Joel McHale, Robin Williams And Lauren Graham To Experience A Friggin' Christmas Miracle

It hurts to say it, but last night was the beginning of the end for Community fans. The beloved but ratings-lacking show premiered the first episode of what looks to be its fourth and final season. But while it will hurt to say goodbye to such an amazing bit of television, we can all take solace in the fact that everyone involved with the series is more than talented enough to find more work. Take, for example, star Joel McHale, who has just landed a starring role in a new feature comedy.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that McHale, Lauren Graham and Robin Williams have all signed on to star A Friggin' Christmas Miracle, a new holiday-themed comedy from Wreck-It Ralph scribe Phil Johnston. The project actually has multiple Community ties beyond the actor, as Tristram Shapeero, who also happened to direct last night's premiere, will be making his feature debut with the film and Joe and Anthony Russo, who produce the NBC show, are involved as well.

In the story, McHale and Graham will play Boyd and Luann Mitchler, a married couple who find themselves forced to spend the holiday's with Boyd's dad "and his family of misfits." Problems surface, however, when Boyd realizes that he forgot his children's gifts at home, forcing him to go on a roadtrip with his father and younger brother to retrieve them before Christmas Day. Production on the movie will begin in Atlanta next month.

McHale and Williams may be new to the Christmas movie game, but we can't forget Graham's great turn in Terry Zwigoff's Bad Santa. If this movie is even half as good as that film we should be in for a treat.

Eric Eisenberg
Assistant Managing Editor

Eric Eisenberg is the Assistant Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. After graduating Boston University and earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism, he took a part-time job as a staff writer for CinemaBlend, and after six months was offered the opportunity to move to Los Angeles and take on a newly created West Coast Editor position. Over a decade later, he's continuing to advance his interests and expertise. In addition to conducting filmmaker interviews and contributing to the news and feature content of the site, Eric also oversees the Movie Reviews section, writes the the weekend box office report (published Sundays), and is the site's resident Stephen King expert. He has two King-related columns.