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

[memememe76]

Just watched Mistletoe Time Machine, about three high school besties who break up after a bad talent show accident. As adults, they are transported back to high school and reconcile their differences. It’s pretty tangential to Christmas but oh well. It was fun and it was more about friendship than romance. My favourite of the year? This year has been pretty bad. 

[shapeshifter]

On 12/19/2022 at 5:59 PM, GiandujaPie said:

I really liked the Kelsey Grammer "12 Days of Christmas Eve" movie. It started off as really goofy but I liked how at the end, it looked like he really had learned his lesson. When he was given that one last chance to make things right but with no guarantee that he would live, he took it and you could see he genuinely just wanted to enjoy one last day with his daughter and granddaughter. I loved how gung-ho he was about going back and doing the day over every time he failed. He would "die", end back with Santa and enthusiastically blow out the candle to go back to try something new. I liked that this movie wasn't about a romance but about a man who just needed a chance to re-connect with his family. 

"12 Days of Christmas Eve" was ruined for me by Kelsey Grammer being too good at being loudly angry. But that's my problem. [shapeshifter makes note for next therapist appointment].

Perhaps not surprisingly, my favorite part was the silent FF through 2 days of Brian and his daughter yelling at each other
--and also Kelsey Grammer with his hair on end after (IIRC?) getting electrocuted. Very Wiley Coyote after being bested by Road Runner.

[luvthepros]

On 12/8/2022 at 9:44 PM, Infiltr8 said:

I’m about 30 min in watching Fit for Christmas— thought might be different but same ol’ stuff, small xmas town being taken over by big corp… bitchy girl running into cute corp guy over and over…. I’m betting there is a misunderstanding if I’m able to stick it out….not sure I’ll make it…….

I watched Fit for Christmas. Was this produced by a Hallmark company? I know it was aired on network CBS, but, if I had to bet, I would say this aired on Hallmark channel, especially that Paul Greene was the male lead.

[For Cereals]

On 11/20/2022 at 12:02 PM, greekmom said:

I watched Christmas Story Christmas last night.  It was meh. Alot of rehashed jokes/situations.  

Felt like I needed to watch it because I love the original (not a 24hr marathon but a few minutes here and there every year) and was curious to see most of the original cast.  Definitely meh.  Billingsley is too old to play a young, struggling dad. While I love Julie Haggerty, I wish Melinda Dillon would’ve come out of retirement.  Haggerty wasn’t a good fit.  Another sign of bad writing is they act like it’s the first time Ralphie has ever been home since having his family.  We didn’t need a sequel or a prime time musical…

[Makai]

5 hours ago, luvthepros said:

I watched Fit for Christmas. Was this produced by a Hallmark company? I know it was aired on network CBS, but, if I had to bet, I would say this aired on Hallmark channel, especially that Paul Greene was the male lead.

Hallmark wasn’t involved in it’s production. The production company was one that has made a lot of movies for all the network that air this type of movie and has a close relationship with GAF’s CEO. The owner of the production company has invested in GAF which probably explain Greene’s presence. He is one of the actors who moved to GAF. 

[anniebird]

6 hours ago, luvthepros said:

Traditional marriage, to me, means the joining of two people who can produce an offspring (create life). Two men cannot do that. Two women cannot do that. Pretty simple, really,

I do know there are traditional couples (man and a woman) that cannot produce an offspring (create life). That is unfortunate for those who wish to have a family. This is not normal in a traditional marriage because there is something inherently wrong with the reproductive ability of one or both of the parties.

 

And what about "traditional couples" who choose not to have children? Do they get the GAF seal of approval? Or are they also considered not "normal?"

Edited December 27, 2022 by anniebird

[luvthepros]

11 hours ago, anniebird said:

And what about "traditional couples" who choose not to have children? Do they get the GAF seal of approval? Or are they also considered not "normal?"

Those who choose not to have children may still be capable of having children, therefore enter into a traditional marriage. That is the difference between traditional marriage and non traditional marriage.

As far as the GAF "seal of approval", I see nothing wrong with GAF's approach to keeping traditional marriage as their message. What I do not approve of is having Christianity forced down my throat which it seems is on the agenda for CCB.

 

12 hours ago, Makai said:

Hallmark wasn’t involved in it’s production. The production company was one that has made a lot of movies for all the network that air this type of movie and has a close relationship with GAF’s CEO. The owner of the production company has invested in GAF which probably explain Greene’s presence. He is one of the actors who moved to GAF. 

Oh, no. I love Paul Greene. I'm not going to be watching GAC and will continue with Hallmark but I will miss Paul Greene for sure.

My very first Hallmark movie ever was A Christmas Detour with Greene and CCB. That was my induction to my Hallmark movie addiction. Blame my sister for that as she got me started on them.

[Bruinsfan]

My mom will be thrilled to know her 56-year marriage was untraditional because my parents were unable to have biological children and had to resort to radical new measures like adoption. I guess she was lucky the church didn't slam its doors in their faces and tell her she'd have to pick a different, fertile husband if she wanted to get married...

Hearing the background of Fit for Christmas dispels any pangs of disappointment I might have felt for missing it.

[luvthepros]

2 hours ago, Bruinsfan said:

My mom will be thrilled to know her 56-year marriage was untraditional because my parents were unable to have biological children and had to resort to radical new measures like adoption. I guess she was lucky the church didn't slam its doors in their faces and tell her she'd have to pick a different, fertile husband if she wanted to get married...

Hearing the background of Fit for Christmas dispels any pangs of disappointment I might have felt for missing it.

That is not my sentiments at all. Marriage between a man and a woman is a traditional marriage. Doesn't matter if they cannot produce off spring because of biological difficulties. Please read my OP about this subject again. Thanks.

Edited December 27, 2022 by luvthepros

[Makai]

Holly Robinson Peete did a perfect job explaining the problem with language like “traditional marriage” in response to CCB’s comments. 
 

 

What is generally being termed as “traditional marriage” is largely a myth and not actually representative of what marriages have historically looked like. In a traditional marriage CCB (or any of the other female GAF stars) wouldn’t be able to sign their movie contracts. 

Edited December 27, 2022 by Makai

[Scarlett45]

On 12/21/2022 at 11:41 AM, absnow54 said:

I just caught Second Chance Christmas from 2017 on UPtv, and wow. Wow. Woman leaves loser husband, and gets into an accident on the way to filing divorce papers. Gets amnesia. Husband, her parents, and friends decide that Wife sucks, and gaslight her into living the life they'd prefer, which includes hiding the fact she left her husband. Wife eventually finds her way back to her career and loves what she does, she even has a sparkling rapport with her assistant (he should be the love interest!) She eventually learns the truth about the divorce, but decides to stay with him, because they had a pretty good week, even though he took advantage of her brain injury and essentially held her prisoner. This movie is peak hate watch material. 

This is like an evil/twisted The Vow where they were happy, but the wife didn’t remember him, but the husband wasn’t an asshole and didn’t violate her space or autonomy, although naturally he was hurt the woman he loved didn’t remember him. 
 

Im closing out the holiday season with Ghosts of Christmas Past (Lifetime 2021)- I really liked this one. Truthfully I wasn’t impressed with anything Hallmark did this year. What I found on streaming (Netflix and Prime) was way better!

[ButterQueen]

I only watched one Christmas movie and that was Haul Out The Holly with Lacy Chabert.  I really enjoyed it and Melissa Peterman was a great addition for comedy.

[ButterQueen]

Double post

Edited January 3, 2023 by ButterQueen

[bunnyface]

On 12/14/2022 at 10:38 PM, norcalgal said:

Given the racial and sexual orientation diversity in Must Love Christmas, it’s shameful the posters of Natalie’s book covers all had Caucasian models. 
 

I am catching up on my movies and just finished Must Love Christmas last night.  I thought it was okay but found it funny that one of her book covers, lower right on the wall, was actually the movie poster for the CBS movie last year, A Christmas Proposal.  That starred Adam Rodrigues and Jessica Camacho, so they did work in a tad of diversity into her covers.  Of their own work.  lol

[Irlandesa]

On 12/31/2022 at 8:39 PM, Scarlett45 said:

What I found on streaming (Netflix and Prime) was way better!

Prime had two movies I enjoyed but I thought Netflix was a total bust this year.  Only Lifetime had a bigger drop in quality in the past few years. 

[Scarlett45]

6 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Prime had two movies I enjoyed but I thought Netflix was a total bust this year.  Only Lifetime had a bigger drop in quality in the past few years. 

On Netflix this year I saw The Noel Diary, Single all the Way, Holidate, Falling for Christmas (the only dud). I know all of those didn’t come out this year. I did just LOVE Holidate and will keep it on repeat. 

[Irlandesa]

13 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

The Noel Diary, Single all the Way, Holidate, Falling for Christmas

Ah.  I see.  Single All The Way was very good but it was last season.  Holidate was maybe 2 years ago and I also really liked that one. 

Hated Noel Diary and Falling For Christmas were both this year which is why I say Netflix was a bust.

[memememe76]

Also the one with Freddie Prince Jr. and those other ones that even I can’t watch (I Believe in Santa, and those California movies). While I appreciated the more dramatic tone of The Noel Diary, I am not sure why their comedies were so traditional and tropish.

[Scarlett45]

15 hours ago, memememe76 said:

Also the one with Freddie Prince Jr. and those other ones that even I can’t watch (I Believe in Santa, and those California movies). While I appreciated the more dramatic tone of The Noel Diary, I am not sure why their comedies were so traditional and tropish.

Yeah the Freddie Prince Jr one was a C, and I Believe in Santa I didn’t even finish. 

[shapeshifter]

On 12/14/2022 at 11:38 PM, norcalgal said:

Given the racial and sexual orientation diversity in Must Love Christmas, it’s shameful the posters of Natalie’s book covers all had Caucasian models. 
As for the movie itself, meh…

11 hours ago, bunnyface said:

thought it was okay but found it funny that one of her book covers, lower right on the wall, was actually the movie poster for the CBS movie last year, A Christmas Proposal.  That starred Adam Rodrigues and Jessica Camacho, so they did work in a tad of diversity into her covers.  Of their own work.  lol

Repurposing their own art work saves money on both copyright permission and on contracting more original artwork. 
It also saves on having to get clearance that the artwork is suitable for Hallmark or Netflix or whatever entity’s brand image.

[bunnyface]

I knew it was a cost-cutting measure of some sort.  Still funny to me.

[norcalgal]

On 1/2/2023 at 5:21 PM, bunnyface said:

I am catching up on my movies and just finished Must Love Christmas last night.  I thought it was okay but found it funny that one of her book covers, lower right on the wall, was actually the movie poster for the CBS movie last year, A Christmas Proposal.  That starred Adam Rodrigues and Jessica Camacho, so they did work in a tad of diversity into her covers.  Of their own work.  lol

Ah, OK, thanks for the correction.  But as you said, it was just a tad of diversity.

[maggiegil]

Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schue from Glee) is going to be in a GAC Christmas film with Jen Lilley he hasn't been in anything since he was kicked off so you think you can dance as a judge for having an inappropriate relationship with a contestant
https://people.com/matthew-morrison-returns-to-tv-jen-lilley-paris-christmas-waltz-great-american-family-7509097

Never been a fan of his acting, don't think I'll be watching that

[Clawdette]

Wait.  You're telling me that Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison are starring in a sequel to Lacy Chabert and Will Kemp's Christmas Waltz movie?  And on GAC instead of Hallmark?  This seems all kinds of wrong.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Clawdette said:

Wait.  You're telling me that Jen Lilley and Matthew Morrison are starring in a sequel to Lacy Chabert and Will Kemp's Christmas Waltz movie?  And on GAC instead of Hallmark?  This seems all kinds of wrong.

It's totally wrong.  From what I understand, another production company made the movie so the property wasn't exclusive to Hallmark allowing it to move. 

[maggiegil]

Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf are playing siblings in a Christmas movie set in Scotland

https://people.com/party-of-five-lacey-chabert-scott-wolfe-reunite-after-23-years-hallmark-christmas-movie-7554427

[norcalgal]

22 hours ago, maggiegil said:

Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf are playing siblings in a Christmas movie set in Scotland

https://people.com/party-of-five-lacey-chabert-scott-wolfe-reunite-after-23-years-hallmark-christmas-movie-7554427

Why couldn’t they have gotten the entire Salinger clan?!  Make it happen!

[Scarlett45]

On 6/28/2023 at 5:43 PM, maggiegil said:

Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf are playing siblings in a Christmas movie set in Scotland

https://people.com/party-of-five-lacey-chabert-scott-wolfe-reunite-after-23-years-hallmark-christmas-movie-7554427

Oh I love Scotland! Such fun. 

[KaveDweller]

On 6/28/2023 at 6:43 PM, maggiegil said:

Lacey Chabert and Scott Wolf are playing siblings in a Christmas movie set in Scotland

https://people.com/party-of-five-lacey-chabert-scott-wolfe-reunite-after-23-years-hallmark-christmas-movie-7554427

I am glad they are playing siblings. I saw that they were doing a movie together and was worried they would try and make them love interests, which would have felt very odd to me.

[Your Grace]

I just flipped on  The Holiday Sitter starring Jonathan Bennett. Not sure of the storyline but Mr. Bennett sure is ACTING. He is Emoting, he is Giving Face, he is using his whole body.  Geez.  I usually like him well enough in these movies; meaning I don't make a point to watch a show because he's in it, but I don't avoid them either (unlike some of other mainstays Hallmark has had in the past).  I don't know what he was going for but it's really taking me out of the program. It feels very community theater, regional community theater. Which sucks because I know he could do better.

[Bruinsfan]

Luke Macfarlane confirms that he's signed on to do another Christmas movie with the Hallmark Channel:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/luke-macfarlane-platonic-bros-barbie-interview-1235526625/

[chitowngirl]

GAF is also showing Christmas movies. Do they have Ornaments to debut soon too? 😆

[bankerchick]

On 7/4/2023 at 7:38 PM, Bruinsfan said:

Luke Macfarlane confirms that he's signed on to do another Christmas movie with the Hallmark Channel:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/luke-macfarlane-platonic-bros-barbie-interview-1235526625/

Well that didn't take long.  We didn't even have a chance to miss him, not that I would have.  Cute guy, seems like he'd be a lot of fun, but less than zero chemistry with any female I have ever seen him with.  And I felt that way long before I knew he was gay.

[AAEBoiler]

It's that time of the year!!!

Hallmark 2023 Christmas Line-Up

[Miss Bones]

1 hour ago, AAEBoiler said:

It's that time of the year!!!

Hallmark 2023 Christmas Line-Up

Thank you for posting!  The "Mystic Pizza" one, and Lyndsy Fonseca/Michael Rady movie are both of interest to me.  I will of course tune into anything featuring Paul Campbell, so I am thrilled to see that he will have a new Christmas movie.  I am also glad to see we will get another Christmas mystery.  The one with Tyler Hynes and Janel Parish features a love triangle among friends.  I'm not sure I've seen that done on HM?  Closest to that that I remember was actually Tyler Hynes's movie last year "Time for (insert pronoun) to Come Home for Christmas" which had a love triangle misunderstanding, where we thought she liked the other guy but she liked him all along.  

On a separate note, I like Brennan Elliot and I have always found him to be attractive, but his face looks like it has been pulled very tight in that photo above the description of his new movie. 😬

[Bruinsfan]

Oh wow, I of course went looking for whichever of these Luke Macfarlane is starring in this season, and Hallmark better hope that Kim and Penn Holderness don't sue them for copyright infringement over the premise they came up with for their spoof of the Hallmark writers' room!

[Lugal]

On 9/19/2023 at 9:15 AM, AAEBoiler said:

It's that time of the year!!!

Hallmark 2023 Christmas Line-Up

The fun of Hallmark, by sheer volume we're bound to get some good ones.

My can't miss is probably A Biltmore Christmas.  Bethany Joy Lenz, two Star Trek actors (one of whom is Cmdr. Riker) and time travel? I am so there.

Holiday Road. A good Christmas road trip can be fun.

Mystery on Mistletoe Lane, I'm curious to see Erica Cerra since Eureka (although nothing will ever top the Eureka Christmas episode "Do You See What I See") and something other than a romance (Kidding, I know there will be romance too)

Heidelberg Holiday, A Merry Scottish Christmas and My Norwegian Holiday could promise some good scenery porn.

I like Rachel Skarsten, Paul Campbell, Andrew Walker, Rachael Leigh Cook, and Kimberly Sustad so I'll probably check out their movies.  I'd also check out Everything Christmas for Katherine Barrell.  If she's as good as she was on Wynonna Earp, it could be worth it to watch her steal every scene from Cindy Busby.

And of course there's Haul Out the Holly: Lit Up, Lacey Chabert's Christmas stoner movie (I would assume by the title, and honestly, don't you want to see that, too?)

[Avabelle]

I see Shenae Grimes Beech is back doing these films again. I like Chris Carmack so might check out their one.

[Kaoteek]

Funnily enough, looking at all those Hallmark movies, I can't help but feel Hallmark is desperately looking to replace those actresses that left for "greener" pastures, and is kind of struggling to do so.

I don't know, usually, when the HM holiday schedule drops, I can immediately tell that, based on the pitch or on the lead couple, I'll watch a decent amount of those in the last two months of the year... here, the opposite happened, and I'm surprised to realize that I can probably count on one hand's fingers the movies that appeal to me from now til December.

 

 

 

[argrow]

I am just surprised we still get the same number of movies as last year, with the strikes that have been going on. I wonder how many of these movies are acquired by Hallmark just to reach that number.

Though with all the talks about AI, these movies are probably the easiest to write using AI. Just feed them a few scripts and AI will probably come up with something similar.

[chitowngirl]

I would think that this year’s crop of movies were in the can when the strikes started. And there will most likely be enough time to crank them out for the 2024 season…

Does the SAG/AFTRA strike effect productions in Canada?  I know that Sullivan’s Crossing is filming their season 2 right now.

[Lugal]

16 hours ago, Kaoteek said:

Funnily enough, looking at all those Hallmark movies, I can't help but feel Hallmark is desperately looking to replace those actresses that left for "greener" pastures, and is kind of struggling to do so.

I don't think it's desperation.  I see it more like shark's teeth, there's always another one.  The best friend and/or sister a few movies back is now the lead.

2 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I would think that this year’s crop of movies were in the can when the strikes started. And there will most likely be enough time to crank them out for the 2024 season…

Does the SAG/AFTRA strike effect productions in Canada?  I know that Sullivan’s Crossing is filming their season 2 right now.

They usually film their Christmas movies in January (the serious ones at least, as opposed to the ones where we see everyone all bundled up but maybe a few piles of snow in the background) so they probably are in the can.

As for the SAG/AFTRA strike, it appears there were waivers for ACTRA productions.

[argrow]

3 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

I would think that this year’s crop of movies were in the can when the strikes started. And there will most likely be enough time to crank them out for the 2024 season…

Does the SAG/AFTRA strike effect productions in Canada?  I know that Sullivan’s Crossing is filming their season 2 right now.

Sullivan's Crossing is a Canadian show, and ACTRA is not on strike right now.

As opposed to Hallmark movies that are filmed in Canada. Those are not considered Canadian and falls under SAG-AFTRA.

[Irlandesa]

I do remember reading that Hallmark got waivers to keep filming. 

13 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Does the SAG/AFTRA strike effect productions in Canada?  I know that Sullivan’s Crossing is filming their season 2 right now.

To expand a little on the previous post, Canadian shows and movies, produced by Canada and largely for Canada weren't affected.  But US-produced shows that just happen to film in Canada because of  the lower production costs would have been affected by the strike because it usually means they're written in the US and have US-based actors

[Guest]

All the Christmas movies announced so far.

Lifetime has only announced one movie. Based on what I have read, they did not follow Hallmark’s lead of filming early. And they are partly owned by Disney so they did not have the option of non-AMPTP production waivers. I’ve read they only filmed two original Christmas movies. 

[Guest]

Lifetime’s schedule

Only 12 new movies this year and all but three are acquisitions. A few aired internationally last year. Looks like the TVLine list linked above has already been updated. 

[memememe76]

I watched Me and Mr. Right. Elena Juatco is so good (great comic timing!) and this is the first time I found Marcus Rosner so appealing. Really funny and fun with a strong gay sensibility.

[Sara2009]

On 6/6/2023 at 8:57 PM, maggiegil said:

Matthew Morrison (Mr. Schue from Glee) is going to be in a GAC Christmas film with Jen Lilley he hasn't been in anything since he was kicked off so you think you can dance as a judge for having an inappropriate relationship with a contestant
https://people.com/matthew-morrison-returns-to-tv-jen-lilley-paris-christmas-waltz-great-american-family-7509097

Never been a fan of his acting, don't think I'll be watching that

He can definitely sing and dance, though. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Hallmark had "A Cozy Christmas Inn",  the sequel to Christmas Under Wraps.  This time Jodi Sweetin was the love interest, as the college girlfriend of Andy Holiday, who was the boyfriend of CCB on Under Wraps.   All of the main characters are there, except the "Santa" Frank Holiday character was only on the phone with Andy from the little I saw of it.   So, they not only wrote CCB out, but replaced her with Jodi Sweetin.  

The storyline is Lauren left Garland, and went to the fellowship in Boston after all, and they broke up.   Just about everyone was in the movie from the original cast.    I wonder if there will be any other 'sequels' with new casts excluding CCB?   

 

Edited November 5, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Bruinsfan]

I kinda like the idea that not all of the saccharine match-ups from Hallmark Christmas movies end up going the distance.