Looks like Santa came a little bit early this year, kiddies! At least to the Cyrus household. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Billy Ray Cyrus has signed on to star in the upcoming Hallmark Channel classic-to-be Christmas in Canaan, which will air in December.

The TV movie, based on a novel co-written by Kenny Rogers (of roasted chicken fame) and Donald Davenport, follows the unlikely friendship that develops between a white boy and a black boy in 1960s Texas as they attempt to care for a wounded puppy after getting in a fight at school.

Cyrus will play the father of one of the boys who, along with the other boy’s grandmother, schemes to bring the two boys together over the injured animal. We can already feel those ol’ heartstrings being pulled… Let us know in the comments section: Does this sound like the greatest Christmas story of all time, or what?

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