Watch “Christmas In Paradise” On Starz, Where Kelsey Grammer Reprises His Third-Most Enduring Role, Or Pass It By

A new mother preparing for her first holiday season with her daughter Chloe, Joanna Christmas, is portrayed by Elizabeth Hurley in the main narrative. When her highly Type-A sister Caroline Christmas-Hope (Nathalie Cox) phones to inform her that their father has vanished but she has a tip as to where he could be, these plans are upended.

Sisters Caroline, Joanna, and Paulina Christmas immediately board a flight for the Caribbean, where they discover their father James Christmas (Kelsey Grammer) relaxing with country music singer Jimmy Ray Love and doing yoga on the beach (Billy Ray Cyrus). Joanna then learns her father had ulterior motives for sending his young lover on a little trip to paradise. You probably already know where this is heading, so I won’t give any spoilers until further down.

Which Films Does It Remind You Of? Do you recall the ER episode when a dying Mark Greene travels to Hawaii to see his daughter one last time? Take that, add a few required Christmas references, four Billy Ray Cyrus full-length performances (including an island rendition of “Achy Breaky Heart”), and presto: Christmas in Paradise.

Performance to Watch: I dunno, Naomi Frederick is really making an effort in the scenes where the daughters are trying to come to terms with the fact that their father fled their life so he could pass away in the Caribbean (there’s that spoiler I warned you about). Billy Ray Cyrus was the only person by his side. And thankfully, her character has moved past her Beatles period, which is good news for Frederick and the viewer. Thankfully, this is never developed beyond her briefly dressing as Janis Joplin. She has exchanged the Fab Four for Janis Joplin.