Holiday TV Movies & (Non-Rankin Bass) Holiday Specials - General Discussion

[MissyPoo]

I think I remember reading somewhere that they film in like 2 weeks (maybe months) or something? Or was it 4? Anywho, your right, mikeb. They did mention a short film to airing timeframe. I think they also started filming the ones mentioned in that previous EW article. I see they're rolling out another royal christmas themed movie. They probably saw what Netflix had up their sleeve with that Vanessa Hudgeons princess and the pauper movie. I'm so here for the showdown.

 

ETA: Not sure if it was previously mentioned upthread, but it looks like Lifetime is doubling their slate to 14 movies this year (woo hoo). The piece de resistance is apparently a Toni Braxton film. That number may still go up if they decide to do the short films this year.

Edited September 20, 2018 by MissyPoo

[In2You]

In the past they've filmed movies all the way up to the end of November. They have a fast turn around time frame for their films.

[Dr.OO7]

20 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Hallmark's 36 new Christmas movies were announced today.    https://ew.com/tv/hallmark-christmas-movies-2018-air-dates/

Those sound pretty decent.

[MissyPoo]

Not sure when this was announced but I spotted this on Twitter floating around with the Hallmark movie announcements.

Tia has yet another Christmas movie coming up this year on Lifetime with Tim Reid, Jackee Harry and Fatima Reedy (I never heard of her, but I looked her up and girlie is stunning!). It's called Family and Faith.

This page seems to have the goods on the upcoming movies across all networks: http://sleepykittypaws.tumblr.com/post/166921691179/2018-tv-holiday-premieres

I'm already spotting a few I want to get my hands on. And what?! Life Size 2?? A Christmas Prince 2?! The Toni Braxton movie looks like it may be IR (yay!), Bethany Joy Lenz is in another one, but it doesn't look like a sequel to Snowed-Inn (boo)...it may still happen because she tweeted something about the writers trying to come up with a story that makes sense for a continuation. Kudos to them. 

The Kali Hawk freeform movie looks like it features another multiracial cast and the Essence Atkins one sounds intriguing 

This season is looking very interesting, I must say.

Edited September 20, 2018 by MissyPoo
Link fix

[JenMD]

Wow, so many movies on so many channels.  My DVR is already crying.

[TVManiac]

Hello. I just registered in hopes that someone  can identify a Holiday Special I saw a few years ago. This is the best place I could find but if I need to move this to another section or if there are better forums for identifying old TV shows, please let me know. It was a Halloween special that aired maybe 5-6 years ago. At least that's when I watched it. It was unusual, in that it was a series of about 16 episodes, each episode was only 15-min long. I watched them all in sequence, took a few hours. The story was about two kids who get lost in an enchanted forest. They meet up with a farmer who is hunting the forest lurker. Each episode has a subplot and they have many adventures and eventually return to the farmer and find their way back home. Anyone know what the title is or any other info about this?

Thanks in Advance.

[TVFan17]

Holy cow... between Hallmark's 36 new movies and Lifetime's 18 new movies (14 of them made for Lifetime and 4 totally new acquired movies), plus whatever ends up premiering on Up, ION, Netflix and Freeform. this is going to be one crazy movie-watching season.  

Lifetime is really stepping up to the plate, though.  Remember when they only premiered ONE new movie a couple of years back (I think it was Heaven Sent or something like that)?   Now they are up to 18 never before seen Christmas movies in one single season.  Here is their slideshow (I know the slides are annoying) -

https://ew.com/tv/lifetime-original-christmas-movies-2018-airdates/

[MissyPoo]

TVManiac, that sounds vaguely familiar but nothing is coming to mind. Sorry. Hopefully, someone else more familiar can pinpoint it for ya. 

Wow, it looks like the Sister Sister movie is actually called My Christmas Inn now. OMgsh, yess! I'm so looking forward to that one. The guy Tia is paired up with looks like a guy I had a massive crush on in college. Definitely on my watch list!

So excited for these flicks. Glad to see Kyla Pratt back and surprised to see Michael Jai White on a Lifetime movie! Also excited to see Andrew Walker and Rachel Boston teamed up in a Non-Hallmark movie. I would normally hope for them on Hallmark but I agree with Andrew, they can do a little more on lifetime and it won't feel so cookie cutter. They're going to be great together.

I wonder with the new movies this year on Lifetime, they won't have any short films. If so, I'm going to miss them this year. Hope they re-air last year's selection though!

Thanks for posting that list, TVFan17. Woo hoo!

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Lifetime is really stepping up to the plate, though.  Remember when they only premiered ONE new movie a couple of years back (I think it was Heaven Sent or something like that)?

I think Lifetime and, once upon a time, ABC Family (now Freeform), used to do about four-six movies a year.  Then they really cut back and now seem to be back in the game with Hallmark's success.

It's going to be tough to keep up but I'm happy Lifetime is in the game if only because they allow their characters to be a little sexier which is nice if they have chemistry.  I'm loving some of the casting choices, though.  I loved Megan Hilty in Smash so I'm happy to see her turn up.

[TVFan17]

While trying to juggle so many new Christmas movies can be exhausting and daunting and definitely leads to burnout, I guess it's a pleasant problem to have.   I gave up trying to see every last one of the movies from all networks in 2017 because it just wasn't possible, but I tried to catch as many as I could manage, or watch whatever looked the most interesting.   I'm sure I'll be doing that again this year.  There are so many options.  It's overwhelming.

Up and Ion have not announced their new movies yet, but I wonder if they might increase their numbers too.   Up has had 7 movies for the each of the last 2 years, and I think Ion has had 5.   I wonder if they decided to step it up and add a couple more movies to their schedules.

[MissyPoo]

I know not everyone gets it, but Netflix is another one on the radar. They announced, what, four I think for this year? Including a sequel to their royal christmas one that everyone buzzed about on twitter.

[beadgirl]

Quote

Santa Jaws (movie starring Reid Miller, Courtney Lauren Cumming and Jim Klock; comic book author’s Christmas killer shark somehow comes to life and begins menacing his friends at the holidays) - Aug. 14

Hahaha, I have to hand it to that website and their commitment to listing absolutely every Christmas-related show.

[CrazyInAlabama]

My favorite is Christmas Under Wraps, where the doctor goes to Garland, Alaska to be the community doctor, and falls in love with Santa's son.    I know it's hokey, and sentimental, but it was fun even though I guessed everything that would happen.   Candace Cameron Bure certainly changes her hair style and color for every role.    

[KaveDweller]

I'm reading these lists of new Christmas movies and swear I have seen some of them before. 

I am still a sucker for holiday movies though.

[TVFan17]

AMC wants a piece of that Christmas pie... They are going zombie-free for a while, as they pile 600 hours of holiday programming onto their channel from 11/26 - 12/25, as part of the "Best Christmas Ever" event.   It doesn't sound like they are getting into creating any of their own new holiday movies at this point, but they are airing some things that used to air on Freeform (including Rankin/Bass classics and "Elf") --

http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/amc-best-christmas-ever-holiday-programming.html

Edited September 27, 2018 by TVFan17

[Dr.OO7]

On 9/27/2018 at 3:16 PM, TVFan17 said:

AMC wants a piece of that Christmas pie... They are going zombie-free for a while, as they pile 600 hours of holiday programming onto their channel from 11/26 - 12/25, as part of the "Best Christmas Ever" event.   It doesn't sound like they are getting into creating any of their own new holiday movies at this point, but they are airing some things that used to air on Freeform (including Rankin/Bass classics and "Elf") --

http://www.vulture.com/2018/09/amc-best-christmas-ever-holiday-programming.html

At least they're waiting until after Thanksgiving to start, instead of BEFORE Halloween, like Hallmark. On the minus side, it looks like they're stopping right after Christmas Day.

I hate that. I've always appreciated how Hallmark and LiteFM (in New York City) keep showing Christmas movies and playing Christmas music right until New Year's Day. The Christmas season is not over just because Christmas day is.

[TVFan17]

3 hours ago, Camille said:

At least they're waiting until after Thanksgiving to start, instead of BEFORE Halloween, like Hallmark. On the minus side, it looks like they're stopping right after Christmas Day.

I hate that. I've always appreciated how Hallmark and LiteFM (in New York City) keep showing Christmas movies and playing Christmas music right until New Year's Day. The Christmas season is not over just because Christmas day is.

Oh, I'm totally OK with any channel that wants to start their Christmas movies early, even before October 31st.     I realize that a lot of people hate it, but it doesn't bother me at all.     I would hate having to wait until Thanksgiving or later to watch them, especially when there are so many movies to watch across several channels.  In my world, I am already in Halloween mode on September 1st, so by the time it gets to late October I have had my fill of Halloween and am transitioning into Christmas movie mode.    The fact that AMC is waiting so long to get started is exactly why I doubt I will end up tuning into their channel at all for that month, unless there is nothing I want to watch on the other channels that show Christmas movies.  I love Elf and the Rankin/Bass gems, but those are not enough to pull me over to AMC for one month when I am already neck-deep in Christmas movies on at least 4 other networks by the time AMC gets started!  lol

For me, the seasons are more important that the specific calendar dates.  So I kind of celebrate the whole season of fall when September begins (or maybe even when the first Halloween items start hitting the shelves in July!!!   lol), and the actual date of 10/31 is less important to me now than it was when I was a child.   Same thing with Christmas -- it's the seasonal celebration that I love, and for me that starts on November 1st, or in late October, and the date of 12/25 is less crucial.    So that might be the main reason why I am not bothered by Christmas movies starting a few days earlier than Halloween.   The actual day of Halloween is not as big of a deal to me as all of the seasonal offerings are that precede it (if that makes sense).
 

As for the end date of the Christmas movies, it's always hilarious to discover that Lifetime has stopped showing theirs immediately after 12/25.  I remember turning to Lifetime on 12/26 at one point, and finding the "Stalked by My Doctor" movie, which was a jarring reminder that the holidays were almost over!   lol

Edited October 1, 2018 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

I kinda don't mind it. I like that fact that there's always a movie on whenever I feel like tuning in and I don't have to schedule my time in between sitcoms. I just wish they'd show more old faves on Hallmark and add more marathon showtimes for Lifetime's offerings. 

[ShelleySue]

I saw the (second) Christmas preview special this weekend and have two comments.

1.  Where was Happy the Dog?  They always make such a big deal about introducing him that it just seemed strange that he wasn't in this one.

2.  What is up with Kellie Pickler's voice?  It was like chalk on a blackboard.  But when they showed the snippet of her movie her voice sounded "normal."  Which one of those voices is her real voice?

[TVFan17]

 I watched the Kellie Pickler-hosted preview (or Second Look, or whatever it was called), and it was rough.    I remember her well from her American Idol days, and I know that she won her season of Dancing with the Stars.   I even liked a small portion of the clip from her Christmas movie, where she and Wes Brown are singing together.  But hosting this show was clearly not her strong suit.   She seemed so awkward when reading the prompter or cue cards or whatever she was reading.    

I am not sure of the date, but I think that there is going to be an even longer Countdown to Christmas preview hosted by Kellie this month.   This one will probably be an hour.   I think that Candace Cameron Bure is hosting a preview of the movies for the other channel.

In the battle of the "country music stars acting in their first Hallmark Christmas movies this year," I'd probably give the edge to LeAnn Rimes in terms of acting.  I don't expect LeAnn to be the Meryl Streep of Hallmark movies, but I think she has done a bit more acting than Kellie Pickler has, so she is probably not quite as out of her element.

 

MissyPoo - Lifetime's Christmas movie schedule (outside of the premieres of new ones) confuses me every year.  I know there was one year, or maybe several years, when they showed Christmas movies overnight, or they had a longer schedule of movies each week. So it was easier to just turn to the channel and find a Christmas movie at random times.  At some point they shortened their movie schedule and they don't show a lot of repeats anymore.  They might show a movie once for the entire holiday season and not show it again, and some of them they don't show at all anymore, on any of the Lifetime channels.   Now, when I find myself disinterested in whichever movies might be running on Hallmark's channels or on UP or Freeform, I try to turn to Lifetime to catch whatever they've got on, and I end up with something that is not a movie at all, and not Christmas themed.   I just can't get a sense of consistency with their schedule, so I never know for sure if I can only find Christmas movies on their channel on specific days of the week, or only on weekends, or maybe only a handful of movies every day,  or shown overnight closer to Christmas, and so on.   All I know is when to catch the new premieres.

 

[MissyPoo]

I think I'll be skipping both of their movies. Didn't know who the heck the Pickler girl was and I had to fast forward her scenes with a quickness to get to the clips. The Rimes chick sounds different. I wonder if she is a smoker because it's much heavier than I remember, Hallmark is making my pickings easier this year so I can eliminate more movies from my list.

5 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

MissyPoo - Lifetime's Christmas movie schedule (outside of the premieres of new ones) confuses me every year.  I know there was one year, or maybe several years, when they showed Christmas movies overnight, or they had a longer schedule of movies each week. So it was easier to just turn to the channel and find a Christmas movie at random times.  At some point they shortened their movie schedule and they don't show a lot of repeats anymore.  They might show a movie once for the entire holiday season and not show it again, and some of them they don't show at all anymore, on any of the Lifetime channels.   Now, when I find myself disinterested in whichever movies might be running on Hallmark's channels or on UP or Freeform, I try to turn to Lifetime to catch whatever they've got on, and I end up with something that is not a movie at all, and not Christmas themed.   I just can't get a sense of consistency with their schedule, so I never know for sure if I can only find Christmas movies on their channel on specific days of the week, or only on weekends, or maybe only a handful of movies every day,  or shown overnight closer to Christmas, and so on.   All I know is when to catch the new premieres.

 

 

They confuse the heck out of me, too. They seem to thrive on surprise programming. Last year they had their short films after each movie (don't think they're doing it this year, sadly), "director's cuts" of their premieres and such. I'd love to know why they don't show their older selections but I wonder if they may be doing that this year. I heard something about LMN and their movie club showing older stuff and they need the numbers to fill their catalog so I guess we'll see. I'm with you though. I wish they'd have more marathons as a nice backup in case Hallmark is showing duds. LMN was supposed to be that all movie all day everyday fill-in but now even they have reality shows and series. Ugh. Hopefully, they're a bit more consistent this year with their programming since they are trying to come for Hallmark's christmas crown.

I'm going to need to double the size of my dvr as a backup. At least there is Netflix adding more. And the Hallmark app.

[In2You]

October is far too early for Christmas movies. You get burnout by the start of December. Plus having an whole mystery channel and many cozy mysteries with Halloween and Thanksgiving themes and the fact that they also sell cards for both holidays Hallmark could do alot more in that area. 

[Jaded]

I don't find it impressive that Hallmark churns out more Xmas movies each holiday season then the previous ones. What I'd personally prefer is fewer movies that started later that were of better quality. I'm not sure if their newest Hallmark Drama channel will be involved in the one holiday almost 2 1/2 month takeover or not. Two channels full of them is more then enough and three would be overkill. Not sure if Hallmark Drama has broadened their coverage reach or not from their original limited availability.  They are weird about which of their channels show up on which tiers through TV providers. 

When looking at EW's movie lists for Lifetime and Hallmark back to back I found myself wanting to actually watch some of the ones on Lifetime  just from reading the descriptions along with seeing casts that have familiar faces along with the fact that they are visually out of Hallmark's usual snow white comfort zone.  Hallmark's list kinda blurred together and multiple movies had the same story line descriptions. I know they have a couple of movies this year with non white leads which I may check out. Hopefully the ladies in them got better hairstyles then that ugly wig Holly Robinson Peete  wears in her mystery movies. 

[TVFan17]

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

I don't find it impressive that Hallmark churns out more Xmas movies each holiday season then the previous ones. What I'd personally prefer is fewer movies that started later that were of better quality. I'm not sure if their newest Hallmark Drama channel will be involved in the one holiday almost 2 1/2 month takeover or not. Two channels full of them is more then enough and three would be overkill. Not sure if Hallmark Drama has broadened their coverage reach or not from their original limited availability.  They are weird about which of their channels show up on which tiers through TV providers. 

When looking at EW's movie lists for Lifetime and Hallmark back to back I found myself wanting to actually watch some of the ones on Lifetime  just from reading the descriptions along with seeing casts that have familiar faces along with the fact that they are visually out of Hallmark's usual snow white comfort zone.  Hallmark's list kinda blurred together and multiple movies had the same story line descriptions. I know they have a couple of movies this year with non white leads which I may check out. Hopefully the ladies in them got better hairstyles then that ugly wig Holly Robinson Peete  wears in her mystery movies. 

 

Hallmark Drama has not been mentioned in any of the press for the holiday events, so I don't think it factors into anything as far as extensive holiday content and schedules.   Not enough people have access to Hallmark Drama at this point, because there are major providers who are still not carrying it.  I think that Hallmark will probably wait until it's more accessible to more people before doing anything big with that channel.

Their streaming service will have 100 Christmas movies or something like that (some from other networks), but nothing brand new.

[dalek]

I hope this year some channel airs Mr. Magoo's A Christmas Carol, Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas, and Olive, the Other Reindeer.

And in the massively unlikely category, I would love it if someone would show The House Without A Christmas Tree.

[Kaoteek]

Man, that tumblr list of Christmas movies... on one hand, i'm already burned out on those just by looking at it, and on the other, i'm glad it exists. Now I just have to drastically cut down the number of movies i'll watch this year, which shouldnt be too hard to do, given some of the "stars" and pitches Hallmark has on its calendar.

(also, i'm glad there are more ethnicities represented... even though the movies all seem blandly similar, just like their caucasian counterparts !)

(kinda surprised by the small numbers of UpTV/ION movies, especially since, every now and then, those end up more fun than the usual HM or LT outings. That said, both Up & Ion have a tendancy to pick up the scraps of HM & co, and to air those movies that didn't fit the strict HM specs or budget, so I'm expecting both networks to announce them later on, once the bigger networks have filled their schedule)

[TVFan17]

UP and ION have not yet released their official schedules of new movies.   In 2017, I think ION made their announcement in early October, while UP made theirs in late October (or maybe it was the other way around!).   It should be any day now, that we hear what they have got coming up.   I can tell you the names of two of UP's confirmed new movies, though:

1.  Hometown Holiday (starring Kevin McGarry) -- https://www.uptv.com/movies/hometown-holiday/

IMDB page -  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8659750/?ref_=nv_sr_1

2.  Christmas on Holly Lane (starring Sarah Lancaster) -- https://www.uptv.com/movies/christmas-on-holly-lane/

Here is a video preview for Christmas on Holly Lane --  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wIyiqA3hIk

IMDB page for the movie -- https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8583694/?ref_=nv_sr_1

There are so many Christmas movies that were filmed this year, all year long (I saw photos of them on Instagram as they were filming and I know of a lot of the titles and casts), and I truly expected that more of them would have ended up with Lifetime or Hallmark.   Some of them did ultimately go to Lifetime (such as the one filmed in Ireland -- "Christmas Perfection"), but there are still quite a few more that are seemingly not attached to any network at this point (many of which are totally missing from that person's Tumblr page).    

So that could mean that some of those movies that were filmed will go to both UP and ION.   For the last 2 holiday seasons, UP had 7 new premieres, and ION had 5 new ones.  It is entirely possible that both of those channels will increase their number of new movies this year (and if that is the case, it could be taking longer for them to make their official announcements, as they wait for their acquisitions of movies to be finalized).  But whether they increase their numbers of new movies or they stay at the same numbers as last year, they will probably announce their full line-ups very soon. 

Freeform has not put out their complete 25 Days of Christmas line-up either, although their 3 new Christmas movies have been announced in media.  

Netflix has also not announced a full list of new Christmas movies.  Some of them have been individually announced in media, but there has not been one official press release or article with their entire line-up of new movies (and I think that at least one of them on that Tumblr list is just a guess and not confirmed).  I am guessing that their announcement is probably coming soon too.

Edited October 4, 2018 by TVFan17
clarification

[EyewatchTV211]

This site is helpful because it lists the movies by date: https://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2014/09/christmas-movie-tv-schedule-hallmark-up.html

[TVFan17]

When 36 movies are just not enough, hike up the number to 37 -- https://ew.com/tv/2018/10/08/hallmark-record-37th-christmas-movie-2018/

[TVFan17]

Here is FreeForm's "Kickoff to Christmas" schedule (still waiting for the 25 Days of Christmas schedule) --https://chipandco.com/freeform-has-released-the-kickoff-to-christmas-schedule-324343/

A couple of interesting things to note:

1) One of their 3 new Christmas movies is premiering on November 25th ("The Truth About Christmas"); and

2) It appears that FreeForm is now airing "Angels Sing" (I am assuming that's the one with Harry Connick Jr., Connie Britton, Willie Nelson, etc.?) -- which was never an actual Hallmark movie, but which Hallmark ran on both its main channel and on its Movies & Mysteries Channel for a few years.   If FreeForm is airing it now, I guess Hallmark has let it go for the time being.

Edited October 10, 2018 by TVFan17

[TVFan17]

Here is the UPtv network's list of 7 new Christmas movies, including the two I showed you here last week, and, curiously, another movie that is also premiering on the INSP network.    It looks like UP also acquired several of the movies that usually air on ION.

http://itsawonderfulmovie.blogspot.com/2018/10/uptv-spreads-holiday-cheer-with-seven-new-Christmas-movies.html  

https://people.com/tv/uptv-christmas-programming-2018/


(I think that ION is the only network left to announce a lineup of previously unannounced new movies that will premiere.   While the FreeForm 25 Days of Christmas schedule has not been revealed, they have announced their 3 new movies so that info is already known.    Netflix has not done one dedicated press release about Christmas movies only, but they have released info on individual titles, one at a time.  I don't know if Netflix has more coming up that they have not yet announced.)

Edited October 10, 2018 by TVFan17

[MissyPoo]

The trailer has dropped for the Kurt Russell as Santa Claus movie and it is every bit as epic as I had hoped. And by epic, I mean "wtflip is this? I don't care, I'm so there when it's on Netflix".

[TVFan17]

This is the closest we've gotten to one single article or press release about  Netflix's multiple new Christmas movies this year, but I don't think this list is complete.   https://ew.com/tv/2018/10/17/netflix-christmas-tv-movies-2018/

This EW article focuses on 3 of the new ones, and it also references the Kurt Russell movie shown in MissyPoo's post above, but all 4 of these movies are debuting in November.  I assume that something else will debut in December too?   

The Rob Lowe-Kristin Davis movie ("Christmas in the Wild") doesn't have a date yet, so maybe that one will end up airing in December.   

[LexieLily]

Maybe we should just post reminders in here every Saturday/Sunday of what movies to record/watch on what channel! Lol. 

[MissyPoo]

19 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

This is the closest we've gotten to one single article or press release about  Netflix's multiple new Christmas movies this year, but I don't think this list is complete.   https://ew.com/tv/2018/10/17/netflix-christmas-tv-movies-2018/

This EW article focuses on 3 of the new ones, and it also references the Kurt Russell movie shown in MissyPoo's post above, but all 4 of these movies are debuting in November.  I assume that something else will debut in December too?   

The Rob Lowe-Kristin Davis movie ("Christmas in the Wild") doesn't have a date yet, so maybe that one will end up airing in December.   

Yes! Thank you for posting this.  I noticed The Christmas Calendar was changed to The Holiday Calendar now. That's been on my list all year to watch (can't wait).

I'm wondering if The Christmas Camp is a December release. I was looking for that on this list but didn't see it. I remember someone mentioning it eons ago in this thread and I've been hovering over the release of the book date (now finally out woo hoo) which is supposed to have Bobby Campo in it.

15 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Maybe we should just post reminders in here every Saturday/Sunday of what movies to record/watch on what channel! Lol. 

It'd be a good-hearted attempt but I'm afraid we may get buried by the onslaught soon after it begins! haha. I'm glad for the folks who pop in to give their thoughts on ones they've seen. I plan on skipping quite a bit of Hallmark ones this year but if someone gives it the thumbs up, I may give 'em a watch.

[LexieLily]

10 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

It'd be a good-hearted attempt but I'm afraid we may get buried by the onslaught soon after it begins! haha. I'm glad for the folks who pop in to give their thoughts on ones they've seen. I plan on skipping quite a bit of Hallmark ones this year but if someone gives it the thumbs up, I may give 'em a watch.

LOL! You are probably right!

[TVFan17]

5 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Yes! Thank you for posting this.  I noticed The Christmas Calendar was changed to The Holiday Calendar now. That's been on my list all year to watch (can't wait).

I'm wondering if The Christmas Camp is a December release. I was looking for that on this list but didn't see it. I remember someone mentioning it eons ago in this thread and I've been hovering over the release of the book date (now finally out woo hoo) which is supposed to have Bobby Campo in it.

 

IMDB says that "Christmas Camp" has a December 25th release, but that seems odd, as I thought only Hallmark premiered new movies on Christmas day.   Who knows?    But sometime in December should be likely.   Maybe Netflix will release it on 12/25.

Not only is Bobby Campo (who has done 3 Christmas movies for Hallmark) in Christmas Camp,, but so is Lily Anne Harrison (daughter of Gregory).   Since Lily Anne's dad  is a semi-regular on Hallmark, and since Hallmark seems to like Bobby, back when Christmas Camp was first filming I wondered if it was going to ultimately be a Hallmark movie, or something that they acquired later on down the line.   Gregory even brought Lily Anne with him to a couple of  Hallmark's most recent TCA (Television Critics Association) media events, so it seemed likely that Lily Anne could find herself starring in a Hallmark movie at some point.

As Christmas Camp was in production earlier this year, a couple of passersby  mentioned that they were told that it was a Hallmark movie by someone on the crew, I think.  However, that kind of thing happens a lot.    When a movie is filming and it has not yet been assigned to a particular network, the production company might have hopes of getting Hallmark to take it.  So they film the movie with the hopes that Hallmark will take it, and then it becomes known as "a Hallmark movie" even if it's not actually for Hallmark at all.   A lot of movies are incorrectly labeled as Hallmark movies during production, and they end up on Lifetime, on UP or on ION.

At the same time, it does not appear that Christmas Camp was a Netflix movie from the very beginning either.  I think that if it had been, there would have been some press about it from Netflix before now, as there was about the other made-for-Netflix movies when they were filmed.    I think that CC was probably pitched to Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix, and maybe to UP.    Someone ended up taking it, I'm sure, but it doesn't appear to be Hallmark, Lifetime, UP or FreeForm who took it, unless it is a last minute addition.   That leaves Netflix and ION as the choices for where it could be shown, unless it goes right to a lesser-known streaming service of some sort.   ION would have been my last guess for where it would end up, but who knows?

 

 

This year, there are a few movies that are ending up on channels where I didn't think they would end up.   For example, a Netflix movie is in production called "Good Sam," but "Good Sam" was officially announced (by Hallmark) as a Hallmark Christmas movie in 2017 (same story and everything)!   After Hallmark announced it last year, Good Sam never materialized on either Hallmark channel.   Now it has ended up with Netflix, although it does not seem to be a Christmas movie anymore.    

Then, one of Lifetime's recurring (non-Christmas) actresses, Hannah Barefoot, shot a Christmas movie a few months ago, and I thought for sure it would end up on Lifetime since she has appeared in several killer-of-the-week movies on that network.   And yet, it is not on Lifetime's Christmas line-up, nor is it on any other line-up that has been announced so far.    Also, right now there is a Christmas movie filming called "Mr. 365," which stars actors who have appeared on UP, Hallmark and Lifetime, and it is directed by someone who has directed movies for Hallmark, UP and Lifetime, and yet it is going to end up on Passionflix!!    lol

Edited October 18, 2018 by TVFan17

[kirinan]

Soon you'll be able to keep track of all 37 (or whatever we're up to now) Hallmark Christmas movies, so you never miss a premiere. I have to admit, this wouldn't have struck me as a needed app, but I guess Hallmarkies gotta Hallmark.

https://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/video/3953272-hallmark-movie-lovers-christmas-app-is-coming/ 

[MissyPoo]

18 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

IMDB says that "Christmas Camp" has a December 25th release, but that seems odd, as I thought only Hallmark premiered new movies on Christmas day.   Who knows?    But sometime in December should be likely.   Maybe Netflix will release it on 12/25.

Not only is Bobby Campo (who has done 3 Christmas movies for Hallmark) in Christmas Camp,, but so is Lily Anne Harrison (daughter of Gregory).   Since Lily Anne's dad  is a semi-regular on Hallmark, and since Hallmark seems to like Bobby, back when Christmas Camp was first filming I wondered if it was going to ultimately be a Hallmark movie, or something that they acquired later on down the line.   Gregory even brought Lily Anne with him to a couple of  Hallmark's most recent TCA (Television Critics Association) media events, so it seemed likely that Lily Anne could find herself starring in a Hallmark movie at some point.

As Christmas Camp was in production earlier this year, a couple of passersby  mentioned that they were told that it was a Hallmark movie by someone on the crew, I think.  However, that kind of thing happens a lot.    When a movie is filming and it has not yet been assigned to a particular network, the production company might have hopes of getting Hallmark to take it.  So they film the movie with the hopes that Hallmark will take it, and then it becomes known as "a Hallmark movie" even if it's not actually for Hallmark at all.   A lot of movies are incorrectly labeled as Hallmark movies during production, and they end up on Lifetime, on UP or on ION.

At the same time, it does not appear that Christmas Camp was a Netflix movie from the very beginning either.  I think that if it had been, there would have been some press about it from Netflix before now, as there was about the other made-for-Netflix movies when they were filmed.    I think that CC was probably pitched to Hallmark, Lifetime and Netflix, and maybe to UP.    Someone ended up taking it, I'm sure, but it doesn't appear to be Hallmark, Lifetime, UP or FreeForm who took it, unless it is a last minute addition.   That leaves Netflix and ION as the choices for where it could be shown, unless it goes right to a lesser-known streaming service of some sort.   ION would have been my last guess for where it would end up, but who knows?

Thanks for the date! I'll mark it on my list...which I seem to already be running out of room. Sigh.

Yeah normally Christmas Day is saved for the newest WTCH movie which I imagine may be the case this year. As for Netflix not showing them on Christmas Day, well, a little birdie may have told her Netflix rep that Hallmark needs a little competition to up their game soooo.....not sure if that contributed to any change this year, but birdies are gonna travel here and there. I'm looking forward to it though. I'm curious if Christmas Camp was indeed a Netflix movie from the start. It seems to have started in book form with the huge sell of it being "from the screenwriter of the Netflix hit A Christmas Prince" which would be weird if Hallmark were promoting something that was bigger than their stuff during the same time. I do find it interesting that a lot of the Hallmark vets are stretching their legs on other networks this year like Andrew (who is on Lifetime because his friend and director has a movie there this year). That explains why so many new faces are being scooped up on Hallmark this year with the new added titles as well.  

[TVFan17]

14 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Thanks for the date! I'll mark it on my list...which I seem to already be running out of room. Sigh.

Yeah normally Christmas Day is saved for the newest WTCH movie which I imagine may be the case this year. As for Netflix not showing them on Christmas Day, well, a little birdie may have told her Netflix rep that Hallmark needs a little competition to up their game soooo.....not sure if that contributed to any change this year, but birdies are gonna travel here and there. I'm looking forward to it though. I'm curious if Christmas Camp was indeed a Netflix movie from the start. It seems to have started in book form with the huge sell of it being "from the screenwriter of the Netflix hit A Christmas Prince" which would be weird if Hallmark were promoting something that was bigger than their stuff during the same time. I do find it interesting that a lot of the Hallmark vets are stretching their legs on other networks this year like Andrew (who is on Lifetime because his friend and director has a movie there this year). That explains why so many new faces are being scooped up on Hallmark this year with the new added titles as well.  

 

Hallmark actors have been popping up in Christmas movies and in other non-Christmas movies on other networks for years.   Maybe it seems more noticeable  now, but it's always happened.   Some of the actors were in movies on other networks first and then ended up on Hallmark later (I even just recently saw Andrew Walker in one of those 'killer/stalker-of-the-week movies on the Lifetime Movie Network, and I am assuming it was from at least a couple of years ago, but I am not sure).     Jen Lillley did a Christmas movie for Lifetime before ever ending up on Hallmark.   Cameron Mathison was once in Christmas movies for ABC Family/FreeForm and Hallmark in the same year, and Alicia Witt once starred in Christmas movies for Lifetime and Hallmark in the same year.    I think that Rachel Boston did a Christmas movie that was shown on Lifetime way before she ever ended up on Hallmark, as did Ashley Williams.   

And then sometimes it works the other way around, where some of them do movies for other networks after doing Hallmark movies.    I remember when Jesse Hutch popped up in a Lifetime Christmas movie (with some of the worst fake snow I have ever seen) a few years ago, even after "Let it Snow" was such a hit on the Hallmark Channel.   Last year he was in an Ion snowman movie.  He has not done a Christmas movie for Hallmark since 2013.

 

The reality is that many, many of the same writers, directors, producers, production companies, crew members, supporting actors and lead actors bounce around between different networks and streaming services, and many of the same filming locations are used across different networks.   The lines can get quite blurred and it is not always clear which movies are going to end up where when they are first in production, IF they have not already been claimed or announced by a network.     Sometimes it is clear from the start which network is getting a movie, and sometimes it is not clear who is getting it because it might not even be decided until months after filming has wrapped up.    It used to mainly be Hallmark, Up, Ion, ABC Family/FreeForm and Lifetime in the TV Christmas movie game, but now Netflix is in it too.   Netflix works with some producers who also do a lot of work with Hallmark on a regular basis, so that further confuses the issue.  And even streaming services such as Passionflix and Pure Flix are getting in on the movie action too.    (PixL has a lot of exclusive non-Christmas movies, but their Christmas movies are mostly those from years ago that are shared with Hallmark.)

The Christmas movie that Andrew Walker did for Lifetime last year (with Bethany Joy Lenz) was something that he did not realize was going to be for Lifetime when he started it.  He took last year's job under the assumption that it was going to be for Hallmark.  When he got to the location, Gary told him it was going to be for Lifetime.    This year, Lifetime filmed the movie with Andrew and Rachel pretty early in the year -- before Hallmark really got in the swing of filming their own Christmas movies -- and I am guessing that he didn't want to do any other Christmas movies this year, after he filmed the one for Lifetime.   Lifetime got to him first, whereas Hallmark dragged their heels.   lol    He says he turns some offers down, and he had probably had his fill of Christmas movies for the year, after that shoot.    I would guess that Hallmark eventually offered him a Christmas movie for this year and he said no, instead doing the Love in Design movie with Danica and the recent Wedding March installment.   (He has said that they offer him a lot of things with short notice, with not much time to prepare.)

 

To me, it doesn't seem like "Christmas Camp" was a Netflix movie from the start, because I think we probably would have seen an article about it being for Netflix months ago, when it was filming.   Netflix doesn't seem to shy away from stepping up and saying "This is our movie!" when something is in production.     I suspect that the production company (MarVista and whoever else) made the movie and pitched it to different networks, including Hallmark and Lifetime, and then someone else ultimately took it -- possibly Netflix.   At this point, the only person saying it is a Netflix movie is someone with a Tumblr page and a Twitter feed.    Netflix has not announced it yet, so it was most likely something they acquired later on (assuming it is theirs), and were waiting for everything to be finalized before making the announcement.    

As I said in an above post, Netflix is now filming a movie ("Good Sam") that was publicly and officially announced by Hallmark as a Hallmark Christmas movie just last year.    "Christmas in the Wild" (Netflix) was also originally supposed to end up with Hallmark, with Kristin Davis attached, but it was not going to be a Christmas movie at that point.  Same story -- just not set at Christmas time.   Locations were even scouted in Africa when it was still supposed to be a Hallmark movie.    Somewhere along the line, over the last couple of years, Hallmark became detached from "Wild at Heart" (the original title) and it ended up with Netflix as "Christmas in the Wild"!  lol   So all kinds of crazy things happen in regards to these movies being made and where they ultimately end up.  

 

Edited to add:   See this Facebook post from actor John James, from June.   https://www.facebook.com/johnjamesactor/photos/a.276182706205417/387247378432282/?type=3&theater    He referred to Christmas Camp as a Hallmark movie.  Although we know that Hallmark has not claimed this movie and it is not on their line-up at all, this shows that it was assumed that it was going to Hallmark at the time of filming (which explains how that idea got out to the random passersby who said it was for Hallmark when it was filming).   That was probably the intention (for it to go to Hallmark), but then it didn't happen and the movie was up for grabs after that.

Edited October 20, 2018 by TVFan17
Found the John James photo

[In2You]

9 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Thanks for the date! I'll mark it on my list...which I seem to already be running out of room. Sigh.

Yeah normally Christmas Day is saved for the newest WTCH movie which I imagine may be the case this year. As for Netflix not showing them on Christmas Day, well, a little birdie may have told her Netflix rep that Hallmark needs a little competition to up their game soooo.....not sure if that contributed to any change this year, but birdies are gonna travel here and there. I'm looking forward to it though. I'm curious if Christmas Camp was indeed a Netflix movie from the start. It seems to have started in book form with the huge sell of it being "from the screenwriter of the Netflix hit A Christmas Prince" which would be weird if Hallmark were promoting something that was bigger than their stuff during the same time. I do find it interesting that a lot of the Hallmark vets are stretching their legs on other networks this year like Andrew (who is on Lifetime because his friend and director has a movie there this year). That explains why so many new faces are being scooped up on Hallmark this year with the new added titles as well.  

Christmas Camp is one of those books that was written to be a tie in to the movie which was already in the works. I read about it months ago with it being Netflix from the start. But the question was 2018 Netflix or 2019 Netflix.

Edited October 19, 2018 by In2You

[kirinan]

Umm...so now there's this: Hallmark Christmas radio. I have Sirius XM in my car, so I guess I'll at least give it a listen, but I can't say this particular thing was missing from my life.

[TVFan17]

5 hours ago, kirinan said:

Umm...so now there's this: Hallmark Christmas radio. I have Sirius XM in my car, so I guess I'll at least give it a listen, but I can't say this particular thing was missing from my life.

I saw a mention of that earlier today and was very surprised!  I think  they had a Pandora channel for the last couple of holiday seasons, although I could be remembering that incorrectly (I don't have Pandora).

I do listen to some of the holiday channels on SiriusXM during the season (when I need background sound and am in the mood for music more than movies), but I'm not sure about this Hallmark station.  I mean, I'll check it out to see which songs are being played, of course, but I usually end up going with whichever channel is playing more of the specific versions of songs that I like.    I don't know if I am the only oddball who thinks this way, but sometimes I gravitate towards one channel or the other because it has better versions of "O Holy Night" or "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" than the other channels.  lol  Or I might stick with a channel that throws in a couple of more recent/modern Christmas songs (not classics, in other words).

 

Here is info on The CW's holiday programming this year -- http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2018/10/23/the-cw-gets-into-the-spirit-with-its-schedule-of-upcoming-holiday-specials-314/20181023cw01/?fbclid=IwAR1ZVesVYwrNouwXViWvugfyu7vcphLQjQEgtO0hKa_TBMkTu9BB5Sax7Ps

Edited October 23, 2018 by TVFan17

[Dr.OO7]

So, the Hallmark marathon starts on Friday. I'm looking forward to snarking and ridiculing them with all of you.

[TVFan17]

15 hours ago, Camille said:

So, the Hallmark marathon starts on Friday. I'm looking forward to snarking and ridiculing them with all of you.

I actually love the marathon and am so glad it's here every year.     I don't love some of the movies, of course, but the event as a whole brings me joy,  and it has become a big part of my holiday season, just as watching  TV shows I love on other networks  brings me joy throughout the year.   

A big issue for me with the viewer response to Hallmark movies is that it is either way too positive, as everyone effusively praises Hallmark, expressing how much they love everything, and every movie is wonderful, and every decision Hallmark makes is the best decision ever, and Hallmark never makes any mistakes, etc., OR it is way too negative and critical, and everything Hallmark does is wrong or terrible, or otherwise unsatisfactory, or not like it was done years ago,  and everything is just an endless stream of "let's bash Hallmark movies" comments, which can seem very much like beating a dead horse after a while.

For someone such as myself, who is an actual fan of the movies -- but is not oblivious to Hallmark's occasional questionable decisions, faults and flaws  as well -- it's hard to find people who chat about these movies  who are neither approaching them from an overly positive perspective nor an overly negative perspective, but, rather, just keeping an open mind about each movie.  

 

However, one hilarious podcast from some mostly non-fans of Hallmark is Deck the Hallmark -- https://audioboom.com/channel/deckthehallmark  

Deck the Hallmark features 3 men reviewing and chatting about Hallmark movies, with occasional guests sitting in.    One of the guys is supposedly a Hallmark fan and loves the movies, and another one hates the movies, while the other guy kinds/sorta likes the movies sometimes (but not often).   It's mostly critical and full of snark and humor, so if you want to hear a funny take on the movies from men, I recommend Deck the Hallmark.  They have not reviewed all of Hallmark's non-Christmas movies,  but they have reviewed some of them.   They are taking on all 37 of the upcoming Hallmark Christmas movies, though, which promises to be wildly entertaining!

[MissyPoo]

That podcast is so win to me. I stumbled upon it on Facebook sometime around when they arrived and I've been hooked every since. Not to mention, my husband and I feel like we've found our spirit animals as I drag him through the movie marathons. It's also fun seeing the movies through fresh eyes since I'm so used to their formula. 

I agree though about the spectrum. Most of the online communities were way too positive and believe Hallmark can do no wrong, but I like that we can give honest feedback and a little snark here because it makes things fun and I like the various insights, some of which I may not have thought of myself. No network or company is above critical feedback, especially when we've seen the good things they can put out.

 

ETA: And then there was tea: https://www.worldmarket.com/product/the-republic-of-tea-hallmark-channel-christmas-tea.do

Edited October 25, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Veronica]

I’m super excited about watching Hallmark Christmas movies all weekend! There are 40 billion other channels to watch if either or my 2 most hated - “The Christmas Shoes” or “A Christmas Blessing”-  is airing. There are a couple of more I’m not crazy about, but those 2 I detest. 

I like the predictability and certainties of the happy endings I know these movies will have. 

My goal is to not leave my house this weekend. 

[mikeb]

1 hour ago, Veronica said:

I’m super excited about watching Hallmark Christmas movies all weekend! There are 40 billion other channels to watch if either or my 2 most hated - “The Christmas Shoes” or “A Christmas Blessing”-  is airing. There are a couple of more I’m not crazy about, but those 2 I detest. 

 

I just commented on the Hallmark Movie forum about "The Christmas Secret" and "The Christmas Note" which are airing on HMM channel this afternoon.  They are both based on books by Donna VanLiere who also wrote the books that "The Christmas Shoes" and "The Christmas Blessing" are based on.    Guessing you would not be a fan of those either, if you have seen them.

Edited October 26, 2018 by mikeb

[MissyPoo]

The trailer for The Holiday Calendar (formerly The Christmas Calendar) has dropped (well, it dropped a few days ago but I missed it :-() and it looks awesome! I can't wait to see it next Friday!

[kirinan]

8 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

The trailer for The Holiday Calendar (formerly The Christmas Calendar) has dropped (well, it dropped a few days ago but I missed it :-() and it looks awesome! I can't wait to see it next Friday!

It does! I really need to get Netflix sometime soon, because I believe you all mentioned a couple of interesting holiday movies from there last year.