Plus: Andre Braugher, 'The Crown,' and our favorite moments of the year

View this email online by Linda Holmes Welcome! It was the week when we heard more about chairs, directors, and making everybody sit on boxes. It was the week when the legacyquel business rolled on. And it was the week when Netflix finally started dishing out the data. (Lots more at the news quiz.) Let's get to it. One last Hanukkah gift from Hallmark I've always defended my love of Hallmark movies -- the Christmas trees, the meet-cutes, the small-town businesses struggling to avoid being taken over by people from the big city. But there's no denying that they are of a type, shall we say, and many times, their precise pleasure is that you wouldn't mistake them for anything else. Furthermore, even as Hallmark has expanded its vision with changes like introducing LGBTQ+ characters and stories now and then, their efforts to expand beyond Christmas into Hanukkah have sometimes felt a bit tentative. Imagine my delight at finding Round and Round, a lovely new entry that's a solid light romantic comedy that you wouldn't be surprised to find somewhere else besides Hallmark, and that also embraces Hanukkah as its theme in a way that feels complete and thoughtful. The structure is familiar: it's a time-loop movie. Rachel (Vic Michaelis) goes to her parents' Hanukkah party, where her grandmother tries to set her up with Zach (Bryan Greenberg), a handsome fellow who unfortunately bumped into her earlier in the day and destroyed the box of sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) she was bringing to the party. But Rachel has a boyfriend, so she doesn't take much of an interest, but when she wakes up the next morning ... it's the same morning all over again, the seventh night of Hanukkah. So now, like so many protagonists before her (Groundhog Day and Palm Springs both get explicit shout-outs in the dialogue), she's trapped and needs to figure out how to break the loop so her life can continue. Paula Shaw and Vic Michaelis in Round and Round. Craig Minielly/Hallmark As she continues in the loop, she decides to bring Zach in on her problem, and he -- an adorable nerd who's carrying around his D&D dice in a special box, and whose friends run a comic-book store -- resolves to try to help, even though every day he has to be brought up to speed all over again. This all sounds very familiar, I know. But the execution is terrific. The dialogue sparkles, the relationship feels genuine, the ending is warm and really satisfying, and you get to watch the marvelous Rick Hoffman (who played Louis on Suits!) play Rachel's loving father, who is the smart and fun kind of weird dad. And Rachel's sister is married to a woman and they have a child, and their relationship is treated just like everybody else's, which is a nice place for Hallmark to be. But maybe what I liked most, the farther from the film I got, is that it takes themes of the family's celebration of Hanukkah -- miracles, especially -- and lightly incorporates them, so that without being heavy-handed, when the characters talk about the holiday, it resonates a bit with the underlying story. (And with the eventual resolution to the time loop, which is a delight.) Between the traditions the family observes (not just the menorah, but the food, the prayers, and so on) and some recognition that this is not a huge gift-giving holiday for adults but mostly a family celebration, it really seems like a Hanukkah movie, while also being a lot of fun. (I don't celebrate Hanukkah, but here's a similarly positive take from someone who does.) It helps that Michaelis comes from oddball comedy -- they hosted a show for the comedy streaming service Dropout, and they've worked with Upright Citizens Brigade. You can see those comedy chops in Rachel's sharp approach to her dilemma that is somehow both confident and baffled. The script from Tamar Laddy and the direction from Stacey N. Harding are very well-suited to the project. When I tell people a Hallmark movie is good, they often assume that there's an undercurrent that you grade these things on a curve -- that they are not good in the way other things are good. Round and Round is plain old good, a spry and funny romcom I'd have been delighted to discover inside or outside the Hallmark universe. Newsletter continues after sponsor message We Recommend The loss of tremendous actor Andre Braugher this week devastated his many admirers, me included. There are a number of terrific tributes that demonstrate just how highly regarded he was: NPR's own Eric Deggans, Vulture's Matt Zoller Seitz, The New York Times' James Poniewozik, Vanity Fair's Maureen Ryan, The Hollywood Reporter's Dan Fienberg, and Rolling Stone's Alan Sepinwall. If you have followed the long arc of The Crown, you probably already know that the final episodes are now out, and you can see for yourself the version of the history of the royal family that this particular show decided to present. A couple of updates on things I have liked in the last couple of weeks: First, last week, I wrote about the HBO miniseries Murder in Boston: Roots, Rage & Reckoning. I should add that The Boston Globe worked with HBO on a podcast about the Charles Stuart case, which I will be devouring shortly. Second, I also wrote about the documentary A Disturbance in the Force, and I want you to know that there's also a book! It comes from Steven Kozak, who directed the documentary with Jeremy Coon. Listen to the Podcast Sponsor-Free Support your favorite pop culture junkies AND listen without sponsor interruptions with a subscription to Pop Culture Happy Hour+! Learn more and sign up at plus.npr.org/happy. Learn More What We Did This Week Sean Combs speaks onstage at an event in Hollywood California in 2022. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Aisha, Sidney Madden and Shamira Ibrahim talked about the lawsuit filed against Sean "Diddy" Combs by his former girlfriend, and whether it will be the beginning of a #MeToo moment in hip-hop. Every December, all four PCHH hosts share some of our favorite pop-culture moments of the year. This time around, you'll find Tom Wambsgans, Past Lives, and the right way to handle becoming a meme. We revisited Stephen's conversation about the Taylor Swift Eras Tour with Bilal Qureshi, Jordan Crucchiola and Margaret H. Willison. Stephen talked about the new film The Boy and the Heron with Wailin Wong and Sam Yellowhorse Kesler. Stephen and I talked to Candice Lim and J.C. Howard about Wonka, and I wrote a full review if you want to know even more. What's Making Us Happy Every week on the show, we talk about some other things out in the world that have been giving us joy lately. Here they are: J.C. Howard: The new Dr. Who specials, streaming on Disney+ Candice Lim: Beedle the Bardcore's version of Usher's "Yeah!" Stephen Thompson: NPR Music's Best of 2023 lists Linda Holmes: A remembrance of Andre Braugher, starring "HOT DAMN!" Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. Subscribe to Pop Culture Happy Hour+. Your support helps make our show possible and unlocks access to our sponsor-free episodes. What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: pchh@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here. Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Books, Daily News and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Pop Culture Happy Hour emails. 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