Hallmark's Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls is Laugh Out Loud Funny

If you loved the first Christmas House as much as we did, we have some great news. One of the many gifts Hallmark has bestowed us viewers during this year's Countdown to Christmas is a sequel to last year's wildly popular, jingle-bell-filled comedy, The Christmas House. And the gang is all here. The Mitchell family is back! The powerhouse cast members have all returned and include Robert Buckley, Jonathan Bennett, Ana Ayora, Brad Harder, Sharon Lawrence, and Treat Williams.

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We find the Mitchell family two years after we last left them, as they once again gather to celebrate the holidays. Mike and Andi are still happy together and Mike has continued his successful run on the fictional television show, Handsome Justice: NYC. Phyllis and Bill have overcome their obstacles and are currently really embracing retirement as well as enjoying each other's company. And Brandon and Jake are the busy parents of two small children. The Mitchells were all planning to have a low-key Christmas but then Mike is asked to participate in a celebrity home decorating reality TV show. The Mitchell family was all on board to share their family tradition of the Christmas House with the world. But when Mike's celebrity competitor has to drop out of the contest last minute, the producers of the show decide to pit brother versus brother in an epic sibling rivalry show down.

While there are several heartwarming moments, and you may even shed a tear or two—in a good way—the fast-paced comedy is a constant throughout and will keep you laughing from the depths of your belly. And as you can see from the video below, they had zero fun while making this hilarious movie.

Southern Living recently chatted with Treat Williams and Robert Buckley about the dynamic on set.

"As someone said on his death bed, 'dying is hard but comedy is harder.' It was a lot of fun to try and find all the humor in all the nooks and crannies of the film. But we dug them out. Didn't we, Rob?" Williams said as Buckley emphatically nodded yes.

Returning to set was much like the family reunion they depict on screen. And both actors agreed it was a joyful atmosphere.

"I feel like there was a lot more playing on the set of this one," Buckley said.

"I liken acting in films to tennis where if you have a good partner, you get good rallies going back and forth. And I think one of the things that made this easier this year and deeper in terms of all that, is we all knew each other. We had a history now. We kinda knew where to hit the ball to each other…We were able to improvise in a way that we really didn't last year," Williams added.

Much of that improvisation is what you'll see on screen. The director kept a lot of it in, much to Buckley's delight. "I think it's so smart because it makes the conversation seem more natural. It kind of lends itself to it. So, we struck a good balance of getting to play and also just a really well written script."

Williams and Buckley in particular, were very comfortable sharing scenes as they are both also in the Hallmark series Chesapeake Shores.

"What was interesting too is that Rob and I were just coming off playing two other characters in Chesapeake Shores and most of my really strong stuff this season was with Rob. And it was serious, but we did it in a way where we found a lot of humor in it too. So, it was interesting that we have become almost like acting partners for the year," Williams said, adding, "I was surprised at how quickly we just forgot who we'd been playing a month earlier and jumped into these two guys."

If you watched the first film, you may recall that you shouldn't switch the channel right when it fades to black because, wait, there's more. As Buckley jokingly told us, "It's just like one of the many ways we're like the Marvel superhero movies,"

Trust us, this last coda is a scene between Williams and Buckley, and it may very well be the funniest moment of a movie fully of funny moments. Your cheeks will hurt from laughter after this one.

Don't miss The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls, premiering on Hallmark Channel Saturday, December 18 at 8PM EST.