In December, a new cable TV-movie will take a light look at a very serious subject: same-sex marriage.

Wedding Wars stars John Stamos (who just joined the cast of ER, but is probably best known for playing Uncle Jesse on the cult favorite Full House) and James Brolin (a legendary actor who recently worked in the TV-film The Reagans, and is married to diva, actress, singer, and gay icon Barbra Streisand). Eric Dane (from X-Men and Grey’s Anatomy, where he plays the famous Dr. McSteamy), and Bonnie Somerville (from The O.C. and Grosse Pointe) help round out the cast.

The romantic comedy was written by Stephen Mazur (who also co-wrote the script for the Jim Carrey film Liar, Liar), and directed by Jim Fall (known for directing another gay romantic comedy, Trick, and the children’s flick The Lizzie McGuire Movie). Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are the executive producers.

In the film, Stamos plays a gay party planner named Shel, who has committed to planning the wedding of his straight brother Ben (Dane), but decides to strike when he discovers that Ben is the one who wrote the governor of Maine’s speech against same-sex marriage. (Ben is the governor’s campaign manager and is also marrying the governor of Maine’s daughter, Maggie, played by Somerville.)

“Initially, my character has a knee-jerk reaction,” Stamos told Entertainment Tonight. “If my brother can have something, why can’t I? The point is, initially, Shel [strikes] because he is mad at his brother.”

Shel’s act of protest soon gets national attention, with gay men everywhere going on strike at their jobs. The wedding—now being planned by a far less capable person—and the marriage are suddenly in danger of falling apart.

“It’s My Best Friend’s Wedding meets In & Out,” Bob DeBitetto, general manager of A&E, was quoted as saying in a USA Today story. “It is a lighthearted romantic comedy, but it addresses an issue of some weight in a way that is accessible.”

Stamos, who is straight in real life, told ET he liked the character of Shel and didn’t see him as just another gay stock character. “I didn’t really think about the character being gay other than he was in love with a man. I didn’t think of playing a stereotype. I loved his passion. I loved what he believed and how he went about it. The movie has a nice message.” Stamos previously played a gay character (the Master of Ceremonies) in the Broadway production of Cabaret.

Given Brolin’s previous role as Ronald Reagan in The Reagans, and his character’s conservative stance in Wedding Wars, one might think Brolin will just be playing a Reagan-type character in this TV-movie. But Brolin assured critics at a Television Association Critics tour that that would not be the case. “[Brolin said] he would not be channeling Reagan again, joking that Stamos does a better presidential impression than he does,” reported Multichannel News.

Still, Brolin initially had his doubts about doing the film. “I was worried that it was a serious subject and [this film] might be too frivolous,” he said to ET. (Brolin also told ET that when young people begin to vote, “this issue [of same-sex marriage] will be moot.”)

The film’s producers, Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, told Multichannel News that they anticipated a varied response to the film, but also said that “it’s better to put a message out when people don’t know they’re getting one.”

Wedding Wars will be premiering on A&E on December 11th at 9pm ET/PT. A&E, which features a wide variety of programming—ranging from reality TV shows to drama series—currently reaches over 91 million houses.

Until next time!