Talentville coverage for This Joyful Season (6-2012)

While the basic idea at the heart of This Joyful Season (i.e., a family-focused holiday melodrama centered on three sisters) has some interest as a character piece with appeal to the adult female market, a number of factors limit the potential for it to be a successful or commercial story. Chief among these are the characters, which do not provide enough appeal to serve as entry points into the plot or have likeable qualities for the audience to relate to. Rather than showing nuance, the characters are frequently abrasive, even bordering on abusive, and do little to earn sympathy despite the difficult and tragic situation they are thrust into. This is a case where certain elements of character personality overpower all other (or potential other) qualities, thereby making the cast seem one-note when in fact they are (or should be) otherwise.