Hallmark Movies: Small Town Royalty Magically Celebrating Rekindled Love! - General Discussion

[Kaiju Ballet]

On 12/5/2018 at 10:50 PM, Sandiscot said:

On 12/5/2018 at 5:05 PM, anniebird said:

Did anyone watch Once Upon a Christmas Miracle? I was fully prepared not to like it (the word "Miracle" in the title made me think it was going to be a different movie altogether) but I think it might be my favorite movie of this season.  The two leads are both charming, they had chemistry, and it's based on a true story. Other than the fact that the real story probably didn't take place at Christmas, it seems to be pretty true-to-life.

I loved this! I didn't know it was a true story until the end. Here's the true story (you're right, not really at Christmas):

https://heavy.com/entertainment/2018/12/once-upon-a-christmas-miracle-true-story-meet-heather-krueger-chris-dempsey/

On 12/6/2018 at 4:08 PM, emjohnson03 said:

Oh LOVED this! The first movie I have watched on Hallmark this season and it was just as charming and sweet as I thought it would be. The leads were perfect together and had just enough angst to touch upon that didn't seem fake. It was wonderful that it was based on a real story. This one I will watch every year I think, it's just that wonderful. 

I loved it too, even though I didn't catch that it was based on a true story until the end. I rewound to catch a glimpse of the real couple dancing in the background of the fundraiser. Some of the most unbelievable elements were based on fact, which added to my enjoyment of it.

Re: A Shoe Addict's Christmas -- enjoyable movie, despite the terrible title. Luke McFarlane is great with CCB, and kudos to a storyline that wrapped everything up at the end. A special shoutout to whomever did the costuming -- the clothing that CCB wore was fantastic. I'm geeky enough to like Jean Smart (Legion) and Kristaan Bruin (Orphan Black) in visible roles.

Re: Mingle All the Way -- This might be the first Jen Lilly film I like (I'd like to have the time back from watching that hot mess Yes I Do ). I thought it was a tighter script (the cute meet worked, especially how it kept getting referenced and came full circle) and the premise also was a clever twist on what we've seen before from Hallmark. The male lead was new to me, and I thought he was great.

Re: The Godwink Christmas - Hooray, it's Kimberly Sustad! Since The 9 Lives of Christmas is one of my Hallmark faves, I was thrilled to see her return to a leading role. She was totally believable as someone who genuinely loved antiques and was able to share her knowledge without seeming patronizing. I'm normally not a big fan of Paul Campbell as a lead, but here they had amazing chemistry. I'm geologically challenged, so I had to do a lot of handwaving about the distance from Martha's Vineyard to Nantucket or whichever airport she was flying home to St. Louis from. I also missed hearing that she did buy the antique shop. The little girl in the youth center was adorable.

Re: Christmas at the Palace - Whoever said upthread that it was a mashup between all their ice skating movies and A Crown for Christmas is absolutely right, except this Frankensteined mish-mash was a total waste of Meredith Patterson and the gorgeous setting. The inane script had the King be "too busy" to spend time with his daughter, but free enough of whatever sovereigns do so he can make presents for his staff, wander everywhere without a bodyguard or retinue, and offer to stand in as a featured ice skater when the actual professionals he hired bailed at the eleventh hour. (And as professional skaters they were unaware of a large ice rink in their backyard? Really?)

I also agree that it's annoying AF when professional obligations get jettisoned because they're suddenly inconvenient to the plot. I'm looking at you, Emily Osment, in Christmas Wonderland.  I get it, in Hallmarkland having a successful career in a major city like New York means your soul is being stifled along with any chance for true love -- which only exists in small, quaint towns with people who know they belong there. I also didn't warm to Emily Osment or Ryan Rottman, but I liked Kelly Hu enough to feel for her as the boss of an indispensable employee who leaves her in the lurch so she can make a school dance. 

Re: Road to Christmas worked for me. Jessy Schram was great, and had amazing chemistry with Chad Michael Murray (whose voice is really yummy) If that was actually Jessy singing at the end, she should sing more often. I loved the very strong implication that happy gay couples exist in Hallmarkland, and bringing in diversity with the adopted brothers.

Speaking of diversity, Hallmark heard the pleas and delivered with more lead roles this year. I just wish that A Majestic Christmas was a better film than the dreck that was served. Still, it gets points for giving us an atypical career for the female lead -- architect -- and another Orphan Black alum as her dad.

[mikeb]

5 hours ago, Kaiju Ballet said:

Re: Road to Christmas worked for me. Jessy Schram was great, and had amazing chemistry with Chad Michael Murray (whose voice is really yummy) If that was actually Jessy singing at the end, she should sing more often. I loved the very strong implication that happy gay couples exist in Hallmarkland, and bringing in diversity with the adopted brothers.

 

Jessy does sing and has released some music.  Her latest is a new Christmas song.  https://twitter.com/jschramer/status/1068293678689480704

[catrice2]

22 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

Not unusual, Tatyana Ali and Dondre Whitfield are 10 years apart, for example. It happens all the time. 

What movie was this?

[Kaoteek]

Just finished Christmas Wonderland. I like Emily Osment. I really do. She's a fun, comedic, expressive and dynamic actress, with great comic timing. So of course, Hallmark gave her a low-energy, somewhat generic and by-the-book Hallmark romance, with a bland-ish love interest and insipid pop-montages. Of course.

So disappointing.

(and it had nothing to do with the HMM brand, but that was obvious from the start)

[Jenniferbug]

2 hours ago, catrice2 said:

What movie was this?

Christmas Everlasting, which aired a couple of weeks ago.

I'm so behind on these movies right now! 

Majestic Christmas had a good cast and I really wanted to like it, but it just felt flat to me. I wish the plot has been more inventive because I think the cast was up to it. 

Mingle All the Way was cute! I think it's the first time I've truly enjoyed Jen Lilley and I thought she had good chemistry with the guy who played Noel Kahn on Pretty Little Liars. I wasn't blown away by this one, BUT it's one I could see growing on me when I watch it next year and I'm not so burnt out on cheesy Christmas movies. 

I haven't watched any of the new ones that aired this weekend. I caught a bit of Homegrown Christmas and unless someone says it's worth finishing, I'll probably skip the rest.

1 hour ago, Kaoteek said:

Just finished Christmas Wonderland. I like Emily Osment. I really do. She's a fun, comedic, expressive and dynamic actress, with great comic timing. So of course, Hallmark gave her a low-energy, somewhat generic and by-the-book Hallmark romance, with a bland-ish love interest and insipid pop-montages. Of course.

So disappointing.

(and it had nothing to do with the HMM brand, but that was obvious from the start)

Yeah this was how I felt about it too. Like Majestic Christmas, I wish this plot was less paint by numbers because I think the cast really would have shone in something better. 

[Irlandesa]

6 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

I caught a bit of Homegrown Christmas and unless someone says it's worth finishing, I'll probably skip the rest.

There was something about this movie--maybe it was the chemistry between Lori and Vincent or the personality they brought to their roles that made this an enjoyable experience for me.  I'm not saying there was anything about this  that needs to be seen but I was pleasantly surprised. 

[MissyPoo]

On 12/8/2018 at 6:00 PM, TVFan17 said:

And... the movie starring Bobby Campo and (Gregory's daughter) Lily Anne Harrison, "Christmas Camp," which had also not been assigned to any network even though it was referred to as a Hallmark movie back when it filmed in New York, has been added to the Hallmark website -- but it does not yet have a premiere date.  I cannot see a reason for them to add it to the website unless they plan to air it this season, so expect a premiere date to appear before the year is over.  Here is the page for it -- http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas-camp

Oh wow so so it IS on Hallmark! Nuts! I wonder if they swooped in and bought the rights to the book so they can air it. I'm definitely keep my eye on this one.

 

I've been going back and forth between Hallmark and Lifetime. Mainly watching Lifetime because Hallmark's repeats are making my eyes melt. From what I've seen from Hallmark (other than my faves), are:

A Majestic Christmas - I actually like this one mainly because the cast kept me invested. I loved Jerrika's energy throughout the movie and her relationship with her parents. I do kind of wish the story was a little more original but that may be too much to ask of Hallmark deviating from their list. Old school Larry Levinson Hallmark maybe, but not Crown.

Memories of Christmas - Loved this one. It didn't feel so paint by the numbers even thought the story was the usual from Hallmark. It gave me a few chuckles and the actors felt like real people especially with their quips. Good seeing Jamie C again even as the other guy. As always, I loved Christina's outfits, especially that dress at the gathering and that sweater dress she wore earlier in the movie.

Next I plan on watching Welcome to Christmas because I need my Eric Mabius fix and I love that he has a beard with a bit of gruffness. 

[ShelleySue]

I read all of the comments and have to look on my Hallmark Countdown to Christmas app so that the pictures remind me of what movie is being discussed.  The titles are so generic that I can't remember which plot and leads go to which title.

Strongly, my favorite movie so far is a Lifetime Movie (The Christmas Contract) not a Hallmark movie.  This is the first time that has ever happened.  But there are still a lot of new movies to watch on both Hallmark channels, so maybe I'll find a favorite before the season is over.

[twoods]

I think Welcome To Christmas has been my favorite Hallmark movie so far. Eric Mabius is always wonderful to watch, but loved his chemistry with Jennifer Finnegan. Also there wasn’t an annoying ex or significant other (though the friend seemed a little jealous) and their snarky humor towards each other was refreshing. I also loved the kids and got misty eyed towards the end. 

[Crs97]

Yesterday I watched Christmas in Love with Brooke D’Orsey, whose smile lights up a room, and a bland actor whose name I cannot recall.  Pretty good, mostly due to Brooke.

 I appreciated that the family celebrated the big Christmas Eve dinner a day early because they have so much volunteering on Christmas Eve.  That seems like a normal family thing rather than piling all the stuff on one day like most shows do.

Nitpick- she needed weeks to make enough stuff for her booth and sold out the first day, yet somehow was able to replenish the entire booth overnight, not once but twice.  Why did the things that took days to make suddenly only take a few hours?  She got a few helpers, but not many.

I wasn’t sure if I was watching a Hallmark movie because when they were helping her make wreaths, someone came with what was clearly a bottle of wine as “reenforcements” and they all cheered.  Also, she kissed him halfway through the movie.  Alone.  In his hotel room. With the door closed.  She kissed him.  My television didn’t explode or lose channels or anything.

[JenMD]

On 12/6/2018 at 7:11 PM, dalek said:

I think Christmas Everlasting wins the prize for tearjerker of the Christmas movie season.  It was a pretty good movie.  I kind of figured Maeve had to be a secret child, since there's no way a secret girlfriend was going to show up in a Hallmark Christmas movie.

Yeah, I really enjoyed this one.  You know the HOF movie has done its job if you're crying at the end. :-)

On 12/9/2018 at 4:40 AM, Kaiju Ballet said:

Re: A Shoe Addict's Christmas -- enjoyable movie, despite the terrible title. Luke McFarlane is great with CCB, and kudos to a storyline that wrapped everything up at the end. A special shoutout to whomever did the costuming -- the clothing that CCB wore was fantastic. I'm geeky enough to like Jean Smart (Legion) and Kristaan Bruin (Orphan Black) in visible roles.

 

Completely agree with all of it but especially those gorgeous costumes, wow.  My sister and I did both geek out at seeing Kristian Bruun (and Kevin Hanchard in A Majestic Christmas), fun to see unexpected favorites pop up.  And Jean Smart is always a treat.

 

On 12/9/2018 at 9:59 PM, Irlandesa said:

There was something about this movie--maybe it was the chemistry between Lori and Vincent or the personality they brought to their roles that made this an enjoyable experience for me.  I'm not saying there was anything about this  that needs to be seen but I was pleasantly surprised. 

Yeah, I wasn't expecting to like this one nearly as much as I did but it it held my attention (although I agree with the confusion over why the adults were planning the dance rather than the students, but that would eliminate the need for the leads to work together, so, plot).  My sister was cracking up over seeing a different coat on Lori in almost every scene she was wearing one (she finally repeated near the end).  It's a wonder she had any room in her suitcases for clothes, heh.

On 12/10/2018 at 12:29 AM, MissyPoo said:

A Majestic Christmas - I actually like this one mainly because the cast kept me invested. I loved Jerrika's energy throughout the movie and her relationship with her parents. I do kind of wish the story was a little more original but that may be too much to ask of Hallmark deviating from their list. Old school Larry Levinson Hallmark maybe, but not Crown.

I really enjoyed this one, for the same reasons.  The story wasn't terribly dynamic but I really liked the cast.  I also liked that their tense "meet cute" was quickly resolved with him apologizing and they moved on.  I didn't quite get the excitement over the tableau but I just went with it.  It was at least something different.

Count me in as really enjoying Once Upon a Christmas Miracle, as well.  I could have used a little more definition of time (it seemed to pass weirdly) but the story and the cast were great and how lovely that its based on a true (if not Christmas) story.

[Karen885]

I'm really behind on Christmas movies.  I watched Christmas at the Palace recently. What a strange movie.  A weird royal/figure skating hybrid.  Lol at the woman convincing the King to make his staff homemade Christmas gifts instead of giving them a holiday bonus. No one wants that! 

[mikeb]

Candice Cameron Bure is featured in a podcast interview hosted by a friend https://twitter.com/anniefdowns/status/1072227750784757766

Lots of talk about faith, but also some Hallmark movie talk.  Some highlights:  She confirmed she is one of a few actresses that get special treatment from Hallmark in terms of having input into which Christmas movie they appear in and that A Shoe Addict's Christmas (which she admitted is a misleading title) is based on a book she read and told Hallmark she wanted to adapt into a movie.  She also said that the dialogue in the movie about faith came from her.  

She also said that the constant hair dying for different roles took it's toll last year resulting in a lot of hair falling out and that for the next Aurora Teagarden movie, which has already filmed but not yet aired, she wore a wig.  She will filming 2 more Aurora Teagarden movies early next year, but thinks the three of them will all air next September.

Edited December 12, 2018 by mikeb

[MissyPoo]

2 hours ago, mikeb said:

Candice Cameron Bure is featured in a podcast interview hosted by a friend https://twitter.com/anniefdowns/status/1072227750784757766

Lots of talk about faith, but also some Hallmark movie talk.  Some highlights:  She confirmed she is one of a few actresses that get special treatment from Hallmark in terms of having input into which Christmas movie they appear in and that A Shoe Addict's Christmas (which she admitted is a misleading title) is based on a book she read and told Hallmark she wanted to adapt into a movie.  She also said that the dialogue in the movie about faith came from her.  

She also said that the constant hair dying for different roles took it's toll last year resulting in a lot of hair falling out and that for the next Aurora Teagarden movie, which has already filmed but not yet aired, she wore a wig.  She will filming 2 more Aurora Teagarden movies early next year, but thinks the three of them will all air next September.

 

Thanks for this. I love hearing behind the scenes tidbits about Hallmark movies. 

I wondered about the hair thing. I kind of wonder about Taylor Cole's hair because every time we see her, she has a new hair color and though it does help distinguish her characters apart, it really does stress the hair out. I wish they kept Aurora's signature ponytail from the movie which I thought was the character's hairstyle in the book and also separated her from CCB. The later movies felt more CCB and less like Aurora as her own character.

 

On a side watching note, I tried to watch Welcome to Christmas but I was easily distracted by cooking or what-have-you that I checked out after the first few minutes and got lost at why they were trying to hide decorations from the businesswoman. Then I entertained myself with the idea that the town was like a christmassy Eureka where everyone had special X-men like powers that they tried to kept hidden. And if she found out, she'd tell her company who'd want to exploit them for profit and power gain. So they trick her into hanging with the Sheriff and his family to assimilate her into the christmas spirit with baking and such to gain her trust. Then I turned it off and got my Eric Mabius fix from my copy of A Christmas Wedding. I'll probably try watching it again when I'm not burned out on Hallmark's formula.

Edited December 12, 2018 by MissyPoo

[ShelleySue]

There should be a limit to how many holiday movies one person can appear in per season.  

I'm trying to catch up on my holiday viewing.  Monday night I watched A Twist of Christmas on Lifetime.  Last night I watched Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas, on Hallmark M&M, and Welcome to Christmas, on Hallmark Channel.  Susan Hogan was in all three movies, playing a mother/mother figure.  I know that there are a lot of people who appear in multiple Hallmark movies, but it just seemed strange to see the same person in three new movies in a row -- especially playing basically the same character.

50 minutes ago, MissyPoo said:

She also said that the constant hair dying for different roles took it's toll last year resulting in a lot of hair falling out and that for the next Aurora Teagarden movie, which has already filmed but not yet aired, she wore a wig.

I just hope that her wig doesn't look as awful as Erin Krakow's wig on When Calls the Heart.

[mikeb]

Starting to see air dates for new movies in January and February.  Emilie Ullerup who has a HMM Christmas movie Christmas Bells Are Ringing premiering December 23, will have Winter Castle premiering on Hallmark Channel 2 weeks later on January 5.  Jen Lilly will also have a new movie in January.  Autumn Reeser will have Falling Stars on February 5 - will be good to see her since she is not in any Christmas movies this year.

There is a new HMM mystery movie Ruby Herring Mysteries: Silent Witness scheduled for January 20 that has it's own HMM web page that describes the main character as an intrepid redhead who is a consumer reporter, but strangely does not include any cast information.    http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/ruby-herring-mysteries-1-silent-witness

[Kaoteek]

Homegrown Christmas : basically, HMM's Christmas Wonderland, only with an older cast, a bigger budget, a pointless cameo, and more family drama & angst. But aired on Hallmark.

I didn't care much for Osment's movie, despite the cast, and I gotta say I didn't care much more for this one... even though Webster & Loughlin clearly had better alchemy than Osment & whatshisname.

[AnnaRose]

7 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

...Then I turned it off and got my Eric Mabius fix from my copy of A Christmas Wedding. I'll probably try watching it again when I'm not burned out on Hallmark's formula.

Funny you should mention that movie - I watched A Christmas Wedding two nights ago, and quickly realized I had seen the beginning, but couldn't remember much about it... and then I realized why... I deleted it after only watching a little bit of it last year.  So I was determined to watch the whole thing this time... and I did, but it was not for me.  In fact, it makes the small list of my most disliked and hated Christmas movies, even though I really like Sarah Paulson.  The whole thing was just so stressful to watch with everything going horribly wrong throughout almost the entire movie.

I also watched Holiday Engagement, which I also had previously deleted without finishing, in this case because the lying got to me.  (And the stupidity of the Bonnie Somerville's character telling her mom (Shelley Long) at Thanksgiving that she set a wedding date, with the actor (a cute and appealing Jordan Bridges) pretending to be her fiance, for December 21st!  She could have at least said it was for the following year.)  Once I get overly annoyed by something, it's hard for me to enjoy a movie.  But in the case of Holiday Engagement, the cast was so likable I ended up enjoying it a lot. 

One big plus was that the wedding at the end was clearly about a year later. However, that plot point was easy to miss because the only clue was that the sister's baby daughter was now a toddler at the wedding - she announced her pregnancy earlier in the film - and the nanny was holding a baby.

They really should have made the time jump  much more obvious, instead of a blink and you missed it situation.  I read a rant on IMDB by a viewer who thought they just met and married three weeks later.  I don't understand why production couldn't be bothered to put the text "One Year Later..." on the screen before the wedding. That would have prevented a lot of confusion, I'm sure.

[Woopwoopkitty]

Upthread I read there are ~150 Hallmark Christmas movies.  I made my checklist off the website, where I found 94 movies listed as being shown this year.  So far, I have watched 52 of them since early November! I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

in any case, my favorites movies so far are the following, in no particular order:

  Switched for Christmas

  A Gift to Remember

  The Christmas Cottage

  Marry Me at Christmas

  A Christmas Detour

  On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

  A Very Merry Mix Up

  12 Gifts of Christmas

  The Nine Lives of Christmas

  Christmas Cookies

  Ice Sculpture Christmas

  Snow Bride

  Christmas Connection

 

I am looking to watch Fir Crazy since a few people mentioned that as a favorite.

i am surprised that people didnt like Christmas Connection.  I’ve watched it twice and cried both times.  I liked the easy going relationship between the two instead of the forced romance.

One of the things I like to watch for or the older male supporting characters.  You know, the guy who might be CCB’s dad in one movie, and Lacey’s evil boss in another, then a weather caster, maybe an inn keeper, in Alicia’s.  We see several of the same actors over and over as I try to figure out which other ones they were in.

I do find myself being turned off by some of the plastic faces.  The one with Mariah Carey is quite notable for that, and there’s a few others that really bother.  Also, something about Jessica Lowndes bugs me.  The long hair with the long face and the excessive make up, especially in her wedding at the end of December Bride.

[AnnaRose]

2 hours ago, Woopwoopkitty said:

Upthread I read there are ~150 Hallmark Christmas movies.  I made my checklist off the website, where I found 94 movies listed as being shown this year.  So far, I have watched 52 of them since early November! I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

I started watching Christmas movies last year and kept a list.  It became too cumbersome and confusing, so this year I put them in a spreadsheet so I could include the title, year released, lead actress, lead actor, description, IMDB rating and my own rating.  It's been very helpful since they tend to blur together with all the similar plots and similar titles. 

On the other hand... I am a little horrified to see that the total number of Christmas movies I've watched (last year and this year combined) is 100 right now.  Yikes! 

Before last holiday season, the closest thing to a Christmas movie I'd watched in over a decade (other than A Christmas Story) is the 1990 indie classic film Metropolitan - which happens to be set at Christmas time, but would probably not be considered a "Christmas movie".  Now I seem to be addicted to cheesy romantic comedies.  Maybe there's a 12-step program?

[LexieLily]

18 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

I started watching Christmas movies last year and kept a list.  It became too cumbersome and confusing, so this year I put them in a spreadsheet so I could include the title, year released, lead actress, lead actor, description, IMDB rating and my own rating.  It's been very helpful since they tend to blur together with all the similar plots and similar titles. 

Do you think you can do something like that for all of us next year? :)

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Do you think you can do something like that for all of us next year? :)

Hmm... I just use Google Sheets, but maybe, if anyone wants it, at some point I can figure out how to put a copy in public dropbox. I think it exports as a regular Excel file.  You could list your own ratings, and then you could sort them by highest to lowest ratings to see your favorites easier.  It will be missing a ton of movies though.  Out of all the new movies for this year alone I've only seen a handful.  You'll have to remind me next year.  Or at least after the holidays.  ;)

[ZootSuitWyatt]

5 hours ago, Woopwoopkitty said:

Upthread I read there are ~150 Hallmark Christmas movies.  I made my checklist off the website, where I found 94 movies listed as being shown this year.  So far, I have watched 52 of them since early November! I’m not sure whether to be proud or ashamed.

in any case, my favorites movies so far are the following, in no particular order:

  Switched for Christmas

  A Gift to Remember

  The Christmas Cottage

  Marry Me at Christmas

  A Christmas Detour

  On the Twelfth Day of Christmas

  A Very Merry Mix Up

  12 Gifts of Christmas

  The Nine Lives of Christmas

  Christmas Cookies

  Ice Sculpture Christmas

  Snow Bride

  Christmas Connection

 

I am looking to watch Fir Crazy since a few people mentioned that as a favorite.

i am surprised that people didnt like Christmas Connection.  I’ve watched it twice and cried both times.  I liked the easy going relationship between the two instead of the forced romance.

One of the things I like to watch for or the older male supporting characters.  You know, the guy who might be CCB’s dad in one movie, and Lacey’s evil boss in another, then a weather caster, maybe an inn keeper, in Alicia’s.  We see several of the same actors over and over as I try to figure out which other ones they were in.

I do find myself being turned off by some of the plastic faces.  The one with Mariah Carey is quite notable for that, and there’s a few others that really bother.  Also, something about Jessica Lowndes bugs me.  The long hair with the long face and the excessive make up, especially in her wedding at the end of December Bride.

I think it's Jessica Lowndes's lips for me. The last thing I remember her from is Greek (10+ years ago) and they seem very different.

[TVFan17]

Every year I go over Hallmark's own (very handy and helpful) day-to-day/week-to-week schedules of Christmas movies, and I do a Word sort to alphabetize the titles for each network.   I remove the duplicates and then count how many individual titles there are.  And I also count how many showtimes each movie has -- just to get a sense of which movies are literally only being shown one time, and which ones are being shown 18 times in two months.    The goal is to see exactly how many different movies are in the rotation on each channel, whether they are shown a lot or just a few times, which movies were moved to the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel from the main channel, and which movies are not being shown at all that were shown the previous year.   

I have done this for the last several years.  Sometimes I just keep the lists to myself, for my own reference, and sometimes I share them on Facebook.   I would have happily shared them here in the past, but, to be honest, I didn't think anyone would be interested.    This has always been more of a critical thread than a fan thread, and I always assumed that the people who will most appreciate these kinds of lists and similar info are the ones who are actual fans!  lol  I don't mean any offense by that, but it's just a logical, understandable conclusion to draw.   So hopefully this will be of use to someone out there, somewhere...

Anyway, because Hallmark adds and removes showtimes a lot, it's hard to get exact/conclusive/final numbers for how many showtimes/repeats each movie will have.  They might start out with a plan to only air a movie 2 times in 2 months, and then they suddenly add in extra showtimes.  Or they might start out with a plan to air something 18 times in 2 months, and then they cut out a couple of showtimes.   They seem to change their plans and schedules every week.   So, the number of showtimes listed below may have changed since when I put together these lists over one week ago.

 

***Also keep in mind that the lists below only cover the time frame from Friday, October 26th -- Sunday, December 30th, 2018, BUT Hallmark is showing Christmas movies on each channel up to at least Saturday, January 5, 2019.  So the lists below do NOT cover the showtimes past December 30th, because their own handy lists only go up to December 30th.***

 

Hallmark Channel - Countdown to Christmas -- 94 separate movies are in the rotation in 2018, from 10/26 - 12/30/18.  I am not counting the specials (Amy Grant, Meet the Peetes or Candace Cameron Bure's special in a few days).   These lists include movies only.  

The titles in bold are the brand new movies/premieres.    There are 22 new movies and 72 movies from previous years in this year's Countdown to Christmas rotation, up to 12/30/18.

Source:  Hallmark Channel website and this list --  http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/christmas/countdown-to-christmas-2018-schedule/5#listheader

 

---12 Gifts of Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Boyfriend for Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Bride for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---A Christmas Detour (9 showtimes)
---A Christmas Melody (6 showtimes)
---A Cookie Cutter Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A December Bride (10 showtimes)
---A Dream of Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Gift to Remember (12 showtimes)
---A Gingerbread Romance (6 showtimes)

---A Holiday Engagement (8 showtimes)
---A Majestic Christmas (8 showtimes)
---A Midnight Kiss (2 showtimes)
---A Perfect Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A Rose for Christmas (3 showtimes)
---A Royal Christmas (9 showtimes)
---A Shoe Addict’s Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Very Merry Mix-Up (8 showtimes)
---A Wish for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Best Christmas Party Ever (7 showtimes)
---Catch a Christmas Star (3 showtimes)
---Christmas at Cartwright’s (9 showtimes)
---Christmas at Graceland (10 showtimes)
---Christmas at Holly Lodge (11 showtimes)
---Christmas at Pemberley Manor (13 showtimes)
---Christmas at the Palace (9 showtimes)
---Christmas Connection (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Cookies (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Everlasting (4 showtimes on this channel, but there are additional showtimes on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel)
---Christmas Festival of Ice (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Getaway (12 showtimes)
---Christmas in Evergreen (10 showtimes)
---Christmas in Evergreen: Letters to Santa (11 showtimes)
---Christmas in Homestead (9 showtimes)
---Christmas in Love (11 showtimes)
---Christmas Incorporated (7 showtimes)
---Christmas Joy (11 showtimes)
---Christmas Land (6 showtimes)
---Christmas List (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Made to Order (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Next Door (10 showtimes)
---Christmas Under Wraps (12 showtimes)
---Coming Home for Christmas (11 showtimes)
---Crown for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Enchanted Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Entertaining Christmas (6 showtimes)
---Every Christmas Has a Story (8 showtimes)
---Family for Christmas (2 showtimes)
---Finding Santa (11 showtimes)
---Fir Crazy (4 showtimes)
---Hats Off to Christmas! (4 showtimes)
---Help for the Holidays (3 showtimes)
---Hitched for the Holidays (2 showtimes)
---Homegrown Christmas (7 showtimes)
---I’m Not Ready for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Ice Sculpture Christmas (7 showtimes)
---It’s Christmas, Eve (11 showtimes)
---Jingle Around the Clock (5 showtimes)
---Just in Time for Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Let It Snow (8 showtimes)
---Looks Like Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Love You Like Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Marry Me at Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Matchmaker Santa (4 showtimes)
---Merry Matrimony (6 showtimes)
---Mingle All the Way (8 showtimes)
---Miss Christmas (10 showtimes)
---My Christmas Dream (10 showtimes)
---My Christmas Love (7 showtimes)
---Naughty or Nice (4 showtimes)
---On the Twelfth Day of Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Holiday (10 showtimes)
---One Starry Christmas (4 showtimes)
---Pride, Prejudice, and Mistletoe (9 showtimes)
---Reunited at Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Road to Christmas (12 showtimes)
---Royal New Year’s Eve (3 showtimes)
---Sharing Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Sleigh Bells Ring (5 showtimes)
---Snow Bride (8 showtimes)
---Switched for Christmas (12 showtimes)
---The Christmas Cottage (11 showtimes)
---The Christmas Cure (7 showtimes)
---The Christmas Parade (5 showtimes)
---The Mistletoe Inn (4 showtimes)
---The Mistletoe Promise (6 showtimes)
---The Most Wonderful Time of the Year (10 showtimes)
---The Nine Lives of Christmas (9 showtimes)
---The Sweetest Christmas (11 showtimes)
---‘Tis the Season for Love (4 showtimes)
---Welcome to Christmas (7 showtimes)
---When Call the Heart: The Greatest Christmas Blessing (1 showtime)
---Window Wonderland (5 showtimes)
---With Love, Christmas (10 showtimes)

 

************************************************

 

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel - Miracles of Christmas -- 94 separate movies are in the rotation in 2018, from 10/26 - 12/30/18 (I have not added in the showtimes from 12/31/18 - 1/5/19.  I am also not counting Christmas Everlasting in the total number for HMM, even though it is being shown on this channel too.  I am only counting the titles that are not also being shown on the Hallmark Channel).   These lists include movies only -- no one-hour specials.  

The titles in bold are the brand new movies/premieres.    There are 16 new movies and 78 movies from previous years in this year's Miracles of Christmas rotation, up to 12/30/18.

Source:  HMM website and this list -  http://www.hallmarkmoviesandmysteries.com/miracles-of-christmas/miracles-of-christmas-2018-schedule/5#listheader

 

---A Bramble House Christmas (17 showtimes)
---A Carol Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Christmas for the Books (4 showtimes -- This one is now scheduled to premiere on Thurs., 12/20)
---A Christmas to Remember (18 showtimes)
---A Christmas Visitor (5 showtimes)
---A Christmas Wish (7 showtimes)
---A Diva’s Christmas Carol (1 showtime)
---A Godwink Christmas (16 showtimes)
---A Grandpa for Christmas (1 showtime)
---A Heavenly Christmas (7 showtimes)
---A Joyous Christmas (10 showtimes)
---A Nutcracker Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Princess for Christmas (14 showtimes)
---A Song for Christmas (5 showtimes)
---A Town Without Christmas (2 showtimes)
---A Veteran’s Christmas (18 showtimes)
---All I Want for Christmas (7 showtimes)
---Angel in the Family (6 showtimes)
---Angel of Christmas (7 showtimes)
---Angels and Ornaments (3 showtimes -- this was only shown at the end of October, and now it is on the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service)
---Annie Claus is Coming to Town (7 showtimes)
---Baby’s First Christmas (1 showtime)
---Charming Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Christmas at Grand Valley (7 showtimes -- currently scheduled to premiere on Fri., 12/21, but has been moved around a LOT!)
---Christmas Bells are Ringing (5 showtimes -- this has now been moved to Sat., 12/22)
---Christmas Dance (7 showtimes)
---Christmas Encore (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Everlasting (8 showtimes)
---Christmas Homecoming (14 showtimes)
---Christmas in Angel Falls (16 showtimes)
---Christmas in the Air (15 showtimes)
---Christmas Magic (6 showtimes)
---Christmas on Honeysuckle Lane (17 showtimes)
---Christmas Song (4 showtimes)
---Christmas with Holly (9 showtimes)
---Christmas with Tucker (4 showtimes)
---Christmas Wonderland (13 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Call Me Mrs. Miracle (7 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Dashing Through the Snow (11 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Mrs. Miracle (5 showtimes)
---Debbie Macomber’s Trading Christmas (6 showtimes)
---Engaging Father Christmas (12 showtimes)
---Finding Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Finding John Christmas (1 showtime)
---Hearts of Christmas (11 showtimes)
---Home for Christmas Day (10 showtimes)
---Hope at Christmas (19 showtimes)
---I’ll Be Home for Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Journey Back to Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge (4 showtime)
---Karen Kingsbury’s The Bridge Part II (2 showtimes)
---Karen Kingsbury’s Maggie’s Christmas Miracle (12 showtimes)
---Last Vermont Christmas (16 showtimes)
---Love Always, Santa (10 showtimes)
---Love at the Thanksgiving Day Parade (5 showtimes)
---Lucky Christmas (3 showtimes)
---Magic Stocking (13 showtimes)
---Magical Christmas Ornaments (13 showtimes)
---Marrying Father Christmas (14 showtimes)
---Meet the Santas (1 showtime)
---Memories of Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Mistletoe Over Manhattan (4 showtimes)
---Moonlight & Mistletoe (16 showtimes)
---Ms. Scrooge (2 showtimes)
---Northern Lights of Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Northpole: Open for Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Once Upon a Christmas Miracle (11 showtimes)
---Operation Christmas (9 showtimes)
---Our First Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Return to Christmas Creek (17 showtimes)
---Rocky Mountain Christmas (16 showtimes)
---Romance at Reindeer Lodge (13 showtimes)
---Single Santa Seeks Mrs. Claus (1 showtime)
---Small Town Christmas (8 showtimes)
---Sound of Christmas (8 showtimes)
---The Christmas Blessing (7 showtimes)
---The Christmas Card (9 showtimes)
---The Christmas Heart (2 showtimes)
---The Christmas Note (14 showtimes)
---The Christmas Ornament (12 showtimes)
---The Christmas Pageant (3 showtimes)
---The Christmas Secret (14 showtimes)
---The Christmas Shepherd (4 showtimes)
---The Christmas Spirit (2 showtimes)
---The Christmas Train (6 showtimes)
---The Perfect Christmas Present (9 showtimes)
---The Santa Incident (2 showtimes)
---The Thanksgiving House (2 showtimes)
---The Three Gifts (1 showtime)
---The Town Christmas Forgot (5 showtimes)
---Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage (1 showtime)
---Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas (10 showtimes)
---Twice Upon a Christmas (7 showtimes)
---When Angels Come to Town (2 showtimes)

***************************************************************

So there are 188 movies in the rotation this year, between the 2 channels.  If they suddenly add in Christmas Camp, it will be 189.

Anything that is noticeably missing from the line-ups this year (that was shown in 2017) is probably headed to the Hallmark Movies Now streaming service. 

Edited December 14, 2018 by TVFan17

[twoods]

I don’t know why I avoided Christmas In Evergreen last year (I think I was burned out by Ashley Williams) but I really liked it. Not much seemed to happen but it still flew by.

On to Road To Christmas- I tend to like the movies that the leads do so hoping for the best.

[kirinan]

On 12/11/2018 at 2:31 AM, twoods said:

I think Welcome To Christmas has been my favorite Hallmark movie so far. Eric Mabius is always wonderful to watch, but loved his chemistry with Jennifer Finnegan. Also there wasn’t an annoying ex or significant other (though the friend seemed a little jealous) and their snarky humor towards each other was refreshing. I also loved the kids and got misty eyed towards the end. 

I liked everything about this movie except Aunt Nell. I wanted to slap her, she was so annoyingly pushy. But Eric Mabius was wonderful, indeed. I love him as Oliver in Signed, Sealed, Delivered, and I'm glad to see he's not being typecast. And Jennifer Finnigan, while (suitably, I suppose) snotty at the beginning, got much more likable as the movie went on. I agree, the kids were really cute and not precocious.

When they told Madison her car wouldn't be ready for a week, I laughed out loud because I got a Twilight Zone-ish vibe: Woman gets trapped in a town where Christmas never ends, and they won't let her leave. But it was all fine in the end.

Oh, and I really appreciated that the town actually WANTED the resort, instead of fighting it.

ETA:

Quote

On a side watching note, I tried to watch Welcome to Christmas but I was easily distracted by cooking or what-have-you that I checked out after the first few minutes and got lost at why they were trying to hide decorations from the businesswoman. Then I entertained myself with the idea that the town was like a christmassy Eureka where everyone had special X-men like powers that they tried to kept hidden. And if she found out, she'd tell her company who'd want to exploit them for profit and power gain. So they trick her into hanging with the Sheriff and his family to assimilate her into the christmas spirit with baking and such to gain her trust. Then I turned it off and got my Eric Mabius fix from my copy of A Christmas Wedding. I'll probably try watching it again when I'm not burned out on Hallmark's formula.

Ha, MissyPoo, I like your story better than mine! Of course, as a Colin Ferguson fangirl, I love all things Eureka. One of my all-time favorite TV shows.

And I agree with everyone on the burnout factor this year. Between Hallmark, HMM, and Lifetime (I have to ignore the other channels because it's just too much), my DVR is way too full and I'll be watching these damn movies into May at this rate. Or more likely, I'll end up deleting some and watching them next year because there just isn't enough time.

ETA2: TVFan17, this list of movies is fantastic! Thank you!

Edited December 14, 2018 by kirinan

[twoods]

Road To Christmas ended up being pretty good. I liked that the main storyline seemed to be about the brothers getting together to be with their mom (and they were adopted and one was presumed gay and there was diversity! Finally, Hallmark) instead of the romance between the leads. I liked their chemistry, and the fact that they told each other how they felt instead of the usual drawing out angst. Plus, she kissed him first and it wasn’t at the end of the movie! Definitely one of the better ones this year.

After more tears, I finally finished Christmas Everlasting and liked it. The chemistry wasn’t there between the leads but I liked the storyline with her sister/niece and saving the store.

[dalek]

Given that pretty much all the movies repeat a bunch of times, you'd think they could make room for one or two showings of A Season for Miracles. :(

Also, I'm trying very hard not to think about how many Christmas movies I've watched since Halloween.  They're going to take away my license to be a Jew. ;)

[JenMD]

36 minutes ago, dalek said:

Given that pretty much all the movies repeat a bunch of times, you'd think they could make room for one or two showings of A Season for Miracles. :(

Sadly, this was banished to the Hallmark movie app last year.  I finally decided to try the free trial week at some point before the end of the month so I can watch that and A Dog Named Christmas.

[VCRTracking]

[EyewatchTV211]

6 hours ago, dalek said:

Given that pretty much all the movies repeat a bunch of times, you'd think they could make room for one or two showings of A Season for Miracles. :(

Also, I'm trying very hard not to think about how many Christmas movies I've watched since Halloween.  They're going to take away my license to be a Jew. ;)

Ditto. 

I guess I'm back to being the odd one out. I didn't like Welcome to Christmas. I know she softened as the movie progressed, but Jennifer's character was too over the top annoyed at the town for too much of the beginning that I already checked out. I understand her believing that her plans for the ski resort were better (going with the larger town). But that didn't mean she had to appear physically disgusted with even just the idea of being in the town. And that little hissy fit she threw when she had to stay longer (I think it was when the boss recommended it, not the news about the car). It isn't like she had anything to rush back to considering that there wasn't some significant other about to be dumped or other family that they showed. I watched until the end, but not as closely once I'd had enough of her immaturity.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, VMepicgrl said:

Ditto. 

I guess I'm back to being the odd one out. I didn't like Welcome to Christmas. I know she softened as the movie progressed, but Jennifer's character was too over the top annoyed at the town for too much of the beginning that I already checked out. I understand her believing that her plans for the ski resort were better (going with the larger town). But that didn't mean she had to appear physically disgusted with even just the idea of being in the town. And that little hissy fit she threw when she had to stay longer (I think it was when the boss recommended it, not the news about the car). It isn't like she had anything to rush back to considering that there wasn't some significant other about to be dumped or other family that they showed. I watched until the end, but not as closely once I'd had enough of her immaturity.

She lost me when she stupidly reveals her true feelings about the town to the sheriff and then blames him for it. They met at the town welcome sign so why would she assume he lived somewhere else. I gave it a little bit longer but gave up once she starts walking through the house like she owned it. 

[Irlandesa]

I finally made it through all of the Christmas movies I had on my DVR.  Welcome to Christmas was my last movie from last week so it was interesting to see the different reactions so I went form thinking I might like it to thinking I might not.

Well I fall firmly on the side of "liked it."  Quite a bit, actually--as in maybe Top 5 of the season (or at least the Hallmark season). I liked it because I like both Eric Mabius and Jennifer Finnigan.  I liked it because they had some genuine banter that could be both flirty and a bit edgy. I liked it because I thought they had genuine chemistry. 

But I especially liked it for the execution and the slight tweaks to Hallmark's formula.  The movie had all of the "let's do Christmas things" but I found the way they just threw them together funny--intentionally so.  And it was the rare instance where small town actually wants big corporation to come to town and big corporation wants to come to town too.  It's just Jennifer's character who prefers her other chosen town.  She was a snot but as I've said before, I don't mind snotty characters when they're intentionally portrayed that way.  She was. 

The biggest thumbs down for me was the way the ending felt sort of tacked on. 

[MissyPoo]

On 12/13/2018 at 6:08 PM, kirinan said:

When they told Madison her car wouldn't be ready for a week, I laughed out loud because I got a Twilight Zone-ish vibe: Woman gets trapped in a town where Christmas never ends, and they won't let her leave. But it was all fine in the end.

Oh, and I really appreciated that the town actually WANTED the resort, instead of fighting it.

ETA:

Ha, MissyPoo, I like your story better than mine! Of course, as a Colin Ferguson fangirl, I love all things Eureka. One of my all-time favorite TV shows.

 

You said the magic words. I'm a huge Twilight Zone fan and I'd totally watch your version! It's kind of like the ep with Scotty from Star Trek with the town that can control atoms and such. So good. Eureka was so good, too. I think I missed the last few seasons and have been trying to hunt it down on a streaming site. One day I'll catch up.

On 12/13/2018 at 11:08 AM, ZootSuitWyatt said:

 

I have nothing really to add, just that I found myself singing your name as I scrolled down. Ha. Loved the Cherry Poppin Daddies music.

19 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

Not gonna lie, I'd totally watch this.

On 12/12/2018 at 2:34 PM, AnnaRose said:

Funny you should mention that movie - I watched A Christmas Wedding two nights ago, and quickly realized I had seen the beginning, but couldn't remember much about it... and then I realized why... I deleted it after only watching a little bit of it last year.  So I was determined to watch the whole thing this time... and I did, but it was not for me.  In fact, it makes the small list of my most disliked and hated Christmas movies, even though I really like Sarah Paulson.  The whole thing was just so stressful to watch with everything going horribly wrong throughout almost the entire movie.

The movie is a bowl of crazysauce with wonky acting, a weird, crazy storyline, and bonkers characters (including a child with, for some weird reason, a completely dubbed unrealistic voice). I have no idea why I watch it but I always put it on every year because yeah, it's kinda bad. I can see how it would be stressful with all the stuff that blocks her from getting back to her wedding. 

Edited December 15, 2018 by MissyPoo

[Myrrhine]

I am still way behind, but I did see Once Upon a Christmas Miracle. I liked it OK. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had not read an online summary saying it was going to cover 3 Christmases. I kept waiting for a time jump or for something to pull the couple apart. I felt like the change to make the heroine a nursing student instead of a nurse both hurt and helped the internal logic of the film. It made more sense that with medical bills, time off, she would have trouble keeping up with student loans or tuition. BUT the whole justification for the fundraiser (she was such a gift to the community and helped so many people) would have made more sense if she were actually a medical professional. I thought that was one of the weakest parts, the donor throwing the fundraiser. It seemed kind of intrusive to me. 

Christmas Everlasting struck me as fine. My favorite was the little girls; they were so cute. My least favorite was everyone kind of scolding the main character for her life choices. And everyone talking to Maeve referring to Alice as her mom. 

I tried to watch Honeysuckle Lane but somehow only recorded half of it. I could figure out pretty well what I missed but of course the conclusion had a lot less impact without any of the buildup. 

I have also been watching Lifetime Christmas movies. I don't keep up with them as carefully as I do hallmark, so I am more likely to be surprised. I did find a couple of my favorite Lifetime Christmas movies on amazon video for 99 cents in case that is of interest to anyone. (Snowed Inn Christmas among them). 

Also, I saw that Kimberly Sustad of Nine Lives fame is going to be on the netflix series Travelers. 

[TVFan17]

There are some  Taylor Cole fans here, correct?    If so, you will be happy to know that we will be seeing a lot of her in the near future.   Quite a while back I mentioned that she is doing a sequel to One Winter Weekend because she wanted to explore more of the relationship between the Rukya Bernard and Dewshayne Williams characters.   That sequel -- now called One Winter Proposal -- is tentatively scheduled to premiere on Saturday, January 12, 2019.  

 

Taylor and Rukiya are also hosting the 2019 Winterfest Preview Special that airs on Saturday, December 29, 2018.   (I will have more Taylor Cole news in a minute.)

 

One Winter Proposal joins Winter Castle (Emilie Ullerup/Kevin McGarry);  A Winter Princess (Chris McNally/Natalie Hall);  Winter Love Story (Jen Lilley/Kevin McGarry), and a movie starring Trevor Donovan and Lindy Booth that is tentatively titled Snowcoming (I expect that goofy title to change) to form the current lineup of five January/Winterfest 2019 movies.  However, it is unlike Hallmark to put two new movies starring the same leading man or lady into the same event with only a small handful of new movies, so I would not be shocked if they moved one of the Kevin McGarry movies to February.   (There is no need for two new movies starring Kevin in an event with only 5 new movies.)

 

Beyond January, there are currently three known February movies in production, but I expect that there will be at least one or two more.  Hallmark does a weird thing of making some of the February movies their "Countdown to Valentine's Day" installments, and then airs others after February 14th even though they might still be Valentine-themed.   Right now, the batch of February movies includes these three:   Love, Romance and Chocolate (with Lacey Chabert, Britney Bristow and WIll Kemp -- currently filming in Belgium);   The Story of Us (with Maggie Lawson and Sam Page -- I would not be shocked if the title changed), and Falling Stars (with Autumn Reeser, Kavan Smith and Barbara Niven -- currently scheduled for Saturday, February 23rd).

Wedding in the Vineyard (the 3rd in the Vineyard series, with Rachael Leigh Cook and Brendan Penny) has been filmed, but I don't know if Hallmark is saving it for June or airing it in February.

Love Under the Rainbow (with Jodie Sweetin and David Haydn-Jones -- I posted the preview for it here in this thread, before the holiday movies kicked in) is still a mystery as far as when it will premiere, but I suppose that either February or March is a possibility.

 

Moving on to the upcoming mysteries on the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries Channel (these have all been filmed or are currently filming):

Taylor Cole is also the newest Hallmark actress to get her own mystery movie series.  Taylor is playing the lead role in Ruby Herring Mysteries #1: Silent Witness.  Stephen Huszar is her leading man, and Taylor's (former??) real-life stepdad, Shawn Christian, is also in the movie.  Right now, Ruby Herring is still scheduled to premiere on Sunday, January 20th, but Hallmark changes dates and details so often that I don't count on anything to stay as is.

Jill Wagner and Kristoffer Polaha star in another totally new mystery series called Mystery 101 -- currently scheduled to premiere on Sunday, January 27th.

Meanwhile, the 3rd movie in the Emma Fielding Mysteries series (with Courtney Thorne-Smith and James Tupper) -- titled Emma Fielding Mysteries: More Bitter Than Death -- premieres on Sunday, January 13th.   I have a feeling this might be the last installment in this series, but that has not been confirmed.

Two additional Morning Show Mysteries movies have been filmed (with Holly Robinson Peete and Rick Fox), but I don't know if Hallmark is planning to air them in one single month, or spread them out to different months.

The 7th  Hailey Dean Mysteries movie (with Kellie Martin) is filming now, but it is unknown if Hallmark will air it in June again (as they did this year), or in some other month.

Candace Cameron Bure's A Clue to a Kill -- the 10th movie in the Aurora Teagarden series -- just recently wrapped up production, and, as it was mentioned earlier in this thread, it sounds as though Candace thinks it will be held back to air with 2 other not-yet-filmed Teagarden movies in the same month, later this year (possibly September).

The new Alison Sweeney-Benjamin Ayres movie series -- The Chronicle Mysteries -- is expected to launch in February.  Three Chronicle movies have been filmed at this point, and I think that Alison is expecting all 3 of them to air in the same month, but we'll see what happens.   

Also, the Chronicle Mysteries Preview Special (hosted by Alison) is airing on Sunday, January 27th.

The first Crossword Mysteries movie (A Puzzle to Die For) -- starring Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott -- is currently expected to premiere in March.  Its premiere month has been changed a lot already, so I won't be shocked if it changes again.   If Hallmark wants more movies in this series right away, they might hold back the first movie until Lacey and Brennan shoot two more of them, so they can air in the same month.  At this point, only one Crossword movie has been filmed.

 

As far as the mysteries that have not yet been filmed:

Lori Loughlin's Garage Sale Mysteries series is expected to get another 3 or 4 installments (#16 and beyond) -- premiering in August.   None of them have been filmed yet, but they usually shoot early in the year.

There is no word on the status of the mystery series in development for Danica McKellar -- The Matchmaker Mysteries (inspired by and somehow involving or produced by Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger!!) -- but it sounds like a cute idea if they can get it off the ground.   This was announced in July.   I have a feeling that Patti is going to be a thorn in Hallmark's side, as she seems to be very demanding and difficult.  She might be a pain to deal with for them (I could be wrong, though). 

There is no new information on the Alexa and Carlos PenaVega mystery series -- Picture Perfect -- which was announced early in 2018 and was supposed to have been filmed this year but was postponed.

There is also no update on the movie based on Joy Fielding's Charley's Web (starring and produced by Susan Lucci), which was announced in the summer.

And, finally, there is no update on Judy Smith's The Adjuster, which has been in development for a couple of years and has been announced and re-announced with no actual production taking place.

 

Mysteries that are not coming back at all include:   The Fixer Upper Mysteries series (with Jewel and Colin Ferguson -- Colin confirmed in an interview that it is not returning);   Murder She Baked (with Alison Sweeney and Cameron Mathison -- it seems that Hallmark very much wants to continue working with Ali and Cameron, but they must have felt that Murder She Baked had run its course);   the Gourmet Detective series (Dylan Neal confirmed that Hallmark wanted to end it), and, of course, the Flower Shop Mysteries series (with Brooke Shields and Brennan Elliott).  Hallmark clearly wants to keep Brennan in the mix, but I guess that their relationship with Brooke was not meant to be.

 

The mystery that is a mystery:

There has been no word on the fate of Darrow & Darrow (with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Wendie Malick and Tom Cavanagh).   I assume that the initial contract was for 3 movies, and they have done those.   Nothing has been announced about more movies.   My personal feeling is that Hallmark would want to continue this series for as long as they can.   Whether or not all 3 of the main actors are willing to continue it is another story.   I think that when the next big TCA media event takes place in another month or two, if there is no announcement about more Darrow & Darrow movies then it is probably at a standstill.

 

 

So far... not a single new Andrew Walker movie in sight!

Edited December 16, 2018 by TVFan17
typo!

[mikeb]

26 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

The mystery that is a mystery:

There has been no word on the fate of Darrow & Darrow (with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Wendie Malick and Tom Cavanagh).   I assume that the initial contract was for 3 movies, and they have done those.   Nothing has been announced about more movies.   My personal feeling is that Hallmark would want to continue this series for as long as they can.   Whether or not all 3 of the main actors are willing to continue it is another story.   I think that when the next big TCA media event takes place in another month or two, if there is no announcement about more Darrow & Darrow movies, then it is probably at a standstill.

 

 

I would agree that wanting to continue a series with Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Wendie Malick would normally make sense, but the ratings for the third movie were terrible.  Only 780,000 viewers, making it the only movie on HMM this year to premiere with less than a million viewers.  In it's defense, it was shown in October, almost 2 full months after the last new mystery movie (a Garage Sale Mystery) and when most of the commercials were already focused on the Christmas movies that were close to starting.

Edited December 15, 2018 by mikeb

[Happywatcher]

8 minutes ago, mikeb said:

I would agree that wanting to continue a series with Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Wendie Malick would normally make sense, but the ratings for the third movie were terrible.  Only 780,000 viewers, making it the only movie on HMM this year to premiere with less than a million viewers.  In it's defense, it was shown in October, almost 2 full months after the last new mystery movie (a Garage Sale Mystery) and when most of the commercials were already focused on the Christmas movies that were close to starting.

I am an attorney in real life, so I don't expect much reality in my TV shows. However, that was horrible. It wasn't even close to any hearing ever, much less a trial. Plus, there is no chemistry at all between them. They were not even realistic friends

[Jenniferbug]

31 minutes ago, TVFan17 said:

There are some  Taylor Cole fans here, correct?    If so, you will be happy to know that we will be seeing a lot of her in the near future.   Quite a while back I mentioned that she is doing a sequel to One Winter Weekend because she wanted to explore more of the relationship between the Rukya Bernard and Dewshayne Williams characters.   That sequel -- now called One Winter Proposal -- is tentatively scheduled to premiere on Saturday, January 12, 2019.  

...

The new Alison Sweeney-Benjamin Ayres movie series -- The Chronicle Mysteries -- is expected to launch in February.  Three Chronicle movies have been filmed at this point, and I think that Alison is expecting all 3 of them to air in the same month, but we'll see what happens.   

Also, the Chronicle Mysteries Preview Special (hosted by Alison) is airing on Sunday, January 27th.

The first Crossword Mysteries movie (A Puzzle to Die For) -- starring Lacey Chabert and Brennan Elliott -- is currently expected to premiere in March.  Its premiere month has been changed a lot already, so I won't be shocked if it changes again.   If Hallmark wants more movies in this series right away, they might hold back the first movie until Lacey and Brennan shoot two more of them, so they can air in the same month.  At this point, only one Crossword movie has been filmed.

...

The mystery that is a mystery:

There has been no word on the fate of Darrow & Darrow (with Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Wendie Malick and Tom Cavanagh).   I assume that the initial contract was for 3 movies, and they have done those.   Nothing has been announced about more movies.   My personal feeling is that Hallmark would want to continue this series for as long as they can.   Whether or not all 3 of the main actors are willing to continue it is another story.   I think that when the next big TCA media event takes place in another month or two, if there is no announcement about more Darrow & Darrow movies then it is probably at a standstill.

 

So far... not a single new Andrew Walker movie in sight!

I really liked One Winter Weekend so I'm excited to get a sequel, especially so soon! Hopefully this one is as good as the first.

I think the Chronicle and Crossword mysteries are the ones I'm looking forward to the most. I haven't gotten into a lot of the mysteries. I did like Darrow and Darrow so I hope that one returns, but never got into Hailey Dean or Aurora Teagarden. 

Thanks for the updates!

[Kaoteek]

Time to Come Home For Christmas. Meh. I tend to like Megan Park, and I've nothing against Josh Henderson (also, a Paul McGillion cameo never hurts), but "meh" is about all I can come up with to describe this one. Country Christmases just don't do it for me.

[EtheltoTillie]

I liked Mingle All the Way, but the plot was a stretch. I didn’t believe that the girl wouldn’t have already known the story of how her parents met. 

 

I am watching Entertaining Christmas. It’s clearly a steal from Christmas In Connecticut, starring Barbara Stanwyck. She was a woman’s magazine editor who as faking her way through Christmas crafts and food to impress a returning soldier. 

Edited December 16, 2018 by GussieK

[LexieLily]

Thanks for all the updates, @TVFan17. Bummed that Gourmet Detective and Fixer Upper series' are no more.

[formerlyfreedom]

6 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

So far... not a single new Andrew Walker movie in sight!

That sound you hear is me sobbing quietly.

[Happywatcher]

Christmas at the Palace. Not horrible. Except both girl characters had the same half brunette, half blond hair curled at the bottom, to the extent I couldn't tell who wanted the kingprince and who wanted the assistant for most of the show

Edited December 16, 2018 by Happywatcher

[Jenniferbug]

I watched Entertaining Christmas and I liked it, I think mostly due to the leads. I appreciate that Jodie Sweeten has a different energy than most of the Hallmark leading ladies, so I hope they keep her around for some variety. And I'm a total sucker for Brendan Fehr since Roswell so I'm probably a little biased about their chemistry :-)

My main annoyance with the movie is that it didn't feel like a Christmas movie as much as a movie that happened to take place at Christmas. The dad could have been coming home in February or June or September, and the plot would be no different. I still liked it, but seems like more evidence that they need to calm down with quantity at Christmas. 

[twoods]

I’m glad you liked it. The commercials don’t make it look very good but I’ve liked Brendan Fehr’s Christmas movies so will give it a chance.

I liked Christmas in Evergreen 2. Jill Wagner is quickly becoming a staple of Hallmark movies, and I like her easy chemistry with the male leads. The supporting cast was really good. Wondering where they film because there is a lot of snow (unless it’s fake snow but it actually felt like Christmas).

Edited December 16, 2018 by twoods

[MissyPoo]

16 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

There are some  Taylor Cole fans here, correct?    If so, you will be happy to know that we will be seeing a lot of her in the near future.   Quite a while back I mentioned that she is doing a sequel to One Winter Weekend because she wanted to explore more of the relationship between the Rukya Bernard and Dewshayne Williams characters.   That sequel -- now called One Winter Proposal -- is tentatively scheduled to premiere on Saturday, January 12, 2019.  

 

Taylor and Rukiya are also hosting the 2019 Winterfest Preview Special that airs on Saturday, December 29, 2018.   (I will have more Taylor Cole news in a minute.)

 

16 hours ago, Jenniferbug said:

I really liked One Winter Weekend so I'm excited to get a sequel, especially so soon! Hopefully this one is as good as the first.

Agreed! I love this! I'm looking forward to seeing both of the special, the movie, and more of Rukiya as well. It's sad I'm more excited about the upcoming Winterfest movies than the next few Christmas movies. Except for Tia's.

Glad to see Autumn back, too! She's always a joy to watch. 

I'm surprised to see Natalie Hall again. I haven't seen her since those Love Comes Softly movies and The Seven Year Hitch. I'll keep an eye out for her movie promo.

16 hours ago, TVFan17 said:

And, finally, there is no update on Judy Smith's The Adjuster, which has been in development for a couple of years and has been announced and re-announced with no actual production taking place.

Yeah I've been waiting on this one for a while now. Bummed there are no updates. 

Thanks for posting this though. I'm curious if there will be burnout with the usual leads doubling for both ongoing mystery movies and the Hallmark romantic comedies. 

[Happywatcher]

Just watched Miss Christmas. It came out last year and somehow I missed it (pun intended). Chicago city business woman goes to small farm city to convince rugged single dad to give her the massive pine tree on his farm for the city display.

The lead was super cute and dressed Christmas and professional at the same time, which I suspect is very hard to do. The real star was the best friend character left in the city . The actress made you feel like she was real and had a real relationship with the lead just through the city street cell phone scenes. I assume they were all shot on the same day. 

Looking forward to the black romance Gingerbread couple tonight. It is a Christmas bakery movie, so Hallmark is giving them their best setting. I am concerned the bakery previews seem a little sparse in terms of props on the set.

[mikeb]

I just caught the end of A Veteran's Christmas and noticed a goof in the final scene.  Eloise Mumford's character refers to her dog Christmas as 'a good boy' but the ex-Marine who arranged for it's return said he arranged for 'her early retirement'.  Now I am curious to go back and watch the beginning of the movie and see how it was referred to when first mentioned.

 

15 hours ago, MissyPoo said:

Thanks for posting this though. I'm curious if there will be burnout with the usual leads doubling for both ongoing mystery movies and the Hallmark romantic comedies. 

I wonder if they may transition some of them to a Candice Cameron Bure workload.  She has only been doing the Aurora Teagarden mystery movies and Christmas movies - she has not been doing any non-Christmas romantic movies (although that may be to allow time for her non-Hallmark projects).    Danica will be 44 in couple weeks and I think some of her recent romantic movies haven't really fit someone in their 40s.

[Happywatcher]

Watching Northern Lights of Christmas off the DVR. Ashley Williams is an airline pilot who inherits a reindeer farm and it comes with a super hot super moody guy.

I am having the hardest time getting over the fact that in her airline uniform she wears Naval Aviator wings. Keep waiting for some back story on this, none yet.