Chili’s Hopes Heartwarming Margarita Drama on Lifetime is a Rib-Tickler

variety.com:

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor The star of Lifetime’s next big sudsy movie may be the drink at the center of the plot. When Maria Menounos’ character gets tired of paying for high-priced margaritas in the big city, she high-tails back to Ferguson Falls, her hometown, where National Margarita Day is a big deal at the local Chili’s — and so is an encounter with a former significant other, played by actor Taye Diggs.

Menounos isn’t going to throw one of the tequila-based concoctions in anyone’s face, but audiences will be hard-pressed to miss the message about celebrating at the well-known chain eatery.

And that’s just the way Chili’s wants it, since it is, after all, paying for the project, which is titled “I’ll Be Home for National Margarita Day” and is 15 minutes long.

It will debut on Lifetime on February 19. The hope is that viewers will feel like they’re being entertained, not cajoled to buy something, says Menounos., “There’s no wink, no margarita in the face of the camera, or that kind of thing,” she says, adding: “I played it seriously.” The short film on Lifetime will look a lot like the stuff to which its fans might typically tune.