AnnaRose

Haha. I felt the same way when I watched it for the first time. I hated Melissa's character at first, and thought there was no way the movie would ever be able to redeem her character and sell her romance with her kidnap victim. I was wrong, and the movie ended up being very enjoyable.

But if pretty much all the other hundreds of channels feature same sex relationships, then wouldn't Hallmark expressly avoiding them increase diversity in the types of channels and content available? Otherwise they're all the same.

That's how I feel about the whole thing. I prefer to have a diversity of opinions, and people should be allowed to have their beliefs and preferences and not be attacked for them or bullied until they "get in line" with the dominant belief/opinion. The hypocrisy astounds me. Remember when we used to respect other people's opinions, beliefs, religious views and preferences? Now if any of those are counter to what a certain vocal group (especially the media) deems acceptable, it has to be stomped out by any means possible (including financial retribution) and the people stomping on the stompees get to feel all self-righteous about it. Just wait until the mob-rule thought police turns against the current bullies some day. Karma can be a bitch.

Oh my God, I hate Mabel! She pretty much ruins the show for me. And it worries me that it might be a fairly accurate description of college kids her age, from my experience and from what I've read/seen. In that episode in which Paul spoke to Mabel's film class -- those students were so rude, nasty and obnoxious to him, and so convinced that they had the moral high ground giving them the right to behave horribly. It was very difficult to continue suffering through these episodes. I feel like the show/writers have lost everything that gave the original its humor and charm.

I was wondering if that was Kaley. I couldn't find any mention online about her appearing on Young Sheldon. Anyway, I thought this was a very solid episode, and I laughed quite a bit.

I don't have Showtime, so I'll probably never see A Very British Christmas... but your epic post was more entertaining than a number of Christmas movies I've watched this year. (Or at least tried to watch before giving up.) Thanks for your hilarious recap! :)

Thank you for posting that... I thought I was remembering the original series wrong. Yes, unfortunately Mark has a new wife. Fran was mentioned, but I only recall hearing her name once and I don't even remember what was said. There may have been more than one mention, but I watched the episodes quickly, (feeling mostly annoyed,) and it's all kind of fuzzy. It sucks because it seemed like Fran was mostly erased from existence, and I was not expecting that at all.

I was so disappointed that Fran wasn't in it. For some reason I felt sure she had signed on for the reboot. And because of a Spectrum issue, I stopped watching the original series at the beginning of the fifth season, and I really thought Fran and Mark got back together eventually. So when he walked in with his new wife, I was very taken aback.

I agree. I lived in the South for many years and rarely heard southern accents. I find it bizarre that people expect everybody who lives in the south to speak with a drawl or a twang. Other than y'all (which I also say), the other common verbal indication that a person was raised in the south is the tendency to say "Yes/no mam/sir". I love that charming display of respect/manners. My favorite thing about this show, by far, is the relationship between Wade and his daughters... and this episode didn't disappoint in that regard. Also, it was nice to see the actress who played Laurie in the television version of About a Boy, and I liked both the conflict and the resolution in that storyline. Are sullen teenage boys even more sullen and antisocial in the age of smart phone addiction? Lane was probably very realistic, unfortunately. Good episode.

Eh. There are hundreds of television channels and tons of other platforms, so it doesn't bother me if one wants to cater to Christians. And It's fine by me if Christians like to watch and read things that reflect their culture and values. I buy a lot of Kindle books and there's a huge market for Christian fiction. It's not my cup of tea, but that's what a particular group enjoys... so I'm not going to get upset over it. They are allowed to have their views and preferences too, in my opinion.

I just watched my old recording (from last year) of Naughty or Nice. I love everything about that movie, and have watched it several times. It was my original gateway Christmas movie - the reason I started watching tons of Hallmark Christmas movies two years ago. Hillary Burton shines as Krissy Kringle (and no, she's not Santa's daughter... just unfortunately named,) who is going through a rough patch in her life, and Gabriel Tigerman is perfect as her hilarious new friend Marco. It's being broadcast Wednesday morning at 2:09 a.m. Eastern... so if anybody here has never seen it (or would like to catch it again)... set your DVR. :)

I still miss that show so much! And even though it was on ABC, I think CBS was foolish for not picking it up when it was cancelled. The Kids are Alright was critically acclaimed and had ratings that were better than some of CBS's current shows (including Carol's Second Act that's on Thursday nights). I think it would have been terrific following Young Sheldon. They both are/were sweet and funny/hilarious, nostalgic shows, set in another era, with voice-over narration by one of the grown-up children, and they were both perfectly cast with young actors that are wonderful in their roles. (The adult casting was fantastic also.) Such a missed opportunity!

Same here.

I agree. I love seeing beautiful homes, but I prefer them to be more modest and realistic. In other words, less over-the-top materialism and more simple, warm, cozy, not-so-big homes that are beautifully finished and decorated. (And that you can believe the owners actually might be able to afford in real life.) Kind of like Kate Winslet's character's cottage in The Holiday, versus Cameron Diaz's character's home in that same movie - which, if it was a Hallmark movie, would be owned by the lady who owns the local bakery, or the part-time jewelry maker. 😄

Thanks for mentioning that! I've never seen it, but it looks like a gem, and I have it set to record this Friday morning. (It's being shown on HM&M.)

Well, in the third episode of the series, Sheldon raised his hand and made a comment, and Mary scolded him and apologized to the pastor... but the pastor said it was fine and invited Sheldon up to the front to discuss his sermon... he's probably regretted encouraging him ever since. 😉

I've never seen it, but always remember the title because Christmas Land has some of the worst reviews I've ever seen for one of these movies.

Twoods, Two Turtle Doves was scheduled yesterday afternoon on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel. I don't have Hallmark Movies channel either, but if you have the HM&M channel, maybe you can keep an eye out for it there.

I watched that for the first time last year and loved it. I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's definitely one of the better Christmas movies, and such a nice change from the usual storylines.

Thank you for that - I had forgotten when the new episodes were supposed to start. They're going to release all of them at once, right? I actually just tried the new box with the new firmware, and the episodes are not locked on that device. (I should have tried that sooner!) I will have to call Spectrum and have them fix our DVR. Thanks again for the help and advice Kohola3 and Ailianna!

Thanks for letting me know that. Although, if I have to go back to season two and FF through all the episodes to where I left off in season five, that will take a lot of time. (Especially if I have to do that each time I want to watch another few episodes.) Yes, I may have to do that. They seemed to disappear around the time we had one of our cable boxes replaced. The new box has very different firmware and On Demand... so maybe that goofed something up with our DVR. Does anybody have a link to Spectrum's announcement about the date until which the old episodes would be available? I thought it was November 30th, but I'm not completely sure.

I was in the middle of season five a couple weeks ago, when the episodes became suddenly unavailable unless I pay for an upgrade. I've been so annoyed with Spectrum! After spending so much time trying to rewatch the original series before the new season begins... I can't believe they just pulled them like that. I thought they were supposed to be available until at least the end of November, if not longer. Does anybody else still have them available to stream for free?

Doris is the worst! She is such a horrible person that I didn't even feel bad for her. Actually, Richard is also a horrible person, so they are very well matched. Honestly, it would probably be better for them to just stay together rather than inflict their horribleness on other people. 😉 About Cooper... I don't think he's delusional. I think of it this way... There are times kind and generous adults kind of "adopt" (not legally, but otherwise) a kid in need and include them as a member of their family because they desperately need parenting. Cooper is very aware that he needs parenting and his parents are not up to the task - for all intents and purposes it seems he doesn't even really have parents - so he's "adopted" his best friend's parents as his own. I think it's sweet and I'm glad Katie and Greg are able to provide a lot of what he needs, that he should have gotten from his own parents. (Plus Cooper gets to experience what reality is like for people who aren't super-rich, which is a big bonus.) For sure! That was definitely a plot-fail. (I still enjoyed the episode though.)

Thanks for mentioning that. While I was watching The Christmas Hope, I didn't realize it was a sequel. The Christmas Shoes is on Lifetime this afternoon (4:00pm Eastern) and I am recording it. My cable provider doesn't include Hallmark Drama, so I guess I won't be able to see The Christmas Blessing. 😞 Oh well. It would have been nice to see the entire series.

I watched a dramatic Christmas movie last night that I recorded on Lifetime. It is ten years old, but was very good! It's called The Christmas Hope starring Madeleine Stowe and James Remar as a couple who are somewhat estranged due to the loss of their son two years earlier, and they take a newly orphaned young girl into their home for Christmas. Has anybody here seen it? It was tragic, but very moving, and had a happy ending of course. I think it may have originally aired on Hallmark back in 2009.