and being slimed on the Kids Choice Awards is no consolation prize.)
Linda Gray calls her husband, and he tells her to reset her chakras with a steam in the steam room. She overhears Alex and Nell discussing how this flop will run their careers. She rounds up the divas and talks them into doing it for Alex.
They do a photo shoot for People Magazine, and we get a montage of that photoshoot set to a Tina Tuner knockoff singing “Ladies of the 80s.”
Alex works on the script he hasn’t finished while wearing Christmas boxers and plaid slippers. As he writes, we see the scene like it is The Princess Bride. (Really, this is just a chance to see Alex shirtless.)
The ladies of the 80’s drink some hot toddies and reminisce about the old days and gossip. Nicollette Sheridan is a party girl turned workaholic. She talks about Donna Mills being one of her favorite party gals back in the day, but they grew apart. Donna Mills interrupts and runs the vibe by talking about social media and her many followers.
Nell sings “O Christmas Tree” while crying and cracking nuts with a nutcracker. (Not with his mouth, with the base.) The ladies of the 80’s hear her and rush to advise Nell. Nell tells them that she kissed Alex, and then the next day, he dropped out of college, out acting, and ghosted her. The ladies tell Nell to get out of the friend zone and give her a DIVA MAKEOVER!
MAKEOVER MONTAGE!
Alex remains shirtless the next morning, and he texts Nell to come by and help. she is too busy getting made over and misses spending quality time with him.
When Nell finally sees Alex, he is befuddled by the DIVA makeover. She is no match for a broken Christmas ornament, and Alex quickly loses interest. He still gets jealous when she leaves for an interview date.
The ladies of the 80’s haven’t rehearsed a scene and continue to do press. When Nell flirts with the interviewer, Alex gets jealous and tries to tell Nell to stop dating, and she pulls soap opera dramatics on him.
Rehearsal finally happens, and there is a stunt double bit, casting for a hunky house boy, and dull line readings. Alex continues to work on the script and wants to repair the rift between Nicollette Sheridan and Donna Mills.
The ladies visit Alex in the middle of the night and give him advice on how to win over Nell. It turns into a drunken night.
The following day, Loni Anderson catches Linda Gray eating junk food and decides to be vulnerable, too. She takes off her blonde wig to show off her gray wig! The other ladies show up and open Christmas gifts. Morgan Fairchild gives away her costume jewelry to make up the money he husband embezzles. She has been living a sham life and is poor!
Donna Mill comes clean about why she left the show all those years ago. Did she sleep with Nicollette’s fiance? Nicollette takes it surprisingly well and thanks Donna Mills for not telling her in the moment because if she did, Nicollette would have never married the jerk and never given her a son, whom she loves dearly. The touching moment is interrupted by Linda Gray saying, “Wait a minute! I think I slept with him, too.” (I LOLed.)
The LIVE show happens, and it is full melodrama. The live chat isn’t into it, so the Divas go into a bitchfest. They sling insults and lots of drinks and pies in the face. The show devolves into a full-on food fight. The show is a HIT!
Alex thanks the ladies, and they tell him that they are starting a non-profit, The Diva’s Foundation. Then they send him on his way to tell Nell how he feels. Alex prepares a poolside champagne toast.
Nell is wowed by the setup. He confirms that the kiss they shared was excellent, but he left because his mom died. He tells her it is the biggest regret of his life. They kiss, but not before she quotes Shakespeare. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou my Christmas Day Romeo.”
We get a brief news update that lets us know the show has been picked up as the first ever LIVE STREAMED SOAP OPERA. Loni Anderson gets her first Daytime Emmy nomination for her “brave” grey-haired performance.
Note/Stray Thoughts
Emmy Counts
- Loni Anderson has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards for WKRP in Cincinnati.
- Morgan Fairchild has been nominated for one Daytime Emmy for Days of Our Lives and one Primetime Emmy for Murphy Brown.
- Linda Gray has been nominated for one Primetime Emmy for Dallas.
- Donna Mills tied (With Fred Willard) for a Daytime Emmy for General Hospital.
- Nicollette Sheridan has never been nominated.
Christopher Akins was underused!
The fact that the writers of this movie were staff writers on The Golden Girls, I have to auto-pour it up! (Or else I might be sent to Gay purgatory.)
Overall rating
Pour it up
Put a Cork in It
Christmas Feels
ššš (3 Christmas Trees)
Enjoyment Level: š·š·š· (3 glasses of wine.)
What did you think of the movie? Let me know in the comments or on social media @LifetimeUncorked
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*Photo Credit: Ā© 2023 Hallmark
