Dr. Steve Finch (Matthew Broderick), an eye doctor with a wife, Kelly (Kristin Davis), and two children, a teen daughter named Madison (Alia Shawcat) and a preteen son named Carter, is played by Matthew Broderick (Dylan Blue).
Steve is zealous about his Christmas traditions, to the point that they are causing more harm than good to his family and others. Buddy Hall (Danny DeVito), his wife Tia (Kristin Chenoweth), and his two twin daughters Emily (Kelly Aldridge) and Ashley (Sabrina Aldridge) move into the sole house across the street, and his Christmas tradition preparations start to fall apart.
Buddy's children have discovered and shown him how to observe houses from orbit using a program called 'My Earth,' which is similar to 'Google Earth.' He is disappointed, however, that their house does not appear, despite the fact that the Finches' house does.