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

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, TimetoShine said:

Really enjoyed the latest chronicle mystery. Much more than the 2nd. 

But I was stunned to learn that HMM will be playing a Christmas movie every Thursday all year long. That is excessive. 

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I didn’t realize they were doing this. Now there is a Christmas movie on Thursday and Friday.

I wonder if the are testing the waters for a 24/7 Christmas channel. It was mentioned as a possibility during the Deck the Hallmark podcast with a Hallmark channel executive. 

14 minutes ago, forumfish said:

It was great seeing Linda Dano again. Mom said, "she looks old," and I said, "well, yeah, the show (Another World) has been off the air forever, so she kinda is old." I looked it up, and she's 75 -- 10 years younger than my mom. Hee!

Re: all-year Christmas movies -- I just looked it up. Christmas movies run Thursday nights on Hallmark Mysteries & Movies Channel, and Friday nights on the regular Hallmark Channel. It looks like different movies, not the same one repeated the next night.

Are they seriously replaying all year the premieres they just showed from 2018? Or will they be showing some of the older ones they barely showed during the countdown? If this is their way of getting out of airing The Most Wonderful Time of the Year or Let It Snow during the main October-December Countdown to Christmas, I won't be happy.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I wonder if the are testing the waters for a 24/7 Christmas channel. It was mentioned as a possibility during the Deck the Hallmark podcast with a Hallmark channel executive. 

I would love it if they did that, then I won't have to ever hear about them ever again & I can watch lots of mystery movies.

[Aliconehead]

5 hours ago, GaT said:

I would love it if they did that, then I won't have to ever hear about them ever again & I can watch lots of mystery movies.

Nope HMM and Hallmark would still go all Christmas during November and December and possibly parts of July, October and January 

[mikeb]

14 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

Meghann Fahy is my favorite thing about the Bold Type and Luke MacFarlane is generally a good choice for me so I also appreciated the movie. 

MF was happy without being over the top which is becoming a rarity with the actresses on this channel.  

This was the first time I have seen Meghann Fahy in anything and liked her.  In some scenes, she reminded me a lot of Jen Lilly, both in terms of appearance and voice.

[ShelleySue]

19 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I watched Just Add Romance last night.  It was a little low energy at times but overall,  i liked it.  I liked that they knew each other at cooking school but weren't some grand romance.  So when they met up again a few years later, they had a good vibe but it wasn't the "long lost love" tortured kind.  It was also the second movie in a row which didn't wait until the end for a kiss.  The romance kicked off before the half way mark.  Making it a non-folksy cooking competition was fun too; although I wish they hadn't pulled punches with the ending.  They should have had one of them win.

19 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

I wasn't sure if it was just my mood, but I kind of loved it!

I'm not sure what was going on with me last night, but I was thoroughly confused in the beginning.  I somehow didn't realize that so much time had passed and couldn't figure out why if she was in NYC she would be entering a cooking show that was coming to Chicago.  Then I couldn't figure out why she hadn't seen her dad in so long when they were both in NYC.  Once I was able to sort it all out I enjoyed the movie.  I too am glad that "the kiss" happened mid-movie.  I was also happy see that the bad guys weren't really bad guys and didn't make trouble for the couple.  Under the old Hallmark formula at 1 hour and 30 minutes into the movie the two other chefs in the competition (the ones eliminated third and fourth) would have caused a major headache for the couple.  Instead the truffle misunderstanding was resolved quickly.

[kirinan]

20 hours ago, Aliconehead said:

Meghann Fahy is my favorite thing about the Bold Type and Luke MacFarlane is generally a good choice for me so I also appreciated the movie. 

MF was happy without being over the top which is becoming a rarity with the actresses on this channel. 

I saw Meghann Fahy on SVU a few seasons ago, where she played a grown-up victim of child pornography. She was so good in the part, and when I saw it again a few weeks ago I wondered what had happened to her. Now I know, and I'm glad to see she can also play a very cheerful role, too! She's quite appealing and charming. I hope Hallmark casts her again. (BTW, she reminds me SO much of one of my favorite actresses, Darby Stanchfield from Scandal and Jericho. They could easily play sisters.)

Also, re: the latest Chronicle movie, I really enjoyed this one. I watched last week's, but it didn't grab me the way the first one did. I think it was because they had Alison Sweeney and Benjamin Ayres separated for most of last week's story. This one had them working together again, and I honestly think that's the spark that was missing from the second installment. More Chronicle mysteries, please, Hallmark PTB, and more of the the leads sleuthing together, thank you kindly!

Edited March 4, 2019 by kirinan

[AnnaRose]

8 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

I'm not sure what was going on with me last night, but I was thoroughly confused in the beginning.  I somehow didn't realize that so much time had passed and couldn't figure out why if she was in NYC she would be entering a cooking show that was coming to Chicago.  Then I couldn't figure out why she hadn't seen her dad in so long when they were both in NYC.  Once I was able to sort it all out I enjoyed the movie.  I too am glad that "the kiss" happened mid-movie.  I was also happy see that the bad guys weren't really bad guys and didn't make trouble for the couple.  Under the old Hallmark formula at 1 hour and 30 minutes into the movie the two other chefs in the competition (the ones eliminated third and fourth) would have caused a major headache for the couple.  Instead the truffle misunderstanding was resolved quickly.

Yes, it was very easy to miss that a lot of time had passed.  They should have added x-many years later on the screen, or something.

Part of why I enjoyed it so much may have been that my expectations were super low... I had just watched the last new movie that was centered around a chef and was afraid it was going to be too similar.  But I really liked what the competition brought to it.  I thought the leads had great chemistry and were very appealing as were the rest of the cast.  (Including the producer/assistant and the fathers.)

Like you, I was so happy that the 'villains' weren't really villains.  I loved that they brought back the contestants who were let go, and I enjoyed their evolving friendships.  I also liked that the more middle age female contestant was very understandable in her point of view, and also seemed to be worried that Carley might be getting too distracted by a potential love interest instead of focusing on winning. (Not that Carley was actually doing that.)  I also really liked Winston and the other male contestant, and loved the friendship between Carley and the young blond female contestant who I've seen in other Hallmark movies.

Someone up-thread mentioned that they thought having them both win was a cop-out, but I was glad they went that route.  Jason and Carley were both extremely talented and clearly would be working together in the restaurant anyway, and with them both winning they started out on even footing.  Also, if that happened in a RL reality show, I'm sure the producers would push the romance angle for all it was worth and would probably see a big spike in their ratings.  Who doesn't like a happy ending?

Edited March 5, 2019 by AnnaRose

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, AnnaRose said:

They should have added x-many years later on the screen, or something.

They did.  Like others here, I too was confused by the potential time jump so I rewound to see if there was any indication that there was a time jump.  It said 3 years later and indicated the events were taking place in Chicago.

[AnnaRose]

1 hour ago, Irlandesa said:

They did.  Like others here, I too was confused by the potential time jump so I rewound to see if there was any indication that there was a time jump.  It said 3 years later and indicated the events were taking place in Chicago.

Oh.  I guess I missed that too.

So sad about Luke Perry!  I just recently watched the movie he wrote and starred in, and I enjoyed it very much.  How awful for his family. 

[Irlandesa]

9 minutes ago, AnnaRose said:

So sad about Luke Perry!  I just recently watched the movie he wrote and starred in, and I enjoyed it very much.  How awful for his family. 

Yeah.  I didn't watch much 90210 but I really grew to like Luke after that movie. 

[EyewatchTV211]

Guess I'm back to being in the minority. I found Just Add Romance to be very boring. And I'm not one who likes manufactured drama or misunderstandings or any of that, so it isn't that I was bored with those not being present. That actually made me happy, as did a lot of what other people pointed out. It just lacked something plot-wise or energy-wise. Maybe it's because I've watched too many of the actual food network cooking competitions. The one they portrayed in the movie would have been the most boring TV food competition of all time and would never make it. They were mostly quiet while showing the cooking scenes, there didn't seem to be any obvious time constraints causing stress (which could actually have added in a fun scene of some sort I think), the judging comments were cliches. I guess I found it similar to the critiques people here have regarding portrayal of certain careers that are not accurate. While I'm not a chef myself, I watch enough of those shows to know that it seems like the Hallmark people never actually watched a cooking competition and just guessed based on commercials. Except for bringing back eliminated chefs to help - that actually does happen a lot. And it would not fit with their look, but a cooking show needs at least someone with tattoos, piercings, and/or wild hair, lol. They pop up a lot. 

[paisley]

Currently watching and enjoying Autumn Dreams (2015). I'm hoping  the male lead doesn't decide to move back to Iowa forsaking the evils of big city life. Very tired of that cliche.

[mikeb]

I know they use same actors in supporting roles a lot, but it was funny to see same actor playing Meghann Fahy's father in Just Add Romance Saturday night and family lawyer in latest Chronicle movie Sunday night.

Unrelated, for those interested in catching up on old HMM mystery movies, I noticed 2 McBride movies from 2005 starring John Laraquette are scheduled for Wednesday night.     I don't think they get shown nearly as often as Mystery Woman or Jane Doe from same era.

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, mikeb said:

Unrelated, for those interested in catching up on old HMM mystery movies, I noticed 2 McBride movies from 2005 starring John Laraquette are scheduled for Wednesday night.     I don't think they get shown nearly as often as Mystery Woman or Jane Doe from same era.

*sets the DVR* Thanks for the heads-up. I think I've watched that series once or maybe twice.

[sistersledge]

On 3/4/2019 at 10:52 PM, VMepicgrl said:

Guess I'm back to being in the minority. I found Just Add Romance to be very boring. And I'm not one who likes manufactured drama or misunderstandings or any of that, so it isn't that I was bored

I’m usually the one who doesn’t like most of the movies (but can’t stop watching! Lol) too and I agree. I even missed the whole first half but managed to pick it up anyway- I still thought it had low energy. And I usually like the Luke McFarlane movies. Sad!

[AnnaRose]

On 3/4/2019 at 10:52 PM, VMepicgrl said:

Guess I'm back to being in the minority. I found Just Add Romance to be very boring. And I'm not one who likes manufactured drama or misunderstandings or any of that, so it isn't that I was bored with those not being present. That actually made me happy, as did a lot of what other people pointed out. It just lacked something plot-wise or energy-wise. Maybe it's because I've watched too many of the actual food network cooking competitions. The one they portrayed in the movie would have been the most boring TV food competition of all time and would never make it. They were mostly quiet while showing the cooking scenes, there didn't seem to be any obvious time constraints causing stress (which could actually have added in a fun scene of some sort I think), the judging comments were cliches. I guess I found it similar to the critiques people here have regarding portrayal of certain careers that are not accurate. While I'm not a chef myself, I watch enough of those shows to know that it seems like the Hallmark people never actually watched a cooking competition and just guessed based on commercials. Except for bringing back eliminated chefs to help - that actually does happen a lot. And it would not fit with their look, but a cooking show needs at least someone with tattoos, piercings, and/or wild hair, lol. They pop up a lot. 

That's interesting.  I never watch cooking competitions and I am one of the people who enjoyed it - a lot more than I expected to - and that probably had a lot to do with it.  Part of the appeal for me was because it was so different from anything I've seen before.

[Kitty Redstone]

I also enjoyed the third Chronicle movie and hope HMM is planning on adding to the series.  The cast is great - I especially like the friendship between Alex and Chuck.  Drew and his daughter are very cute, too.  And, it was great to see Linda Dano again.  I don't think I've seen her since OLTL ended a few years ago.

On 3/4/2019 at 12:46 AM, GaT said:

I would love it if they did that, then I won't have to ever hear about them ever again & I can watch lots of mystery movies.

Same here!

[mikeb]

Andrew Walker is back after skipping the Hallmark Christmas movies - he is starring with Bethany Joy Lenz in Bottled With Love premiering April 13th.

[Misslindsey]

53 minutes ago, mikeb said:

Andrew Walker is back after skipping the Hallmark Christmas movies - he is starring with Bethany Joy Lenz in Bottled With Love premiering April 13th.

I really enjoyed those two in Lifetime's Snowed Inn Christmas a couple of years ago, so it will be nice to see them together again.

I liked Love Under the Rainbow. I thought the leads had chemistry and there was not any big misunderstanding. The conflict at the end seemed to last all of five minutes.

[kirinan]

I enjoyed the Spring Fever movie preview last night. Not only were Julie Gonzalo and Tyler Hynes very relaxed and personable together, the movies look great! I actually want to watch all of them this year. And so many of my favorites: Andrew Walker! Bethany Joy Lenz! Tyler Hynes (who's rocketing upward through the ranks to my personal Hall of Fame)! Julie Gonzalo! Michael Rady! Nikki DeLoach! Andrew Walker! 🙂

Plus, you can never go wrong closing out a show with cute puppies.

[TimetoShine]

I’m so curious to see how the shoehorn crosswords into these upcoming movies. I confess to thinking that the crossword mysteries sounds like a stupid idea. 

[Irlandesa]

Love Under the Rainbow was too earnest or something.  The leads had chem but it didn't work for the mood I was in.  I was bored.

2 hours ago, TimetoShine said:

I’m so curious to see how the shoehorn crosswords into these upcoming movies. I confess to thinking that the crossword mysteries sounds like a stupid idea. 

I liked the first movie but it made sense as to why crosswords played a major part.  They were part of the mystery.  I don't know how they'll be a central part of mysteries going forward.  That said, Lacy and Brennan have terrific chemistry and I much prefer them going toe-to-toe in order to solve a mystery rather than getting all sappy over a house. 

I did have to laugh at Brennan in the movie, though.  He played his cop character as if he were a tough cop in a gritty procedural instead of a Hallmark movie.  And I liked Harris. 

Spoiler

So sad he died.

I do wonder why they aired this one first and will air the other three in October. 

[GaT]

I just watched the Crossword Mysteries & it wasn't great. I didn't think there was any chemistry at all between Lacey Chabert & Brennan Elliott, & Lacey has a strange "little girl" kind of voice that just doesn't work. Also, she's not that great of an actress.

[Veronica]

I didn’t like either movie this weekend.  Whoever wrote “Love Under the Rainbow” needs to go on a field trip with a class before ever writing a character as a teacher, especially a teacher taking a class on a field trip, again.  

The Crossword Mystery one bored me. I get Brennan Elliott and Kavan Smith confused and for some reason I’m not crazy about either of them. 

[mikeb]

20 hours ago, kirinan said:

I enjoyed the Spring Fever movie preview last night. Not only were Julie Gonzalo and Tyler Hynes very relaxed and personable together, the movies look great! I actually want to watch all of them this year. And so many of my favorites: Andrew Walker! Bethany Joy Lenz! Tyler Hynes (who's rocketing upward through the ranks to my personal Hall of Fame)! Julie Gonzalo! Michael Rady! Nikki DeLoach! Andrew Walker! 🙂

Plus, you can never go wrong closing out a show with cute puppies.

The preview show was the first time I've seen Michael Rady without a beard - I couldn't get over how different his face looked.

[ShelleySue]

What was up with David Haydn-Jone's jacket in Love Under the Rainbow?  Either he gained weight after he was fitted for it or someone grabbed the wrong jacket.  It was tight and way too short.  I usually don't comment on how people look, but I found it to be distracting.

3 hours ago, Veronica said:

Whoever wrote “Love Under the Rainbow” needs to go on a field trip with a class before ever writing a character as a teacher, especially a teacher taking a class on a field trip, again.  

I was thinking the same thing.  Nothing like taking kids out of the classroom to go to a field and chase rainbows.  Just one teacher, no chaperones, and open the door and let the kids fly out of the bus.  All because one girl is obsessed with rainbows.  I guess that's what they do in a school in which the kids have no lessons while they are working on their science fair projects.

On a side note, does anyone know where the garden is?  I'm assuming somewhere near Vancouver, but I was just wondering.

On March 10, 2019 at 9:16 AM, mikeb said:

Andrew Walker is back after skipping the Hallmark Christmas movies - he is starring with Bethany Joy Lenz in Bottled With Love premiering April 13th.

Even more exciting is that Jordan Bridges is back!!!!

[Happywatcher]

12 hours ago, Veronica said:

I didn’t like either movie this weekend.  Whoever wrote “Love Under the Rainbow” needs to go on a field trip with a class before ever writing a character as a teacher, especially a teacher taking a class on a field trip, again.  

The Crossword Mystery one bored me. I get Brennan Elliott and Kavan Smith confused and for some reason I’m not crazy about either of them. 

Watching Crossword off the DVR, about 20 minutes left. It isn't clicking. The romance or the mystery. Plus we all know who the crooks were as soon as they do the passing the pen scene 10 minutes in. 

Both actors are usually pretty good, but it is like they are acting past each other, if that makes sense.

[EyewatchTV211]

10 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

I was thinking the same thing.  Nothing like taking kids out of the classroom to go to a field and chase rainbows.  Just one teacher, no chaperones, and open the door and let the kids fly out of the bus.  All because one girl is obsessed with rainbows.  I guess that's what they do in a school in which the kids have no lessons while they are working on their science fair projects.

And being able to walk out of a classroom when there's no other adults present to monitor the kids, closing the windowless door behind you. 

[Kemper]

I usually don't watch Lacey Chabert in anything...and I don't know why.  But I watched the Crossword Mystery last night and didn't hate it.  I think it was because of the actor, who didn't remind me of the usual Ken Doll make casting.  Was he in the Brooke Shields' Flower Shop Mysteries?  Because he looks familiar.  

[MerBearHou]

18 minutes ago, Kemper said:

I usually don't watch Lacey Chabert in anything...and I don't know why.  But I watched the Crossword Mystery last night and didn't hate it.  I think it was because of the actor, who didn't remind me of the usual Ken Doll make casting.  Was he in the Brooke Shields' Flower Shop Mysteries?  Because he looks familiar.  

Yep, same guy — Brennan Elliott.  I always like him and I usually just tolerate Lacey.  In the Crossword Mystery, she was acting in a more mature manner — I enjoyed her in this (as I did in the recent Love, Romance and Chocolate opposite Will Kemp who was a good balance for Lacey’s usual lack of acting chops).  It was a “puzzle” to me how they were going to incorporate crossword puzzles into a mystery and it was OK, not great, but I didn’t hate the movie.  

[GaT]

5 hours ago, Happywatcher said:

Plus we all know who the crooks were as soon as they do the passing the pen scene 10 minutes in. 

I forgot to mention this in my original comment, as soon as they got into the scene, I knew who was guilty. The movie wasn't a "who done it", it was a "I already know who done it".

[mikeb]

I wonder if the four new Garage Sale Mysteries scheduled for later this year have all been filmed and, if not, are they all going to get made in light of this news.  https://tvline.com/2019/03/12/felicity-huffman-indicted-lori-loughlin-ivy-league-bribe/

Lori and her husband are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get her 2 daughters admitted to USC.

Details from another article:

As for Loughlin, she and her husband reportedly "agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC."

https://www.tvinsider.com/759038/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-bribery-college-admissions/

Edited March 12, 2019 by mikeb
additional details

[Was-MArsenault]

1 minute ago, mikeb said:

I wonder if the three new Garage Sale Mysteries scheduled for later this year have all been filmed and, if not, are they all going to get made in light of this news.  https://tvline.com/2019/03/12/felicity-huffman-indicted-lori-loughlin-ivy-league-bribe/

Lori and her husband are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get her 2 daughters admitted to USC.

Yikes. This doesn't look good at all.

[Kitty Redstone]

Lori Loughlin will be done on Hallmark.  I can't imagine they'll show the movies if they're complete or finish them if they're not.

Why do people who already have privileges that 99% of the population don't have resort to cheating, fraud, bribery, etc.?  The arrogance and stupidity here is stunning.  And disappointing.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Kitty Redstone
grammar

[TimetoShine]

2 hours ago, mikeb said:

I wonder if the four new Garage Sale Mysteries scheduled for later this year have all been filmed and, if not, are they all going to get made in light of this news.  https://tvline.com/2019/03/12/felicity-huffman-indicted-lori-loughlin-ivy-league-bribe/

Lori and her husband are charged with paying $500,000 in bribes to get her 2 daughters admitted to USC.

Details from another article:

As for Loughlin, she and her husband reportedly "agreed to pay bribes totaling $500,000 in exchange for having their two daughters designated as recruits to the USC crew team — despite the fact that they did not participate in crew — thereby facilitating their admission to USC."

https://www.tvinsider.com/759038/felicity-huffman-lori-loughlin-bribery-college-admissions/

She should have paid for tutors instead. If I can get into an Ivy with poor parents, her kids should have been given the same credit. 

Apparently, some people have already plead guilty so presumably something did happen. 

Edited March 12, 2019 by TimetoShine

[Guest]

31 minutes ago, Kitty Redstone said:

Lori Loughlin will be done on Hallmark.  I can't imagine they'll show the movies if they're complete or finish them if they're not.

Why do people who already have privileges that 99% of the population don't have resort to cheating, fraud, bribery, etc.?  The arrogance and stupidity here is stunning.  And disappointing.

I wonder how this is going to impact When Calls the Heart. 

To make the situation even worse last year Lori’s daughter put up a YouTube video saying:

“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all,” she said. “But I do want the experience of like game days, partying…I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”

The level of entitlement displayed is astounding. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/people.com/tv/lori-loughlin-daughter-olivia-jade-apologized-school/amp/

ETA: According to TMZ there are recordings with Loughlin talking about the scheme.

Edited March 12, 2019 by Guest

[Veronica]

Some of the parents evidently paid SAT proctors to change their kid’s answers to get higher scores. No idea if she & her husband did that or not. 

She should be done at Hallmark.  

Edited March 12, 2019 by Veronica

[MerBearHou]

9 minutes ago, Veronica said:

Some of the parents evidently paid SAT proctors to change their kid’s answers to get higher scores. No idea if she & her husband did that or not. 

She should be done at Hallmark.  

That is such a shame -- she sure had a good gig at Hallmark.  I don't watch When Calls the Heart or Fuller House but I enjoy the Garage Sales Mysteries. 

[Was-MArsenault]

I will not be surprised if she's done with Hallmark.

[Irlandesa]

I guess I'm the only one who thinks she'll weather this.   

Maybe a sabbatical but I think she'll be back.

[chitowngirl]

The Garage Sale Mysteries movie usually air over the summer, August?, so who knows what will happen by then.

[Guest]

6 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

I guess I'm the only one who thinks she'll weather this.   

Maybe a sabbatical but I think she'll be back.

I initially thought the same thing but then I saw some of the evidence they have against her. It is a very strong case. 

I doubt that it is end of her career but it is probably the end of her relationship with Hallmark. I think Hallmark is too protective of it’s brand to keep her on the air during a scandal. 

[MerBearHou]

Yikes, Lori's husband was arrested; she's out of the country but was told to turn herself in.  Felicity Huffman was arrested too.  What a nightmare. 

[mikeb]

11 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

The Garage Sale Mysteries movie usually air over the summer, August?, so who knows what will happen by then.

IMDB lists 3 of them as in "pre-production" -  even if Hallmark still wants them, wonder if she will be available to film them or if will be too busy preparing for trial.  Most Hallmark movies seem to take about 3 weeks to film, so would need about 2 months total.

I feel bad for some of her co-stars who may end up losing a steady gig.  For example, Sarah Strange who plays Dani and whose IMDB page shows very few other projects last few years.

[GaT]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

To make the situation even worse last year Lori’s daughter put up a YouTube video saying:

“I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend but I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all,” she said. “But I do want the experience of like game days, partying…I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.”

2 hours ago, TimetoShine said:

She should have paid for tutors instead.

Tutors only work if the kid is willing to put in the work to learn, this one doesn't sound like one of those kids.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, Dani said:

I initially thought the same thing but then I saw some of the evidence they have against her. It is a very strong case. 

She's a rich white lady.  Is it jail strong?  Or make a deal strong?

[catrice2]

Well innocent until proven guilty and all but I would think it would be very hypocritical of them to have issues about movies with minorities and gay people but be okay with ll keeping a fraudster on the payroll especially when they try to have such a wholesome image.. and I like the garage sale Mysteries. The issue is they have too much money invested in her so it's going to be interesting.

15 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

She's a rich white lady.  Is it jail strong?  Or make a deal strong?

Exactly. And if she was someone different than that we wouldn't even be having a conversation about what Hallmark is going to do

[Guest]

20 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

She's a rich white lady.  Is it jail strong?  Or make a deal strong?

I fully expect there is going to be a deal but if it did go to trial it would be jail strong. The case against her husband is stronger but she was cc’d on the emails and she occasionally responded directly. The have phone recordings made after the guy who ran the scheme was caught where she agreed to claim the money was a donation if contacted by the IRS. The guy who ran created a extensive trail. 

If she was any other network I think she would be fine but I can’t see Hallmark keeping a leading lady after she’s been arrested. It just doesn’t fit their brand. 

[JenMD]

I woudln't be terribly surprised to hear that Hallmark contracts have a morals clause (or something similar) and being charged/pleading guilty to a felony would probably be among grounds for termination (isn't that a dealbreaker at most places of employment?).  The guy in charge of the whole scam has apparently already pled guilty.  I would also not be terribly surprised to have seen the last of the Garage Sale Mysteries.  When Calls The Heart just started their new season, no idea what they'll do about that one.

[mikeb]

I think this would be a major blow to HMM.  They aired 18 new mystery movies in 2018 and the 4 Garage Sale Mysteries movies were all in the top 6.

Although it does look Crossword Mysteries was a bit hit this weekend - it had more viewers than any of the 2018 or 2019 mystery movies.