A movie that was broadcast last weekend, while we were slacking off…
“12 Men of Christmas,” a Lifetime movie on Saturday, stars Kristin Chenoweth as E .J. Baxter, a hard-driving New York publicist who clashes with Will, a hunky Montana outdoorsman (Josh Hopkins). It’s a watered-down reworking of Jane Austen’s famous comedy of manners (call it “Pride & Pectorals”), and Christmas is quite beside the point, except as a pretext for the heroine to commission a sexy male pinup calendar.
But do Lifetime movies ever go away? Alert Janeite Carolyn M. caught the P&P reference and sent us a review:
I was watching the cheesy but “diverting” movie, “12 Men Of Christmas” on the Hallmark channel last night. When the grumpy hero declared himself to Kristin Chenoweth it was the declaration scene from P & P! They also had the Mr. Wickham character in the movie as well although he was more of a player then a bad guy.
We couldn’t find another broadcast listed for this title before Christmas…but maybe it’s on On Demand or something. Wouldn’t hurt to check. (We would, but we don’t have cable at AustenBlog World Headquarters.)
AustenBlog 
Hi,
I just saw your ost on Google alert. 🙂
I’m Phillipa Ashley, a British author of romantic fiction. The movie 12 MEN OF CHRISTMAS is based on my novel DECENT EXPOSURE. While I am a huge Austen fan, my book isn’t a P&P homage. The screenwriter added the P&P refs.
Jane Austen is a major influence on many British romances, of course and I love P&P but I started writing after watching a BBC miniseries called North & South in 2004. Decent Exposure isn’t based on the Gaskell novel but it’s that’s the book and adaptation that started me writing. John Thornton is one of my literary heroes – and he has been called the Industrial Darcy by the UK press.
So, let it be the screenwriter who’s thanked for any P&P refs, I thought only of my own story.
Phillipa
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Ah…the power of the Armitage. 😉 He’s pretty popular around here.
A commenter here (I think it was here) once said that North and South was the first P&P fan fiction. I’m inclined to agree with that view.
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As I was watching 12 Men of Christmas,I felt that it reminded me of P&P. Cute movie.
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Yes, I’m one of the big Armitage fans. Started writing fiction after joining an Armitage fansite in 2005. Did Mrs Gaskell say she was influenced by P&P. You experts here are bound to know!
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I’m certainly no expert but as I watched North and South for the first time the P&P parallels stuck out like sore thumbs to me. I then read the book and still saw so very many similarities. I would wager to guess that Gaskell had indeed read P&P, and whether subconsciously inspired or directly inspired, was a fan of Austen’s masterpiece.
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Oh, and don’t get me wrong, I adore North and South and love, love, love Richard Armitage. That mini-series rates right behind CF’s P&P in my list of all time pleasures, above all other tv mini-series or movies. Can’t watch either of them too much.
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12 Men of Christmas is showing on Lifetime and is next listed for 12/24/09…get you tivos and dvrs fired up!
It was a cute movie…great Saturday night chick flick!
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For anyone who’s interested, “12 Men of Christmas” is currently playing at Comcast On Demand for free! (I just watched it this weekend, and I thought it was a very cute movie with a little Austen flavor!) I think it will be available until the beginning of January.
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