Mary Nice Lady (Storm Steenson) is a writer and journalist who just wants her big break, that chance to prove herself as someone worth relying on for a good story, but thus far in her job at a big city newspaper she has not enjoyed her opportunity to shine. Then she has a brainwave: she will go into her boss's office with a great idea for a Christmas story, because it's that time of year, and that should secure her bigger stories and make her name. The boss hears her out and her plan to go back to her hometown, a small, unassuming place that will now be covered in snow as it prepares for the festivities, and agrees this will be fantastic, exactly what their readers wish to settle down with over their coffee - or cocoa, as drinking chocolate will soon loom large in Mary's life.
If only because she gets covered in cocoa dregs from a bin the local cocoa shop owner was carrying when they accidentally bumped into one another. Yes, that was a meet cute as is the law in almost any romcom worth its salt, but Cup of Cheer was going to go further than simple slapstick in its humour, as it was purposefully ludicrous, a parody of all those Christmas movies, often TV movies, that proliferate across the seasonal schedules. Someone must like them, or else why would they make so many of them? If you can tell the difference between any two, then you can consider yourself an enthusiast, but even with the comedies they were so safe and formulaic that they had to appeal to a viewer with a particular tolerance for cheese. Christmas cheese board, anyone?
