If you had to choose a Christmas movie as inspiration for your holiday decor, which flick would you pick? Cable network Women’s Entertainment (WE) uses National Lampoon’s “Christmas Vacation” as a muse for its special, “Holiday Home Invasion.”
Clark Griswold, the surly character played by Chevy Chase, probably wouldn’t be amused.
Set in Chicago, “Christmas Vacation” is rife with pratfalls, mischievous slapstick and a few mean-spirited jokes. The film is an antithesis to the saccharine “Holiday Home Invasion,” which features the Calvas, a picture-perfect family of five. Their California home is made over while they spend three days lounging in Palm Springs. The uneventful getaway definitely violates National Lampoon policy.
At the Calvas’ place, the ambience is transformed from a disturbingly pristine home to a wacky wonderland. In the process, crew members snap at each other and fret over whether they’ll finish elaborate plans on time.
It’s standard makeover-show fare, right down to hokey endorsements. When chefs Denise De Carlo and Betty Fraser don’t bake enough gingerbread men, they raid the Calva family’s refrigerator in search of an alternative. Inside, they just happen to find Pillsbury cookie dough and proceed to discuss its wonders for 30 seconds as the camera zooms in on the package. (If you guessed that the Doughboy’s parent is one of the show’s major sponsors, congratulations.)
More Top Picks Best Noise Cancelling Earbuds
Crew chief Carmen De La Paz divides the project into two sections, anointing the living room as traditional and the dining room “whimsical.” Designer Steve Kemble hangs garland and decorates an evergreen with classic ornaments. The area is bloated with gifts. Outside, Kemble demands assembly of a kiddie train and railroad track, and his frenzied helpers rush to hang lights and make fake snow.
For the dining room, De La Paz makes wall panels with candy on them and sticks giant lollipops around the crown molding. It’s more “Willy Wonka” than “Christmas Vacation.”
“The family is going to love everything we’ve done for them,” Kemble says confidently.
When the Calvas return, the front yard is teeming with Christmas lights, reindeer and a giant polar bear playing drums. “It’s pretty corny,” says homeowner Jeremy Calva. “It’s like Christmas on steroids.”
The stuffed bear frightens the family’s toddlers, but they’re overjoyed by the train ride and mother lode of gifts. “I think we have toys for the next three years,” he says as his wife tearfully surveys the room.
In the dining room, the kids sample their edible environment. “The `Holiday Home Invasion’ team might have gone a little too far,” says host Michelle Beadle. “Jeremy’s not happy with the candy-coated walls.”
What a surprise.
“Holiday Home Invasion” repeats on the WE network through Dec. 24.
It would’ve been more fun to see the show base its makeover design on the 1983 classic, “A Christmas Story.” The movie stars Peter Billingsley as a boy who yearns for a toy gun deemed by grownups, even Santa Claus, as too hazardous. Just imagine a modern-day living room altered to the 1940s Americana style seen in the film. The space could be adorned with “A Christmas Story” signature props, like the Old Man’s prized leg lamp (complete with its fishnet stocking), and a Red Ryder BB gun hanging over the fireplace. And no one could say, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”
———-
Carmel Carrillo is assistant editor of Real Estate. You may contact her at [email protected], or write to her at baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611.