Lifetime Channel moves on from the almost-kiss – well, sort of.
The 12 new films this “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” season include “A Cowboy Christmas Romance,” a holiday film that features the first sex scene in the series.
“We believe there is an audience out there hungry for adult romance, and we’re excited to add some zest to the usual holiday sugar and spice,” Tia Maggini, SVP of scripted content at Lifetime, tells Variety exclusively. “We love trying new things and we’re excited about this new ‘first’ for a holiday film.”
The film, starring Jana Kramer and Adam Senn, opens December 9th and is about a real estate agent who returns to Arizona to reclaim land owned by a rancher. Not only do sparks fly, but she also gets the chance to reconnect with her family – all the makings of the perfect Christmas film.
Kramer teased the scene during the latest episode of iHeartRadio’s “Whine Down” podcast, with Sarah Drew, who wrote the film, as her guest.
“Spoiler alert — he puts me on some hay and then we, you know,” Kramer said during Monday’s episode. “Of course it’s still Lifetime, it’s still family. But the limits were exceeded there too… They didn’t cut anything. I was so happy that they really left everything in.”
Drew was happy with how the scene turned out, thanking Maggini and explaining that she had written another sexy scene that also remained.
“Everything turned out so beautifully, but especially the scene in the kitchen. I had written in the stage directions, “He’s pulling her on the counter, he’s pushing things off the table,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum explained. “I put everything into it, so I thought, ‘Don’t take away the momentum and the sex.’ I wrote it on purpose, I want it there.’”
Kramer, who has now starred in eight Lifetime films, said “A Cowboy Christmas Romance” is unlike any other she’s done.
“We hardly mention the word ‘Christmas’. There is no gingerbread baking, there is no festival, this town is going to hell and you have to save it,” she said. “The only thing was [my character] Coming back and seeing Adam or his character… There are these cozy feelings, but it’s all mixed in with real family issues, identity issues and relationship issues.”