Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Celebrations with Lacey Chabert’ Season 2 on Hallmark, Where the Network Queen Honors LA-Based Hometown Heroes
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Celebrations with Lacey Chabert
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Lacey Chabert—otherwise known as The Queen of Hallmark herself—returns to the small screen with the second installment of her party planning series, setting out to celebrate those who are bettering their community in and outside of the Los Angeles area. Once again, Chabert has enlisted the help of party planners Lisa Friedman and Marissa Lainer to craft the perfectly personalized soiree. While the series made its debut on Hallmark+ last September, Season 2 will premiere on the cable network, with next-day streaming on Hallmark+.
Opening Shot: Chabert introduces Las Fotos Project, an organization near downtown Los Angeles that empowers teenage girls through photography, as well as the program’s Social Enterprise Director, Helen Alonzo Hurtado, who is the episode’s hero.
The Gist: Each episode’s hero is nominated by a loved one or collaborator who can speak to their change-making. In this case, Helen is nominated by Alanna, a friend of hers who also serves as the Community Engagement Manager at Las Fotos Project. Just 50 hours ahead of Helen’s celebration, Chabert heads over to Las Fotos to meet Alannah and learn more about Helen in preparation for her party.
A brief clip from Alanna’s video nominating Helen, and we then learn that “Helen thinks she is being interviewed for a documentary about mentoring young artists.” This explains why seconds later, we hear from Helen, herself, who explains that the “social goal” of Las Fotos is to make the predominantly male “creative economy” of LA more diverse and accessible to women. Helen shares that her dedication to Las Fotos has interfered with the time she has spent with her loved ones, including her fiance, Javier, and her parents.
After she gets a rundown on Helen’s impact on Las Fotos—and poses for a quick ’80s-inspired photoshoot—Chabert sits down with Friedman and Lainer to kick off party planning. The three brainstorm a way to make the celebration a two-fer for Helen; not only are her accomplishments at Las Fotos Project being recognized, but also her engagement. They settle on a “vintage” theme, choosing to also honor Helen and Javier’s love of travel with an outdoor rooftop location and tasty catering.
Chabert also teams up with Angel City FC, the Los Angeles pro soccer team that has given work to Las Fotos mentees, in order to create a special gift for Helen: a photo album filled with pictures of Helen and Javier, as well as pictures of the Angel City FC players holding pictures of the couple.
With the help of Javier—who is unaware that the celebration is also in honor of his and Helen’s engagement—Helen’s father also plans to fly in from Kansas to surprise his daughter. When the rainy weather forecast forces the party to be delayed by a day, Chabert worries Helen’s father may not be able to make it. Fortunately, he is able to move things around to be there. Several members of the Las Fotos team are also on hand throughout the party planning process.
Still under the guise of a documentary, Helen enters the party, where she is surprised by Chabert and her loved ones. Chabert gives Helen and Javi their photo album, and presents Helen with a $10,000 check from Hallmark Channel for Las Fotos.
Photo: Hallmark
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The surprise element of Celebrations and the quick turn-around required of the party planning team reminds me of shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition or Queer Eye. Within the network, I also think of Christmas at Sea, the recent Hallmark+ docuseries that spotlighted fans aboard the inaugural Hallmark Christmas Cruise.
Our Take: Chabert’s series is part of Hallmark’s venture into unscripted series. As Variety reports, the sophomore season of Celebrations joins that of Finding Mr. Christmas, hosted by Chabert’s Mean Girls co-star and fellow Hallmark royalty Jonathan Bennett, on Monday nights on the network this fall.
While the series may not always feel unscripted, Celebrations‘ intentions always feel pure. Don’t get me wrong. A little party never killed nobody, and it’s fun watching the trio put together a fashionable function within days. However, the real pull of the series is the guests of honor, and those closest to them who speak to the positive changes that they have made in their community. In the case of Helen, the genuine joy on her face as she sees the party guests, and the raw emotion of her and her father embracing for the first time in so long, defintely pulls at the heartstrings.
Photo: Hallmark
Sex and Skin: Nope!
Parting Shot: At the end of each episode, Chabert hops on a Zoom call with the guest of honor for a recap of their celebration and how the donation has helped Las Fotos. In this episode, she is speaking with Helen three months later, as Helen updates her on Las Fotos and her and Javier’s wedding planning.
Sleeper Star: While the obvious answer is Helen, the episode’s hero, fans will be touched to see her fiance Javier, who gets his own surprise through the engagement party element of the celebration.
Most Pilot-y Line: This is Hallmark, so there’s going to a bit of the cheese factor (and what’s a party if not without a little charcuterie?). Chabert laments the possibility of Helen’s father missing his daughter’s celebration due to the rain, saying, “I feel like someone is raining on my parade.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. Celebrations with Lacey Chabert may not be the life of the party, but if you’re in the market for some lighthearted fare, some party inspiration, or even just some background noise, we recommend you RSVP.
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