Why is Merry Happy Whatever starring Dennis Quaid a Netflix Christmas series, rather than a movie?

TheWrap

What is unique about the Netflix holiday series premiering Thanksgiving Day is that "every series has its Christmas show, but we take, like, 10 days of Christmas that people come home and really just focus on that," says Quaid. “Once you see it, you’re gonna be like, ‘Oh, how have we not covered that ground on the holidays?'” adds Bridgit Mendler, who plays Quaid's daughter Emmy. “Like, there’s so much that happens during the holiday season. So I think to be able to unpack that through a series is awesome and very bingeable.” Ashley Tisdale, who plays Emmy's sister, adds: “It hasn’t really been done. I mean, obviously in a comedy, there’s always the holiday episode. But like Bridgit said, being able to have that episode go through the whole series… Especially with the Quinn family traditions, each episode is a day leading up to New Year’s. So you get to see them get their tree and the Christmas caroling episode. It’s really fun. It’s obviously more about the relationships and what the characters are going through and the holidays are really like the background. But I love it. It gets you so excited for the holidays.”