Two Sopranos stars are reuniting… on the Hallmark Channel.
Joe Pantoliano, who’s known for playing Ralphie Cifaretto on the HBO mob drama, has joined the cast of Hallmark’s made-for-TV movie Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story. The cast already included Steve Schirrpa, who played Bobby Bacala on The Sopranos.
Pantoliano is replacing Tony Danza, who was previously cast in the movie but pulled out due to a “last-minute scheduling conflict,” according to a press release.
This installment of the burgeoning Holiday Touchdown franchise follows pediatric doctor Morgan Quinn (Holland Roden) and Buffalo Bills VP of stadium development Gabe DeLuca (Matthew Daddario) — longtime friends who both hail from tight-knit Buffalo families that are diehard Bills fans.
HBO/Courtesy Everett
Joseph R. Gannascoli, Joe Pantoliano, Steve Schirripa, Steven Van Zandt, James Gandolfini, Dan Grimaldi, Michael Imperioli, Federico Castelluccio, and Robert Funaro on ‘The Sopranos’
Schirrpa will play a relative of either Morgan or Gabe (it’s not yet clear which one), while Pantoliano will portray Morgan’s Uncle Tommy, an integral figure in the movie’s central mystery plot: He’s the recipient of a sizable annual gift from an anonymous donor every Christmas, but can’t discern the identity of his benefactor. Morgan and Gabe will team up to find the mysterious gift-giver as a surprise gift to Tommy.
Unsurprisingly, the main duo will realize their love for one another over the course of their holiday escapades — but their plan to surprise Tommy may go awry as it unfolds, as the press release states, “Gabe takes matters into his own hands and uses his connections with the Bills to pull off the surprise of a lifetime for Morgan and both their families that will make this a Christmas they’ll never forget.”
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A Bills Love Story marks Hallmark’s second Holiday Touchdown installment, after 2024’s A Chiefs Love Story. That film followed Alana (Hunter King), a Kansas City Chiefs fan who falls in love with the team’s new director of fan engagement, Derrick (Tyler Hynes) as her family competes in the Fan of the Year contest.
Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story also stars Tracy Pollan, Caroline Aaron, and Patti Muri. The movie is written by Vanessa Marano and Danielle Morrow, and directed by Dustin Rikert (A Merry Scottish Christmas, One Royal Holiday).
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