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

[Dr.OO7]

2 hours ago, anniebird said:

I'm a sucker for a cute guy in glasses

Hell, yes.

[MerBearHou]

1 hour ago, Camille said:

Hell, yes.

4 hours ago, anniebird said:

Thanks to the posters a few pages ago who recommended A Christmas Contract - I recorded it and watched it last night. I liked it a lot, especially the leading man - I'm a sucker for a cute guy in glasses.

Ditto!!  

[Irlandesa]

9 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

To be honest, the only thing I really noticed about A Merry Christmas Match was that, despite having never seen Kyle Dean Massey in my life, my gaydar started pinging as soon as he appeared on screen, and as such, I never once believed in his romance with Newbrough.

Oddly, in his office scenes, my gaydar was pinging as well. (And I didn't think I had seen him either but then I read on his IMDb page that he was Kevin on Nashville so I had seen him.)

But it was only in the office scenes.  I didn't find it distracting during the rest of the film which is probably why I liked it.

13 hours ago, Misslindsey said:

I was going to watch this because I saw Lexi Lawson in Hamilton awhile back. Now I am not sure I want to check it out.

Well don't go by me. I seem to be a bit of a contrarian this season.

On 11/3/2019 at 8:03 PM, In2You said:

I really liked this movie. It was a little different from the usual warm and fuzzy Christmas flick.

I liked the Christmas With A Prince sequel more than I liked the first movie largely because of this. It wasn't heavy or sad or dark but the movie really benefited from having a villainess ready to go all out.  It was plot, people.  Plot! And the actress seemed to have a lot of fun with it.  She was just campy enough but not too much. I still didn't care much about the main love story and I still think his eyelids look weird but that didn't matter since stuff happened to keep things interesting.

And oh, King Sheffield is a stone cold silver fox. I'm glad he was in this more instead of just appearing via Skype.

Oh a random thought about Two Turtle Doves--I love when writers write about professions they know nothing about but think they do and so they don't research it.  As as result, Two Turtle Doves had one of the most cringeworthy lines when one character told the lead "Congratulations on your paper, I hear it got excellent peer reviews."

That is not what peer review is when it comes to academic papers, writers.

[twoods]

They really need to air Two Turtle Doves on the regular Hallmark channel so I can watch it. I hate not having the movie channel!

I haven’t liked Jodie Sweetin’s prior Hallmark movies so was presently surprised with her recent movie with Andrew Walker. I wonder if he made her better or if they just fed off of each other but it was enjoyable to watch.

[Guest]

16 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Or... who knows?  Maybe Megan is the running joke for a while, but they might switch to something different in the middle of the season, for the December movies -- maybe a different storm name, or a company name, or a brand of toys or whatever.  Something that makes sense to mention in every Christmas movie.

Hmm. Now you have me wondering if the ox flu that plagued The Road Home for Christmas is going to make a reappearance. 

Whoever came up with this deserves a raise. How long before it becomes a meme?

Edited November 5, 2019 by Guest

[In2You]

7 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked the Christmas With A Prince sequel more than I liked the first movie largely because of this. It wasn't heavy or sad or dark but the movie really benefited from having a villainess ready to go all out.  It was plot, people.  Plot! And the actress seemed to have a lot of fun with it.  She was just campy enough but not too much. I still didn't care much about the main love story and I still think his eyelids look weird but that didn't matter since stuff happened to keep things interesting.

And oh, King Sheffield is a stone cold silver fox. I'm glad he was in this more instead of just appearing via Skype.

It kept me entertained and was a nice departure from the usual sappy childhood fantasy approach they take with these royalty movies. The royal ex-girlfriend didn't just stand around and make mean comments. She had her rival detained, she tried to blackmail her way back into a relationship, she caused a delay in shipment of medical supplies, etc. If Hallmark aired something like this there would be tons of pearl clutchers on Facebook. 

[Suzysite]

20 hours ago, anniebird said:

He always sounds like he has a cold - I keep wanting him to blow his nose.

Probably from all those years of coke snorting.   He's a loon and the antithesis of what I want to watch on a Christmas movie.

[Was-MArsenault]

Oh wow. So Hallmark Drama is showing a really old movie from 1986 right now with John Denver and Jane Kaczmarek called The Christmas Gift.

[anniebird]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Oh a random thought about Two Turtle Doves--I love when writers write about professions they know nothing about but think they do and so they don't research it.  As as result, Two Turtle Doves had one of the most cringeworthy lines when one character told the lead "Congratulations on your paper, I hear it got excellent peer reviews."

That is not what peer review is when it comes to academic papers, writers.

I know exactly what you mean - there's a Christmas movie about a flight attendant who has to take care of an unaccompanied minor and in the scene before the passengers board she goes down the aisle closing all the empty overhead bins. 

[TVFan17]

10 hours ago, Dani said:

Hmm. Now you have me wondering if the ox flu that plagued The Road Home for Christmas is going to make a reappearance. 

Whoever came up with this deserves a raise. How long before it becomes a meme?

Yes -- the creator of Winter Storm Megan is a genius, as buzz has been generated and people will now tune in to see if the storm appears in other movies!  He/she absolutely deserves a raise and a big Christmas bonus!

I posted about Winter Storm Megan/Meghan on Twitter a couple of nights ago, and Alonso D. saw it and changed his handle a few minutes later.   First he had it spelled as "Megan."  Then he eventually changed it to the version shown above, with the "(h)" inserted into the middle.   And he later changed it to "Meghan" without the parentheses last night.   lol  He's a funny guy!   (Side note:  I do not follow Ho Ho Holiday Viewing on Twitter or see posts from that account -- intentionally -- so I only saw what Alonso did, not the HHHV comment.)

Winter Storm Megan/Meghan is sweeping the nation!  lol

Alonso also commented on the Christmas Scavenger Hunt movie for Hallmark to say that there was real snow in it (which is very true).  I said that maybe the snow was part of Winter Storm Megan/Meghan, but then I realized that Megan/Meghan is in the Lifetime universe and not in the Hallmark universe, so the Hallmark version would have to be Winter Storm Candace or something like that.

Edited to add:  I totally forgot to say that, yes, I agree with you in wondering if the dreaded Ox Flu is going to be a running joke in future movies!  While I am enjoying Megan/Meghan right now, I think it would make sense for Lifetime to shift into a different ongoing thing for the December batch of movies, especially since we might not hear about WSM in the acquired movies anyway.

 

Edited November 5, 2019 by TVFan17
Forgot to add Ox Flu commentary!

[AnnaRose]

22 hours ago, twoods said:

They really need to air Two Turtle Doves on the regular Hallmark channel so I can watch it. I hate not having the movie channel!

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. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by AnnaRose

[TVFan17]

I think I agree with the Deck the Hallmark Podcast guys' assessment of Two Turtle Doves - or at least some of what they said.   They essentially agreed that it was well written, and deeper than a usual Hallmark movie, and they thought it was good... but at least one of them said he wouldn't necessarily watch it again and again.  They also said it felt like a long movie, and I definitely agree with that.

My personal preference is always the lighter, fluffier, (hopefully) funnier Hallmark movies.  An occasional serious movie is okay, but I find that I don't necessarily watch the serious or heartstring-tugging ones every year.  Sometimes I'll skip a year or two and then watch them again, whereas I can watch something like Nine Lives of Christmas, Snow Bride and Christmas Getaway multiple times in one single holiday season or Christmas in July event.   The more serious, meaningful movies are also not great as background sound for me.  They require more attention.

But I think that Two Turtle Doves will be the kind of movie that a lot of people want Hallmark to make more of, all the time, and it will probably end up being a favorite of many viewers by the end of this holiday season.

[twoods]

4 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

Twoods, Two Turtle Doves was scheduled yesterday afternoon on the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel.  I recorded it but haven't checked it to make sure they didn't change their schedule. 

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. 

Thank you,  but I don’t have that channel either. Direct TV is expensive to get the higher tier which has all the Hallmark channels. I started watching Christmas at the Palace which was on last year, and it’s not so bad yet. The actress has been in other royal movies as well and I liked her well enough in them so will give it a try.

[MissyPoo]

17 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

I liked the Christmas With A Prince sequel more than I liked the first movie largely because of this. It wasn't heavy or sad or dark but the movie really benefited from having a villainess ready to go all out.  It was plot, people.  Plot! And the actress seemed to have a lot of fun with it.  She was just campy enough but not too much. I still didn't care much about the main love story and I still think his eyelids look weird but that didn't matter since stuff happened to keep things interesting.

And oh, King Sheffield is a stone cold silver fox. I'm glad he was in this more instead of just appearing via Skype.

Oh a random thought about Two Turtle Doves--I love when writers write about professions they know nothing about but think they do and so they don't research it.  As as result, Two Turtle Doves had one of the most cringeworthy lines when one character told the lead "Congratulations on your paper, I hear it got excellent peer reviews."

That is not what peer review is when it comes to academic papers, writers.

9 hours ago, In2You said:

It kept me entertained and was a nice departure from the usual sappy childhood fantasy approach they take with these royalty movies. The royal ex-girlfriend didn't just stand around and make mean comments. She had her rival detained, she tried to blackmail her way back into a relationship, she caused a delay in shipment of medical supplies, etc. If Hallmark aired something like this there would be tons of pearl clutchers on Facebook. 

I haven't seen this one but I'm eager to check it out based on these comments. Especially, if it's better than the first movie.

I watched Always and Forever Christmas and can confirm there was mention of Winter Storm Meghan. I was confused about what it was when I saw Twitter mentions but now that I see it's part of Lifetime's Christmas Cinematic Universe, I'm definitely intrigued. 

Lexie Lawson was all right, if not a bit over the top that it seemed like she struggled at times. I kinda wished she played it more natural and dramatic. The movie itself was okay. I like the idea that she had a special gift for tapping into finding the perfect presents that people needed and I wish they really went all out with that fantasy angle. They were already heading there with

Spoiler

Beth "Mrs. Claus" Broderick

 whom I always enjoy. Her family was adorable, too.

[seasons]

Watched "the Christmas Cure" 2017 again last night which i enjoy. But i can't get over how patrick duffy, who plays the dad, has aged. Alexa says he is 70 but to me he looks older than that. Like a frail little old man. With a curly mullet and bushy eyebrows. 

i see he is in another new movie this weekend. 

his wife died in 2017. Looks like they had a long and happy marriage.

Edited November 6, 2019 by seasons

[Guest]

11 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I think I agree with the Deck the Hallmark Podcast guys' assessment of Two Turtle Doves - or at least some of what they said.   They essentially agreed that it was well written, and deeper than a usual Hallmark movie, and they thought it was good... but at least one of them said he wouldn't necessarily watch it again and again.  They also said it felt like a long movie, and I definitely agree with that.

My personal preference is always the lighter, fluffier, (hopefully) funnier Hallmark movies.  An occasional serious movie is okay, but I find that I don't necessarily watch the serious or heartstring-tugging ones every year.  Sometimes I'll skip a year or two and then watch them again, whereas I can watch something like Nine Lives of Christmas, Snow Bride and Christmas Getaway multiple times in one single holiday season or Christmas in July event.   The more serious, meaningful movies are also not great as background sound for me.  They require more attention.

But I think that Two Turtle Doves will be the kind of movie that a lot of people want Hallmark to make more of, all the time, and it will probably end up being a favorite of many viewers by the end of this holiday season.

I feel the same way. I loved it because it really captured the bittersweetness of grieving during Christmas. Plus my mother was a therapist who got her degree while I was growing up so there is no way this wasn’t going to make me cry. It brought up lot of emotions which is why I don’t know if I will ever watch it again.

It many ways it reminded me of an older Hallmark Hall of Fame movie which I also usually loved but choose not to re-watch. But I did think it was a little too heavy handed at times and that they could have balanced the tone of the movie better.

It was interesting to hear on the podcast that it’s the same writer who wrote Love to the Rescue which is still my favorite movie of the year. Hallmark needs more writers like her who can write adults as adults. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Guest

[TVFan17]

I just made a frustrating discovery.  Somehow, when no one was paying attention, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries sneakily decided to move TEN of their new movie premieres back to Saturday and Sunday night slots, which is when they used to premiere last year.  No more Thursday and Friday night premieres on HMM, as of November 17th.   I have not checked the main Hallmark Channel schedule yet.

Here is the new schedule of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel premieres -

https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/new-movies-2019

Edited November 6, 2019 by TVFan17

[Irlandesa]

That is frustrating.  I'm guessing the Thursday and Friday ratings weren't so hot as they realized people won't automatically put holiday movies at the top of their priority list.

I liked that they were spread out.  It helped me keep up with them.

[TVFan17]

5 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

That is frustrating.  I'm guessing the Thursday and Friday ratings weren't so hot as they realized people won't automatically put holiday movies at the top of their priority list.

I liked that they were spread out.  It helped me keep up with them.

I suspect you are 100% correct - the ratings probably suffered on those nights, and Hallmark panicked and hastily pushed everything into Saturdays and Sundays.

I agree -- it's harder to keep up with all of the Hallmark movies when they have them bundled up on Saturdays and Sundays on two channels.   It was easier to see them when they were spread out.  

[Kaoteek]

So... Christmas Wishes & Mistletoe Kisses... I don't really know what to say about this one : it felt so unmemorable and bland, so low energy and low stakes that I've almost forgotten half of it already.

I mean, why even bother with the two potential love interests if Big Wolf on Campus Doctor ends up so underdeveloped, and if the movie doesn't even try to make him a viable contender... Eh.

(and now that I think about it, I realize that a lot of this movie's tropes were already in Coming Home for Christmas, adapted from the same author...)

Edited November 6, 2019 by Kaoteek

[Bronx Babe]

Caught a bit of what I think was A Holiday Engagement (2011?) and couldn't believe it was a Hallmark movie, because there were actual references to sexuality and the human body!  "Hey tiger, save that for the wedding night"  And some character says "I sleep in the raw"    Wow!  I'm still reeling, lol.

[MissyPoo]

12 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I just made a frustrating discovery.  Somehow, when no one was paying attention, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries sneakily decided to move TEN of their new movie premieres back to Saturday and Sunday night slots, which is when they used to premiere last year.  No more Thursday and Friday night premieres on HMM, as of November 17th.  

11 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

That is frustrating.  I'm guessing the Thursday and Friday ratings weren't so hot as they realized people won't automatically put holiday movies at the top of their priority list.

I liked that they were spread out.  It helped me keep up with them.

11 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I suspect you are 100% correct - the ratings probably suffered on those nights, and Hallmark panicked and hastily pushed everything into Saturdays and Sundays.

I agree -- it's harder to keep up with all of the Hallmark movies when they have them bundled up on Saturdays and Sundays on two channels.   It was easier to see them when they were spread out.  

What kind of hax is this? I liked the Thursday and Friday premieres. It kind of made it stand out because we got a little something extra during the week and it didn't crowd my Lifetime premiere viewing. Now this is going to super annoying. 

I had the same feeling you guys did about the ratings, but to be honest HMM never had stellar ratings in the first place. They were always pretty low compared to the main channel.

4 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

(and now that I think about it, I realize that a lot of this movie's tropes were already in Coming Home for Christmas, adapted from the same author...)

Now I'm curious to see if the book reflects this as well or if the Hallmark tenderizer has struck again...

[Guest]

1 hour ago, MissyPoo said:

What kind of hax is this? I liked the Thursday and Friday premieres. It kind of made it stand out because we got a little something extra during the week and it didn't crowd my Lifetime premiere viewing. Now this is going to super annoying. 

I had the same feeling you guys did about the ratings, but to be honest HMM never had stellar ratings in the first place. They were always pretty low compared to the main channel.

I looked after I read about the change and HMM Christmas ratings have been much lower than normal. The first one tied for their third lowest of the year and the next two only did slightly better. 

Like most of Hallmark’s weird decisions lately this seems like a overly reactionary change that will just piss people off. 

1 hour ago, MissyPoo said:

6 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

(and now that I think about it, I realize that a lot of this movie's tropes were already in Coming Home for Christmas, adapted from the same author...)

Now I'm curious to see if the book reflects this as well or if the Hallmark tenderizer has struck again...

I’ve read it and I think the movie was pretty accurate. The book was not memorable at all. 

Speaking of the Hallmark tenderizer I recently read the description for The Mistletoe Secret and the only thing it has in common with the book is the character name. Although that’s probably a smart change since the book plot revolves around a lonely man who finds true love through stalking. 

Edited November 6, 2019 by Guest

[LexieLily]

15 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

I just made a frustrating discovery.  Somehow, when no one was paying attention, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries sneakily decided to move TEN of their new movie premieres back to Saturday and Sunday night slots, which is when they used to premiere last year.  No more Thursday and Friday night premieres on HMM, as of November 17th.   I have not checked the main Hallmark Channel schedule yet.

Here is the new schedule of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel premieres -

https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/new-movies-2019

Thank you for always keeping on top of everything and keeping us updated otherwise I wouldn't have known. Ugh, I already record three Christmas movies (Hallmark, Lifetime and Up!) on Sundays plus Something's Killing Me on HLN. Now I need to add a FOURTH movie?!

[Was-MArsenault]

Is anyone familiar with this Lifetime movie from 2012 called A Christmas Wedding Date?

It's airing on Lifetime right now, and there’s some really recognizable looking faces that I'm trying to figure out. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by MikaelaArsenault

[Guest]

17 minutes ago, MikaelaArsenault said:

Is anyone familiar with this Lifetime movie from 2012 called A Christmas Wedding Date?

It's airing on Lifetime right now, and there’s some really recognizable looking faces that I'm trying to figure out. 

Isn’t that the one with Marla Sokoloff repeating the same day?

[Was-MArsenault]

1 minute ago, Dani said:

Isn’t that the one with Marla Sokoloff repeating the same day?

Yes.

[Guest]

Just now, MikaelaArsenault said:

Yes.

I thought so. Then it’s one of my favorites. I love time loop plots. 

[Was-MArsenault]

1 minute ago, Dani said:

I thought so. Then it’s one of my favorites. I love time loop plots. 

I just knew there were familiar faces in this!

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt2334090/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_1

[Irlandesa]

Netflix dropped one of their holiday movies, Holiday In The Wild, on Monday.  It's the one starring Kristin Davis and Rob Lowe where she goes to Africa, meets pilot Rob Lowe and saves elephants. 

Apparently this was a passion project for Kristin as she's into elephant conservation.  It was filmed in Africa and the scenery was stunning.  I fell in love with the elephants too.  The love story?  Not so much but the scenery was pretty enough that I didn't particularly care. 

Christmas was pretty incidental to the plot.  It takes place about half way through the movie. They do some celebrating but it's mostly about the elephants.

Animal lover trigger warning: 

Spoiler

A sad sad moment in the beginning is when an elephant is killed for its ivory

.   A happier sad which gave me tears in my eyes

Spoiler

is when they released the elephant.

And folks, let me tell you, if you think the Hallmark people move fast, that's nothing.  It's not that these two fall in love fast because the movie spans over quite a few months.  It's just where they end up which feels fast.

[seasons]

23 hours ago, Bronx Babe said:

Caught a bit of what I think was A Holiday Engagement (2011?) and couldn't believe it was a Hallmark movie, because there were actual references to sexuality and the human body!  "Hey tiger, save that for the wedding night"  And some character says "I sleep in the raw"    Wow!  I'm still reeling, lol.

I'm telling you Bronxie, "Hot Cider Love" is heading our way! !! 😂💕

[Jenniferbug]

Watching Trading Christmas on demand on Hallmark Mystery channel. This is one of my favorites! Not just of Hallmark movies but of Christmas movies in general. 

[Homily]

1 hour ago, Jenniferbug said:

Watching Trading Christmas on demand on Hallmark Mystery channel. This is one of my favorites!

I love this one too!  It seems way more polished (I think that's the right word) than most of the Hallmark movies.  

[Jenniferbug]

9 minutes ago, Homily said:

I love this one too!  It seems way more polished (I think that's the right word) than most of the Hallmark movies.  

It really does! I think it's old enough that it was before they gave into tropes, tropes, tropes all the time. There's Christmas everywhere in the movie, but they're not bashing us over the head with constant festivities. The characters behave like actual people with history behind them. Everyone is likeable but no one is overly "cutesy". It isn't quite as bright and action packed as the other movies (in terms of jumping from activity to activity), but I think it has a lot more heart. 

[Kaoteek]

Kinda underwhelmed by Christmas with a Prince 2, to be honest. I liked the fact that it was overtly dramatic & plot-driven, with the campy evil Miranda chewing up the scenery, but overall, it felt unbalanced and a bit messy.

That said, to be fair, I'd rather have a movie that overreaches and is a bit too ambitious for its own good, for its writing, its acting, its budget, than your standard, boilerplate "city girl goes back to hometown and falls for hot widower" Hallmark formula. But still, I think I liked the firt CwaP more.

Oh, and I wouldn't be opposed to someone casting Jack Foley as a badass Santa Claus in an adaptation of Grant Morrisson's Klaus, or something similar.

[Bronx Babe]

3 hours ago, seasons said:

I'm telling you Bronxie, "Hot Cider Love" is heading our way! !! 😂💕

lol

Yes, and in one of their Main Street diners:  "I'll have what she's having!"

[TVFan17]

Netflix's Holiday in the Wild was originally supposed to be a Hallmark movie!    Kristin Davis was developing it with Hallmark a few years ago.  She appeared at Hallmark's annual Winter TCA event (in January 2016) to promote it, and it was mentioned in press that came out of that event.

The movie was originally titled Wild at Heart and was not tied into any holiday at that point, but it was the same general Holiday in the Wild story -- just minus the "holiday" portion, I suppose.

Hallmark even got as far as location scouting in Africa for Kristin's movie.  And then... Wild at Heart just mysteriously vanished and dropped off of the Hallmark radar, as though it had never even been announced.

I am assuming Kristin must have had a deal with Hallmark to do a single movie -- which she had hoped would be Wild at Heart.  Instead, she ended up in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie A Heavenly Christmas by the holiday season of 2016, and she never appeared at another Hallmark TCA.

Imagine my surprise when I saw that Kristin was making her movie after all -- it filmed in Africa last year -- but for Netflix instead of Hallmark, and with a new holiday element added in!!

And, of course, Hallmark filmed in Africa last year too (I think they filmed their movie first, before Kristin's movie was filmed) -- for Lacey Chabert's Love on Safari!

Another movie that Hallmark was supposed to do, that ended up with Netflix, was Good Sam.  The difference in this case was that Good Sam was supposed to be an actual Christmas movie from the start -- it was announced in press and all of that -- but by the time it ended up in Netflix's hands and out of Hallmark's hands, it was no longer a Christmas movie, I guess.

I always find it fascinating, how these things evolve and where the movies end up.

Edited November 7, 2019 by TVFan17

[scenicbyway]

On 11/5/2019 at 6:05 AM, MikaelaArsenault said:

Oh wow. So Hallmark Drama is showing a really old movie from 1986 right now with John Denver and Jane Kaczmarek called The Christmas Gift.

Dang it!  My favorite Christmas movie ever!  I'll have to check to see if they re air it.

[Was-MArsenault]

13 minutes ago, scenicbyway said:

Dang it!  My favorite Christmas movie ever!  I'll have to check to see if they re air it.

It’s going to be on Saturday, November 9 from 1 AM until 3 AM, and on Thursday, November 14 from 9 AM until 11 AM.

[Happywatcher]

I like Hallmark Mysteries, and like most Hallmark Christmas/Holiday movies.

A Godwink Christmas is on (lead agrees to marry a man, then a better man comes along so she runs along with him and dumps the guy she is engaged to). These type of movies, whether Christmas or beach resort where the girl leaves the boy because she runs into her high school crush while her fiance has to work for three days for a work emergency, don't feel good. 

These might work if they were Lifetimes where the fiance backed her into it through blackmail or started slapping her around, but in rosecolored Hallmark land they make her seem dumb and a slut.

[twoods]

Really bummed at the lack of quality of the Lifetime movies so far. It’s probably because they are becoming just like Hallmark with quantity instead of quality. Always and Forever had a decent premise but the acting was terrible, and the road trip one with Marla Sokoloff was a little slow at times. 

I really liked the Hallmark Scavenger Hunt movie. It had a different storyline and the leads had nice chemistry. 

[MissyPoo]

7 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Another movie that Hallmark was supposed to do, that ended up with Netflix, was Good Sam.  The difference in this case was that Good Sam was supposed to be an actual Christmas movie from the start -- it was announced in press and all of that -- but by the time it ended up in Netflix's hands and out of Hallmark's hands, it was no longer a Christmas movie, I guess.

This completely floored me considering the leads and how Hallmark doesn't like to touch such a pairing at all. I'm glad Netflix got it. It's one of my new faves from them and it doesn't fall into a formulaic pattern while still feeling natural. It would've made a great Christmas mystery movie if they kept the theme though.

Co-signing the Trading Christmas and Christmas Wedding Date love. Both classics that I never get tired of watching.

On 11/6/2019 at 12:33 PM, Dani said:

I looked after I read about the change and HMM Christmas ratings have been much lower than normal. The first one tied for their third lowest of the year and the next two only did slightly better. 

Like most of Hallmark’s weird decisions lately this seems like a overly reactionary change that will just piss people off. 

Yikes, you're right. That movie was practically DOA with those numbers.  Hallmark is definitely in a no-win situation if they want stellar ratings and satisfied viewers. Moving to the new time slots will still yank eyes away with so many movie options on the weekend. I see they started replaying the new HMM movies on the weekend this week. They should just do that while keeping the Thursday and Friday premiere dates.

[kirinan]

On 11/6/2019 at 1:51 AM, TVFan17 said:

I just made a frustrating discovery.  Somehow, when no one was paying attention, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries sneakily decided to move TEN of their new movie premieres back to Saturday and Sunday night slots, which is when they used to premiere last year.  No more Thursday and Friday night premieres on HMM, as of November 17th.   I have not checked the main Hallmark Channel schedule yet.

Here is the new schedule of the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel premieres -

https://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/new-movies-2019

This makes me mad. My DVR will record two channels at a time, but then I can't watch a third. So that means I have to try and hunt for alternate showings of things on other stations or just miss them. I already have a backlog on the DVR, just since October 25, and now it will get worse. 

Too much Christmas already. <grumble grumble Scroogey grumble>

[kirinan]

59 minutes ago, twoods said:

I really liked the Hallmark Scavenger Hunt movie. It had a different storyline and the leads had nice chemistry. 

I tried to watch this one, but the lead actress turned me off big-time. I think it's because she reminds me of Renee Zellweger, who I've always loathed. It's a shame, because I really like Kevin McGarry.

[TVFan17]

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries premieres new movies on Sunday nights all year, and they were premiering Christmas movies on Saturdays and Sundays last year and the year before as well.   So, if anything, they are now reverting to a schedule that most of their viewers are more familiar with.

I think the only reason they tried the Thursday-Friday thing this year was because so many viewers complained about the Sat-Sun HMM Christmas movies overlapping and competing with the Christmas movies on the main Hallmark Channel.

But when it came down to it, even though some of us -- myself included! -- preferred having the movies spread out over 4 different nights instead of all bunched up together on 2 nights, I think that a large segment of the regular HMM audience probably just got used to Sunday night mystery premieres on HMM, and they either forgot about or just didn't want to bother with Thurs-Fri premieres.   I think a lot of viewers are creatures of habit, and they just have a hard time keeping up with schedule changes when they are used to something else.

So even though Hallmark is now going back to their previous schedule of movies annoyingly overlapping and competing with each other on Saturday and Sunday nights, they did it before and the ratings were apparently higher for HMM than they were for these recent Thurs-Fri premieres, so I guess it's what works better for them.

It is a pain, though, trying to watch all 4 movies when 2 of them overlap each night.   First World Problems, still but frustrating!

Edited November 8, 2019 by TVFan17

[anniebird]

11 hours ago, Homily said:

I love this one too!  It seems way more polished (I think that's the right word) than most of the Hallmark movies.  

Trading Christmas had much better actors than most of the Hallmark Christmas movies plus they're all mature adults making adult decisions. It's one of my favorites along with If You Believe (which had a very talented Hayden Panettiere as a 7 year-old.)

[Irlandesa]

12 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

Netflix's Holiday in the Wild was originally supposed to be a Hallmark movie! 

I'm very glad Netflix got it.  I have been disappointed in many of Hallmark's movies intentionally filmed abroad as they rarely take advantage of the scenery on offer.  I remember the cruise ship one the Pena Vegas did.  They may as well have stayed in a studio. 

Holiday In The Wild filmed Africa beautifully.  Lacey Chabert's movie did not.

[Kaoteek]

Christmas Scavenger Hunt was fine for what it was. At times, it felt a bit like there was a non-tropey, dynamic Christmas movie trying to burst out of the Hallmark format, but the clichés were often overwhelming (i rolled my eyes at the kid with the military parent), and kinda dragged the overall scavenger hunt down.

That said, it was still likeable, even though I have a few reservations about some of the supporting cast.

(the real snow was a plus, though)

Edited November 8, 2019 by Kaoteek

[Homily]

Watching Christmas Land right now, it starts with Maureen McCormick playing the grandmother of a 10 yr old.  Good god almighty.  I'm older than I thought!!

[Misslindsey]

I liked HMM Christmas movies airing on Thursday and Friday. I wonder if they would do better on Thursday and Friday nights when regular television programs go on hiatus around the holidays. I guess we will never know.

I do like that all the new Lifetime Christmas movies are put on their Roku channel, so I do not feel like I have to DVR them. I wish Hallmark would put their new Christmas movies On Demand or on their Roku channel.

I do not know if it was my mood, but I liked a Blue Ridge Mountain Christmas. I liked that there was not a big misunderstanding or anything. The little girl was a bit much, but I still liked it well enough.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Misslindsey