Robert Buckley and Kimberley Sustad bring the laughs, love and a touch of cynicism to their new Hallmark holiday movie - and fans will enjoy it all. "I think excessive positivity matched with chronic misfortune is a really funny equation," Buckley, 44, exclusively told Us Weekly on Thursday, October 23, of the inspiration behind Merry Christmas, Ted Cooper! "That was sort of the through line that I wanted to see. A guy who is just Mr. Bright Side, having things never go his way, and what that looks like.